Is it plausible that I have UARS? (Sleep study results included)

Hey all. For 11 years now I've been dealing with feeling exhausted and unrefreshed after sleep every single morning. I fall and stay asleep very easily with no history of restlessness or insomnia, and generally sleep through the night without any conscious awakenings (maybe once to use the bathroom on some nights). Last year I had a polysomnography and MSLT done overnight and I posted the results on Imgur here (8 images total): https://imgur.com/a/9z2xCFm

Overall the results didn't show any clear signs as to why I feel this way from a sleep perspective. Generally speaking, I get 8-9 solid hours every night on a consistent sleep schedule and maintain good sleep hygiene. After all this time researching my health issues, I think I've narrowed it down to either dietary/gut related issues such as possible food intolerances or sensitivities, or UARS. The only reason I suspect UARS is because I have a mild overbite. My main symptoms are brain fog, poor memory and concentration, chronic fatigue, dark eye bags and poor skin (probably due to the stress of feeling awful every day). All of my wisdom teeth have grown through with minimal fuss and I've never needed to wear braces or other dental devices. I don't snore at all, in fact I'm dead silent through the night. I never breathe through my mouth unless I have severe nasal congestion, for the most part my sinuses are fine though.

I have no idea if what I'm feeling is sleepiness or fatigue, but I just feel worn out all the time. I've had countless tests such as thyroid and comprehensive blood work done that have all come back normal. I'm 27, male, 5'11" and weigh 70kg (never been overweight in my life). Ultimately I just want to rule out whether I have UARS or not so I can worry about one less thing to try and figure out my root problems. Unfortunately I live in the UK and can't find any hospitals or clinics that seem to test for UARS specifically. Apologies if any of this seems disorganised, thanks for reading.

I had chronic brain fog, autoimmune urticaria and many other thyroid symptoms for years.... it wasn't until a few years ago that they tested my T3 & T4. A regular thyroid check (tsh) won't always find all thyroid issues especially if you thyroid jumps around sometimes working sometimes not. I would push your doctor hard for more thyroid testing especially if autoimmune issues run in your family.

babydinosnoreless wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 23, 2019 4:32 pm

I had chronic brain fog, autoimmune urticaria and many other thyroid symptoms for years.... it wasn't until a few years ago that they tested my T3 & T4. A regular thyroid check (tsh) won't always find all thyroid issues especially if you thyroid jumps around sometimes working sometimes not. I would push your doctor hard for more thyroid testing especially if autoimmune issues run in your family.

My latest thyroid test was in early 2017. The serum free T4 level was 15.2 pmol/L, and the serum TSH level was 1.30 mu/L. Both of these seem to be in the "normal range". Any ideas if they look off in anyway? Thanks.

KG7 wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 23, 2019 4:42 pm

babydinosnoreless wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 23, 2019 4:32 pm

I had chronic brain fog, autoimmune urticaria and many other thyroid symptoms for years.... it wasn't until a few years ago that they tested my T3 & T4. A regular thyroid check (tsh) won't always find all thyroid issues especially if you thyroid jumps around sometimes working sometimes not. I would push your doctor hard for more thyroid testing especially if autoimmune issues run in your family.

My latest thyroid test was in early 2017. The serum free T4 level was 15.2 pmol/L, and the serum TSH level was 1.30 mu/L. Both of these seem to be in the "normal range". Any ideas if they look off in anyway? Thanks.

I have no idea, sorry. Apparently our thyroid levels are checked differently in the US.

Mine says normal range for t4 is .82 -1.77 ng/dL and tsh normal range is .45-4.5 ulU/mL.

I don't think you have UARS, based on what I can tell of the study.

The sign of UARS in a sleep study is respiratory-related arousals (RERAs). I don't see them explicitly scored, but the notes say that almost all of your arousals were non-RERAs; spontaneous, or caused by leg or body jerks.

Also, with UARS, those RERAs often result in fragmented sleep architecture. In my study, for example, I got virtually zero REM sleep, while your REM and SWS were normal.

slowriter wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 23, 2019 7:27 pm

I don't think you have UARS, based on what I can tell of the study.

The sign of UARS in a sleep study is respiratory-related arousals (RERAs). I don't see them explicitly scored, but the notes say that almost all of your arousals were non-RERAs; spontaneous, or caused by leg or body jerks.

Also, with UARS, those RERAs often result in fragmented sleep architecture. In my study, for example, I got virtually zero REM sleep, while your REM and SWS were normal.

What you say makes a lot of sense. I'm actually hoping you're right so that I can cross UARS off my list of potential causes.