Hello all, thank you in advance for your assistance!

I donated a kidney 5.5 months ago and have really had a great recovery. Not much to complain about, really.  However, I still sometimes wake up in the morning totally exhausted. Wiped out. Like I have no energy in my legs and if someone tried to mug me on the street, I wouldn't be able to run. That is the best way I can describe it. It usually only lasts for a day.

The interesting thing is it comes at very random times. When I am very busy and using a lot of energy, I am fine. But then one day out of the blue I will wake up and just feel exhausted. I went about a month or so without this feeling, but have now had it twice in the past 3 weeks or so.

I am not really concerned, but just wondering how long other kidney donors have had exhaustion like this. I was told up to 6 months, so I am still in the zone, but wondering if other kidney donors felt this even after 6 months?

Thanks again for your feedback!

I was exhausted too.. I ended up getting a super B complex vitamin and that seems to help with the energy level... My Doctor also thought I wasn't getting enough rest.  Before the surgery 5 hours of sleep and I was good to go, now I need a minimum of 7 hours per night.  Good luck and it will get better, but your body is still in the healing process...

Rspang,

Thank you for the information. How long after your donation did you continue to get exhausted? Or are you now always more exhausted than you used to be?  Thank you for your time!

~Myia

     For me, the tiredness passed but I still needed extra sleep at night and often a nap during the day for quite a while. Would it be possible that you are not getting quite enough sleep daily, so that a "sleep debt" builds up and knocks you out? Just a thought. The experts seem to say that most Americans don't get enough sleep anyway, so the post-donation fatigue would just add more to that problem.
     Please let us know how it goes.
         Fr. Pat

Mine was at the end of the day.  It was like someone let all the air out of my tires all at once.  It happened less and less, and at about nine months it stopped.

Dear Myia,

I am another donor who sleeps more than pre-surgery.  I used to sleep about seven hours and now I need more than eight, preferably nine, to feel my best.
That's after 15 months, so I'm thinking it's permanent.   

Love, elephant

I am almost 9 months post-op and I still have my days where I feel like getting out of bed is a struggle or at the end of the day I feel like I've ran a marathon. The days seem to be getting less and less but I also was able to function on little sleep pre-surgery now I need at least 7 hours to be able to function at my fullest. I am hoping by a year this feeling with just disappear.

Hi guys, I'm very healthy, fit and take vitamins. Donated my kidney 3 months ago, still feel fatigue after the end of the day. if I even exercise a little, I feel like taking a nap after, and it helps to recharge. So, take an easy on your body, and rest. I read it's to be expected and it's normal, for about up to a year after a nephrectomy

Donated seven months ago and I can honestly say that I feel back to 100% with the energy during the day; however, just like some of the others I used to get up at 5 or earlier every day and start my day after only 6 or 7 hrs of sleep...now getting out of bed at 6 is the new normal.
You ask the time frames...I think we all feel the struggle...for me it was hard to get back the energy for the first 2-3 months...residual exhaustion for the next 2...almost normal after 5...normal after 6.  I started jogging recently and began to push myself a little more without any issues at the end of the day.
Whatever you do...stay active, hydrated, and watch your diet.
Best of luck!