Hi All,

I donated my kidney in July of 2014 and have had a great experience, I would do it again in a heartbeat!

Just curious though about something, I found out a few months ago that my thyroid is not functioning properly, I had a goiter in 2007 and had a partial thyroidectomy. I was never put on an medicine as my remaining half still worked. Well this past year, my thyroid function diminished and I was feeling horrible, after numerous tests, they discovered I had hypothyroidism. Has anyone else had this? Should I be concerned, as far as my remaining kidney goes? My internal medicine doctor does not show much concern. I have not been to my kidney surgeon since July 2015, next visit will be in the summer of 2016. 

Any information or insight would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Ashley

Dear Ashley,

Congratulations on your successful donation!

As you only have a single kidney, you may want to be more proactive in getting medical care.  Why don't you consult with a nephrologist, and/or an endocrinologist?  If you deal with your thyroid issues early and monitor well, you'll avoid complications later.

I don't have an endocrine issue, but I have developed an immunological one.  For sure I visited with a nephrologist to discuss my treatments, and I research every medication for potential nephrotoxic risks.  In addition, I get lab work every three months to make sure all is going well with my kidney function.

Love, elephant

Thank you Elephant, I appreciate your response!

I have been proactive regarding my healthcare, I was sick for months and kept visiting many doctors, they finally narrowed it down to my thyroid. It was a relief to have an answer. I spoke with my kidney transplant coordinator on Friday and she stated this would not effect my remaining kidney, she also wanted to inform me that my donation would not have cause the issue.

I go for more labs tomorrow, so will learn more this week when talking to my internal medicine doctor.

Thanks again, its so great to have other donors to talk to!

Ashley

Dear Ashley,

Let us know what happens! 

I think sometimes donors are tempted to attribute every health issue to the donation. Since there isn't much really long term donor monitoring, we don't really know what could be attributed to donation.   That doesn't mean that nothing can, or that everything can! We can't expect to never have a health issue, despite being very fit at donation.

Love, elephant

I was actually diagnosed with Hypothyroidism during my donor evaluation 17 yrs ago, I am stable on my medications and donation did not make anything worse. I was lucky that my program screens for Thyroid issues as a part of the work up.

Thanks Elephant, I will keep you updated, I hope to hear about my labs today.
I think you're right, most like to attribute it to the donation. I do not, after I donated, I felt great and was healthy. I had been at my lowest weight in my adult life and labs were fine. Then my thyroid stopped working and I was miserable, they couldn't figure out what was wrong, it was such a relief to have an answer after months and months of testing.

Thanks donor99, it is great to hear that nothing has changed since your donation. I am still in the trial phase of finding the correct dosage, I need to have two normal lab tests in a row for my medication to stay the same. Unfortunately, it hasn't been happening, the changes in my meds are making me feel pretty bad. I hope to have better answers this week.

Ashley

Hi!  I donated my left kidney in 2008.  Just this past month I've been diagnosed with Hashimoto's autoimmune disease, which attacks the kidney.  My thyroid function is fine now, but anticipated to slowly get worse if the condition isn't addressed.  Its my second autoimmune diagnosis (other one was skin related), both of which didn't arise until years after the nephrectomy, so I see no reason to believe they are directly related. 

I'm just nervous because my holistic practitioner wants to put me on all sorts of supplements, as well as a pretty limited diet/cleans.  I always mention my one-kidney condition. The "oh yes, it'll be fine...these are not toxic to the kidneys" should be reassuring, but somehow I don't feel like anyone REALLY knows for sure.  Anyone have any thoughts or experience with that?

Dear Sarah,

I'd be very cautious about any supplements. 

Have you considered consulting with a nephrologist before you begin any new regime?

Here are some supplements suspected of neprotoxicity. There may be others.

Aristolochic acid
Cat's claw
Chaparral Antioxidant
Chromium
Cranberry
Creatine
Echinacea
Ephedra
Germanium
Hydrazine
Licorice
Willowbark
Warmwood
Yellow dock
( from  www.vacrn.org)

Love, elephant

Hey!
I had a hypothyroid before I donated.  In all my research about kidney donation effecting this, and talking to my Primary care doctor before donation I couldn't find any reason these 2 things should effect each other, or cause any problems.  They are just their own separate things.

Hope this helps!

Glad to see this post. I am newly diagnosed with hypothyroid, and was wondering if there might be a connection with my 2007 kidney donation. Between this site and others, it seems the answer to that is no.
Thanks everyone, for contributing to this.  :)