Feels like I'm trying to swallow my uvula

by **happypapper** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 5:03 am

Anyone else ever have this happen? It feels like either my uvula touching my throat and making me feel like I have to swallow or a big (pardon the grossness) gob of mucus in the back of my throat that keeps recurring even after swallowing.

Oh, I should mention that this isn't new since starting CPAP. It also happened before CPAP.

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by **CarlRPSGT** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 5:07 am

sounds like you are sick, or having allergies. Does this only happen when using cpap? Does it get better any time during the day? What else have you noticed?

by **happypapper** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 5:13 am

Oh, I just notice it every once in a while. It also happened before CPAP. It doesn't happen every day. Actually right now I think I have slight sinus congestion, so maybe it is mucus.

by **CarlRPSGT** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 5:17 am

That sounds logical. Take some OTC meds and sleep well on cpap.

by **happypapper** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 5:20 am

Thanks, Carl :-)

by **churchmt** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 5:21 am

I have the same problems, bad before CPAP. I would snore so bad that my uvual would swell and touch the back of my tongue. Made me gag all day. Noticed it mostly when I am having allergy problems or a cold also.

by **Jessica** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 11:00 am

That's happened to me when I have a cold or a sore throat, or a sinus infection. But sometimes, I think that a large uvula is one of the causes or aggravating factors of sleep apnea. It's annoying, isn't it? Whenever that happens to me, I use SnoreStop spray, because it's supposed to tighten up the tissue in the back of the throat, and that throat spray that makes your throat numb.. I forgot what it's called.
Perhaps you should see an Ear Nose and Throat guy, and see if your uvula is just too large. (Although I've heard that surgeries to fix those kinds of things sometimes cause unpleasant side effects, so if they reccomend that, I'd research side effects a LOT before taking that advice.) But maybe they'd have some advice.

by **hhopper** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 4:14 pm

This information came for Wikipedia:

The uvula plays an important role in the articulation of the sound of the human voice to form the sounds of speech. It functions in tandem with the back of the throat, the palate, and air coming up from the lungs to create a number of guttural and other sounds. Consonants pronounced with the uvula are not found in English; however, languages such as Arabic, French, German, Hebrew, Ubykh, and Hmong use uvular consonants to varying degrees. Certain African languages use the uvula to produce click consonants as well. In English (as well as many other languages), it closes to prevent air escaping through the nose when making some sounds, such as /b/.

Velopharyngeal insufficiency

In a small number of people, the uvula does not close properly against the back of the throat, causing a condition known as "velopharyngeal insufficiency" or VPI. This causes "nasal" (or more properly "hyper-nasal") speech, where a lot of extra air comes down the nose, and the speaker is unable to say certain consonants, for example producing the sound /b/ like /m/.

Snoring and sleep apnea

The uvula can also contribute to snoring or heavy breathing during sleep; having an elongated uvula can cause vibrations which lead to the snoring. In some cases this can lead to sleep apnea, which may be treated by removal of the uvula or part of the uvula if necessary, an operation known as uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (commonly referred to as UPPP, or U3P). It should be noted, however, that this operation can also cause sleep apnea if scar tissue forms and the airspace in the velopharnyx is decreased. The success of UPPP as a treatment for sleep apnea is unknown, but some research has shown 40-60% effectiveness in reducing symptoms. Typically apnea subsides for the short term, but returns over the medium to long term, and sometimes is worse than it was before the UPPP.

Nasal regurgitation

During swallowing, the soft palate and the uvula move superiorly to close off the nasopharynx, preventing food from entering the nasal cavity. When this process fails, the result is called nasal regurgitation. It is common in people with VPI.

by **maestro_226** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 10:38 pm

I had my tonsils removed because they had become enlarged. I was told i had tonsilitis, only i was not in any pain and i rarely get sick. But...because of my major feeling to gag, i thought that had to be the reason why. Well 2 months after the surgery, my gag reflex is back and worse, i can't exercise at all without having to stop every 20 seconds or so. I really think that my uvula is touching the back of my throat and causing the reflex. Im just really pissed because i have never had this problem. and just in the last 3 months has this started happening. Is there anything, i can do to reduce the frequency of gagging?..im going to see my ENT again about this on monday.

thanks

by **hhopper** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 3:36 pm

The only thing that I can think of is to try a throat lozenge that numbs the throat slightly, like Cepacol. It might calm down the gag reflex a little.

by **hunts** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 8:01 pm

Just a little FYI also. Abuse of Cocaine will cause this to happen overtime. Just saying so, because a long time ago, I never had such a problem before drug use. Then I fell into the dark side for about a 6 month spell and when in finally broke out of doing bad things. I constantly felt like I had a hacker back there that I could not get rid of. Further inspection, I kind of swelled the uvula and it really has never felt the same since. Haven't touched the stuff since, 6-7 years now, but when I smoke a few too many cigs, it does jack with me.