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Does this sound like LPR? Help I'm a singer :(.

Posted , 7 users are following.

Ali1568
Ali1568

Hello everybody!! 

I was researching a bit because I'm feeling worried and depressed. I'm 19 year old girl and a musician/singer. Lately I get really sore after singing and even talking makes me sore after a while. I used to be a real talker and could talk for hours without getting tired people even asked me if I never got tired from all the talking. I could sing for hours and high songs were very easy for me. I had a 2 hour practice today (like every friday). First practice with my band and then singing lesson. After the band practice I was already sore and my singing class was just torture on my dry sore throat sad. This makes me so sad :'(. My voice gets so tired and sore so easily lately. My range isn't really affected much I can stil sing high and low but I get really tired even in my former comfort zone. I can still do it but it's hard sad.

These last months I've been under a lot of stress and I've read that that can make reflux worse. 

My symptoms include lots of thick mucous on my vocal chords in the morning. Something I've always had and kids used to laugh with me when I was very hoarse in the morning because of the mucous and had to clear my throat constantly.  I wake up with a bad taste too. I also have to burp a lot after eating I always have, and occasionaly food comes up but that doesn't happen a lot though. And my throat and mouth are dry a lot even when I'm hydrated. I've had all these symptoms for many years but I didn't think much of it since I didn't feel bad or anything. Now I'm thinking I might have suffered silent reflux for years.

Now these past few months and especially these past few weeks my voice is sore almost all the time. Sometimes one side is more sore and sometimes it feels like something is stuck on the left side or that there's a dry spot or something. and sometimes i can feel a very hot sensation a little deeper in my throat not like pain but hot and uncomfortable can't really describe it better.

I loved singing an I was able to bare my soul while singing  but now I hate going to practice because it hurts and scares me that I might ruin my voice. I'm really scared and have cried a lot already. 

Ps.My dad has GERD too but I don't know if it's hereditary

Thanks in advance.

1 like, 10 replies

10 Replies

  • Gillian1956
    Gillian1956 Ali1568

    Posted

    Sounds very like acid reflux to me the horse voice sore throat mucus in the throat the hot sensation sound like what I get try eating a good diet no greasy foods spices tomatoes oranges find your acid food triggers and cut them out of your diet and get done medication from . Your GP
  • papote53
    papote53 Ali1568

    Posted

    Sounds like reflux on the throat/vocals. Have your ENT do a Loryngoscopy at his office which takes 2 minutes.  Sure, he will probably detect irritation which normally is reflux.  Besides that, if you like to eat like crazy then do a google seach and start eating healthy and evoid foods that triggers your reflux. We are all different, so whats good for me may not be good for you. Maybe your dad is your best source of information. ;-)
  • michelle10954
    michelle10954 Ali1568

    Posted

    Yes I had a sore throat for a year extremely painful was put on omperozole which didn't work, then on esomperozole which did, but if I miss a dose or eat anything spicy which I love it's back again see your gp the for a ent referraltgood luck x
  • chris10905
    chris10905 Ali1568

    Posted

    Hi Ali1568. Many years ago I also had a lot of soreness while singing and talking, byt it seemed to cure itself and I don't know why. , However, as someone who trained in opera at the Buildhall School of Music and Drama I did learn a thing or two from my teacher there, the late Bryan Drake. Another piece of advice, that came from David Bellamy, a botanist with his own TV series, Bellamy on Botany, that your grandparents may remember, was 'to reduce mucus, make an infusion of thistle roots and sip it slowly' , which I have done to great effect. It has almost no taste, and the bit it does have isn't unpleasant.You can dig them up wnd clean them, chop them up and crush them with a hammer or similar and boil them up for a few minutes. Let them cool and drink some. I found half a teacup enough. Another thing, for the sore throat, is gargle with cool or cold black tea. This comes from another opera singer, know to me only as Mrs. England, but it helps. The old salt water gargle helps too, as also does slowly sipping neat blackcurrant cordial, like Ribena. You can also drink it with rum, if you had aliking for it! If you find yourself getting a a sore chest from a cough, rub goose fat into your chest when you go to bed and keep it covered with a pyjama jacket. If that doesn't work, hot milk with a good teaspoon of turmeric powder  worked for me when all else failed, even the goose grease! I know I said avoid milk etc., but sometimes ,as with the turmeric, you have to make exceptions. Good luck with the singing and I hope these tips help. Best wishes, Chris Roberts. P.S. If you get reflux, try eating an apple! Simple, but this has worked for me very successfully. None of these tips involves doctors or tablets, they are only pence and harmless even if they don't work, but worth a try.
    • Barretts
      Barretts chris10905

      Posted

      Hi Chris, just an aside. I don't suppose the Mrs England ou refer to is the lovely Karen England who sings with Rebecca Knight as "The OperaBabes"? Always been a favourite duo of mine and I had the rare priviledge of meeting them and hostng a concert they performed for my charity last year.
    • chris10905
      chris10905 Barretts

      Posted

      Hi Barretts and thanks for the message! If it is the same Mrs. England, I'd love to know the secret of her youth! The one I knew used to exhibit her art with Clark's Gallery, owned by my then boss, a really nice guy called Arthur Clark who owned the gallery and had his own programme on TV many years ago. I worked for him in1975, so I suspect Mrs. England would now be over 100. I must agree about The Opera Babes. Lovely duo. I had the great privilege of spending an evening with the wonderful Dame Eva Turner and her companion and some of her friends, when I was mini-cabbing during the Christmas break from the army in 1970. Two hours of free lessons with one of the great sopranos of the early 20th century; a friend and colleague of Puccini. What a delightful Lancashire lass, with not a trace of arrogance, unlike many of today's prima donnas. Needless to say, I didn't earn much that evening, but she did make me take ten bob for a beer!
  • Barretts
    Barretts Ali1568

    Posted

    Hi Ali,

    Certainly does sound like reflux problems. Throuble is, there's no easy answer.

    Reflux is a mechanical problem so medication doesn't always address the issue.

    Strictly speaking, GERD is not actually hereditary (as that would mean you were bound to get it if your parent did) but there have been a numbr of genes identified that means you may have a greater propensity to developing it. However, it starts with a weakness of the lower oesophageal sphincter which is often due to a hiatus hernia. This is composed of two muscles the diaphragmatic and crural muscles, which don't meet properly. The diaphragmatic muscle is part of the diaphram which you are used to exercising through singing.

    Basic advice is to only eat small portions but frequently - ie 5 or 6 half sized meals are better than 3 big ones.

    • chris10905
      chris10905 Barretts

      Posted

      Well said Barretts, and I would add to make sure you chew the food properly.
    • mack_1946
      mack_1946 Barretts

      Posted

      All this may true. But the need for relief is not in  knowing what GERD or LCR is and how it works.  That helps but it's a battle of how you eat what you eat and what meds and when to take the meds is the method to approched this battle. It's not just one thing to fix it. It's a combination of everything including lots and lots of water. And of course knowing what your fighting does help. Just don't give up there's an answer for you out there. Go to an ENT and get some meds and if they don't work try another. Change your diet around until you find the right solution. You just got to find it. Small meals several times a day like Barrrett sugested carefully chewed. But see an ENT as well

       

  • mack_1946
    mack_1946 Ali1568

    Posted

    first thing is to check with a Doctor. But what you can do is follow some of the sugestions already mentioned. A spoon full of honey also helps. Do not eat spicy,  hot  fatty foods or anything with tomatoes in it. Nothing with acid. Avoid anything real cold or hot on the vocal chores as well. Get off or reduce caffee even tea. Make sure when you sleep you sleep with your mouth closed. Having said all that there is medications. I for one take Dexilant once a day. I suffered for six years before I found what really works. Nexium and all the other PPI's didn't work for me. However that's not to say they won't for you. Trail and error before you find something that works.  But it does sound like Acid Reflux. First and foremost let an ENT take a look.
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