Dec 2023: I woke up with uvulitis due to smoking/drinking heavy the night before.
Jan 2025: Woke up with enlarged uvula due to smoking/ drinking heavy. It went away after a few days.
Fast-forward to Feb 2025, after getting sick I noticed my swallowing/ speaking ability changed.
I have to try harder to speak and it's hard to pronounce certain words, it feels like I'm choking on my words, something is preventing me from speaking properly. Additionally, I feel like I have something in the back of my throat that causes me to constantly swallow, however when I swallow I don't get any relief. It's a very strange sensation. At first I could tolerate it since it wasn't really affecting my speech but now its been more of an annoyance.
When I look in the back of my throat, I notice my uvula rests on my tongue and also gets stuck to my tonsils when I swallow. It doesn't look like a tear drop but rather a hockey stick. I've compared mine to two other people and theirs looks like a tear-drop
Im assuming two things:
1.After my uvula enlarged, it did return to its original shape and its constantly dragging on my tongue causing that sensation and interfering with my ability to talk, especially considering that the symptoms began after the uvulitis incidents.
- My soft palate dropped; however, the reason for soft palate drop is unknown. I noticed that many people who have tonsillectomy and had their soft palate drop afterward, reported the same symptoms as mine. The only thing though is that I have not had a tonsillectomy before.
I'm currently in the process of getting a referral for an ENT specialist, I should receive it within by today/ tomorrow. I was referred by my primary for elongated uvula. My hopes are that these symptoms are due to my uvula so that a simple uvulectomy or partial uvula removal will help resolve my issues.