PKD Life - Spring 2020 - 9

Ages & Stages
PKD DAY TO DAY

Don't
hate the
alarm
clock.

can snowball and have ripple
effects not just on your sleep
but throughout your lifestyle,
making it harder to maintain
other healthy habits. (For
more about pain and PKD, see
page 18.)

PROS AND CONS
OF MEDICATION

Sleep
Issues

Strategies to help you
catch your zzz's.
By Liz Krieger

it comes to wellness, there's no
W hen
bath bomb, face mask, or tiny little pill
that can do as much for you as consistently
getting adequate sleep. Yet logging enough
hours is an elusive goal for millions of
Americans, thanks to packed schedules,
sleep disorders, and many other factors.

EASYBUY4U/GETTY IMAGES

PKD CHALLENGES

For people with PKD, there are added reasons
for having trouble getting shut-eye, says
Michel Chonchol, M.D., a nephrologist and
professor of medicine at the University of
Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora. "It's
been well documented that sleep problems
are quite prevalent in people who have

kidney diseases of all kinds,
not just PKD. They often
report getting less sleep at
night and then needing to
nap during the day."
One of the biggest issues,
especially for people with
PKD who have enlarged kidneys and multiple cysts, is
simply finding a comfortable
position, since the increased
size of the organs can make
nodding off-and staying
asleep-a challenge. Sleeping on your back may be
more comfortable.
For people with more
advanced disease, there's
pain to contend with, Dr.
Chonchol says. It's vital that
you work with your doctor to
stay on top of pain, since it

The only drug approved by
the Food and Drug Administration for treating PKD,
tolvaptan-which has been
shown to delay the increase
in kidney volume (a surrogate marker for disease progression)-slows the decline
in kidney function and
reduces pain, but it also has
the unfortunate side effect of
causing frequent urination,
Dr. Chonchol says.
So you have to decide with
your doctor if and when the
drug is right for you, weighing its potential to cause
wake-ups at night against
the benefits it may bring
about. But for people who
are on diuretics overall, Dr.
Chonchol notes that "we can
move up their evening dose
to the early afternoon to try
to reduce nighttime bathroom visits."
For anyone who is able,
Dr. Chonchol strongly recommends sticking to a regular
exercise regimen. "Exercise
will help improve sleep patterns," he says.
You should also discuss
insomnia medications with
your doctor, and antidepressants can sometimes help, Dr.
Chonchol says. "Depression
is associated with insomnia.
As depression is treated,
patients tend to sleep better,"
he says.

F O R I N F O R M AT I O N A B O U T M A N A G I N G P K D A S Y O U A G E , V I S I T P K D C U R E .O R G / A G I N G

PKD_SP20_09_PKDDayToDay.indd 9

3/30/20 11:19 AM

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PKD Life - Spring 2020

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