air trapping

hello all so i have been taking symbicort and spiriva for a month and now my doc says if it is not air trapping it could be a vocal cord Dysfunction. he and i agree this is a long shot since the meds are def improving my breathing, but still since i have been losing my voice he thinks this is possible. has anyone else heard of this? thank you

[stone-UK]

Hi

Interesting condition especially as can be confused with Asthma.

aaaai.org/conditions-and-tr...

[Rosalada in reply to stone-UK]

Just wanted to say, Iam amazed at the depth of your knowledge. You provided so many interesting and informative information,thank you and long may it continue.

[Hidden]

Am undergoing tests for rikias oedema MY doc's think its contributing to shortness of breath asthma symptoms and panic disorder given its my throat.

[Hidden]

Yes I have vocal chord dysfunction it is not a very nice condition

[knitter]

I know when I was still working , just been diagnosed with asthma and given both brown and blue inhaler that my voice became very unreliable.....I never knew if no sound would come out, or if I would cough or squeak!

Do you rinse and gargle well after you use your inhalers ? A change in my preventer to one with less powder helped me.

[Roessner541]

No but sometimes I get hoarse from medications.

[Hidden]

I have it ..I saw a speech therapist to pull my stomach in when I speak etc but honestly dry powder inhalers are the worst offenders for your voice.

[shadow4me]

I often wonder if I have this has seem to have a lot of the same symptoms at times, do you get a feeling your throat has shut and a weak voice at times ? xx

[Grayjay]

I have the same problem with losing my voice. I'm told that it's the steroids in my inhalers. Seretide being one and possibly the main culprit. Have tried gargling but not much good.

[qbjb in reply to Grayjay]

That’s why I stopped taking Seretide years ago. “They” are now saying that steroid inhalers work for asthma but not copd. I read an article about it but can’t remember if it was on this site (sorry!)

[Dmactds]

At one point my voice had devolved from the rather rich baritone I'd had all my life to one like those you hear from an old man..., a strained whisper kind of whiny sound; at the time, I was on Symbicort and Spiriva: Spiriva two puffs once in the morning and Symbicort two puffs morning and another two in the evening.

I mentioned my concern to my doc and he stopped the evening puffs of Symbicort; now if I need any help breathing, I use my albuterol and it seems to help clear things up without changing my voice which, while it hasn't returned to the way it was before, it's become less like that whiny old man sound.

[Hidden in reply to Dmactds]

hi,

i am taking symbicort 2 puffs twice a day and spiriva 2 puffs at night/ i also had some voice issues but it has improved dramatically as i rinse after each symbicort use and gargle as well

[jackdup]

I had voice issues when taking Symbicort. I only had to stop taking it for a couple of days and my voice was back to normal.

[Hidden]

Glycerine sweets are good for the throat, actually I take them straight after inhalersand rinsing, I have 4 different ones. The speech therapist recommended them.

Also I’m not allowed to cough to clear my throat anymore! So I have this huff snaky noise to make which unsticks the mucus 3 short and 3 long ones you swallow the mucus or use water to swallow it if it is thick.

Making bubbles in water, purring like a cat, croaking like a toad..so much fun 😜 all in all she was good I learned a lot.

Throat exercises, breathing exercises, 30mn on my housebike a day honestly it is a full-time job!

Regarding air trapping, the only way to find out is to measure the residual volume ratio with lung capacity when they do your functions.

I have moderate air trapping because the pulmonary cysts block the bronchia. I was told nothing could be done just keeping fingers crossed so it doesn’t build up and a cyst ruptures so I avoid all pressure, altitude, airplanes..😢

Hope it has helped. Take good care x