Danyell,
Of course everyone is different, but the hair, sleep thing is pretty common.
The sleep thing is that we have trouble going to sleep, staying asleep. Steriod induced? Immune suppression induced? Surgery induced? Many possible reasons. But it seems over time, it goes away. Some need the help of medicine, others need to do exercises before bed, or relaxation tapes etc.
The hair thing. For me, the color changed slightly darker. I also had very straight hair pre tx,now there is a wave to it.
Does it go back to "normal". Varies I guess. I don't mind the change. Also with the meds, there can be a loss of hair or growth in hair... and we are not talking just your head.
Those on Cyclosporine notice a growth in hair, all over their body... Do you turn into an ape? No, but women find they are needing to shave more places and looking for hair removal systems. I was on Neoral for a month after transplant and had hair on my back and arms. Not real heavy, but enough for me to notice. I then was switched to Prograf for neurologically reasons and the hair went away.
Those on Prograf may see hair loss, on the head. This seems to be a temporary thing.
Skin drying out... I don't have it. Not sure how common that is.
But what I do want to also include here is that I am glad I do not look like I did pre tx... I found some photos of myself pre tx... I was about 100 pounds on 5'5 frame. I looked so sick. After tx, I started to gain weight and all my clothes I had bought pre tx, no longer fit. It made me upset at first, but as my coordinator said, " consider those old clothes your 'sick' clothes, now you have healthy clothes".
Glad you asked your questions.
luckylungsforjo@aol.com
Joanne Schum
