Lifestyle changes after donation

[Kidney Mama]

I see references to lifestyle changes after kidney donation. I donated three years ago, and was told only to avoid heavy contact sports, which I never did anyway. I learned later that ibuprofen is a bad idea. What are the other recommended lifestyle changes? 

[dodger]

I try to keep my sodium intake to 1000 mgs a day. Sodium is a killer of the nephrons in the kidneys.

Drink 2 qts of water, filtered, osmosis, or distilled, more if I had alcohol, or sodium that day. 

Alcohol, 1 maybe 2  on some days but not more than one or every two weeks really, or less. Months have gone by with out any alcohol intake. 

Protein at a meal is about the size of a deck of playing cards.  Too much protein at any one time is hard for the kidney to filter out, overload!!

I do take a calcium supplement with vit D, but also take magnesium with it to protect the kidney from to much calcium entering the kidney.  Magnesium protects the kidney.

I do exercise and believe it is important for everyone to be as fit as possible.  Be careful of using any protein powders for the obvious reason.  Keep your weight down to a healthy BMI, it is not only easier on your kidney, but your entire body.

I was able to donate at 60 YOA.  Not a lot of people my age or younger would be able to do that because of health issues.  Guess that is one of the reasons why donors live good full lives after donating for the most part.  Luck, genes, taking care of our health in the first place, who knows....

But it does change our outlook on our future health, makes us more aware of not taking it for granted I believe.  We no longer have the "spare", but the one we have is to be cared for a little more than we thought about it in the past.

So how does this sound to everyone else, I'm sure others are going to have more suggestions. 

[CK]

I don't take Ibuprofen and I drink lots of water. That's it for me. I already made effort to eat well and get some exercise.

[cupid]

Really the only change I have made is not taking any NSAIDS-and even that-I take about 1-2 a week if I have pain that tylenol won't touch. I always drink water so that wasn't a big change. Other than that, I have no changes

[Snoopy]

Hi, Kidney Mama.
       You're more of a veteran than I am, but I'll just mention that, for me, the main thing is never to let myself get dehydrated (I live on the edge of a desert), and to be quite careful about salt intake.
       I never drank much, took Ibuprofen, or engaged in contact sports, so those haven't really been issues for me. On the other hand, a transplant surgeon did convince me to abandon my attempts to get back into the army reserve (although my age probably made that a moot point).
      One thing:  I'm exactly 10 months post-surgery, and I still have some mild pain when I lift heavy suitcases (and I used to lift weights in college).  So, I remind everybody out there to take it seriously when they tell you to be careful with lifting after surgery.
     Overall, I've been blessed with a smooth, easy recovery, and never regretted my decision to donate.  I wish you all the same.
   Be well, Snoopy

[Rinnierich]

my recs from my transplant team were to always stay hydrated, no advil, and to keep my weight maintained so I do not risk diabetes down the road.