Do you have to take prednisone after a kidney transplant?

[Tollie Jong]

My mother just found out that she cant get a kidney transplant because she is not able to take the medication prednizone, it makes her gain a lot of weight. And if she does take the medication after the transplant then she'll be overweight and have a high risk of getting a heart attack. Is there any other type of medication possible to take after the transplant? Like different anti rejection medication?

[ladypam]

Prednisone acts as a immunosuppressant,which helps your body "accept" the transplant. If your concern for not taking prednisone is the weight gain afterwards, from what I understand about organ transplants, it is not taken for a long period of time, so I doubt there will be a high risk for developing a heart attack. But knowing that your body is prone to becoming overweight, you can take other measures to make sure that you maintain your weight within normal limits.