Status
Not open for further replies.

rickmcmahan

Active member
Joined
Jul 14, 2006
Messages
48
Reason
PALS
Country
US
State
ms
City
batesville
I have been up most of the night tonight due to having problems with getting the air out of my lungs without these aggravating weird sounds coming from my throat. At times there seems to be resistance to the air leaving my lungs. Is this the vocal cords closing up that are creating the sounds and restrictions? Or is it muscle weakness in the throat that can cause this? I have bulbar onset and cannot speak any more and cannot drink liquids without choking. I can eat some foods but not many. I do have a feeding tube that I use every day. Tonight was the first time I just had to get out of bed due to these strange sounds when I exhale the air from my lungs. Any idea what is causing this? If so, let me hear back from you on this. Thanks. Rick
 
Rick, I don't have an answer for you but I just wanted to say how sorry I am that you are experiencing problems with sleep. It sounds like the muscles are relaxing when you try to exhale (but I could be wrong). Do you already have a respiratory therapist to call?
 
Rick I'd get to a doctor. You could have aspirated something or have the start of pneumonia. Do you have any fever?
 
I seem to be doing ok. Yesterday (the day I posted the post) everything was ok. But last night was very frightening! I took my colace medicine at bedtime like I do every day. But for some reason the pill stuck in my throat without my knowing it was there. A few minutes later I noticed sevier irritation in my upper throat resulting in large amounts of very thick saliva just running out of my mouth. At one point I could not even breath for about 15 seconds. After that short periiod I had extreme difficulty in getting air both in and out. The pain in the throat was strong I guess due to the medication pill that had started to dissolve in my throat. Anyway, at one point I considered going to the ER because I had no trouble beathing air in, but to get it out met strong resistance. But after a while I was able to get the air in and out but breathing out continued to meet resistance all night which resulted in a weird sound like I mentioned in my original post. I wound up sleeping in my recliner all night. My breathing is now ok with no resistance to air movement and also no weird sounds when I exhale now that I am up and out of sleep mode. I survived! Just hope it does not happen again. No fun.
 
It's hard to break old habits.I crush all pills and put them in liquid so it can be administered through the feeding tube. Colace is super nasty when you get it in your mouth I can't imagine one dissolving in your throat that had to be rough .If you are having problems with constipation I have some remedies.
 
Brentt,

I do crush all medication that can be crushed and dump them down my tube. But the Colace I use (Wal Mart Equate Brand) is a gel capsule. So you cannot crush them. What alternatives do I have with gel caps. My Co Q10 is also a gel cap. I sure wish I could get them both down the tube. Thanks for your info. Rick
 
I take the same colace in the gel cap ,all we do is cut the end off or poke a hole in it and squeeze the liquid into some thing like the formula.It blends easily no oily substance in colace.The C Q 10 is actually tasty so my wife squirts a capsule in my mouth and I just let it melt .I also do the same with vitamin E .I know what you mean though ,the E and cq10 just won't go down the tube .If you are choking on everything it might not work for you so be extra careful. I have a problem with things that are the same consistency as water but thick things don't cause a problem .Good Luck !
By the way the gelatin is not good for you. All gelatins are a bad thing for us it contributes to the glutein that's being over produced in our brains .That's what causes the death of cells in a specific order but I don't want to get technical.
 
Rick...I think they refer to your breathing problem as 'stridor' (sp?) --it just started happening to my husband too and I am trying to learn about it....he is just recovering from aspiration pneumonia and has just started on BiPap.
Beth
 
Lunarruna,

Can you please give me your husbands symptoms or sounds. I got up again today at 4 AM due to my vocal cords making sounds when I exhale. After laying in the bed awake for about an hour I said it is time to get up. When I stand up, the strange sounds and exhaling resistance seems to go away. Anybody know why standing up would help? Is is saliva stagnating in my vocal cord area that is causing the vocal cords to vibrate when I exhale? Share your thoughts with me on this one. I wind up almost every night having to get up and go sit in my recliner due to the weird noises my breaking creates. I also get up out of the bed to keep from waking up my wife. Feedback please. Thanks

Rick
 
Could be one of two things I think. Sleep apnea when the throat relaxes and falls down and causes a restriction in the air passage and usually but not always happens if you are overweight. Bulbar symptoms can also do this because of the weakened muscles not supporting the tissue in the mouth and throat and causing the restriction. When standing or sitting there is more support to hang straight than collapse backwards. Could also be the saliva and phlem sitting in a pocket in the throat rattling away. Stand up and you swallow better and lose the saliva.
 
Rick....we think it was saliva/phlegm in his throat, but it has something to do with the vocal cords because it makes a different sound (snoring-like; more vibratory?) than other times when he has phlegm in his throat...I havent had a chance to look into it but our nurse was reading up on it after hearing him do it...with him it was happening during the day and it would come on almost like an asthma attack type thing and he felt as if his throat was swelling shut but it wasnt really....I will say that once we got this BiPap it hasnt happened againn even though he only uses it a few hrs a day. Also, this was happening to him during aspiration pneumonia so beware and be sure you dont have a fever as Al mentioned.
Beth
 
Bipap

I was put on bipap,,,with a humidifier. First night i used it was last night,,after 5 hrs i woke up and my throat was just raw and so dry. My throught and mouth was always dry,,well since als but never raw like this and i just dont know what i did wrong. Any advise?

PaulaB
 
breathing problems

Hi Everyone, I also have weird sounds. Sounds like a air machine in my chest and or snore like sounds in my chest . I had pneumonia last Dec.and I've never fully recovered. I had a chest xray and no one will call me back to get my results.(1mo. ago):cry:
 
Hi Paula. Does the humidifier have a heater on it? Turning up the heat puts more humidity in the air. I also have a cup of water next to the bed like they have in hospital with a stiff straw so that I can just put the straw under front of mask to get a sip of water without taking off mask. Don't fill cup full of water because air pressure will blow water everywhere soaking you and you'll have to get up then any way. I guess you know how I figured that one out. Hope this helps. AL.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top