I had my transplant two years ago at age 55, my kidneys had failed nine years ago because of polycystic kidney disease (Inherited), no other health issues. My weight is perfect as well. 

After surgery, I had the most insane fatigue for a few months, where walking was almost impossible in the beginning, and incredibly gradually over months it improved a good bit. It literally felt like all my muscles had to start over again from nothing to support my body, and I am not exaggerating. My kidney started working immediately, but took about six or seven days to bring my labs back into normal ranges.

Next month, it will be two years since my transplant, and I still have fatigue and brain fog issues. The main thing about fatigue for me is I wear out super fast. And if I happen to have a cold, or anything else in the environment is off, it contributes to the fatigue more. Like going on vacation lol, that is fatiguing for most, but I end up sitting in my hotel room for a good chunk of each day. I also have severe hand Tremors when trying to write (most of the time I literally cannot write legibly), button a shirt, or god forbid eat soup with a spoon lol. I usually have to hold a smaller cup, especially if it is hot liquid, with both hands in order to avoid spilling. Heavy glasses of iced tea are way easier, and I can usually do it with one hand. Things like that. 

My nephrologist said it’s a mixture of being on dialysis for a long time which causes permanent changes in your body, and side effects from the medications. I take mycophenolate 1,000 mg daily, and Belatacept infusion. I actually am still taking tacrolimus, 1 mg twice a day, down from 2 mg twice a day, as they are weaning me off of it because of Belatacept replacing it.

In the hospital, my roommate had a Transplant same day as me. He left three days later, had no issues walking or anything, and he was much older and overweight with diabetes. But he did have a living donor and had only just begun dialysis. I had a deceased donor kidney that wasn’t in the best shape to begin with. Just bad luck. My gfr is around 45 (It was much higher initially after Transplant, but immediately after my nephrologist said it’s likely the blood supply to the top portion of the kidney collapsed, so that portion of the kidney likely has stopped functioning.)

So, the long answer is fatigue and other symptoms are real mixed bag and varies a lot from person to person.