Bulbar symptoms?

[35football35]

Hello all. For the past almost 3 months I've been experiencing a strange vocal condition. I cannot sing without my voice cracking. I struggle with controlling the volume of my voice. My voice feels flat and my pitch is out of wack. Vowels are especially hard to pronounce. Overall, it just feels weak.

A trip to my GP led to a normal bloodwork test. He recommended that I see a ENT, who performed a laryngoscopy and found nothing out of the ordinary, except for some mild reflux. She recommended that I see a speech pathologist, and I have made an appointment.

I am at a loss. It appears that noting is physically wrong with my throat, but something is causing this. I have had als fears in the past, but this is really worrying me. I am only 28 years old... Usually much too young for als. But I know it's happened.

Has anyone experienced something similar?

 

[KarenNWendyn]

ALS would seem unlikely based on the ENT evaluation. They would have been looking for things like vocal cords or palate not moving normally.

GE reflux can definitely affect the voice and would be a much more likely concern than ALS. I'm assuming the ENT advised treatment for the reflux? If you're on any kind of inhalers for asthma or other lung problems, that can also affect the voice.

I think the speech therapy evaluation is a great next step, and possibly a swallowing study or trip to the gastroenterologist if things don't improve.

Best of luck.

 

[35football35]

Yeah, I was my vocal chords on the monitor as she was looking down my throat. Had me say "eeeeee", I guess to see if my vocal chords were operating correctly?

I am nervous about visiting the speech pathologist. Hopefully she will be able to fully eliminate my anxiety.