Any suggestions for hoarseness?

staceya
staceya Member Posts: 720
edited March 2014 in Head and Neck Cancer #1
Thanks much!

Comments

  • Fire34
    Fire34 Member Posts: 365
    #2
    Sort of
    Stacy
    Wondering myself. My voice is half of what it used to be and seems to be going the other way. Seems like it was better 3 months out than now. ENT scoped on last visit and things were ok. I am just calling things that have no other explanantion the "new normal"
    sorry I couldn't help
    Best Wishe & Prayers
    Dave
  • Greg53
    Greg53 Member Posts: 849
    #3
    Fire34 said:

    Sort of
    Stacy
    Wondering myself. My voice is half of what it used to be and seems to be going the other way. Seems like it was better 3 months out than now. ENT scoped on last visit and things were ok. I am just calling things that have no other explanantion the "new normal"
    sorry I couldn't help
    Best Wishe & Prayers
    Dave

    Me too
    5 months out and the hoarseness just came back for me too and I have a big presentation tomorrow. Hoepfully they can read lips.

    ps - love the pic Stacey or were you making a kittysmoothie??

    Greg
  • Pam M
    Pam M Member Posts: 2,196
    #4
    Another Club We Didn't Want to Be In
    Stacey,
    My voice was better a couple of months ago, too. I shouldn't complain - I'm normally not horse/raspy. I call it my "boy going through puberty" voice sometimes. I don't know what I'll sound like until I talk. I was convinced my combo of coffee and water smoothed my voice out, but it didn't work today. So - I'm a big box of no help whatsoever. Glad you asked the question. Hope you (we) regain ground soon.
  • staceya
    staceya Member Posts: 720
    #5
    Pam M said:

    Another Club We Didn't Want to Be In
    Stacey,
    My voice was better a couple of months ago, too. I shouldn't complain - I'm normally not horse/raspy. I call it my "boy going through puberty" voice sometimes. I don't know what I'll sound like until I talk. I was convinced my combo of coffee and water smoothed my voice out, but it didn't work today. So - I'm a big box of no help whatsoever. Glad you asked the question. Hope you (we) regain ground soon.

    Kittysmoothie..Hee Hee Hee
    I just asked her if she wanted to be a kitty smoothie and she did that ears flat back thing, which I am taking as a no.
    Coffee makes my voice feel a bit better, I think I am now up to 6 cups a day.
    somehow I still sleep fine.. I forgot to add this to the original thread, I was asking the hoarseness question not only for me, but because the ER doctor at work has a chronic hoarseness problem and was looking for help. He can't do the all coffee, all the time diet which was my first suggestion.
    Thanks again!
    Stacey
  • D Lewis
    D Lewis Member Posts: 1,581 Member
    #6
    Pam M said:

    Another Club We Didn't Want to Be In
    Stacey,
    My voice was better a couple of months ago, too. I shouldn't complain - I'm normally not horse/raspy. I call it my "boy going through puberty" voice sometimes. I don't know what I'll sound like until I talk. I was convinced my combo of coffee and water smoothed my voice out, but it didn't work today. So - I'm a big box of no help whatsoever. Glad you asked the question. Hope you (we) regain ground soon.

    Aaarrrggghhh. Another club I don't want to be in.
    I seem to have good voice days and bad voice days, and now, four months out, I seem to be having more bad days than good days. Between the hoarseness and the extreme dry mouth, sometimes I have very little voice at all. Lately, I have been carrying around large hot lattes' and sipping continuously. The milk component seems to soothe my throat now more than tea did before.

    Deb
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #7
    Talking
    I only seem to have problems when I talk a lot...LOL.

    I know especially the first few months, when you go no where without a water bottle close at hand, it would get bad.

    But it has subsided for me other than a rare occasion. Mine isn't to the point of losing my voice. It just will get a little gravely and I can't hit certain sounds.

    It's all good, still much better than the alternative.

    Best,
    John
  • Glenna M
    Glenna M Member Posts: 1,576
    #8
    Skiffin16 said:

    Talking
    I only seem to have problems when I talk a lot...LOL.

    I know especially the first few months, when you go no where without a water bottle close at hand, it would get bad.

    But it has subsided for me other than a rare occasion. Mine isn't to the point of losing my voice. It just will get a little gravely and I can't hit certain sounds.

    It's all good, still much better than the alternative.

    Best,
    John

    Talking too much - lol
    Like John, my voice tends to get "gravely" sounding if I talk too much and sipping water doesn't help. Last night I was out with my 3 sisters, so naturally I was talking too much, as usual, and sipping my coffee did nothing to soothe my throat ;-(

    I was just wondering if anyone had tried hot tea with real honey?? Hot coffee usually helps my throat but not always. I know drinking warm honey is supposed to ease a sore throat and was wondering if this might help with our voices also. Hmmmm...I'll try some today and let you know if it helped me.

    Stay well,
    Glenna
  • fisrpotpe
    fisrpotpe Member Posts: 1,349 Member
    #9
    Ya Never Know
    14 plus post treatment and I still never know what my voice is going to sound like at any time. There does not seem to be a reason for it the gravel sound, squeaky or hoarse voice. 7 plus years ago they called one of my vocal cords dead, after a year plus it came back, then another year plus later the cord went dead and has been dead since. Even today I wake up the same way never know how it will sound.

    I do attribute it to many things, allergy's. damp air, hot air, eating tough foods like meat, eating spicy foods, foods that are salty and seasonal like harvest time of the year is bad. I have seen many a speech pathologist's and my daughter is one and they all have no answers.

    I do know that drinking dark fluids like coffee, tea, soda will stain our teeth do to radiation break down of placq

    I have learned to live with this problem, continue to be thankful i am alive and can communicate by voice( i went two months durning and after treatments without a voice and is not fun) and I never stop trying to find out what is causing it.

    I remain to loose breath as I talk do to the dead cord and alot of air pushing out with no restriction.

    Amazing is some moments my voice sounds very normal and other moments like I have lost it.

    God luck, I feel for you! like having cancer nobody deserves it or the side effects.

    John
  • Clearblue
    Clearblue Member Posts: 186
    #10
    fisrpotpe said:

    Ya Never Know
    14 plus post treatment and I still never know what my voice is going to sound like at any time. There does not seem to be a reason for it the gravel sound, squeaky or hoarse voice. 7 plus years ago they called one of my vocal cords dead, after a year plus it came back, then another year plus later the cord went dead and has been dead since. Even today I wake up the same way never know how it will sound.

    I do attribute it to many things, allergy's. damp air, hot air, eating tough foods like meat, eating spicy foods, foods that are salty and seasonal like harvest time of the year is bad. I have seen many a speech pathologist's and my daughter is one and they all have no answers.

    I do know that drinking dark fluids like coffee, tea, soda will stain our teeth do to radiation break down of placq

    I have learned to live with this problem, continue to be thankful i am alive and can communicate by voice( i went two months durning and after treatments without a voice and is not fun) and I never stop trying to find out what is causing it.

    I remain to loose breath as I talk do to the dead cord and alot of air pushing out with no restriction.

    Amazing is some moments my voice sounds very normal and other moments like I have lost it.

    God luck, I feel for you! like having cancer nobody deserves it or the side effects.

    John

    hoarseness
    Hi Staceya

    A friend ( a quiet woman) came over last week. I came home late that day so my wife spent most of the day chatting . Just normal conversation; but for an extended period of time.

    Anyway,the following day when SHE answered the phone , most people said: "Hi Clear , can i speak to your wife please?", to which she replied: "This is the wife!
    Im hoarse , dont know why" - It looks liket this is quite common.

    One of her vocal chords is permanently out, as result of surgery, so its important to preserve the other. How, i dont know, i love hearing her talk- so i aint gonna shut her up.
    But it is another tiring and trying post surgery disability for her.


    Look after yourself
    tnx for your posts

    Clear
  • miccmill
    miccmill Member Posts: 248
    #11
    Clearblue said:

    hoarseness
    Hi Staceya

    A friend ( a quiet woman) came over last week. I came home late that day so my wife spent most of the day chatting . Just normal conversation; but for an extended period of time.

    Anyway,the following day when SHE answered the phone , most people said: "Hi Clear , can i speak to your wife please?", to which she replied: "This is the wife!
    Im hoarse , dont know why" - It looks liket this is quite common.

    One of her vocal chords is permanently out, as result of surgery, so its important to preserve the other. How, i dont know, i love hearing her talk- so i aint gonna shut her up.
    But it is another tiring and trying post surgery disability for her.


    Look after yourself
    tnx for your posts

    Clear

    Voice
    Glenn's normal voice came back 1 week after rads ended but by week #4 it was low and gravely again. Now it's lower, gravely and squeaky when he tries to hit a higher tone. ENT just scoped him two days ago and said there was still some swelling (7 weeks out).

    He doesn't care. He's a truck driver so a gravely voice could be career enhancing. LOL.

    Me, I'm thrilled he has a voice at all. I so missed talking to him for the 3 or 4 weeks he had no voice at all during treatment.
  • plangdon
    plangdon Member Posts: 7
    #12
    Glenna M said:

    Talking too much - lol
    Like John, my voice tends to get "gravely" sounding if I talk too much and sipping water doesn't help. Last night I was out with my 3 sisters, so naturally I was talking too much, as usual, and sipping my coffee did nothing to soothe my throat ;-(

    I was just wondering if anyone had tried hot tea with real honey?? Hot coffee usually helps my throat but not always. I know drinking warm honey is supposed to ease a sore throat and was wondering if this might help with our voices also. Hmmmm...I'll try some today and let you know if it helped me.

    Stay well,
    Glenna

    Green Tea
    Glenna,

    I have had hoarseness for over a year, and haven't even started treatment yet... Probably from yelling at all those 5th Graders :~)

    I've been drinking green tea (not too hot, no milk) for two months now. It has helped tremendously with my voice, not to mention soothing my throat. And it's actually suppose to be good for you...

    I'll be checking back to see what other recommendations there are, since I know mine is going to get worse.

    PS. I like the honey idea too.

    Pat

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