Good Morning All... Hope you are all have a pain free day!
I love to sing - have for years at my church... My question is... Does anyone have any idea what SS is going to do to my vocal cords? I read somewhere that the dryness could damage them, but did not say how to prevent it. Any ideas?
Good afternoon, ;D, sorry I'm late in replying. Our Scottie will have a few words for you I'm sure. She sings with a group of women in England and has a grand time. I know she will have encouraging words for you.
Good Luck with something you love. I hope you can continue for many years to come.
Hugs, Pooh
Boy, this is a problem I know a lot about. I started having a deeper voice back in the late 60's and always thought it was brought on by pregnancy. By the mid 1980's I was having so much pain when I talked that I was miserable and it interfered with my job. I saw several ENTS and they just told me my vocal cords were swollen and red and made no effort to investigate further.
I ended up losing my singing voice and I really miss it as music is very important to me. I directed several different choirs and sang in choirs all my life. I think by 1989 I had lost the ability to sing. I also was diagnosed with hypothyroid in 1989 and I would not be surprised if the thyroid wasn't also instrumental in the loss of voice. Have you had your thyroid checked. Also have the blood work done for hashimotos which is autoimmune thyroid disease.
Some of the problem is the dryness in our throat and the inflammation caused by the sjogrens. I hope that you can keep your voice and hopefully someone will have the miracle cure. Good luck Irish ;D
Hi DanzGrl,
I wish I had better news for you but my experience has been about the same as Irish's. When I try to sing now, I can manage just a few hymns at church before I lose my voice. I used to sing in several choirs and loved it. I really miss that.
Aside from having my voice get hoarse, when I sing it also seems to take a lot of energy, much more than previously. I tried to hang on with one choir by sitting on a stool when we sang, but that didn't seem to help much. To sing well takes lots of energy for breath support, etc etc.
I really hope that this won't be a problem for you. In the meantime, take really good care of those vocal cords!
Julia
Hi Danzgrl :)
Like Pooh says I sing with a bunch of women every Saturday morning. It's one of the highlights of my week. we just have such a good laugh. I never sang anything till I was in my 40s. My Dad always told me I had a voice like a crow so I ought to shut up. A women's group I was in did some music sessions and the singing came out of there.
The woman who led the sessions says everyone can sing - even if not brilliantly. She puts people in harmony parts that suit their voice. I'm a tenor. She doesn't know why people are expected to excel at art or music or not do them whereas we can be middle of the road in things like maths and English and there's no problem with that. School teaches too many people what they can't do.
With this group - I won't call them a choir - I have a load of fun. we've improved a lot since we started. We get to do performances quite often and have even got further 'gigs' from former ones if you see what I mean.
Some Saturdays I would rather sleep in but once I get there - it's worth it.
Take care - Scottie :)
Not sure I'm allowed to respond to everyone at one time....If not, I apologize in advance.
Thank you everyone for your comments. :)
Julia & Irish: I'm sorry so sorry to hear that. My heart goes out to you. Music has always been such a joy in my life. I can imagine the loss you must feel. Sometimes when I can't sing, I dance to the music...which is quite humorous because that is not where my talent lies! My body also does not move quite the same anymore! :D It's always a good laugh!
Scottie, sounds like a lot of fun! I've been in choir ever since I can remember. I've always loved it. I started singing solos when I was about 13. The last couple of years, I haven't been singing because of the SS. My mouth drys out and I get hoarse really quickly. It seems like it's harder to breathe properly. Is that strange? I've never had these problems before. Any advise on how to protect your vocal cords? Do you sip water? I've heard warm tea helps.
Irish: yes, my MD checks my thyroid every 6 months or so. My mom has hypothyroidism. So, far it's been fine.
Pooh: Thanks for your comments. You are always awesome. And I am sharing your ending line...
Hugs to all, Christy
Danzgirl,
I too have major voice problems. I LOVE to sing and can no longer do it because my vocal chords are so affected by this Sjogren's that I lose my breath and absolutely cannot get any sound out without running out of air. As a matter of fact, this was the first thing that I noticed about my Sjogren's and is why I went to the doctor to start with. I felt like I was gasping for air when I would try to sing or sometimes when I am just talking. I did teach school until I had to retire at the end of this school year, but it was almost impossible to talk by the time that I actually quit.
I would really like to know if there are things that we can do to help this breathlessness and voice problems. I would love to be able to sing again. Now, I just mouth the words and sing with my heart and not my voice. I miss it so very much. It was one of the things that I loved so much that I can no longer do. If anyone knows how to get our voices and breath back, I would also like to know how.
I wish you well and will be thinking of you.
I developed nodules on my vocal chords about 25 years ago and had my chords "scraped." It took several years to get back any of my singing voice. I can sing, but my range has narrowed quite a bit over the years. Sometimes I can sing when I can't talk; it's odd. In general though I've had to watch how long I use my voice and rest it frequently, or I develop coughing fits or lose my voice altogether from dryness.
Genko
Christy, just a thought here. Have you tried any of the moisture sprays like the Oasis or Biotene? I wonder that might help you when you are singing? It might be worth a try. The sprays would last longer than sipping water.
Good luck, and don't ever give up your dreams.
Hugs, Pooh
Oh I am so glad I ran across this one. This one is near and dear to my heart. I am a musician and worship leader. And this is my greatest fear with SJS. The reason you are having such a hard time is because singing requires constant exhaling which dries out the vocal chords and mouth faster than speaking. Moisture is vital to the vocal chords when not present air doesnt glide across them (hence sound is produced) but they often clang against one another.Very bad for them and thats why we get hoarse and done long enough you get nodules. Again not good.
So far I have been able to do a couple of things to help myself continue to keep my job and continue to sing. One I always keep water ready and available and sip frequently between songs. But I keep gum in my mouth at all times. ( i get on to choir members for this but its a must for me) I tried other things like mints but almost choked on one when I inhaled once.lol Gum stays in place. It helps me produce more saliva and keeps thing lubricated enough to sing. Sometimes I have to add a new piece to get more flow going. But It works for me right now.
At one point I had my lips sticking to my teeth/ a nightmare when you are suppose to be leading a congregation in worship. And yes there are some sprays you can use to help lubricate. But stay away from using tea. That only dehydrates you unless its decaf. Water works better and its needs to be room temp so as to not shock your vocal chords. I hope you will all continue to sing even if it is in your heart. I know I plan on doing so as long as I can.
songbird, I wish I could sing. I started having a much deeper voice back in the early 70's when I was directing a church choir. It really was upsetting as I had always been a very high 1st soprano. I have chewed gum and sucked on lifesavers for many years--even back in the late 1960's.
I was able to sing for a few years but in 1988 I was in church choir for a wonderful Christmas program and I started having problems. Saw ENT and said that my cords were all swollen and red and I had a hemmorrhage on one cord. I couldn't talk for 3 weeks. Hah-Hah. I talked then more than I write now!!!! At work I would carry a little magic slate around and all the staff really thought it was a hoot seeing if I could keep my mouth shut. I did have to talk some though as I had to call doctors, etc.
Then in 1989 I became more hoarse. My cords have been thickened for so many years and there is no singing at all anymore. I have had nodules off and on also. Soooo, I just live with it. I love music and harmony and I have said that when I get to heaven I can sing my heart out!!!! Irish ;D
Oh I hate that for you Irish and you are right when you get to heaven you will be able to hit all those notes and then some. i am hoping to get to direct the choir at least once or twice.lol That is my fear though that I wont be able to sing at some point and I know my voice teacher always talked about protecting my voice. She always said you only have one and when its gone thats it. I guess removing the nodules wouldnt really help since its a chronic issue they would just come back.
Although we can often sing even when we cant talk ( due to hoarsness ) if done properly(singing) but its that moisture issue for SJS that messes us up. Dang it!
Im just praying God doesnt take this one from me. Its my passion. But if he does He will still be good and I will deal when it happens. If it happens!
songbird, You are so right about getting along even if we lose something near and dear to our heart. I lost my hearing in one ear, can't sing, hack and spit mucus all the time etc plus other issues but you know what. I can still eat, get to WAlmart and rock my grandbaby so life is good. Irish ;D