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CF and massive sleep disorder

Question
Dear Expert Team,

I was accidentally diagnosed with CF only at the age of 29 and have been suffering from massive sleep disorder for several years.

I go to bed at 10 p.m. and get up again at 5:30 a.m.. During the night, I get up four times and have to eat and drink something, and in the morning I am very exhausted. Could this be a sign of a lack of oxygen during the night, or rather too much strain from taking care of my daughter (six years, CF)?

Many thanks,
leomax1994
Answer
Hello,

it seems to me that there could be a connection – I cannot tell for sure, of course, since I do not know you and know nothing about your state of health.

Sleep disorder can have so many different causes that it is impossible for me to list them all here – however, it is certainly not a problem typical of CF. If the heart is in bad shape due to strongly limited lung function, it is possible that one has to go to the bathroom often during the night; this, however, does not have anything to do with hunger. Similarly, this does not sound like typical nightly oxygen problems – but one can easily check that, just like nightly hypoglycaemia as well.

However, I cannot judge whether these exams should be carried out in your case; you should talk about this with your CF doctor. She/He will also be able to tell you whether a mother-child treatment program would perhaps be a good option for you, since that would allow you to work on your daughter’s problems as well as your own. Perhaps the pressure would have to be taken off you completely for a bit, but then, of course, there will soon be the question of taking care of your daughter. Here, again, your CF clinic can help best in getting good advice.

It seems important to me that, as a first step, you are questioning your problems and not accepting them. Now you have to find a good way together with your CF clinic to get them under control.

Kind regards,
Prof. Dr. TOF Wagner
24.02.2009