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lost voice

615 views 10 replies 9 participants last post by  Raglet 
#1 ·
Hello everybody, i just want to know how many of you loose your voice due to maybe lupus? im not too sure why but im always loosing my voice, sometimes for weeks, should i be worried, or is this something that is common? :p
 
#3 ·
HI Chantal,

Have you told a doctor about this? If not, it is a good idea to do so.

I sing as a hobby, and since having lupus I have noticed
1. that if I get a throat infection it will more often than not lead to larengitis and loss of voice for a while, and
2. My vocal muscles tire and injure more easily, so that whereas I could reherse for more than an hour before, now 1/2 is sometimes too much.

My rheumatologist explained that this is to be expected - after all the vocal cords are also made of connective tissue.

Still, you should get your doctor to examine you and give you personal advice.
 
#4 ·
Hi Chantal,

It's best to get it checked out. I have Sjogrens and Lupus and lose my voice now and then, not sure which one is to blame, Cath makes a good point about the vocal chords being made of connective tissue.

Another angle to explore is having your thyroid checked out. A friend was hypothyroid and long before they worked that out she was constantly losing her voice.

love
Lily
 
#5 ·
Hi Chantel, yes, I lose my voice at times, and my voice changes from normal to a very low and raspy tone, like I have pneumonia. It changes tone in front of my Rheumy suring an appt, and he caught e, and then explaned it to me, he said it was caused by lupus, but only a small amount of people get it. I would tell your Rheumy, deffinately, just in case it is from something else, always let your dr. dx things. be well.
 
#7 ·
Hi Chantal,

I have Sjogrens as well as SLE so i don't know which is to blame, but I lost my voice very frequently until eventually it was so bad that my voice became permanently changed!!! I had to go to speech therapy for a couple of months. Thank goodness my voice is just about normal again. I'm not able to sing as much as I used to because my voice simply won't comply so I've become a happy whistler! :).

Take good care of your voice. Its very important to mention it to your doc!!!

All the best
ColleenT
 
#8 ·
Hi there,

I am frequently rather "hoarse" and croaky voiced especially in the mornings. It used to be quite a problem as I was a teacher and had difficulty talking but I now never speak to anyone much until the evening and no longer have any problems.

In my various web searches I remember seeing it as a "symptom" which can help diagnosis but I have a feeling it might have been for polymyositis (which I also have) and not lupus. If I find it again, I'll post the link but please don't hold your breath :lol:

Katharine
 
#9 ·
Another cause can be acid reflux. My doctor says that scarring starts to build up changing both the air flow and movement. Sometimes when you swallow things get caught in the scarred areas causing problems.

Dysarthria can cause hoarseness also.

Take care,
Lazylegs
 
#10 ·
oh wow, so many things it could be i have Sjogrens and acid reflex as well, thank you everybody for your wonderful answers. I cant believe your voice changed colleen but im glad that its almost back to normal for you. i have an appointment next month so im going to for sure mention it. thank you thank you thank you everybody :p i will let you know what the doc says after my appoint :p
 
#11 ·
the key thing for me is whether it co-incides with other lupus symptoms.

Lupus symptoms tend to cluster together, so if you are having symptoms in one part of your body you will tend to be having symptoms in another part of your body.

So, if your voice disappearing coincides with for example your joints or skin flaring (or whatever your regular lupus symptoms are) then I would suspect that it's part of lupus.

But if it doesn't tie in, then I would consider things like GERD/ acid reflux which can can effect the voice and is very common.

My doc thinks I have a nerve palsey of one of the nerves going to my voice box. Who knows, I certainly don't, but I do have a lot of nerve damage so I wouldn't be surprised. My doctor says when I flare my voice tends to become hoarse, but when I am doing better my voice normalises.

hth

raglet
 
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