Transplant and drinking

[rimbo74]

I have had a lot of friends ask me and I do not know the answer, but someone who has had a transplant or know, can someone who has had a transplant drink alcohol taking all the post-transplant mediciations?



Moved to appropriate section -Transplant Stories -  Bajanne, Moderator

[keefer51]

Rimbo74, I did without any complications. Not allot but i would have a beer or three. Or sometimes a mixed drink.

[Bette]

I was able to drink after my transplant with no problems.  I am not a big drinker though, only a glass of wine or two every couple of weeks.

[Fighter]

Rimbo, you can drink alcohol after your transplant. The anti-rejection drugs don't react with alcohol like antibiotics do. But they will tell you to drink with moderation to preserve your liver, watch your cholesterol, etc, as is the case for everybody else but even more so for us.

[George Jung]

Aside from the fluid gains is it much different than having a drink while on dialysis (I don't mean on the machine itself)?

[stauffenberg]

The really interesting drinking problem with respect to transplant recipients, which is still a matter of controversy in the medical community, is whether those with a kidney transplant should drink more, less, or the same amount of fluids per day as a normal person.  Some argue that they should drink more, since they have only one kidney, somewhat damaged by the transplant procedure and chronic allograft nephropathy, to do the work of two, and extra fluid should help in this process.  But other nephrologists argue that they should not drink more than normal, because one of the theories of why transplanted kieneys fail much sooner than normal kidneys is that they are under too much stress because of having to handle all of the body's fluid by themselves in a less than perfect condition, a problem know as 'hyperfiltration.'  I discussed all the latest data and the current state of the debate with my transplant follow-up team and their recommendation was that I drink just as much as necessary so as not to be thirsty, but not make any effort to drink more than that, which used to be the recommendation to patients just a few years ago.

[kitkatz]

And here I thought we were talking about alcohol consumption, not fluid intake??

[rimbo74]

Haha!  Thanks for all the responses.  I drink now maybe once a week but I can get out of hand on the consumption.  I started off drinking 1 in one night, then 2, then well you know how it goes.  Everybody was asking me if I would be able to go out for drinks and stuff after the transplant and I had no clue.  Thanks for all the responses!

Its also good to know about the fluid intake as well.