VCD and Asthma

[weasel546]

I found out a few months ago I have Vocal Cord Dysfunction. Apparently it goes hand in hand with my asthma. I haven’t met anyone else with VCD and I’m kind of feeling like I’m the only one. Am I?

[Minushabens Asthma Captain]

Hi

I'll be honest, it's not something I'd heard of before. If you'd asked me about asthma & vocal cords, I'd definitely have said that there are connections, as my voice goes all over the place at times, but I looked it up & that's not really the same thing.

What the web does seem to say is that, as you say, it is very closely connected to asthma, so maybe lots of people have it & don't really realise?

[EmmaF91 in reply to Minushabens]

Hi

VCD is one of the great mimics of asthma, so is often confused for it before further testing is done - as it only affects the larynx, LFTs can come back normal. It has almost exactly the same symptoms however it’s more likely to have inspiratory issues rather than expiratory and may not respond to asthma meds. Because if this the main treatment is S&L/physio therapy, and avoiding irritants.

You can have both VCD and asthma, but in this case you’re likely to be only diagnosed with asthma and have your meds increased. This is because asthma is a ‘structural’ change in the lungs and can be seen, whilst VCD is a ‘functional’ change which may only be evident when symptomatic. Managing the asthma well tho, should improve the VCD.

Personally I don’t have VCD (or at least it’s not diagnosed 😅), but I do know of others with it! You’re not the only one, but you are one of the few who have (presumably) been officially diagnosed through testing!

Couple of sites to explain things more;

mayoclinic.org/diseases-con...

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

And if you’re on facebook, here’s a support group, with others who are diagnosed:

m.facebook.com/pages/catego...

Hope that helps x

[Hidden in reply to EmmaF91]

VCD @WON’T@ help VCD. They just don’t.

However, asthma meds can affect your voice, and asthma can trigger a VCD attack.

Here’s a trick if you can carry a tune: if you start wheezing, try to sing. If you can sing, it can’t be VCD. You can’t sing if you can’t control your vocal cords.

You can sing through wheezing although you’ll probably have to sing in shorter phrases.

[Jdchrisman]

You are definitely not the only one! I've battled VCD due to asthma for years (and it's especially difficult since I'm a worship pastor)! If my asthma is exacerbated, I can hardly talk; so I really have to stay on top of my meds and keep it under control. Also, many asthma meds (inhalers) can affect your voice as well - so it's sometimes a catch-22 in that regard

[Suerkaplan in reply to Jdchrisman]

I had vocal chord troubles too tho no one said it was VCD exactly. I was battling the asthma and GERD (a contributor) and sinus infections - 4 of them in a year. The speech therapy was good but what 'cured' the trouble was fixing the cause, my nasal passages were very narrow and so the infections got 'stuck', lingered and affected the vocal cords.

My ENT said the fix was sinuplasty surgery. Not pleasant but not horrible either like old fashioned sinusitis surgery. Since the surgery I've had no more infections or voice troubles.

Figuring out the cause is the best thing you can do! Good luck.

[Jjude1003]

I was diagnosed with VCD. I’m not a typical asthma patient (normal oxygen levels and pulmonary function test, no weazing or mucus). I just get shortness of breath, tightness, can’t get a breath in, out of breath talking. When diagnosed with VCD I was excited and hopeful that this was the answer. I found a speech pathologist that specializes in treating VCD and she taught me excercises to help. After a few months of the exercises I had my vocal chords checked again and they were normal. Unfortunately though my asthma symptoms persisted. So it seems the VCD is just one variable and not the singular cause of my asthma. VCD seems to be frequently present with asthma and they don’t seem to fully understand if it causes asthma or the other way around.

[Hidden]

No. It’s a pretty common combo and one can trigger the other. In fact they kept trying to tell me I had it.

But here’s the thing. You can’t sing while vocal cord dysfunction is going on. So I sat up, sang part of I DREAMED A DREAM, and they took it off the table immediately.

I’ve always been able to sing through wheezing. You can try something simple, like HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

Also your rescue inhaler won’t help VCD, and neither does steroids.

Try the sing test for yourself. It might help sort it out. I actually have a friend who was a coloratura soprano until she developed VCD. Then she couldn’t sing any more.

[Meatcutter in reply to Hidden]

I have trouble talking where people have trouble hearing me . It only started when I was put on Asthma meds. I am glad to hear it isn’t my imagination. Thank you for letting me know I am not the only one out there.

[Hospicern]

I had my last flare up last week and ended up in ICU again. My voice is almost gone!