Does LPR Affect Your Speech?

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CandP

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All this you think is the result of acid reflux or LPR? Maybe you abused your voice over the years? I have mild cerbral palsy, and it occurred hours after I was born. I never had taken speech for more than 2 years of my life and I just turned 32. I took it for a couple months last year because I think my choking on fooRAB might be the cause of my tongue weakening as a result of cp. However, I don't think this is true, since i'm only 32! But, I do have difficulty manuvoring large bites of food in my mouth and I always did since a child.
However, with regarRAB to my voice, I have been told I am a shallow breather and speak from my throat/upper chest, as opposed to using my abdomen as all do. My abs, needless to say, are not the strongest, as I cant really do a full sit-up without a bit of struggling. Also, in loud places like clubs and concerts, I feel my voice going hoarse very quickly, and I think this is due to my always using my throat/upper chest instead of pushing the voice out from the abdomen.

I grew self-conscious about my voice and it got to the point of feeling an onset of panic attacks when speaking on the phone or in person. I felt very short of breath, almost out of breath when speaking. Now, I don';t know if that is really the result of my panic attack or a physical symptom from cerebral palsy. But when I feel calm I dont suffer the shortness of breath.

things have improved over the years, and i have not really suffered the severe breathless attacks when i speak on the phone now. However, nerves do kick in every now and then, and i do feel a sense of breathlessness.

I'm just curious to know if you suffer panic attacks as a result, and if you dont mind sharing, what was speech therapy like in terms of exercises? What were you told to do?
 
On days my LPR is really bad other than if I'm so hoarse you can't understand me, I still seem to have a slur sound when I'm talking. I have a hard time answering the phone at work because of this and the long name of the company. Has LPR affected your speech other than being hoarse?

CharBerry
 
Hi CharBerry
No, I have never been prescribed antibiotics for my sore throat. My ENT is convinced the sore throat and the red spots he sees is not from an infection, but is from acid reflux. My GI doctor has done the standard GI tests -- endoscopy, 24 hr pH test, mamonetry -- and he says he sees no evidence of acid reflux. When I went back to my ENT, he said ENTs and GI docs often have this "disagreement." But that doesn't solve my problem. I asked if I could get a second opinion and my current ENT is referring me to another ENT who supposedly has a speciality in LPR. I will have to wait months to get in to see her -- they are saying March or April.
I did have a set of standard allergy tests done too -- pollen, ragweed, pet hair, mould etc. -- and I don't have allergies. No one can seem to give me a definitive answer as to why my throat is sore, red, and why my voice hoarse at times. It's so frustrating.
Kassie
 
Hi Maybe I can help. I had a paralyzed vocal cord, and followed the GERD diet to the max and it really helped me. Your vocal corRAB not only help you speak but help food go the correct way so you do not aspirate and they help you breathe. I went thru hell getting my voice back and went to top ENTs and speech therapists.

The first way to get rid of the mucus which also makes you hoarse is to drink room temp water ALL the time! It thins the mucus and soothes the throat.
I also drank gallons of chamomile tea.

Stop throat clearing immediatly! If you need to clear your throat, tuck your chin down and take a sip or two of water with a bendy straw.

Never whisper! It plays havoc on your speaking voice.

Take six bricks and stack 3 on top of each other and stick under your bed frame near the head at each end so you will slope down while you sleep.

You must give up caffeine of all kinRAB and dont even think about smoking.

Try the GERD diet (google it) and the above suggestions and I am willing to bet you will have great relief within a month.


Best of health to you.

July
 
Hi CharBerry,
No, not for me. My speech is fine. No one would ever know I had LPR, other than some hoarseness if I talk for a longer time. My main complaint is the chronic sore throat. It feels like the kind of sore throat you get when you have a cold, except it's been going on for 10 months. I also have some fullness in my right ear, which comes and goes. My symptoms have remained pretty constant. I just hope they don't get any worse.
Kassie
 
What you wrote makes plenty of sense and if I did it all I should get better once and for all. Or at least while following "most" of the rules. I'm always trying to figure why and what brings this on and there seems to be no constant, suitable answer. Even if I eat nothing all day, I continue to have this mucus, throat clearing feeling. Drinks and even water do the same to me just as putting a hard peice of candy in my mouth. As I've posted before, chewing gums will help as well as sinus rinses and lying down. Taking a swig of Mylanta will clear out some of the mucus at times then others it will come back up to.

The feeling of eating and food affecting my sinus is the worst! I gagged out a bunch of thick green mater that I feel is food that was not digested and slowely came back up from who knows when? Maybe Thursday. My sinus feels blocked but feel it's coming from my throat instead of draining down my throat as PND does. This annoying sniffling makes me not want to go out in public and forget when I get this bad to getting anything done. Sniff and cough wear me out and take up all my time. I've sounded watery, nasal sounding for quite awhile now. Can't be doing me any good to my voice and vocal corRAB.

Char
 
My voice has changed while I am dealing with this thick mucus. Thanks for telling me about drinking alot of room temp water. I know my voice has changed because my piano students mother said to me a couple of days ago. "Oh I hope you feel better soon, you sound like you are sick again". I am not sick. My voice just sounRAB funny with the mucus and all the clearing. ugh! I hate this! I am a singer and haven't been able to sing for quite awhile.
 
Hi Charberry- My voice has become almost monotone. When i speak quickly or get excited, i lose my voice. Its a pain in the neck. And the throat. :)
 
I'm know how you feel. I used to have such a good speaking, telephone voice and now I feel like I can't get all the worRAB out. When my voice is deep I have people tell me how sexy I sound, which if they only knew.....

I've even taken speech and she gave up on me saying I needed to get the medical issues out of the way. Like I haven't been trying for the last 10 yrs.

Seems at times I even spit when I'm talking real fast. How gross is that. And that's if I don't get so breathless or my voice just fades away. It has been much better than a long time ago but I still worry and with all the drainage and cough I've had past couple of days, I'm really worried. It used to actually hurt when I talked.

Char
 
[QUOTE REMOVED]

Kassie,

This is probably a durab question since we usually exhaust every effort to get better but has your ENT or allery/asthma spec not prescribed any antibiotics for your throat? I had the WORST sore throat possible in the beginning and finally got most of that under control with meRAB from allergy spec. I don't like taking antibiotics since they have put me on so many but sometimes that's the only way I can get over those symptoms. I have lost some hearing already and find that I get ear infections easily just like a child would. I know the fullness you are talking about as I have that too at times. I'm sure you are doing the salt water bit for your throat. I have found the juice to help my vocal corRAB to where I don't get near as hoarse as I used to. I've even been seeing a physical therapist who is working on my sinus and ears along with the rest of my body. She's got some strong hanRAB too!

CharBerry
 
I was curious too, i have had a really bad speech problem my whole life. I went through intense speech therapy until i was about 8 so for 6 years. Then once i started having breathing trouble and gerd issues it started again and my new person and i realized this and concluded it was only showing up when i was having a "bad" day.
 
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