Parkinson's - soft voice

[LindaP50]

My husband's voice is good before he gets out of bed. Once up and about his voice is just about a whisper. I searched and found SpeechVive.com - a medical device which costs $2,500.00

Has anyone tried this?

[Icequeen10]

have not tried it. will look into it. thanks!

[Icequeen10]

have not tried, but will look into it. thanks!

[LindaP50 in reply to Icequeen10]

let me know what you think. I did talk with a rep - said may be able to get free if you are a veteran and eligible for benefits. husband is a vet but its also based on income …. haven't tried that route

[Icequeen10 in reply to LindaP50]

!!! you are amazing....

[eml256]

Have you considered the Lee Silverman Speech technique ? It is ordered by your physician and provided by a speech therapist. My husband’s insurance covered the costs. This therapy helped my husband for a couple of years.

[LindaP50 in reply to eml256]

Did you have a copay?

[roadie12]

Have you looked into the Big and Loud program? It is offered by facilities that work with Parkinson's patients. You might want to ask your neurologist about it. The program literally teaches the patient how to talk louder. It makes sense and it works.

[Foodteacher in reply to roadie12]

It’s helping my husband!

[LindaP50 in reply to Foodteacher]

Thank you. I'll see if I can gently push hubby to review LSVT again.

[Foodteacher in reply to LindaP50]

Great! My husband practices the voice exercises at home and I remind him to use his Loud voice! Wishing you both the best!

[grower]

Lee Silverman Voice Training (LSVT) and Big and Loud are the same program, it works to retrain the neurological pathways and I highly recommend you hunt out someone who teaches it. Great stuff. lsvtglobal.com/

[PDBoxer]

Big and Loud therapy worked for me.

[LindaP50 in reply to PDBoxer]

Hi - did you go to a facility? How often?

[PDBoxer in reply to LindaP50]

Yes, I used a physical therapy center that offered the Big and Loud therapy. The choices were 4 X weekly for 4 weeks, or 2 X weekly for 8 weeks. I completed it in 4 weeks, and still do it at home periodically. It is very beneficial.

[LindaP50 in reply to PDBoxer]

I'm glad you were able to go and this worked out for you. My husband didn't want to spend $40 x 16 visits

[PDBoxer in reply to LindaP50]

Thankfully, mine was covered by Medicare and insurance.

[LindaP50 in reply to PDBoxer]

Yes, medicare covers most of the cost - our specialty providers went down from $40 to $30 - which would help

[LindaP50]

We tried Big and Loud - the physical part last year - not the voice part - they want you to go 4x a week for one month and our copay is $40 per session. Talked with the hospital/rehab where they provide this service and said OK to go 2x a week. I went with hubby for the testing portion and seemed like a good program. He went to the sessions on hi. s own which were one-on-one. He went 4x - each time the therapist had him do the same "exercises" over and over again. No changes - we thought the exercises would go to a different level which they didn't so he lost interest. I could not convince him to try Loud. So, when he speaks and he's walking away from me I'm constantly saying "What?" Funny part is my hearing is changing. I can still hear very high pitched sounds but cannot hear very low soft whispers - which is what hubby does sometimes during the day. We are like a comedy scene. "What?" "I can't hear you?" Hubby gets frustrated, I get frustrated and we both walk away and try again later!!!!

[Pokeweed in reply to LindaP50]

Our physical therapist showed us you can get Lee Silverman on internet. Just look up LsVT.

We look the movement one and use big for exercises at home now

We went to a speech therapist for talking louder . It works (didn’t do the complete Livy tho)

[grandmama16 in reply to LindaP50]

That is us. It's usually said, by our kids (all adults) to be my hearing that's at fault but I do have trouble hearing dialog on certain T.V. programs so I use CC. there is a Big and Loud program but an hour away. Hubby doesn't want to do anything. We did quite a bit at first...excercise classes for PD but got too pricey. I've really wanted to do Rock Steady boxing but it too is an hour away. There's another one in our area that a friend goes to but he doesn't want to bother. I understand as I have Fibro and Epstein Barr which makes me lethargic too. We have no energy. Going anywhere seems like too much trouble but we manage to get to monthly PD support meetings. I walk the dog..WooHoo. He will let him run in the park or elsewhere and dog got burrs. I cut most off but didn't notice he had chewed one area on back leg raw. Took him to vet and he's on meds and has a cone tho now I can remove it if he doesn't go back to chewing on it. He needs grooming...a poodle/maltese...but it has to be all healed to do that. I used to cut and bathe all our dogs thru the years but just too hard now. Even hard to just brush.

Another thing is hubby developed double vision in one eye after cataract surgery. It shouldn't be related but was referred to eye surgeon....had CT scan and around eye was normal but exams showed weak eye muscle so that's going to be corrected in July. Has anyone else here have that problem? Could it be PD related?

[LindaP50 in reply to grandmama16]

Sounds like you are going in circles, like us. Want to do things but can't because of ability, travel time, energy, and whatever ailments of the day we are experiencing. Somehow we must move on, live in the moment. Say Grace.

I haven't heard eye muscle weakness related to PD. Did you try to do a search?

[Despe in reply to grandmama16]

My husband experienced blurry vision in right eye (affected side) for a few seconds one day. He experienced it again one, two times. We went to our ophthalmologist. He said no vision change, but it could be a piece of plaque from his carotid arteries that caused the blurred vision. He recommended that we see a cardiologist ASAP. We did, cardiologist's US indicated severe carotid artery stenosis more than 70%! He could have died from a stroke. Fortunately, he was on a low and at times large dose of aspirin, plus some other supplements that are blood thinners. I any event, he will have a surgery next week or two, we will see the surgeon on July 2.

[LindaP50 in reply to Despe]

Oh my goodness. How scary. My best to you and your husband. Let us know how its going.

[Despe in reply to LindaP50]

Thanks, Linda. I pray and hope for the best.

[grandmama16 in reply to Despe]

Oh my goodness....so glad it was caught. I fear the same with hubby as his ankles swell alot which could indicate heart problems. Thing is, I'd have to drag him to a reg. Dr. and heaven forbid he'd have to go to a heart one. Good luck to yours.

[Despe in reply to grandmama16]

Thank you, same to you! Blurred vision is not always related to PD.

[grandmama16 in reply to Despe]

Hubby has double vision in one eye, not blurred. Hope surgery will correct it. Since it's a probably a muscle problem, maybe it's PD related....muscle affected by a nerve? Just don't know.

[drgeri]

My husband's voice varies based on quality of sleep and level of hydration.

[LindaP50 in reply to drgeri]

Hubby tries his best to stay hydrated. Gets 8 hours of sleep during the night (aside from bathroom breaks). Sometimes when he first wakes up his voice is loud and clear. Doesn't last very long. Just minutes. If we go out to dinner I have a heck of a time trying to hear him. Then he talks fast. Forget it! Its a struggle.

[Jumex2017]

Its rather dear. I just get him to follow eugene Parkinson voice utube and join a singing class. But since he started I’m getting deaf my self as its rather loud.