Kidney transplants at older age

[prashantr]

I would like to know about success of kidney transplant at age of 68 yrs specifically in India. The patient had CKD because of diabetes and currently undergoes dialysis thrice a week. It has been 2.5 years since.

[WYOAnne NKF Ambassador]

I don't know about in India, but here in the US they do them all of the time. The cut off age at most transplant centers is someone in their 70's. When I had my transplant there was a lady that was 73 years of age that received a transplant on the same day as mine. Some centers will do it even later if there is a living donor.

[prashantr in reply to WYOAnne]

Thanks for your response. Good to know that it’s possible. Is there higher risk for diabetic person?

[WYOAnne NKF Ambassador in reply to prashantr]

You would have to talk with your doctor about that. But here in the US there is a real high percentage of people in CKD that are diabetic

[prashantr in reply to WYOAnne]

The doctor is giving slim chance for third party donor and insisted to keep dialysis going on.

[WYOAnne NKF Ambassador in reply to prashantr]

I think it also depends if you have your diabetes under good control.

[Jayhawker in reply to prashantr]

I’m a type II diabetic and have just been listed for a transplant. But my diabetic condition is totally controlled without medication. My A1C comes in between 5.0-5.1 like clockwork without medications. This has been the case for the past eight years. My diabetic condition was diagnosed a little over nine years ago.

Jayhawker

[prashantr in reply to Jayhawker]

How do you control your diabetes so amazingly? Could you please give your diet, exercises and any other thing you do. Are you on regular dialysis as well?

[Jayhawker in reply to prashantr]

For me it’s about exercise. I also pair carb intake with protein intake like they taught us to do in the diabetic education class I attended after I was first diagnosed.

So, I eat all carbs with meals that include protein. That causes our bodies to handle the carbs differently. No carbs at all between meals. IF I snack between meals it’s on veggies only; and now it has to be low potassium veggies.

Then I do something for exercise about 1 hour after I eat. It can be something as simple as going for a 15-minute walk. When the weather is inclement, I hop on my recumbent elliptical machine and do the 12-minute light workout about 1 hour after eating. (I do a regular full workout in the evening.)

My total daily carb intake is 180 carbs or slightly less. During the holidays I bake quite a lot. I definitely do extra exercising from Nov-Dec to counteract any additional holiday carbs I may eat.

BUT none of this would work as well as it does for me if my pancreas wasn’t still producing some insulin and my body still uses my insulin. So I’ve got friends who do very much the same but still need medication.

One other thing; when my CKD suddenly dropped in early January of 2011 I shifted to eating 5 very small meals throughout the day. I just spread my planned food out throughout the day. That was because I had no real appetite. I still paired all carb intake with protein intake though. I no longer do that now. But I know a lot of diabetics who do that successfully.

My two big carry always from the diabetic education class was the need to exercise and do so strategically to get the most benefit from it as far as A1C management goes so exercising about an hour after eating...

And pairing all carbs eaten with protein. Frankly I wasn’t overdoing my carb intake that much but I was often eating carbs in isolation, eg, a high carb item while watching TV in the evening. So I started eating that same sort of carb, in moderation, with my meals/protein rather than later at night. AND I committed to doing light exercise after every meal and getting a regular exercise program going, eg, 30-minute workout on my elliptical machine, on a daily basis as well.

That did the trick for me🐶

Jayhawker

[prashantr in reply to Jayhawker]

Thanks a lot for great information. I am recently diagnosed T2DM. My A1C is too high 16.1 at the moment and I struggle with balancing out carb with protein and fats. Always have nagging thoughts before eating whether it will increase sugar levels. Your story gives a lot of hope to me. I want to cut down medication to zero so your response is greatly helpful. Hope to be in your range sometime soon. Thanks again.

[Jayhawker in reply to prashantr]

The nurse who led our diabetic education class so strongly emphasized the effects of exercising both within an hour of eating as well as starting a more typical 30-minute exercise program daily that I started to work on both immediately.

Then I immediately modified my eating to pair carbs and proteins.

I thought both of these would help me get my A1C down quickly along with the medication I was taking at that point. They did. Three months later my A1C was down from 13.6 to 5.4.

It takes three months for all the extra glucose stuck to out blood cells to leave our system. One third of our blood cells are replaced every month so it takes a minimum of three months to get rid of the extra glucose from our systems. Another nugget of information I got from the diabetic education class...

After the first two weeks where I got the exercise going and started consistently pairing my carbs with protein, I then started the second phase of my management plan: I began consistently eating 180 carbs daily. The other issue for me with the carbs was to spread them out throughout the day. So I worked to balance my three daily meals with 60 carbs each. Balancing the carbs throughout the day took some time for me—I tended to skip lunch due to my job.

I literally had to set an alarm to remind myself to eat lunch. Kind of funny...

You can do this!!

Jayhawker

[prashantr in reply to Jayhawker]

Thank you for encouraging words. I have started doing 30 mins running before breakfast, 20 mins walking after lunch and playing table tennis for 30 mins after evening snacks. The blood sugar levels are stabilising around 110-130 mg/dL. Only problem I face is after lunch sometime it spikes to 160-170 mg/dL. So still experimenting with foods. Hope to get my A1C down in couple of months, I was diagnosed just 4 weeks earlier. Thanks again.

[Jayhawker in reply to prashantr]

Are you taking any medication to help you lower your A1C?

Jayhawker

[prashantr in reply to Jayhawker]

Yes I am taking Metformin/Teneligliptin (500/20) mg twice daily. It has helped in bringing down my FBS and PPS considerably.

[Jayhawker in reply to prashantr]

Excellent! So give yourself some time. Follow your plan and you’ll likely get your A1C in better range over the next 3-4 months.

Jayhawker

[prashantr in reply to Jayhawker]

Thanks

[vinadhun2 in reply to Jayhawker]

Your story is quite interesting and congratulations on teh achievement.

However, one point which strikes me is normally they say not to do any exercise within 2hours of lunch or dinner as digestion requires blood supply and you should avoid exercise within 2 hous. How come you are working out immediately after eating or say within one hour of eating

[Jayhawker in reply to vinadhun2]

I’ve been encouraged to do my light to moderate elliptical machine workout within an hour of eating as a means of managing my type II diabetes. It has been extremely effective. I managed my diabetic condition for 12+ years pretransplant without medication by following the guidance from the diabetes nurse practitioner.

Of course the anti-rejection meds alter the overall efficacy of this part of my diabetes management. However, I still find doing a light to moderate short workout on my elliptical machine to be beneficial. It is not unlike people who go for a walk about an hour after they eat.

Jayhawker

[vinadhun2 in reply to Jayhawker]

thanks

[prashantr]

Not really. We are in India. It would be very expensive and I don’t know if it will be legal.

[Jayhawker]

If you are interested in donating a kidney I’d suggest you contact your local transplant center to explore the option to become a non directed living kidney donor.

Jayhawker