Difficulty with speech

[tudorwood]

Hi everyone, happy Christmas to all and a very healthy and peaceful new year. My wife Vicky was diagnosed with PD early September this year, she's on 3 x 125mg madapar and getting on not too bad apart from her speech which she is struggling with and worries when she has to make conversation, anyone having the same problem and will it get better?

[M_rosew]

It might be helpful to see a Speach Therapist for voice training. Also there are various apps which track speach volume. Singing with others is a good exercise too.

[laglag]

LSVT Loud is a great program for strengthening your voice. It's usually covered by Medicare, under the same category as physical therapy. Google it or look it up on YouTube.

[Bazillion]

parkinsons.org.uk/content/s...

[Bazillion]

Apps and devices can give individuals more control over the choice of therapy plans. There are already apps available for home practice such as Speak Up For Parkinson’s, for improving loudness or for normalising speech rate. There are also speech aid devices such as Speech Vive and Speech Easy. I offer some online coaching using the internet, and it is really a great way to deliver some speech and voice treatment. Even some of my 80-year-old patients have computers and smart phones, so the possibilities are almost limitless. As long as people realise that the technology and the devices are just the mode of delivery, and hopefully, they will never replace the human interaction between patient and therapist.

Hope this is helpful

[Abdiqani]

Initially , when considering treatment of PD , it has different dimensions of medication and other therapeutic options including surgery , physical and cognitive according to the patient's unique case experiences . Actually the signs of recurrence in her associate with language areas of the brain particularly motor regions (Broca region ) , so promptly contact to a neurologist doctor to find out more information about this condition .

Hope you well .

[tudorwood in reply to Abdiqani]

Thank you for your help and advice

[Abdiqani in reply to tudorwood]

You welcome , and have a good health prospect to your wife.

[tudorwood]

Thank you again, she was diagnosed on 8th Sept but was also feeling very unwell with coughing and shortness of breath, Dr's couldn't find anything wrong after chest exrays,blood tests etc she was finally admitted to hospital where they diagnosed pneumonia, she is still recovering.

[Hidden in reply to tudorwood]

Here is a bit of stark reality, sorry but it is important. Parkys need to be very care-full of pneumonia. There are several kinds, I suggest that she talk to her MD when she is feeling better about getting shots to help prevent . She also must be careful to not aspirate any food into her lungs while she is eating and that may mean re-training her how to eat and breath while eating. Parkinsons is never listed as a cause of death, the majority of Parkies die from ... complications of Pneumonia. There are video showing what we Parkys tend to do wrong that causes us to aspirate food and you can usually find the video at PD associations web sites.

She will have to wait, I think 6 months, to get the shots.

[Abdiqani in reply to tudorwood]

Good news to be cured Pneumonia, because this can make secondary effect to the body . Indeed look after her dietary pattern and physical activity to do and free from stress .

[tudorwood in reply to Abdiqani]

She has been too unwell to do any exercise but is getting a Bit more energy so hopefully in the new year will start to do more. Happy New year and good health and peace

[Abdiqani in reply to tudorwood]

I hope her to benefit natural remedy , Happy New year

[S70AWD]

I have the tremors, as well as speech and swallowing problems. I did the LSVT LOUD program, but volume isn't my problem. Often and without warning, my mouth will freeze up so I can't form the words. If I try to talk through this, it sounds as if I m very drunk. The speech therapist didn't have any tricks in her magic bag to help with this. Has anyone else experienced this? I'm still working, but I fear that this may cause me to retire before I would want to

[clajac in reply to S70AWD]

My husband has this problem (no tremors). He is scheduled for LVST next month and hopefully this will help. He is a pastor so his speech is obviously very important for him. He sometimes seems to slur his words, but also has the very fast, soft sort of mumbling that makes him difficult to understand, especially when he is stressed.

[S70AWD in reply to clajac]

LSVT LOUD is helpful in terms of volume, but in my experience it did not address the issue of forming words when your mouth freezes up.

[laglag in reply to clajac]

Has your husband started LSVT LOUD yet? How is it going?

[clajac in reply to laglag]

He had his initial appointment - which went really well. He doesn't start the actual therapy until Feb. 3. He really LIKES the therapist and I'm hopeful it will help him.

[laglag in reply to clajac]

Liking the therapist is a good thing. I've heard good things about the program and know some that have tried it and I've seen definite improvement. One thing to remember is the voice exercises still need to be kept up at home when the therapy is over. Good luck!

[BillDavid]

I have one some LSVT LOUD therapy. My recommendation.

BilllDavid

[MarciAC4]

I simply cannot speak when my meds aren't working. It is physically exhausting to try to get a word out. It's pathetic to see my husband sitting across from me trying his best to read my lips and figure out what I am trying to say. Of course my hands are uncontrollable by then, so writing or typing are not options. I saw a speech therapist who said that he could not help me-volume is not the problem. My. Husband and I are both worried that I will not be able to communicate. I. Turned 50. Last Friday. Any suggestions are appreciated.

[tudorwood]

My Wife was diagnosed last September 2016, she has a slight tremor in her right leg which is being controlled with 3x125 a day Madapar, however this does not help her with her speech which gets very slurred and it gets very fast, so she has to stop and take a breath and tries to slow down, not always easy, she is also suffering with anxiety and depression, she has tried several anti depressants but couldn't handle the side effects, so not on anything at the moment, on top of all this she is still trying to overcome pneumonia from last November when she ended up in Hospital for two weeks, she is now down to 3 steroids a day, hopefully it will have cleared up by the time she goes for another ct scan in January 18. Any help would be appreciated.