Strange wheezy voice anyone?

[MAT51]

For several months I've been strangely breathless in the evenings - my voice sounds a bit wheezy and hoarse -.although not enough to go to the doctor with. I don't suffer from asthma. This symptom, along with all my others, appears to be getting a bit worse everyday - or rather it is affecting me for a bit longer each day. I'm not coughing much or losing my voice exactly and my throat isn't sore. Could it relate to my Sjogrens? I'm definitely not brewing for a cold and it's gone on far too long to be anything viral. Any ideas?

I'm feeling fairly rubbish just now but this is probably psychological because I've got my CT scan with contrast -.looking for signs of lymphoma from chest to pelvis on Tuesday. The main problem area is around my right groin where the rheumatologist found a swelling. He seemed rather concerned about this and my mention of fevers/ night sweats - which is a bit scary because doctors don't usually take my symptoms or signs so seriously!

Anyway - despite having been told I'm very dry down below I seem to have a permanently watery discharge which isn't a yeast infection or std. I've had swabs galore and Pap smear. Nothing showed up. So this and the very odd type of constipation are both preoccupying me now I admit.

But to ask about this here - my wheezy breathing and voice - could they be related to overall dryness perhaps? I don't feel particularly dry throated and drinking extra water doesn't seen to help at all. But I try to keep an open mind.

[irish]

I went through something like these years ago. My voice bothered me so much and I was hoarse a lot and had a hard time talking and had pain when I talked. I had scopes and was found to have swollen vocal chords that were also red. I came to the conclusion that the dryness was causing a lot of issues.

I also had the reflux which has bothered for years and ended up having Hashimotos. I think that Hashimotos affects the voice because of the immune attack on the thyroid gland and I would imagine the surrounding tissues can be involved some also. Just a few thoughts. My thyroid issues have settled down some the past few years. I also ended up being diagnosed with Myasthesia gravis which can affect the muscles in the throat and affects speech and can affect breathing also. You might want to research this disease and ask your doc about having some testing for it. Just another thought. Good luck. Irish

[Joe S.]

My wheezing I relate to my asthma. As I breath in and out noises are made. Sometimes they are vaguely like words. They do keep me up some nights. Often benadryl will help. After it kicks in and I clear the mucus I can get back to sleep.

[MAT51]

I went through something like these years ago. My voice bothered me so much and I was hoarse a lot and had a hard time talking and had pain when I talked. I had scopes and was found to have swollen vocal chords that were also red. I came to the conclusion that the dryness was causing a lot of issues.

I also had the reflux which has bothered for years and ended up having Hashimotos. I think that Hashimotos affects the voice because of the immune attack on the thyroid gland and I would imagine the surrounding tissues can be involved some also. Just a few thoughts. My thyroid issues have settled down some the past few years. I also ended up being diagnosed with Myasthesia gravis which can affect the muscles in the throat and affects speech and can affect breathing also. You might want to research this disease and ask your doc about having some testing for it. Just another thought. Good luck. Irish

Thanks Irish - wow these are suggestions that I hadn't really considered. I am wondering if it relates to my problem nervous system now re MG - guess that might show up in my brain MRI perhaps? My son's best friend from school has this so I know a bit about it. Will read up and ask the neurologist about it as a possible secondary to Sjogrens because otherwise it seems unrelated to anything tangible ie a sore throat, cough, viral infection, chest infection, asthma etc? Although it could be the asthma I guess because I'm very allergic and have suffered from its sister condition, eczema, all my life.

Don't think it's thyroid related as my thyroid is long since dead and my neck was checked by both rheumatologist looking for swollen lymph nodes and my endocrinologist looking for thyroid cancer - and also I had an ultrasound of my parotids a few weeks ago - all fine. So I think the surrounding tissue has been well checked out. If there are problems with my over suppressed TSH as the doctors all try to tell me, then hopefully a recent change in Levothyroxine dosage will sort this out and the wheezy sensation will clear up. Onwards and upwards!

[MAT51]

My wheezing I relate to my asthma. As I breath in and out noises are made. Sometimes they are vaguely like words. They do keep me up some nights. Often benadryl will help. After it kicks in and I clear the mucus I can get back to sleep.

I've never had asthma Joe - but I have a lifelong history of allergies and eczema so I guess I could look into this. I take Benadyl anyway but this wheezing carries on. It doesn't affect my sleep as I believe asthma usually does. It seems to start along with palpitations and slight fevers I am getting these days. My thorax is to be included in my CT with contrast on Tuesday so if it's a thing significant I guess it will show up. Otherwise I'll look into asthma. Thanks for the suggestion. .

[irish]

The symptoms of myasthenia are not earth shattering until they become bad. Symptoms can just pick away but the eye droop, swallowing issues and breathing problems are very The blood work needed is the acetylcholine level and antistriated muscle antibodies.The muscles testing doesn't always show up positive so that is not really a significant test as far as the literature and as far as I am concerned.

Another symptom is food being sucked up into the nasal cavities when you swallow and as real nasal sounding voice. I had both of these issues plus the swallowing issues and severely elevated muscle antibodies. Good luck. Irish

[cccourt1942]

Hi Mat,
    To me, anything that affects the voice, is worse than recuperating from a stubbed toe.  It goes on and on...and hurts all the time!

     Technically..what you are describing would be due (well...first thought which you are denying--asthama) as it is a result of your breath control.  Narrowed airways.  So, you think of asthma first.  That being eliminated, do you have something new in your house...could you have changed shampoo or laundry detergent which could be causing enough of an allergy to affect those airways?  We usually think of allergies making our noses run and itch or our eyes doing same...OR BOTH!  The truth is, your airway can be affected.  If I were you, I would find a pulmonologist.  They know stuff about this problem which we seldom think about. 

Hope you have a comfortable Labor Day in spite of this aggravation. 

Sjoldier c3

[MAT51]

Hi Mat,
    To me, anything that affects the voice, is worse than recuperating from a stubbed toe.  It goes on and on...and hurts all the time!

     Technically..what you are describing would be due (well...first thought which you are denying--asthama) as it is a result of your breath control.  Narrowed airways.  So, you think of asthma first.  That being eliminated, do you have something new in your house...could you have changed shampoo or laundry detergent which could be causing enough of an allergy to affect those airways?  We usually think of allergies making our noses run and itch or our eyes doing same...OR BOTH!  The truth is, your airway can be affected.  If I were you, I would find a pulmonologist.  They know stuff about this problem which we seldom think about. 

Hope you have a comfortable Labor Day in spite of this aggravation. 

Sjoldier c3

Thanks Sjoldier. I don't think it's an allergy to anything new but could be asthma. After my latest investigations are over I wil ask my GP (PCP). I've had so many allergies over a lifetime that I'm good at knowing when a symptom is allergy related and, as I say, no sniffles, rhinitis or typical rashes. It's quite a subtle symptom but my husband confirms that I sound smoky and like my friend with bronchiastasis minus the cough. Not laryngitis either. I have never had anything quite like it really. I don't think it's scary enough to be Asthma - I've never even explained it to my doctors because it doesn't seem severe enough to warrant mentioning.

However I just notice it in my voice and in the dusky way I find it sounding as its losing power a bit and often I run out of breath. My throat is dry and I clear it a lot and can't swallow without sipping a lot of water. I have a horrible taste all the time and also my saliva tastes salty so I've been assuming that it's connected with Sjogren's oesophageal dryness or reflux or my hypothyroidism perhaps. Now I'm properly diagnosed with pSS I'm more aware of symptoms that have previously baffled me being part of a multisystem disease. I am finding the heart palpitations hard going too but scared they might reduce my Levothyroxine if I tell the doctor.

Maybe something will show up when I have this CT with contrast, which will include my thorax. I suppose most of my immediate concern relates to lymphoma because that's what I'm being tested for.

Thanks for your good wishes for Labour Day - we don't have this in Scotland where I live but it sounds great!

[SjoGirl]

Do you by any chance suffer from GERD? I found that it made my voice raspy at times.

[irish]

I was going to mention the GERD as it can really do a job on our vocal cords. We need to sleep with our head elevated some so that the stomach acids don't come up so easily. Supposedly the bed is to be elevated 6 inches in order to prevent the reflux. When I sleep in bed I had to have my bed elevated 4 inches cause I always felt like I was sliding out of bed. I have been sleeping in a recliner much of the time for years and I seem to do sleep better that way.

That acid in our stomach will just slide right up into the esophagus and into our mouth and can burn the vocal cords. Sometimes when I bend over after eating I will reflux badly. The valve in the bottom of the stomach doesn't seal good and that is why the gastric juices are able to reflux up into the esophagus and even our mouth. This is so common nowadays and really makes you wonder if we are all eating the wrong foods and living with too much stress. Good luck. Irish