KIDNEY DISEASE MEDICATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH DIALYSIS AND KIDNEY TRANSPLANTATION
If you require financial assistance to pay for your kidney disease medications, please contact your Social Worker. There are sometimes financial aid programs available through various regional, state and federal programs.
For the Dialysis Patient
It’s important to understand what medications you are taking and why you are taking them. Be sure to let all of your doctors know that you have Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD).
When you have CKD, kidney disease medications may be prescribed to: help your body make red blood cells, control blood pressure, help replace vitamins and minerals, keep your bones strong, get rid of phosphorous that builds up when your kidneys aren’t working fully and treat infection or other illnesses you may have. – Kidney Beginnings, A Patients Guide to Living with Reduced Kidney Function, AAKP.
For the Post-Kidney-Transplant Patient
After transplant, our body’s normal response to something that is sees as foreign or “not me,” such as a new organ would be for the immune system to try to attack it. This is known as rejection. In order for that new organ to not be rejected, your transplant team will need to give you medicines to turn down your immune system response and make it not recognize that new organ as foreign. Unfortunately your body WILL NEVER get used to having the new organ, so you will need to stay on these medicines FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, although you will most likely be able to be on lower doses over time.
NOT TAKING THESE MEDICINES IS A LEADING CAUSE OF LOSING OF A TRANSPLANTED ORGAN.
-Kidney Transplantation Patient Information Manuel, Penn State Hershey Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, 2012
Your transplant team will review the specifics of your ongoing medical treatment and be able to answer all of your questions. However, regardless of which medicines you have specifically been prescribed, there are several general guidelines all patients should be willing to follow:
- Take the prescribed doses each day on time.
- Keep medicine in tightly closed bottles and out of the reach of children.
- Store medicines in a cabinet at room temperature outside of the bathroom to avoid moisture.
- NEVER run out of medicine. Fill your prescriptions ahead of time.
- Plan ahead for vacations and holidays. Take extra medication with you when traveling. Do not put medicines in luggage, because the temperatures vary, or your luggage could be lost.
- If you forget to take your medicine at the appointed time and remember it later, take it as soon as you remember. Then take the next dose at the appointed time.
- If you cannot remember if you took the medicine, do not take an extra dose. Just take the next dose at the appointed time. DO NOT take twice as much medicine.
- For headache or pain you may take Tylenol-Regular or Extra-strength
- NO Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), Aleve, Excedrin
-Kidney Transplantation Patient Information Manual, Penn State Hershey Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, 2012
As part of the transplant process you receive medicines prior to your transplant, immediately after your transplant, medicines to prevent infections, medications for any other ongoing medical issues (not related to your kidney disease), medications for colds and flus you encounter post-transplant, medications for allergic reactions to various stimuli, etc. All of these medicines must work together to both address the problem you are having and maintain the integrity and success of your transplant.CONSULT YOUR MEDICAL TEAM whenever you have questions about adding to or removing medicines from your consumption list.
