What is a serious side effect to monitor for when a person is taking anti-rejection medication after a kidney transplant?

Written by WebMD Editorial Contributors

Medically Reviewed by Minesh Khatri, MD on July 29, 2021

Drugs are taken that suppress your immune system after an organ transplant. They are given so that your body doesn't reject the donor organ. Unfortunately, these drugs are powerful and can affect the entire body.

The bad news is that you may have some side effects. The good news is that side effects are much easier to cope with than they once were.

The specific side effects vary. It depends on the combination of post-transplant drugs you use. Here's a general list of some of the side effects you might have:

Nausea and vomiting
Diarrhea
Headache
High blood pressure
High cholesterol
Puffy face
Anemia
Arthritis
Weakened bones
Increased appetite
Weight gain
Trouble sleeping
Mood swings
Swelling and tingling of the hands and feet
Acne and other skin problems
Tremors
Hair loss or unwanted hair growth
Diabetes

Yes, it's a long list. But don't worry too much. Not everyone gets side effects like these. One transplant recipient's response can be very different from another's.

Make sure to tell your health care provider about any side effects. They may be able to change your medication. Or they may have other ways of treating these problems. Don't suffer needlessly.

In some cases after an organ transplant, you may need more drugs to cope with the side effects of immunosuppressants. For instance you might take:

Many people only need extra medications during the early part of their treatment. When your doctor lowers the dose of immunosuppressants, the side effects may bother you less or go away.

Since people with transplants need so many drugs, they need to be very careful of drug interactions. Make sure that your health care provider knows all of the other medications that you use. This includes any over-the-counter or herbal medicines. Even some foods such as grapefruit juice can interact with certain medications.

SOURCES: Barry Friedman, RN, administrative director of the Solid Organ Transplant Program, Children's Medical Center, Dallas; former president of the North American Transplant Coordinators Organization. Richard Perez, MD, PhD, director of the Transplant Center, professor in the Department of Surgery, University of California Medical Center at Davis. Jeffrey D. Punch, MD, associate professor of Surgery, chief of the Division of Transplantation, director of the Liver Transplant Program, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor. National Kidney Foundation web site. United Network for Organ Sharing web site. United Network for Organ Sharing's "Transplant Living" web site. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, "Partnering with Your Transplant Team: The Patient's Guide to Transplantation, 2004."

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