Finally someone who understands! Yes, I get this too since 2020. I have noticed that I get a huge phlegmy drainage that is most significant right before a bigger daily spike in other long covid symptoms, which could happen throughout the day on some days or go a few days without.

I often also get what I call an "ice feeling" or "acid" feeling at the same time right up in the top front of my head (frontal lobe?) and top of the bridge of my nose, like my sinus area but not IN my sinuses. I also notice a "spicy" or "icy" feeling below my ears. Only you guys will understand how we can have symptoms that are localized somewhere in our body but at the same time not directly in the spot explained. The nasal drip/ice or spicy feeling in my head leads me to immediately sit, or lay down and calm my nervous system, and then try getting back to what I was trying to do.

So at the moment of the Big Loogie draining down my throat, I make myself take deep breaths and to slow down whatever I am doing instantly. I have learned that for me, it is an inflamation response to whatever I am doing, eating, too much mental exertion, too much of anything. If I can calm what my body is reacting to and use the drainage as a sign of immediate inflamation, I have been able to slightly reduce how long my crash at that moment is. I can slightly reduce the instant-onset fatigue and thinking difficulty. (Like right now, while trying to think and write this, I can feel it coming on. My voice will also get froggy at these times. I know I am doing too much.)

If you are familiar with how much the gut response could be activating our symptoms, which seems to be brought up consistently in the long covid research symposiums, it would make sense that what we experience after eating is bringing on this inflamation response.

So for me, the increase in mucus or phlegm, when it is even bigger than normal, is actually a good thing for me, I guess. Yes, I would rather not have it. But appreciate that now I can use it as an indicator, and I am able to instantly take the time to go, uh oh, here it comes, I am going to crash bigger than normal and take steps to reduce the crash before I get too much into the thick of it. And some days are all phlegmy, and I notice that those are my worst days and to spend more time managing my inflamation responses.

My one thing, which will sound strange maybe, that helps, which I learned from someone with Chronic Fatigue (ME/CFS) to help manage this, and it would make sense from the "gut/brain barrier" response to how our bodies are responding, is to drink a can of kombucha at that immediate start of the drainage. I am able to put the amount of drainage off if I start my day with kombucha. I know, that sounds wierd. I wouldn't even mention it if it hadn't proven itself as helpful to me. The thought behind the kombucha is the amount of probiotics that you are instantly drinking, and that quickly helps your gut. For me, when I feel the increase in phlegm or the spike in symptoms, I drink my kombucha and the overall symptoms reduce some, not all, (phlegm, spicy feeling, even a bit of the fatigue). At this point, I drink one in the morning as I start my day and it seems to help. Adding kombucha (after trying zillions of other things) is the only consistent thing I have found helpful along with resting immediately as the Big Loogie comes on. This is the only thing that I have found consistently helpful that I have been able to share with my neurologist or anyone else. I don't know if probiotics in another form would do the same? (I have tried all the brands and only care for Humm Kombucha.)