Getting a kidney transplant can change your life for the better. But after the transplant, it's important to take good care of yourself to keep your new kidney healthy.

This means eating a balanced diet, staying active with regular exercise, and taking your medications as prescribed.

In this blog, Karetrip will share easy-to-follow tips on how to manage your diet, exercise, and medications after a kidney transplant. Whether you’re new to this journey or preparing for it, our guide will help you live a healthier, happier life.

Kidney Functions and Impacts of Kidney Failure

The function of your kidneys is excretion. They act like a filter and remove all the waste and excess fluid from the body.

What happens to your body when your kidney fails? When your kidney cannot function properly an external filter is used to remove the wastes from your body. This process is called dialysis.

But is this a permanent solution? No, usually dialysis is used when the kidney stops abruptly or for a period until kidney transplantation.

What is Kidney Transplant?

When your kidney fails a healthy kidney is replaced in your body to resume the work your own kidney cannot do.

Having a kidney transplant doesn’t mean a cured kidney disease. They need to follow a heart-healthy diet and maintain a healthy weight to help your new kidney last.

Life After Kidney Transplant

• Receiving a new organ can mark a new beginning. It comes with new hopes and vitality. So it is important to be responsible for the new chance.

• Post-transplantation care is important for a longer and healthier life with the newly received organ.

• On average a kidney from a living donor lasts for around 15-20 years, while from a dead donor lasts between 8-12 years. But it usually depends on the lifestyle and post-transplantation care. Some last longer; others will last less.

• The transplanted organ has a great chance of rejection and it requires more attention than the original organ itself.

• Diet, exercise, and medication all play their part in recovery and quality of life after transplantation.

Dietary Guidelines

Dietary guidelines after transplantation are easier to follow than during dialysis, but it still plays a big role.

Post-transplantation care includes lots of medicines, some of them leading to increased appetite and weight gain. So it is important to eat the right amount of food at the right time for both weight and blood sugar management.

These dietary regulations include:

• Limit high calorie foods: Limit sweets, sugar, and other high sugar content foods. Consume foods with high fiber content by including more vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins in your diet.
• Limit foods with high carbohydrates: Carbohydrates come from sugar and protein, they provide fuel and energy to our body. Certain post-transplant foods can reduce the absorption of carbohydrates. These can lead to high blood sugar and finally diabetes.
• Limit salt consumption: Transplant medicine, especially steroids increase fluid retention. These can cause hypertension. Limiting salt intake can help control blood pressure and reduce fluid retention.
• Consume high protein: Protein builds up muscles and contributes to repairing damaged tissue. The requirement of protein post-transplantation is more than the usual requirement of the body. These include milk, yogurt, chicken, meat, fish, peanut butter, etc.
• Monitor potassium and phosphorus levels: Imbalances in potassium and phosphorus can adversely affect kidney function.

It is important to note that you should not start any supplements on your own without consulting your surgeon. Make sure to talk and clarify your doubts and concerns before fixing your diet plan.

Exercise Recommendation

Regular exercise plays a big role in maintaining healthy weight management and healthy life. A regularly exercising, fit body can make a person more healthier and productive.

Exercising after kidney transplants needs more care. Recovery is different from person to person after transplant.

Soon after surgery doctors promote you to walk short distances. After getting discharged, try walking 15-20 minutes a day and increasing your best time each day.

General instructions on exercise after transplantation include

• Engage in moderate-intensity activities for around 30 minutes daily. Swimming, cycling or brisk walking are recommended Incorporate strength training exercises
• Don’t start rigorous activities all of a sudden. Take your time to increase the intensity and duration of exercise after transplantation

You need to make sure that your body gets enough rest and recovery time before beginning any exercise.

Each body is different, and so are their needs. So it is important to consult your transplant team for advice before deciding on your exercises.

Medication Management

Our immune system constantly works against external factors. When a kidney transplantation is done the immune system identifies it as a foreign threat and tries to eliminate it.

So lifelong immunosuppressant medications are prescribed to prevent organ rejection. Patients must adhere to doctor’s advice in regard to these medications.

The common prescription includes

• Immunosuppressants: Also known as anti-rejection drugs are medicines (or drugs) that lowers the possibility of organ rejection.

Some are the powerful anti-rejection medicine called induction drugs used during the transplant and others are the maintenance drugs used lifelong to prevent future possible rejection.

Examples of maintenance drugs include tacrolimus, Cyclosporine, Mycophenolate.

• Anti-Rejection Therapy: Done along with immunosuppressants to minimize the chances of kidney rejection

• Additional Medication: Make sure to manage and monitor blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol level and other possible conditions that can affect kidney health.

• Proper Medical Scheduling: Kidney rejection at early stages is hard to detect. So it is important to take medication at the proper time.

Life after a kidney transplant is a life earned. No matter how difficult it is, you should cherish the second chance you receive.

Keeping your new kidney is as important as getting the new one. Keeping your diet healthy, exercising regularly and ensuring proper medication can all help you maintain a healthy kidney function.

A kidney transplant is the first step for your new hope and vitality. You can travel, work and enjoy your life without the inhibitions of struggling kidney or dialysis by keeping the newly implanted kidney safe.