slurred speach, droopfoot, constant?

[fredrik]

Actually i wonder about all ALS symptoms.
do they change from day to day? but still always be there ofcause?

like droopfoot, once you get it, is it all the time or now and then?
or slurred speach, diffrent through the day or constant?

very curious about this and if it is the same with all symptoms? i've read that fasics is constant.

Fredrik

 

[BethU]

Fredeik ... when I had fasics on my tongue, they were constant. (They have stopped now, so I assume my tongue has given up the ghost.)

The slurred speech varied like this: I started out having trouble only with a few letters or combinations, then with additional sounds, and then additional ones. It was not a random process in which all sounds were slurred at once. There were specific sounds that I could not produce, then more and more of them. For each sound we produce, the tongue, cheeks and lips have to do very intricate maneuvers, so I probably lost the hardest ones first.

Up until the last six months or so, I had no trouble with vowels, but now I cannot differentiate vowel sounds either.

In addition to speech, my voice has had a huge range ... from high-pitched nasal sounds to trilling to crackling to coarse. Now it is becoming very soft (volume wise) and low, but I don't know how long that will last.

As to time of day, I think it's natural to probably be weaker as the day goes on. Time of day is a significant factor in MG, but I think with ALS, it is just a natural tiring out process.

Hope this helps.

 

[fredrik]

thanks Beth,

in my case it's not always later in the day, it's more like random through the day.
sometimes bad in the morning and some times evening, sometimes for 10 minutes and some times couple of hours, no pattern at all.
it's mostly the letter S and articulation.

Sorry for your loss of speach, hope you feeling allright!

Fredrik

 

[BethU]

Thanks Fredrik ... I feel great, but sound lousy !

 

[Al]

Hi fredrik. Once you get foot drop it will stay. The shin muscles weaken and the front of the foot drops or slaps down on the floor. This can cause the stumbling and falls so many ALS patients have.

AL.

 

[fredrik]

thanks Al,

if i understand it right it's not like ten times a day, now and then when you walk.
and next month 15 times a day and next month 20....
once it drops it stays all the time?

Fredrik

 

[taranakiman]

voice

hi im new and my voice has deminished over the last year i can still talk but people find it hard to understand me i often wunder will my voice completly go or will it stay like this i just try to stay positive but get fustrated at times

 

[taranakiman]

smoking

just a thought i am a smoker and often i think maybe if i give up my voice will improve i have all the same symptims as beth with the naisle sounds and pitch and volume and the toung just will not do the simple things like a simple whistle and being a guy i guess its a way of expression its a strange world now its like inside i am still the same person but looking from the outside i can understand why some people see you as diferent

 

[Al]

Hi Taranakiman. Welcome but sorry you have to be here. Staying positive does help in many ways. In answer to your questions. Usually with bulbar symptoms the voice does go completely but on some it takes quite a few years. With smoking, my friend who does smoke was told quitting would help her by keeping her lungs healthier and reduce the carbon monoxide in her blood. She didn't quit but is down to 6 or so a day. She needs a Bipap at night now. No idea if the smoking sped up her need for it but it does meke you wonder.

AL.

 

[rose]

taranakiman,

I too have problems with a weak voice. I think that although smoking obviously isn't good for anyone, that it isn't something that would actually speed up the rate of MND which is affecting the vocal cords. Smoke is an irritant, and I live with a smoker,who does not smoke around me, because it makes my voice sound worse. However, I don't think smoke actually harms it as much as over use does, straining of the vocal cord muscles that cannot regenerate themselves for repair is probably worse for your voice in the long run. This is just my own opinion and experience, as I'm not a doctor.

No one can claim that smoking isn't harmful, but from what I understand its main risks are for cancers and heart disease, etc.

good luck to you, and welcome to the forum.

 

[BethU]

Hi, Taranarkiman ...

About the loss of one"s voice: I was frightened a while ago at the thought of becoming completely mute. unable to make any sound at all, and I checked it out with someone (I think my ALS rep), and she said that eventually you may lose your speaking voice, but you never lose the capacity to make sounds. And I believe, as Al said, that it takes quite a while to reach that point.

Welcome to the forum. How is your summer going?