For a while before I was properly diagnosed with SD, doctors suggested that my voice condition was anxiety-induced and I was put on a SSRI drug, similar to Prozac. It did not improve the voice at all and I went through testing three more SSRI drugs. The only change in me that the medications provided was their unwanted side-effects. All kinds of voice therapy (twice a week for five months) and medication did nothing positive for my voice. When I was finally diagnosed with SD and had Botox injections, my voice improved and as a result, I was much more relaxed in social situations where I knew my voice was going to be in use. I gradually discontinued the medication and have been completely off it for quite some time. In my case, getting a proper SD diagnosis and treatment let me relax, as poor voice was always something that I had on my mind in social situations, where I was always very tense in anticipation of voice dysfunction. The more tense I got, the worse my voice became- and a vicious cycle ensued, with one problem kind of "feeding" the other. If I had to speak in a large group of people, I would grow more and more tense- worrying about whether or not my voice was going to fail completely (it often did) and cause me embarassment.
Botox has taken care of a good part of my SD symptoms and knowing that my voice is going to work to somewhat of a satisfactory degree has really helped me relax, greatly reducing the muscle tension dysphonia which accompanied the SD.
I went through several doctors, a speech therapist and quite a bit of medication before I received a proper diagnosis and finally got satisfactory results. Getting second and third opinions (the first "specialist" I saw said: "your vocal cords look fine" without actually checking their function and suggested that nothing could be done in my case)were the best things I could have done! Your case may be completely different than mine, but then again you may be just like me. Think positively- and don't give up!
Best regards,
Tom D.
Ontario, Canada
AD SD for 10 years- diagnosed after 7 and a half.
