medicine side effects?

[kraze]

Hi - I'm new here and relatively new to the transplant thing - I got my new kidney from my brother on June 10th - going on 5 months now and so far, so good.  However, in the last week or so I have noticed that I am losing a significant amount of hair.  I'm talking WAY more than normal daily hair loss.  Just wondering if anyone knows if this is a side effect of the post transplant medicines?  I'm on prograf, cellcept, and prednisone.
If so, any ideas how to combat this.  I really like my hair  
Thanks for any ideas you may have!

[chris73]

hello and welcome.......I'm 6mo post and i take the same meds......i have had some hair loss but not like what u are talking about....be sure to tell tx clinic next time u go..  God bless you and your brother

[Chris]

It's a common side effect of Prograf. Some people get it, some people don't. It effects the people who do get in varying degrees of loss, but the hair thins on most of us. I never did get the hair loss and my hair has always been thin. I didn't know about the hair loss till I read about it on  another transplant board. Then I read it on a listing of all the side effects from the different medications used for immunosuppressants. I'll have to find that pamphlet and scan it. I'll post it later.

[monrein]

I took cyclosporine after my first transplant and had the opposite problem.  Hair grew everywhere.  I still shave my chin and upper lip every day (electrolysis was even covered by our health insurance since it was due to meds but I stopped going because it was too time-consuming).  The hair on my head was crazy thick.  My hair stylist used to thin out about a third of it each hair cut.  No more.

They switched me to cellcept and now I'm almost weaned right off since my transplant isn't working any longer and about a third of my hair is gone.  There are still a lot of little new hairs and I'm hoping that the increase in my protein consumption will help to stabilize the hair loss but honestly, I have to try really hard to approach the issue of appearance with a strong sense of humour and a philosophical remembering that age and illness robs us of much that we're attached to EXCEPT our humour and our philosophical approach to life.  I am so clear and sure about the irrelevancy of outward appearances and this is something that we all hear said but to actually know it for a fact and to be liberated from judging people on how they look is a true gift.  Most people do learn this as they get old but in our youth culture we tend to pay lip service to it and then continue to value the wrong things too highly.  ESRD is one hell of a tough way to get our values sorted out but since there are very few advantages to this illness I'm going to grab on to any bit of wisdom or enlightenment I can.

BTW Kraze, I use Nioxin shampoo and conditioner religiously and it seems to help a bit with the hair loss.  Emphasis on A BIT.

PS.  You're gorgeous.

[Zach]

Sometimes low iron levels can cause hair loss as well.

 

[kraze]

thanks so much for all of the welcomes and for the advice

 

[kidney4traci]

Welcome - you and your brother are very lucky!  Hope your hair problems work out soon.  I had something like that too when on a med before for HepC - and then it stopped by itself and started coming back in.  Now it's fine.  Can I ask what the bandage is on the side of your neck?  I saw it on another transplant pt too right after surgery.  Only on the recipient, not the donor...    Just curious.

[Chris]

Ahhh, this is the one I was going to post the side effects pamphlet in. I forgot where I was going to put it, bad memory and 1 to many transplant forum topics I post. Now I need to get it out tomorrow and scan it now since I do not have to study tomorrow.

[Chris]

I am posting the back page that shows the comparison of side effects with other immunosuppressants and a .pdf file that contains the article regarding the Side Effects of Immunosuppression.

[kraze]

Thanks so much!  I've been away for a while, but this chart is great to have!

by the way:  kidney4traci, the bandage is from the IV that was in my neck for the week I was in the hospital.  It was bandaged for a while because it was pretty bruised and ugly and I basically look like I had been bitten by a vampire!  hee hee

I see you are approved for a transplant in February - GOOD LUCK!  I'm going on  7 months now!  each month is a new celebration 

[kellyt]

Traci,  when I went in to surgery I had an IV placed in my right wrist.  When I woke up from surgery they had stopped that IV (although I still had the lead) and they had placed an IV in my neck (same place as hers).  I have no idea why.  A couple of days after surgery the surgeon decided to take the IV out of my neck as my WBC's were a little elevated.  I had already told them to take out the IV lead in my wrist.  They said that it was hospital rules that I had to have an IV placed in case of an emergency.  I allowed them to place a 3rd in my upper right arm, which was a mistake because where they put it caused me to not be able to bend my arm and it was digging into my bicep.  I had them remove that one the next day and I remained without an IV lead for the remainder of my stay.  I told them that if there was a true emergency they had my permission to place an IV where ever they wanted.  You will be poked and prodded the entire stay.  They were checking my blood sugars every hour, doing BP and temp every other hour, blah, blah, blah.  Do not plan on resting while in the hospital!!

[RichardMEL]

PS.  You're gorgeous.

I SOOO agree!!!!!