• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Diabetes brought on by anti-rejection drugs after kidney transplant.

Magisham

Well-Known Member
Messages
152
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi. My husband has recently had a kidney transplant. Everything seems to be going okay with the actual transplant, but they have said that he is now diabetic, probably because 5 of the drugs he is on can cause diabetes. The worst 2 seem to be the Tacrolimus and the Mycophenolate Mofetil, which react together to make the diabetes. Both are anti-rejection drugs that he has to stay on for life. I have had a little bit of success in reducing his blood sugar with diet, using a lot of principles from the Gi diet ..... reducing carbs and using wholewheat products instead of refined. Has anyone else been in a similar situation and, if so, how did you get on with it? Thanks.
 
Hi,

I am bumping your post up in the hope that someone in a similar situation can help you.
 

Hi
I think you would be better going onto a site for transplantees. Unfortunately your husband's onset diabetes is very different from the majority of people on this forum. And I am not dissing the forum because there is some wonderful, informative articles and discussions. If your husband is insulin dependant he will came under Type3c not Type 1.
I work with a chap who's brother has has 2 kidney transplants over a number of years, after 2nd transplant he also became diabetic, he changed his diet completely to low carb, mainly fruit and vegetables and whatever reason he managed to reverse problem and is now not diabetic ( as you have said anti rejection drugs were the cause and you cannot stop them). We work a shift pattern and I will not be working either him for a few weeks but I will try and find out what anti rejection drugs brother was taking then (it may still be same).
I also became diabetic through illness but I think it could be worse, getting blood sugars normal and not getting hyper or hypo is a struggle but not impossible.
I hope husband is recovering well from transplant and do tell him to be kind to himself and to try and be the best version of himself he can manage
Regards
Sharon
 
Thanks for taking the time to reply. We're all a bit confused at the moment because some medical staff are telling us that he must have been diabetic for years and others are saying it's the anti-rejection drugs. He is on the "portly" side. No mention had ever been made about diabetes until he had a by-pass operation a couple of years ago. After the operation they were asking me what drugs he was taking for his diabetes. We'd been seeing a lipids consultant about the cholesterol and he kept an eye on the "diabetes" too. We saw him every 6 months, but he never saw the need to put my husband on any medication. And the last time we saw him he said we didn't need to go for another year. People at the last hospital have been saying "oh, you've been managing it with diet have you?". Well, we haven't intentionally, but we do eat a pretty healthy diet anyway, which has obviously done the trick. We've been monitoring bloods 4 times a day since the transplant operation and the lowest reading was 5.6 before breakfast one morning, the highest 14 after a pile of mashed potato before I read here that that can really push the sugar up. When I rang the hospital to report in with the readings the woman I spoke to seemed to think we were doing okay. I don't know enough about it yet, I'm still feeling my way. One interesting fact. I read that cinnamon can mimic insulin and lower blood sugar. After drinking a couple of cups of cinnamon tea we got the lowest readings so far, so don't know if there is anything in this. Would be really interested to know how your friend coped with his post transplant diabetes. I need all the help I can get. Thanks.
 

Keeping to a low carb high protein diet helps keep readings normal.
Usually you should be be above 4 but below 12 and reading before breakfast round about the 6 mark. Readings over 12, is going into hyperglycaemia, which increases ketones in blood and can lead to sepsis and organ damage. So it is important to try and keep below 12. Tests should be done 2 hours after a meal, if you take them earlier, you may get a high reading.
Friend was diabetic for a year and managed to reverse problem, he has other health issue and needs another transplant but is to well at present to go on list. I will get back to you when I find out what anti rejection drugs he was on
Regards Sharon
 

Hi again just spoke to him, he is on Prograf and Celcept
 
Hey ... I've had a kidney tx about 10 years ago. I was on tacrolimus + mmf which gave me awful diabetic neuropathy-like symptoms. Eventually nagged my docs into moving me to tacrolimus plus azathioprine...symptoms got a lot better....but then azathioprine had different problems!!... We're all so different that you kinda need to negotiate stuff with the docs and get the right overall mix...(or at least the least bad overall mix).

Also tacrolimus causes type 1 diabetes eventually if you are on high doses coz is messes up the pancreatic beta cells ability to regeneration ability...but that can take a very long time.

I've managed to stay at impair glucose tolerance rather than full blown type 2 diabetes by doing loads of exercise. 1-2 hours min each day and a epically healthy diet (thanks to my wife's good sense & care!)

Also patients can have a genetic pre-disposition to get diabetes due to the drugs....so if anyone is unlucky enough to fall into that category then diet & exercise is even more important!!

At the end of the day you gotta talk a lot to your docs...they often prefer not to worry you by 'lifting the veil' but if u wanna know then keep asking.

There are good online support groups for transplantees...I use two :

The kidney patient guide http://www.kidneypatientguide.org.uk/BB.php

And the facebook closed group called 'renal patient support group' (RPSG)

Good luck!
 
Keeping to a low carb high protein diet helps keep readings normal.
Really? You are seriously going to recommend a high protein diet - which can damage kidneys - to someone who's had a kidney transplant? At least talk to your medical team first.
 
Thanks to all who replied. We are still ticking along. The hospital have lowered his Tacrolimus levels to 1.5mg twice a day, which is probably helping, and they have also lowered his steroids. He is still on Mycophenolate Mofetil. The hospital gave him Metaformin as well as the Gliclazide too. His blood sugar levels are still higher than they should be, but the hospital doesn't seem too concerned as long as they don't go higher. Exercise does seem to help and thank goodness the weather has been lovely so he has been doing a lot of gardening. Don't know if things will improve, but as long as they don't get worse we'll probably be okay for a while. Read on your site about Burgen Soya and Linseed bread. Use it all the time now as it doesn't seem to affect his blood sugar like the white bread.
 
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…