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TransplantBuddies.org Forums » Kidney - Pancreas » Archive through September 05, 2010 » Popular Topics in our Kidney & Pancreas Forum » Picking up traits from donor? « Previous Next »


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Rob C
Member
Username: Rob_c

Post Number: 222
Registered: 09-2007
Posted on Friday, February 05, 2010 - 02:53 am:   Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Not sure if this has ever been discussed before but have any of you started craving foods that you previously could not stand prior to your transplant? I NEVER, EVER drank coffee before my second transplant. I honestly might have had two cups in my entire life and did not finish them because I just could not stand the taste of coffee.

Shortly after my transplant I walked into the lobby of this hotel where I was staying and they were brewing coffee and the smell was so enticing that I went and poured myself a cup even though I figured I would not like it. I drank the whole cup then went back for a second cup. I have been craving coffee ever since.

Now, I have to have a cup of coffee every morning and I can't pass a Starbucks without stopping in. I don't know anything about my donor other than he was a large, muscular, 44 year old male. I really wonder if he loved coffee because I honestly can't explain my cravings for it because I never liked it before.

Oh yeah, and I also started listening to Christian music. It just seems like whenever I am flipping through the stations in the car my radio always ends up on K-Love. Never really listened to Christian music before before either.

Anyone else experienced something like this?
Aussie Ian
Member
Username: Aussie_ian

Post Number: 7
Registered: 10-2008
Posted on Friday, February 05, 2010 - 07:40 am:   Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Hi Rob C

Funny you post this - I have never found out fully who my donor was, I received a kidney & pancreas from a deceased donor here in Australia.

On my first shopping trip to the mall (a while after the transplant) I walked to a linen store (like Bed Bath & Beyond in the US) and started looking at towels etc that were on sale --then

A couple of days later I was whistling along to a Celine Dion song in my wifes car - I had to slap myself around the face a few times, because I am a rock & roll fan - love all of the 'new music that my 13 year old daughter likes etc

I jokingly spoke to my Transplant co-ordinator about this - he said there was no possibility ------ but who knows????

Regards Ian
CiscoKidney07
Forum Leader
Username: Gregg

Post Number: 3130
Registered: 03-2008
Posted on Friday, February 05, 2010 - 08:57 am:   Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

LOL!! I think as we get older, our tastes change. Things like that would be easy to attribute to a donor, but I think however little my tastes have changed, that this is what it is, plain and simple. When I was a kid, my mother used to make spaghetti quite a bit. There was a period of time that I had told my wife after we were married, that spaghetti was my least favorite pasta dish. After transplant, I made spaghetti, because I knew how much she liked it. (she was my donor) I did change quite a bit--added everything I thought spaghetti should have in it--basil, mushrooms, lots and lots of garlic, and at the time, I used bulk italian sausage to make it, along with ground beef. It spiced it up quite a bit and made it taste much different. Now, I make it once or twice a month, sans the iltalian sausage and only using grass-fed beef in order to cut down on fat and salt. By the way, Aussie Ian, I will not be trading my AC/DC in for Celine Dion any time soon. LOL!! Great topic. I enjoyed the chat.
There are not too many things in life worth working my butt off for, but my health is one of them
Joan G
Member
Username: Jogalmax

Post Number: 6
Registered: 02-2008
Posted on Friday, February 05, 2010 - 11:07 am:   Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

This is so funny that you all are mentioning this! I always craved
Chinese food and would eat it all the time. After my transplant
in Nov 06 I cannot eat Chinese Food anymore. Even the smell
turns me off. My husband is always saying, "maybe my donor
didn't like Chinese food."
Joan Galkin
Meagan
Forum Leader
Username: Newheart14

Post Number: 804
Registered: 01-2009
Posted on Friday, February 05, 2010 - 11:56 am:   Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Rob C,

I think this is what they call cellular memory. There has been a discussion about this before. Prior to my transplant I never ate peanut butter or ketchup or drank coffee, but after my transplant I started consuming all of these things. However, I think there were reasons for this. I lost all my taste after the transplant except for sweet things, and peanut butter has some sweetness and so does ketchup. I no longer eat these two things but my sense of taste has returned. I do drink a cup of coffee in the morning now. I had stopped drinking coffee prior to my transplant due to heart arrhythmias. So, of course, after I got my new heart I never experienced arrhythmias and resumed drinking coffee.

It is a cute notion to think we may pick up some traits.
First Combined Heart-Liver Transplant
Performed at Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Canada
February 14, 2008
My very long story, read at your own risk - http://www.transplantbuddies.org/tbx/messages/28633/110367.html?1261933277
My amazing doctor, Dr. Ross will ski to the North Pole in 2010 - http://www.tgwhf.ca/sites/testyourlimits/
http://www.facebook.com/people/Meagan-Casimir/1149907559
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift, that is why it is called the present.
John M
Member
Username: Jam1107

Post Number: 68
Registered: 12-2006
Posted on Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 11:43 am:   Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Rob,

Right after both transplants, I had unbelievable cravings for foods I don't normally eat. After my first transplant, I wanted to drink seltzer and eat Chinese food and cheese doodles; after my second, I craved root beer soda and apple juice. These cravings eventually subsided -- though I still drink seltzer.

I can't help but believe that these are foods my donors liked...

John
Pancreas alone transplant 4/13/04; rejected 2/07; removed 5/31/07.
Second pancreas transplant received 11/11/08.
NY Presbyterian/Cornell Medical Center, NY
Terri
Member
Username: Terri

Post Number: 164
Registered: 09-2007
Posted on Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 02:41 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

I agree, I think taste just changes. Like I always hated apple sauce when I was little and even hated it after transplant but now as an adult, I love it. I never liked peanut butter but love it a lot now. I can just eat it straight out of the jar with a spoon.
Terri - Because I CAN
Liver Transplant July 2, 1991
Kicker28
Member
Username: Kicker28

Post Number: 8
Registered: 06-2007
Posted on Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 05:43 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

I had such a craving for ripe tomatoes just after my transplant and I HATE them usually! I put it down to not eating a lot after the transplant and missing out on certain food groups/chemicals etc However, I then wanted to get onto a motorbike and drive VERY fast. My husband was not happy at this one as I had made him sell his Kawasaki a year or so previously for being too dangerous!! I watched a programme here in the UK about transplant patients changing personalities and some doctors were saying that not only does the brain have memories but the heart MAY do as well - as for other organs, who knows. There's still a world to explore...
Cress
ChuckZ
Member
Username: Chuckz

Post Number: 883
Registered: 05-2006
Posted on Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 08:29 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

I believe that it is possible to acquire some attributes of our donor. In my case, I received a kidney from my sister, so we did have several similarities beforehand (we were a perfect match). After transplant, I have been bothered more allergies, a problem my sister has always had. But more importantly, I had a bone marrow biopsy due to a suspected blood disorder which was proven negative. Interesting enough, they apparently found a few of my sister's cells in my marrow. What may have occurred is that I got some stem cells along with her kidney (by accident) and they took root in my bone marrow. I am almost certain that I produce some of my sisters blood! Pretty wild, huh!

Chuck
Karen R.
Forum Leader
Username: Relivkaren

Post Number: 4054
Registered: 07-2007
Posted on Saturday, February 06, 2010 - 10:16 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

So far I have not had too many food cravings. The one thing that I want to eat all the time is cheese. I try all kinds of cheese. I don't know if my body is craving something in cheese or if my donor loved cheese. I never ate much cheese prior to transplant and now I eat it everyday. It's kind of crazy.

I love the thought of cellular memory. I am always looking for things that I never did before and now do. I do not know anything about my donor yet. I am hoping to learn more after I write my letter. I pray everyday that my donor family responds. I just want to thank them for this precious gift.

God Bless!
Karen
Dx: BOOP - May 2006. Rediagnosed with Bronchiolitis Obliterans Nov. 2006
Double lung transplant on Dec. 1st, 2009
Cleveland Clinic

Ohio, USA

Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
yvonne
Member
Username: Yvonnehall123

Post Number: 9
Registered: 01-2010
Posted on Wednesday, February 10, 2010 - 06:26 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Wow! Im so overwhelmed reading all these post i don't know what to do with myself..Well simply put..Prior to My Transplant I loved eating Healthy, Salads, friuts and vegatables. Now I cant seem to stand those types of foods, I just want Junk food, Grease and cakes etc :-) but the one thing that stood out the most to me wasthe fact That I have been craving a cigarette for the last couple of months. I absolute detest cigarette smoke and I wont go around anyone that smokes..but I want a cigarette these days..I recently found out that my Donor used to smoke:-)
Yvonne
Kidney Transplant 05-03-09
University of Wisconsin
Madison, Wi
Barbara
Member
Username: Cray5

Post Number: 5
Registered: 10-2008
Posted on Friday, February 12, 2010 - 01:02 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

I do the EXACT same thing! I disliked coffee before my transplant. Now, I drink it every single day!! I have never really understood why. Coffee tends to be one of those things you love or hate. I was transplanted 3 1/2 years ago - and I crave it constantly. I received a KP from a deceased donor. I wonder if they craved coffee?! I was really interested in the cellular memory idea for awhile. I am skeptical, but still find it interesting.
MollyJo
Member
Username: Mollyjo

Post Number: 17
Registered: 07-2009
Posted on Friday, February 12, 2010 - 10:17 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

I think it's possible. My family always jokes that my donor must have been a really healthy eater, cause I can't STAND fast food (except in-n-out burger!) and I used to live on it. I had an intestinal transplant. Now, I love veggies and vegan foods and really try to only eat organic. I used to LOVE taco bell before my transplant, and I pass by it and almost throw up now... heehee

My mom is my kidney donor, and I haven't developed a taste for liver or corned beef (both things she loves and i HAAATE) though...

I started drinking coffee after my transplant, but I always liked it, just couldn't have it. But it is a full fledged addiction now :-)
Rocket Heart
Member
Username: Rocketheart583

Post Number: 289
Registered: 08-2007
Posted on Saturday, February 13, 2010 - 12:51 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

This one even blows my mind away. I am a heart transplant recipient - The second year after transplant I started having nightly dreams of a young lady - she was not really active in the dream but always was just there. My donor was only 16 when he past away - I try to visit his Mom and friend's once a year.

I told my donors Mom that I was having these dreams and asked if Cory had a girlfriend - she gave me some suggestions but none really fit my dream girl.

That year, at his graveside on January 26, we all met to remember Cory - a lot of his friends were there but none looked like her - as we about to leave a young girl came up to meet me - I knew instantly she was the one in my dreams - I told her " You're the one!" - her reply "I hoped I would be" - Linda had put the word out about me trying to find my dream girl - so she knew what I was saying when I told her. We didn't get to talk any further.

My dreams stopped after that. Just recently the girl contacted me again and blew me away!! She was Cory's new love and they were to start dating the next week after he was killed.

Spooky eh?
Rocket Heart

Tom Emahiser
Waterville, Oh
Heart Failure
Heart Txplt 1/26/05 University of Michigan
MollyJo
Member
Username: Mollyjo

Post Number: 25
Registered: 07-2009
Posted on Tuesday, February 16, 2010 - 02:05 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

More like awesome :-)

I wish I knew my donors friends/family or even just who they were...

When I was really sick, I dreamed about this young guy "saving me" from any type of nightmare dream or any time that I was uncomfortable in my dreams and taking me to a quiet place where I would just talk to him... Not romantically, but just having a strong friendly bond. I would look for him I. All my dreams when they'd get scary or intense... And he'd be there.

I never dreamed of him again after the transplant... So I always wonder...
Hostess Rise'
Forum Leader
Username: Risa

Post Number: 12331
Registered: 05-2003
Posted on Tuesday, February 16, 2010 - 02:57 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Rocket
Your story about your dream girl gave me the chills.
Cystic Fibrosis- dx at 2yrs. -2nd double lung tx-05 JMH

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Amy
Member
Username: Amy_moo

Post Number: 21
Registered: 09-2008
Posted on Friday, February 19, 2010 - 05:23 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

I am a lesbian and I didn't come out to my family until a year or so after my transplant (at the age of 19). Now my mom swears up and down its because I got a man's kidney.....I think she's funny.
~Amy~
Goodpastures Syndrome
9 year kidney recipient
Wilmington, NC
dont be sad its over, be happy that it happened at all.
amy_moore@ncports.com
Malcolm Inverness SCOTLAND
Member
Username: Malmorrison

Post Number: 17
Registered: 04-2010
Posted on Monday, April 12, 2010 - 06:37 am:   Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

I heard befor I got my transplant that sometimes people take on some of the traits. Just after my TX the donor co ordinator came to see me at my hospital bed, and she saw I was kinda upset and thinkin of my donor. She then said, you have to get through your experience and sometimes seeing the funny side of things if you can or initially make light of things which are bothering you. I then went on to ask Qs about my donor, and the reply was a 43 year old female donor.

I went on to say Jeez does that mean that I will take up watchin daytime tv (chat shows) she laughed and said maybe theres worse to come you have seven years before you go through the menapause :D

Although we mad light of this I did ask was there any truth in taking on some aspects of your donor all she said was there is that possability however every patient is different.

I havent heard from my donor family although I take a moment each day to think of them.

Kind regards to you all

malmorrison
Cadaveric KidneyTX July 27th 2009 Edinburgh Royal Infirmary Scotland


Our kidneys may be gone but our minds havent
Rita
Forum Leader
Username: Rita

Post Number: 133
Registered: 06-2003
Posted on Monday, April 12, 2010 - 08:06 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

I believe that there are things that are true, but cant be proven because we do not have the test for it. I believe that there are connections between people who receive a transplant and the donor. I do believe some people can naturally "tune" into it.
Rita
Kidney Transplant 9/95
New York City
kim
Member
Username: Kim_a

Post Number: 5
Registered: 04-2010
Posted on Sunday, April 18, 2010 - 09:11 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

I do have cravings for donuts! But I believe that is because I was diabetic for most of my life and then on dialysis for a while before k-p tx. I do have dreams of my donor, but can never see her face. I have not heard from her parents. I know she was 17, but that is all I know. My dreams are not good ones. In my dreams she did not want me to receive her organs, she doesn't feel I am the perfect match for her. I am having a lot of trouble coping with it. Any one else have dreams like that?
Kim A
kim
Member
Username: Kim_a

Post Number: 6
Registered: 04-2010
Posted on Sunday, April 18, 2010 - 09:13 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

I do have cravings for donuts! But I believe that is because I was diabetic for most of my life and then on dialysis for a while before k-p tx. I do have dreams of my donor, but can never see her face. I have not heard from her parents. I know she was 17, but that is all I know. My dreams are not good ones. In my dreams she did not want me to receive her organs, she doesn't feel I am the perfect match for her. I am having a lot of trouble coping with it. Any one else have dreams like that?
Kim A
Ms. Tenicka
Member
Username: Mstrobin1975

Post Number: 4
Registered: 02-2010
Posted on Saturday, August 21, 2010 - 03:25 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

I know I am late but I wanted to share my experience.

During my first transplant back in 1998. It seemed that after my transplant I started developing sinus issues. Never had this problem before the transplant. I horrible sinus infections and headaches out this world. This issue had to come from my donor. Which I am very thankful for. I'll take the sinus issue over dialysis any day.

Just received my second transplant 31 days ago today. I don't know what to expect this time.
Ms. Tenicka
Thanking God for a third chance at life!
Kidney Transplant 04/01/98
Kidney Transplant 07/21/10

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