Losing voice

carimz27 · November 2023

Hi,

My husband is six years out from treatment for throat cancer. For the past few months, he has been losing his voice toward the end of the day. He is in sales so he talks all day. Is/has anyone else experienced this?

MarineE5 · November 2023

Hello Carimz27,

I am sorry you find yourself here seeking answers to your question(s) but I am glad you found this site. There are a lot of knowledgeable people here that will share their information with you soon.

I did have a similar situation after I returned to work as I worked in a Big Box home repair store and had to talk most of the day. We often have dry mouth as a result of this, and not always able to sip some liquid when this happens. The end result is we seem to only be able to produce a whisper at the end of the day. I started chewing some gum to help keep my mouth moist longer. I did keep a small bottle of water with me at all times and the small spray bottle of Biotene Dry mouth on me also.

Does he have any saliva at all ? I have severe dry mouth so I am constantly sipping water or coffee.

Others will be along with suggestions, etc. My Best to Both of You and Everyone Here

wbcgaruss · November 2023

MarineE5 is right, it is most likely from dry mouth, and as he said always have liquid of some sort to sip and chew gum or have him give Xylimelts a try. When choosing a gum choose one with the ingredient xylitol as close to the first ingredients listed in it. It means the closer to the first mentioned it is the more xylitol the gum has in it. Xylitol is a known saliva stimulant. I personally have been using Trident Gum. CVS makes a dry mouth spray, their house brand I like, and there are many others out there give them a try to see what works best for you.

Also, I recommend seeing his ENT to have his vocal cords checked and to be checked overall just to be safe and to cover all the bases. I am assuming he had radiation and radiation can affect you years later with different effects. It could be affecting his vocal cords. Think of new leather and how soft and flexible it is, then think of older leather maybe out in the sun somewhat, not as soft and flexible now, getting stiffer, and I use this as my basic idea of radiation effect on our body. Also as you get older radiation and aging are both factors. We call radiation the gift that keeps on giving because of its continued effect on us over the years.

Take Care, God Bless

Russ