Losing Voice

[maryfw]

does anyone know what kind of disease/disorders cause a weak voice. It sounds like I have been yelling at a game but it does not hurt and I have no allergies.

mary

[morgan617]

I get it a lot from reflux. You can reflux up into your vocal cords and actually burn them. I don't really get sore throats and stuff either, but when the doctor looks, he can see that my cords are inflamed. You might check that out....good luck sweetie, morgan

[maryfw]

No problems with reflux. But I have found that drinking something hot has helped me get my voice back. Maybe my vocal cords are just strained or tired.

mary

[P SUDIK]

Hi, I do have acid reflux,but I find my voice gets very weak, after too much exertion,Pat

[wireless]

If it's a long-term thing, I'd say soft tissue problems. Especially if there are related symptoms like neck pain or scoliosis or if you can't do diaphragmatic breathing with relative ease. I wouldn't be so sure about being allergy-free though.

[Rachel]

Medication side effects can cause a rough/weak voice sometimes. I used to lose my voice often due to a specific med. It went back to normal after discontinuing the medication.

Rachel

[willows]

Hi Maryfw.

Is your voice coming and going or just going for a period of time and then coming back to normal again?

I have bouts of 6 weeks without a voice and have had this for over 30 years on and off.

Tomorrow at 9:30 I'm having my throat and vocal cords looked at 'in depth' by a team of doctors because at times I sound just like a man ..............and its so sudden , one minute I'm me all normal voice and fine then , its starts to go and I end up squeaking , its so embarrassing if your on the phone to someone and they dont know you .

Next week I'm doing a live radio interview with a big radio star about my charity work , this lady has a habit of snorting when things get very funny , so image us two, me squeaking and her snorting ......... live on the radio .

Well all I hope is that it isn't one of my tumors growing from the inside in and not the inside out ..... if that makes sense to you ????

I dont have acid reflux, my drugs dont effect my speech or if they did it would be after I'd taken them and a not at random times, what I have noticed is that the more pots I get the more my voice does a Larry Gracen !!!!!

Ami and her wonderful mouse voice !

[calypso]

I have all-over muscle weakness, and when I am very tired -- like during periods of stress -- I often lose my voice. I think that for me, it's the last muscle to go and it tells me to slow way, way down! It usually will happen once or twice a year for a few days at a time.

Amy

[maryfw]

I heard that thyroid problems can make you sound hoarse as well. Anyone know a good website for Hashimoto's thyroid info?

mary

[Sunfish]

hi mary -

as the responses have shown already, there are actually a large number of things that can cause trouble with your voice, hoarseness, etc. FYI, some people have reflux without any symptoms other than hoarseness, so that is still a possibility for you. i almost completely lost my voice several years back and while i initially blamed it on strain/ overuse (i was coaching & teaching swimming full-time at the time so lots of opportunity to use a loud voice!) it didn't take long to realize something else was going on. for me it got to the point where i couldn't even get out a "hello" to answer the phone. i ended up having a cyst on my vocal cords that required surgical removal, something totally unrelated to any yelling i may have been doing! i was a singer as well so had thought i had been using my voice properly, i.e. not abusing it, so in reality it made more sense to me that i hadn't caused the problem via misuse. polyps on/ around the vocal cords can be caused by misuse (though not always) whereas cysts aren't related to use/ misuse but rather just happen on their own. but that's more than you need to know at the moment as it's only one of many possibilities for you.

ultimately, if this isn't a fleeting problem for you, you may want to get an appointment with an ENT (ear nose & throat doc) as s/he will very likely be able to help you figure out what is actually going on via an office exam.

hope this helps,

:-)melissa

[willows]

Well I've had lots of tests done now with my ENT specialist and he thinks its something very unusual indeed .

He's been looking down my throat at my vocal cords just about everytime I go and see him , which is about four times since I first spoke of this problem.

He cannot understand why I loose my voice so often , for so long , year after year (6 weeks at a time is normal for me now ) after having more test last week he has now suggested that a voice therapist comes out to me towards the end of the day to hear me talking and **** the situation , to see if this will help .

I've noticed quite recently that my voice just disappears if I'm stressed , like a few days ago I had to speak to someone on the phone and I got very angry with them .................my voice just started to disappear and was up and down like a yo-yo for about an hour or more afterwards.

I liken my voice to a cross between a 14 year old lad going through that terrible voice breaking stage and a man who is trying to speak in a woman's voice !!!!! very strange indeed.

My ENT specialist has said that I have a problem , but as yet he cannot say what it is .......................mmmmmmm, I seem to remember a very eminent doctor saying exactly the same thing to me about 35 years ago in The National Hospital in London ....................here we go again I feel .

Willows and her magical squeaking voice

[Mary P]

It's so interesting to read all these posts and really love the humour involved. You keep up our spirits, so keep up your good work! Your humour makes me think that it would be a real hoot to get together to share....evrything and anything! There would be a lot of onlookers/listeners who would wonder what in the world was going on. With voices getting weaker and weaker, we'd probably wind up our day by passing notes around!

I've noticed for about 2 months now how my voice can get very weak and almost disappear at times. Not that I've ever had anything close to a singing voice, but that's totally gone now. Heavens to Betsy....what's next?! Something else to record in my journal.

I just saw my GP 3 days ago and was fine at that time so I didn't mention it to her. There's no way that I'll ever get another app. for 2 more months and will ask to see an ENT then. Having read your posts, I'm anxious to see what's going on.

I've had chronic sinusitis for at least 20 years and, on and off, have had some sort of dripping into my throat. This has caused coughing and scratchiness but this loss of voice hasn't happened until just recently.

Mary P

[ajw4790]

Hi,

I copy/pasted the below list and on Harvard Med Family Health Guide they have a section for Hoarseness or Loss of voice and asks you yes/ no questions and then possibilities of the cause or directions on what to do. I found it interesting, but I wouldn't take it word for word, it is just a computer survey. Check with your dr. if it goes longer than a few days or weeks.

Here is a list I found of causes:

Laryngitis

Excessive use of the voice (as in shouting or singing)

Allergies

Inhaling irritating substances

Excessive use of alcohol or tobacco

Coughing (may be caused by allergies or some diseases such as bronchitis )

In children, prolonged or excessive crying

Viral illness

Gastric reflux (acid from the stomach irritating the voice box)

Other causes include:

Heavy smoking and drinking, especially in combination

Overall weakness caused by other diseases

Tonsillitis

Ingestion of a caustic liquid

Foreign body in the esophagus or trachea

Infectious mononucleosis

Postnasal drip

Vocal cord nodules or paralysis (post-surgical)

Bronchoscopy or other tests (temporary)

Puberty

Cancer of the voice box (laryngeal cancer)