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Type 1 weight gain after kidney transplant

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TigerlilyChristine

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I have been a type 1 for 40 years now, I am currently 46. I have been bad and had retinopathy in both eyes and kidney failure. I was on dialysis for 7 hours a day every day for 6 years. I finally got a transplant in September 11. At that point I was a size 24, with a HBA1c of 6.5. Transplants aren't a case of put it in and off you go, 9 months on I am still not recovered and have also put on 5 stone, I am now a size 32. I was not told the anti rejection drugs make you gain weight, plus after the transplant I was so hungry I ate every hour (this is normal apparently). I cant lose the weight for love nor money, people have commented on my size, including a man in a pub who when I walked past he said "wide load coming through". I am just so huge, I try to eat low fat, weight watchers and have a portion plate, but my weight only goes up. Ive seen the dietitian, diabetes nurses, consultant and anyone else I can find, but nothing works. I bought an exercise bike and can only manage 5 minutes. My joints are struggling to cope with my blubber and all in all I am not having a good time. I have Metformin but even my renal consultant is telling me I need to lose weight, as if I hadn't worked that out for myself. Anyone got any ideas?
 
I'm sorry to hear you've been having problems since your transplant. I hope that you're at least getting to enjoy some of the benefits of having a new kidney!

As for the weight, different things work for different people as finding your best solution can be really hard. Might be worth trying the low carb, high fat diet, or something like weight watchers. I've found the juice diet has worked for me in the past. It's pretty tough and can be hard to sustain for more than a couple of weeks. You can adapt it slightly so that you can still have a proper meal a day. It does mean eating (or drinking) a lot of fruit and veg, so you will need to keep an eye on your sugars. I'm type 1, so it's relatively easy for me to just adjust my insulin to suit.

With regards to exercise, cycling can be quite tough on your knees (I'm a bit of a cycling enthusiast, so I know all too well!). Few things that might help, get some clips for the pedals so that you can clip your feet to the pedals. This means that you can pull up as well as push down. It means that your using more muscles in your leg, ad this could help to take the strain off your knees. Secondly, and this might sound a little crazy, try turning the resistance on your bike up a little bit. Make sure you're giving your legs something to push against rather than freewheeling. Again, it could help to take the pain away from your knees.

If that doesn't work, try something like swimming. It's much gentler on the joints and is a great 'all over' exercise. Could try walking, but this might hurt your joints too.

Anyway, I know this doesn't answer all your questions but hopefully it helps a little. You said you've already talked to your doctor etc, might be worth trying some private treatments. My mam tried hypnotherapy a few years back. She's not diabetic, but had some weight to lose. She had a few sessions and, log and short of it, taught herself to think we stomach was smaller than it is. I have to be honest, I laughed when she told me she was going to see a hypnotist to shed some pounds, but it's worked for her!

I hope you manage to find a solution that works for you soon.

Take care,
Emma
 
I am 47 and have been a diabetic for 37 years. I have Stage 4 CKD and have managed to keep my levels quite steady, between 20-26, the lowest was 18. I am hoping not to have to need dialysis but I am trying to lose weight to improve my overall health, I have still to lose 8 stone. I am surprised that whilst on dialysis for all that time you stayed a size 24, my understanding is that you lose weight quite dramatically when your kidney disease is at that stage, is this not correct? The one consolation I gave myself was that if I got to the dialysis stage at lease I would lose weight!


Best of luck and I am sorry I don’t have any answers for you.

Lorna
 
Do you take steroids as well?
I assume from your post you had kidney only and not kidney/pancreas?

I had pancreas only in Jan and my weight is a stone less than it was before the operation (this was shed in 4-6 weeks) and has remained stable since
 
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