When I started having trouble my ENT kept telling me there was not anything wrong with me and I could talk if I wanted to. He suggested speech therapy. I tried speech therapy for ten months prior to being diagnosed with SD. As my voice deteriorated, I had to practice longer and longer periods of time to get any improvement in my voice. Then it would revert back to all of the spasms. My speech therapist told me she suspected I had spasmodic dysphonia. She sent me to Duke Medical Center where I was diagnosed with SD. She later sent me to the National Institute of Health where I received my first BoTox injection.

Most of my injections were about four months apart. Don't give up on the injections being more successful. Sometimes it takes several injections for the doctor to arrive at the correct doseage for the patient.

Do you have the abductor (AB) or adductor (AD) type of SD? Conventional wisdom is that speech therapy works better for AB than AD, but I'm not aware of any scientific evidence supporting that idea. Especially if you have AB, you may want to read my previous post about "alternative phonation." I've enjoyed excellent results from speech therapy. My voice isn't perfect, but I have no limitations regarding work or social life.

Best of luck,

Linda

I went to 8 sessions of speech therapy. It has helped, but my insurance company would not authorize additional visits. Right now, I'm in the appeal process and have to wait to see what happens.

I was diagnosed with mild spasmodic dysphonia, so my voice is not that bad, but it's bad enough. My therapist wants me to talk in my "happy voice." She told me 3 weeks makes or breaks a habit. That's easier said than done!!! I have improved, last week I was talking to a friend of mine, on the phone, for over an hour and a half. She said that I sounded great, a lot better than the last time we talked. And other people have commented how I have improved.

I have my good and bad days. Hang in there and just be yourself!