Have any of you had throat problems? Are they related to RA? I have had a "raspy" voice that started back in March. I assumed it was allergy related. It really isn't painful just frustrating (I cannot sing or yell to my families relief). I finally went to an ENT and he said I had no nodules but that my right vocal cord was inflammed and did not vibrate, he also said my throat is extremely dry. He said there are a couple things it could be but the most common being Acid Reflux. Gave me a script for Nexium and told me to try and hydrate my throat with lots of water. Now three weeks later still raspy. The other thing he said is it could be the RA affecting my vocal cord?!?!?!
Has anyone else heard of this? I have heard that it can cause inflammation anywhere but does anyone have personal experience? I can live with the raspy but it is just seems to be one thing after another.
Connie
I've heard the RA connection too.These feelings have been compared to having the flu, although they are usually less intense.
Rheumatoid arthritis may affect your skin, lungs, and voice. Here's how:
I have trouble with my esophagus being inflammed and must be very careful taking meds and eating.
I get a hoarse voice frequently likely caused by RA but not proven. I have heard many people on these websites say the same thing.
Connie, two other things come to mind for me. Respiratory infections (like the one I've got right now) are common when you're on immune suppressing meds like mtx, so maybe you've got the start of one that's not far enough along to be diagnosed. The other is if you're on any kind of pain meds, I find the hoarse, raspy voice is a side effect (or what my husband calls my sexy voice
I have heard of RA affecting the throat, but haven't experienced that personally. I have had problems with breathing and thought my lungs might be affected, but my chest x-ray came back clear.
I have to "Clear my throat" before speaking a lot. I notice myself doing that almost everytime the phone rings here at the office. If I don't do that I sound like I've got a frog in my throat. Several people have commented on it.
Innerglow; My husband thinks it's sexy too
I hope you find relief soon! We all have to be able to yell if we need to, lol.
I have the problem w/my vocal chords from RA. I also have something called "Spasmodic dysphonia". It causes the same symptoms, but can also cause worse problems if you panic.
It can cause your vocal chords to freeze up or become temporarily parylilyzed (sp) and its hard to breathe. I carry a couple of Ativan tablets with me in case it happens. They work quickly to open up the passageway. Also the ENT told me to never let them do a tracheotmomy on me but get IV Ativan and all will be well. They had me going through all kinds of test for asthma and whatever they could think of that would result in a breathing problem like this, and in the end it was something really simple and very treatable.
Just thought if any of you were having these problems, this would be something to check out before undergoing all those all scope tests I had to go through.
Crispy
Mark says he can tell when my RA is going to flare or if I'm very fatigued because my voice gets very wispy.. I sound ...old... like my Slovak gramma when she was 80.
My voice also goes wispy when my heart problems flare up, OR when my asthma does..