tongue rising up to soft palate blocking airway

[paula123123]

I see a previous woman wrote to this website back in Jan 2006 - I am experiencing the same thing - just started yesterday - when I try and sleep my tongue rising up to my soft palate or the roof of my mouth and almost becomes glued to it - I am unable to sleep in any way - because the tongue is blocking off the airflow - my tongue is doing this 24 hours a day now day and night.  What is going on?  I went to the hospital - they didn't think I was having an allergic reaction.  Please help.  I can't go on like this.

[KatEyes]

Couple issues to address... if your tongue is blocking your airway during sleep, you need to be on treatment to keep your airway open until for whatever reason it is no longer an issue. Has your doctor ordered a sleep study to see how bad it is? Have you seen an ENT to see if your tongue is enlarged and to determine why? I don't know all the possible causes, but I did read that hypothyroid can cause the tongue to be larger, but an ENT should know all the possible causes. Any doctor can order a thyroid panel to assess that.

Till you get answers, you might try sleeping on your stomach, or elevating the head of your bed a few inches and staying off your back. If you have a family doctor, they can start the ball rolling by ordering the blood tests and can even order a sleep study. Hope you find answers soon.

[CareerLady]

I hope you have gotten answers for your Jan 2009 post. If not, here is something to think about. Normal breathing is nasal breathing, and when you have nasal breathing, it is ok for your tongue to fit up against the roof of your mouth and against your palate. In fact, this actually helps the air you breathe in go directly down into your lungs.

If you find that your tongue is blocking your breathing, it appears that you are trying to breathe through your mouth. In this case, having your tongue rest in its natural position is a problem. However, it's not really your tongue that's the problem. The real problem is whatever is keeping you from breathing through your nose.

Were you having a really bad cold? Have you started having allergies or have they become significantly worse?  Did you have an injury to your nose? If you can't breathe through your nose, you need to see an ENT. Healthy breathing (for many reasons) starts with getting air through your nose. Good luck!!