Hello! I just found this thread today & created an account so I could comment. I’m wondering if what I’m experiencing is the same or at least similar to others here. I’ve read through the whole thread and it sounds like the chief complaint is having to dislodge/hack out a scab from the adenoid area every couple of days. I also seem to have a mucus-y clump that dislodges every week or so, but usually it’s relatively small and I can’t cough it out of my mouth— it just goes down my throat. In case anyone can bear to read a long story, I’ll explain my situation from the beginning.
On a day in late October 2020, I was out and about and suddenly felt like I was having a hard time getting air— almost like I was congested. I thought it might be Covid so I went to my physician and was tested and it came back negative. Because it wasn’t Covid they thought it might be heart burn, so I tried taking heart burn medication which didn’t relieve the breathing issue. After 2 more visits to my physician, some blood work, and a chest X-ray later, my physician said she thought it might be anxiety and that I should consider taking medication for it. I felt like my physician was wrong, so I visited an ENT (April 2021). My ENT used a laryngoscope to look into my nose and she said she was seeing adenoid hypertrophy and nasal turbinate hypertrophy. She believed I had an adenoid infection. She prescribed an antibiotic (clarithromycin), an antibiotic ointment (mupirocin), an antihistamine (azelastine), Flonase, Claritin, and a daily nasal saline rinse (NeilMed). I didn’t think my issues were allergy-related because I’ve never had allergies, so I didn’t take the Flonase or Claritin. I did use the other things prescribed, but nothing fully resolved my issue. I went back to the ENT (June 2021) a couple months later and she once again used a laryngoscope and saw minor improvements in the adenoid and turbinate hypertrophy, but there were still there. She also dislodged a mucus clump with the scope during the visit. She suggested I visit an allergist to see if allergies were the cause. I followed her recommendation to see the allergist and it came back with zero allergies. I also did a lung function test which came up clear as well. The ENT mentioned that if I was still having problems in 3-4 months, that I should visit her for an adenoidectomy. I’m pretty opposed to having surgery for something that I don’t even know what the problem is, so I haven’t gone back.
Since my last ENT visit in 2021, I haven’t seen anyone for the issue. Day to day, I’ve gotten used to the feeling of mild congestion and find myself swallowing a mucus clump that comes from my adenoid area about once every one to two weeks. Whenever I’m getting the mucus clump, I have little red dots on the roof of my mouth. I also have started to have minor headaches from time to time or just twinges of head pain pretty much daily. I’ve started to just feel generally unwell. My symptoms seem to improve and get worse and then improve again and the cycle continues. I’m considering seeing another ENT because I really want to figure it out once and for all.
I’m not sure if my symptoms line up exactly with what people here are experiencing, but I’ve never heard anyone talk about the mucus-y clump before so I thought it might be similar.