UARS

[Jessie]

I think I have UARS that is going undiagnosed.

My RDI was only 0.5/hr, with a mean oxygenation of 94%. Also, my arousal index was only 6.6/hr. Only 2 hypopneas were seen, with no apneas.

However, although those numbers look generally pretty good, the fact remains that I get very bad sleep, and I never dream. In the sleep study, I spent a total of 1 minute in REM sleep. I spent 63% of my sleep in stage 2 and 28% in stage 1.

Numerous doctors have commented on my throat, saying it looks obstructive, and a few of them even ask me if I have sore throats often. I also have asthma.

Would UARS be possible given this info? I always wake up with headaches, and they remain the whole day.

[Guest]

Here's a link to a thread you may find interesting:

UARS obstructions, 420e, etc.

[Guest]

I think it's definitely possible that you have UARS, especially since sleep studies do a terrible job at diagnosing this particular syndrome, and some sleep specialist doctors aren't even aware of it.

[sleepyred]

I was just dx with UARS (Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome) in October. I do not have my data, but my sleep doc said I was having "lots" of micro arousals during my sleep study which was preventing me from going into 3 or 4 REM sleep. I also have restless legs. He put me on an iron supplement and after my iron levels went up, I was still VERY tired.

He sent me home with a cpap for 5 nights. What a difference! He prescribed a cpap with a pressure of 7 and he had to appeal the insurance company to get the machine. I have it and have logged in over 900 hours! My husband is thrilled - because he can now sleep without me moaning and groaning the entire night!

PM me if you have any questions - I don't know how many others on the board have UARS, but a cpap is seems to be the way to go. My doc was presenting my case to other sleep docs after he saw my positive results.

http://www.umm.edu/patiented/articles/w ... 0065_1.htm

Scroll down to find UARS.

[ozij]

Both my sleep study and titration study were a mess - and the doctor mumbled something about UARS and an ENT, but agreed to let me try CPAP - I've been using a PB420E since April 05, and feel much better.

If a CPAP helps you feel better, it could be UARS. An arousal index of 6.6 does mean you're not getting the sleep you need - even though your arousals are not caused by your lower airways collapsing and causing apneas or hypopneas.

O.

[scuba-do]

I was diagnosed with UARS a couple of months ago. There are a couple of criteria for diagnosis. The gold standard is with esophageal pressure monitoring. However, most sleep labs do not do this as it is intrusive. Most individuals with UARS snore and have increased Respiratory Effort Related Arousals (RERAs) correlating with arousals (I did not.) Another diagnostic criteria is > 10 otherwise unexplained arousals per hour with an AHI <5/hr and an improvement w/ CPAP (my situation was 30-40 arousals per hour down to <10/hr with CPAP). Therefore, CPAP can be both diagnostic and therapeutic. However, most insurance companies will look for the >10 arousals/hr before approving a trial of CPAP.

With the number of arousals/hr that you had, it is not clearly suggestive. However, if you spent large amounts of time awake during the study, then you may need to look at the arousals per time asleep to see if that is helpful.

Good Luck

[sleepyred]

I was diagnosed with UARS a couple of months ago. There are a couple of criteria for diagnosis. The gold standard is with esophageal pressure monitoring. However, most sleep labs do not do this as it is intrusive. Most individuals with UARS snore and have increased Respiratory Effort Related Arousals (RERAs) correlating with arousals (I did not.) Another diagnostic criteria is > 10 otherwise unexplained arousals per hour with an AHI <5/hr and an improvement w/ CPAP (my situation was 30-40 arousals per hour down to <10/hr with CPAP). Therefore, CPAP can be both diagnostic and therapeutic. However, most insurance companies will look for the >10 arousals/hr before approving a trial of CPAP.

Come to think of it - my doc said I had 24 arousals - but I don't know if that was in a 1 hour period or the 5 hours I was "asleep". He gave me the trial of a cpap (no cost to me) instead of the esophageal pressure monitoring since as you said - it is intrusive and not many sleep centers actually do it. I did so well with my doctor's cpap, that he appealed the insurance company who kept saying, "you don't have sleep apnea" and finally I was approved after a 1 month trial which I used my cpap for 8 hours per night and woke up very rested!

The ironic point is that by the time they approve after the "1 month trial" which usually lasts more, they could have bought the cpap outright!