Post transplant, I looked up the side effects of all the medications I was prescribed. The focus was on the three anti-rejection medications since they had the most negative effects. Here is another one I found from the National Kidney Foundation:
Once again, I was prescribed the following medication categories: Steroids, Tac, and MMF. The MMF stopped after a few weeks, but I am still taking prednisone and tacrolimus. Looking at this list, the adverse effects with the most total ↑’s are diabetes, hypertension, and osteopenia. I know I have the first two conditions, although the hypertension is a lot better controlled recently. I had to look up osteopenia and it is basically bone mass loss. I am not sure if I have or developed this condition, but I do not remember doing a bone density test ever.
Back to my current issues with blood sugar, I am hoping that the tacrolimus is partially responsible for the difficulty I am having. Maybe if UCLA ever decreases or removes my tacrolimus dosage, or I get more used to it, my blood sugar will drop enough to stop the insulin shots. Finally, the last line in the chart above has decreased GFR attributable to tacrolimus as well. Perhaps that is causing the spike in my creatinine numbers? But if so, why now?
Life with chronic diseases 