-
Tacrolimus & Forgetfulness Post Lung Transplantation
As a lung transplant recipient I am very grateful to have received this gift of life. The exhausting pre- transplant evaluations, the year of utter despair suffering with IPF, and the mental stresses placed upon my wife, family, friends, and myself were and are worth it. Most people who are not familiar with organ transplants think once you receive an organ transplant you are cured. Sadly, this is not the case. In order to combat rejection of the organ, transplant recipients must take an anti-rejection drug. Some take several; I am lucky enough to only take one anti-rejection drug. I also take a handful of other prescribed medications and doctor ordered supplements.
Tacrolimus is the anti-rejection drug prescribed to me. This drug also goes by the brand name Prograf. I am very lucky to only have to take .5 mg of tacrolimus every 48 hours. The low dosage has helped keep side effects to a minimum. This is a nasty drug that is essentially keeping me and other organ transplant recipients alive.
Unfortunately I feel I am negatively affected by tacrolimus usage. Forgetfulness; I experience periods where sometimes I forget what I want to say or in this current instance, what I want to type. I never experienced this type of mental breakdown before the transplant. I could be in the middle of speaking to someone and just forget what I want to say. Sometimes my wife will chime in with, “use your words Mark” like I was a toddler. To be honest, it works more often than not.
I have spoken with my doctor regarding this unfortunate side effect and she stated it is very common to have this happen when a person is taking tacrolimus. For some the forgetfulness is more severe. I do not have any problems with my long term memory but sometimes my short term memory is a nuisance to me and possibly others. My doctor stated to me I should stay mentally active; reading, writing, stimulate my mind.
Have any forum members had difficulties with forgetfulness, due to tacrolimus or otherwise?
How have you combatted the forgetfulness?
-
0 Replies
Sorry, there were no replies found.
Log in to reply.