And what co-infections do you think causes this? Or maybe it's just lyme?
Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :
beverly,
i was a former secretary answering phones all day long, and i'd lose my voice daily; sounded deep voice or whispering.
i never knew i had lyme back then; found out only 5 yrs. ago; 34.5 yrs. misdx by 40-50 drs.
Posted by Marz (Member # 3446) on :
My voice has changed for the last 6 years--got lyme in 1992.
At first I attributed it to allergy, but have it all the time. It gets raspy and difficult to speak quickly. I used to be able to carry on a good argument, but forget it now. It's just too much effort.
I miss my real voice. So many people think this is my real voice.
If anyone knows how to cure it, let me know.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
I have it too. Had it for years like betty when I didn't know I had Lyme.
It's on the list of Lyme symptoms.
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
-
Are you around molds or chemicals that might be irritating? New carpet, drapes, furniture, etc? Dry cleaning? Perfumes?
It might be helpful (if you have not done so already) to go scent-free with household and personal care products - and avoid sprays of all kinds. This really helped my throat.
SInce I first got mono (or so we thought) decades years ago in college - every couple of years I loose my voice for couple months at a time.
I deal with many different infections so I could not even begin to connect this to one or the other. Often, I'll have a near hurricane force cough with it. I nearly have to tape in my eyeballs!
What I have found works best to bring me out of it is Lomatium tincture: LDM-100.
Voice rest, too, is vital when laryngitis is involved. You can do some real damage to the throat even by whispering when you need to be very quite.
And, as we often do with multiple infection: riding it through . . . we assume it's just part of the big mix we deal with. It may or may not be an infection at work.
It could be something structural that needs repair - or retraining exercises with a vocal coach.
First, though: Please see a good doctor and have them look at your vocal chords. This could save your life. It did for my cousin. -
Posted by Beverly (Member # 1271) on :
Thank you all for your input.
My son is the one who is losing his voice, he is relapsing. He has also developed Bartonella stretch marks on the back of his legs. They now are on the front of his knees.
He has been on all the herbs in Buhners book the whole time, and we recently upped his doses of the herbs to see if it will help.
Keebler, Should I just take him to a regular doc for the vocal cords? A Lyme doctor? Or an ENT?
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- Can you see if your son's LLMD can suggest a LL ENT? I don't know what a more specific throat specialist might be called.
I know an ENT - or a whatever specialty within that - can scope the vocal chords, but it sure would help for them to be LL so that the patient is treated with respect and patience concerning symptoms and needs during the visit.
Also, an numbing agent or some kind of anethesthia (sp?) may need to be used so the LLMD's advice and selection of a LL ENT would help.
============
I went back to re-read and had missed something important. If you son is now having a bartonella rash, I hope you can get him in to see the LLMD ASAP.
The throat symptoms may be connected and if you have evidence of an active infection, THAT takes the front of the line.
Good luck. -
Posted by Beverly (Member # 1271) on :
Thanks Keebler.
"Are you around molds or chemicals that might be irritating? New carpet, drapes, furniture, etc? Dry cleaning? Perfumes?"
Sorry forgot to answer your questions. No, chemicals that I know of, no new carpet, dry cleaning and no perfumes.
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- Beverly,
My questions are usually rhetorical - more of a checklist. But I'm glad that you are running a clean ship, so to speak. I think back to days of all that smelly stuff and wonder how I managed to get anything done.
Hope your son finds some solution to the rash and also finds his voice again. You're a good mom to be searching for answers.
I do hope he has a good LLMD. Take care, now. -
Posted by IckyTicky (Member # 21466) on :
I have a very raspy voice and have ever since I was in middle school a few years after being bitten on the head. My twin sister and I were singers but I just can't do it anymore. By the time I got to 8th grade my nick name in school was "Froggy" off the Little Rascals.
My ENT did some sort of probe thing down my nose once and into my throat and he says that my vocal chords and larynx are all scarred up. That explains a lot.
I don't know if it's Lyme or coinfection. But I actually suspect Bartonella.
Posted by Beverly (Member # 1271) on :
Keebler,
Yeah.. pretty clean ship here, besides having infections.
I will be making an appointment for him tho.
Icky,
Wow, so sorry to hear your vocal cords are scarred up. Too many children suffer at the expense of ignorance. Seems like medicine evolves very slowly.
Sorry for all who suffer with this symptom.
Posted by TheCrimeOfLyme (Member # 4019) on :
Bev,
One of my very first symptoms ( before the neuro set in) was laryngitis. Not having any other symptoms at that time, I sincerely just thought it was that and took my antibiotics. I got better then sick again a month later with full blown neuro symptoms.
But, I am still to this day constantly losing my voice. They say that the first symptoms to come will be the last to go and I hope that is true with me ( sure seems true).
I have seen ENT's , a host of them, and had my thyroid checked a bazillion times as low thyroid can cause that and everything turned up fine. My gastro doctor told me however that the antibiotic usage was causing my acid reflux to get worse and that I was aspirating it and constantly aggravating my voice box.
I don't know if that is true in your son's case, but extra acid medicine didn't seem to help me either.
As far as we know, I only have lyme and erlichia E. still running around. Actually, I am not even coming up positive or slightly positive on even Igenex for lyme anymore- but I keep getting a shiny positive for erlichia chafeenis.
Posted by greenbow (Member # 21463) on :
my voice gets strained..well it is my throat like i have been screaming all day (but, i haven't)...when i am reading to the kids it will happen some about half way through a book..and i have to drink water and hum hum a bit...does that make sense?
Posted by lymeladyinNY (Member # 10235) on :
Yes, I've lost my voice repeatedly over the past 6 years. Sometimes I can't utter a sound, other times I whisper.
This symptom hasn't been bothering me so much since I've started effectively treating babesia.
I actually think Lyme AND babs take my voice away.
I also get what they call "accent voice". It's supposed to be extremely rare. I sound like I'm from some other country. It's very bizarre.
Posted by Beverly (Member # 1271) on :
Wow, so sorry.... so many of you suffer with this symptom, and it can be kind of scarey as to what is causing it.
Thomas puked for almost 3 years so it could be acid reflux, never thought of that. He was also treated for Babs so maybe it's that too? I get so tired of thinking about these diseases.
Hope you all get your voices back and feel better.
Posted by MariaA (Member # 9128) on :
This happened to me and it got better after Lyme treatment. I think I've read here that this is related to vagus nerve damage at times, which is often something that we experience. Does your uvula (dangling thing in the back of the throat) deviate to one side, or do you have a drooping soft palate on one side (do some Google Images searches for vagus nerve damage, it brings this up)
Posted by Parisa (Member # 10526) on :
My husband had this. After treatment, his voice is almost back to normal.
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