Alkaline diet & transplant....

[Phil]

Hi everybody,
I've been on HD for the past 4 years, and on the list waiting for my kidney for just over 3.....I know the call is (i hope) gonna be coming soon, and so I'm mentally preparing for the next period of transition from life as a HD patient to life with a transplanted organ....obviously I'm stressed about immunosuppressants, bloating, weight gain, side effects, and obviously everything that comes with having a low immune system.....HOWEVER (lol) I eventually figured that I cant stress myself out over the things I can't really control....so I wanted to know if anyone has tried going on a alkaline diet post transplant (a alkaline diet basically eliminates animal proteins from your diet)....more and more studies are showing the realtionship between cancer and meat & processed foods...so I thought that controlling my diet could perhaps help me to keep fit & healthy.....ideas? eperiences?

[jeannea]

I have never heard of an alkaline diet. What a name. I looked it up and it has no basis in science. Your body was made at the right pH and keeps it's correct pH even if you eat a steak. I would think that if you don't eat animal protein after transplant, you would need to listen carefully to the dietician and get the right balance of foods. Also, I would say that the first 6-12 months after transplant is not a good time to be making a radical change to your diet. It's hard enough adjusting to all the other changes. Eating healthy is always good. Eat balanced meals, get fruits and vegetables, not much junk food. Fad diets are not good.

[Deanne]

If your experience is anything like mine, you might find adapting to transplant life is more difficult than it appears from reading posts here. I wouldn't add to the difficulties by making a new diet like this yet something else to deal with. It sounds like you're considering a vegan diet. For me, low phosphorus and low magnesium are issues since my transplant. A lot of phosphorus and magnesium come from animal products.

If you're seriously considering switching to a vegan diet, you might be better off talking to your dietician now to start it so your dietician can give you guidance and you can see how it affects your lab values under known circumstances. Your labs might be all over the map after transplant and you won't know what is due to a new diet, what is due to the meds, or what is due to the new kidney. Eliminate as many variables you can so you doctors know where to took for answers to problems.

[goofball]

I agree with jeanna 100%.

[SooMK]

I'm two weeks post-transplant. I have been on a vegetarian diet for years. I was never on dialysis but I am really struggling now. I agree that after a transplant is not a good time to become a vegetarian. I have had several discussions with the nutritionist but I've been so nauseous that I'm just trying to keep my stomach quiet. I threw up my meds one evening and I don't want to do that again. They told me to take them again. I had hot milk and toast and took them again and it hasn't happened since but I was so concerned about keeping my stomach quiet I was eating whatever didn't turn me green, all of it terrible food like applesauce and jello. Although chicken soup was a good thing. I'm trying now to introduce more protein and I cannot face eating meat so I'm doing the best I can eating other things I'd rather not. Meantime my wonderful no anemia was short lived, I'm dragging myself around, weigh 95 pounds, and trying not to get discouraged. If you eat meat now I would stick with it until you are stable after transplant then talk to the nutritionist. I don't think that a diet that works wonders for people without our challenges will necessarily work for us. I'm doing a lot of thinking about this and feel like there's nothing that can be done except adjust my attitude and figure out how to control what I can.

[goofball]

Can you eat egg whites?

[MooseMom]

Hi everybody,
I've been on HD for the past 4 years, and on the list waiting for my kidney for just over 3.....I know the call is (i hope) gonna be coming soon, and so I'm mentally preparing for the next period of transition from life as a HD patient to life with a transplanted organ....obviously I'm stressed about immunosuppressants, bloating, weight gain, side effects, and obviously everything that comes with having a low immune system.....HOWEVER (lol) I eventually figured that I cant stress myself out over the things I can't really control....so I wanted to know if anyone has tried going on a alkaline diet post transplant (a alkaline diet basically eliminates animal proteins from your diet)....more and more studies are showing the realtionship between cancer and meat & processed foods...so I thought that controlling my diet could perhaps help me to keep fit & healthy.....ideas? eperiences?

I have not considered such a diet because my tx team told me to increase my intake of animal protein from max 3oz pre-tx to 6oz post tx.  I make a point of eating lean protein but very little red meat.  I try to make sure that the animal protein I DO eat is as safe and unprocessed as possible.

No one should be eating processed foods...NO ONE.  Doesn't matter if you have a tx or not. 

Generally speaking, most Americans eat too much protein.

I happen to really enjoy fruit and vegetables and am thrilled to bits that now that I am no longer a slave to the pre-renal diet, I can indulge.  It might be an idea to discuss your post tx diet requirements with your team.

I have found that the one thing I really have to avoid is dietary sodium.  There is something about those immunosuppressants (I'm thinking it's the prednisone)  that turn me into a human dirigible if I eat something that's really salty.  I made pasta with prosciutto one night, and the next morning I was three pounds heavier.  I panicked and called my coordinator; she asked me what I had eaten in the previous 24 hours, and that's when it dawned on me...it was the prosciutto.   

[SooMK]

Goofball- I am going to add a couple of eggs a week since that is recommended. Egg whites alone I wouldn't eat.

MM--I couldn't agree more about the processed food.

I felt I had the perfect diet for me and I wasn't super rigid about it (no meat, minimal dairy, minimal processed food and fresh fruits and vegetables). But I think I have to put it aside for now so I can recover. Also it is early days and the queasiness is addressed in the packet I received so I know this is common.

[MooseMom]

I felt I had the perfect diet for me and I wasn't super rigid about it (no meat, minimal dairy, minimal processed food and fresh fruits and vegetables). But I think I have to put it aside for now so I can recover. Also it is early days and the queasiness is addressed in the packet I received so I know this is common.

I'm sorry to hear about your struggles.    You are right, though, to realize that our dietary needs change as our bodies change, and there are few more drastic changes than having a transplant!  That's major surgery and major meds we have to deal with.   I'd be really interested to know what dietary changes you end up making that will improve your health and make you feel better.  It must be frustrating for you at the moment. 

[jeannea]

SooMK, eggs are a great source of protein and one of my go to sources when I'm having nausea. Make sure you always eat something when you take your meds so the nausea doesn't get worse. Even if it's two crackers. Ask your team if it would help to take some things at different times to help. Also ask if you can have Zofran ODT until you get over this bump in the road. Some breathing techniques can also help with nausea. I tell myself I'm just going to try to get through 10 minutes without puking. If you can make it about 30 minutes, you will have allowed a good portion of your meds to either be absorbed or moved through to the intestines. Some meds dissolve in the stomach, some in the small intestine.

Hang in there. It should get better.

[SooMK]

Saw my neph today and big surprise most of my problems are in my head. He said all my labs are good. I feel I am controlling the nausea by keeping something on my stomach at all times. I am definitely going to add scrambled eggs to my menu. He wasn't concerned about my weight nor my anemia. He reduced the Myfortic to one tablet three times a day since he said that can cause the nausea. Also he reduced that nasty Nystatin to 1ml (!) three times a day. I had accessed my lab reports online but without context I get myself all worked up, usually over nothing. I think he would have given me some anti-nausea script but I really would prefer to be losing meds not adding them. Thanks MM and Jeannea. I guess I kind of hijacked this thread. Sorry.

[MooseMom]

SooMK, I was diagnosed with fsgs in 1992.  I was not treated for it at the time because, well, no one really know much about it.

I returned to the US in 2003 (from the UK), and the next year I went to my new doctor for a physical for insurance purposes.  It was then when we saw just how much my renal function had declined, and I was referred to the neph who put me on bp meds, statins and cyclosporine all at once.  That was an awful lot for my body to manage, and for the first few months, I'd experience waves of nausea.  But everything eventually calmed down, and I was good to go.

For about a month or so after my tx, I didn't feel so great.  The pred gave me loads of energy, but the physical effort it took to heal combined with a shedload of new and potent drugs resulted in those familiar waves of nausea.  I lost my appetite for a while, but since my labs were good, I figured it would just be a matter of time before things sorted themselves out. 

I think the same will happen to you.  Three months from now, a fair few of the meds you take now won't be needed anymore, and I suspect that by then, you will be feeling much better.

You've been through a life-altering experience, and it is easy to feel anxious and overwhelmed and to have your head become filled with non-existent problems.  I kept a diary in which I recorded just about every single renal-related thought I had. 

Let us know how you get on.  I'm glad your neph was happy with your results.

[SooMK]

Thanks for the reassurance MM. I'm a huge journal fan, both for life in general and medical logs. I consider a medical log as one of the basic steps of how we can do our part to stay as well as possible.

[codyedwardwilliams]

What I like best about an alkaline diet is it helps with virtually every condition in our body. This is because it creates a balance at a cellular level that allows our body to heal itself and become better equipped to fight and prevent disease. Specifically talking about kidney damage, or kidney disease, here are some very good news.