Posted by: Emily Lim ®
04/05/2006, 23:35:05
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Hi SusanThat's the first time I'm hearing this. Actually, drinking a glass of wine on social occasion relaxes me and my voice actually gets better! I'm also quite a caffeine drinker - didn't see any effect either way in relation to my voice. I have ABSD and haven't found practised anything specific which helps my voice beyond botox and try learning not to get unnecessarily stressed up. I do find though that a lack of rest or sleep does take a toll on my voice the next day. When I was undergoing speech therapy years back, my therapist did say breathing and vocal exercises help - but it seemed to work better for ADSD people. Emily Lim
ABSD 7 years, Singapore
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Posted by: jexxy ®
04/06/2006, 07:42:17
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Dear Susan,
Drinking alot of water and cutting down on coffe can help your voice for sure. As a singer I have found that increased water intake helps prevent excessive flem build up, which hinders the vocal chords.As a person with mild SD,drinking lots of water gives me some support to the vocal function. I noticed that with the onset of sd, I developed some problems with throat clearing and flem. I think this might be common with sd sufferes. Top vocal coach Roger Love reccomends drinking loads of water daily. And its the water you drink the night before that makes the difference. A little Alcohol may be helpful, but to much will have the opposite effect.(sorry if this post appears twice my pc went weird on me a moment ago) And coffe is very drying on the voice, so I would say the speech therapist has given good advise. Jexxy Australia
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Posted by: Barbara S. White ®
04/06/2006, 00:29:51
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My personal experience is that there are certain things that have made my voice sound worse and I have also heard this from others. Citrus fruits (as much as I love them) causes flem and diffinately affects the voice. Not saying it isn't good for you but it does affect your voice, caffeine, hot drinks of any kind. It's like putting your hand in hot water. It will shrivle up. Cold is better, but not cold milk. Milk or dairy produces again produce flem and affect the voice. Chocolate (and oh how I love chocolate) does affect vocal problems. At least it did mine. Probably not too good for you either. Soda's are not good at all. I am speaking from my own experience along with what my speech pathologist told me and what I have read. The best thing for anyone is to test things out. Eat what you like and nothing else close to it and see how it affects you. Sometimes the truth hurts but how important to you is a good and comfortable voice?
Be blessed, Barbara White / god4me@comcast.net
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Posted by: jexxy ®
04/06/2006, 07:34:47
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Dear Susan,
I can atest to the fact that drinking lots of water helps the vocal chords to aproximate more efficiently by keeping them clean of excessive flem build up. The chords rely on being well hydrated, and as cafein is a diaretic it has a very drying effect on them. As a singer I have found that drinking lots of water has helped with the smoothness of the voice, and as somone with mild SD it has given my vocal mechanism some added support.To voice coach Roger Love talks about this in his book "set your voice free" I think that sufferers of SD may have more problems with things like flem build up than other people. I certainly noticed it with the onset of my condition about four yesrs ago.I think your speech therapist gave you some sound advise. Regards Jexxy Australia
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Posted by: Susan L. ®
04/06/2006, 13:50:27
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Thank you all for your reply, I really appreciate it. I do drink a lot of water, but I also drink some tea &/or coffee during the day, not that much though. But prior to knowing about SD< I drank too much coffee. So , I guess none is best. Thank you so much . I didn't know about the citrus.
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Posted by: Robb ®
04/06/2006, 14:10:19
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for me anyway, and in the same way that stress does. i love coffee in particular and have had trouble cutting back, but i now drink mostly decaff. for me the drawbacks would come not right after drinking coffee but a few hours after, and usually only after i drank too much of it. alcohol is interesting b/c a couple glasses of wine helps, but you have to remain conscious of the next day. for me anything more than two drinks has a definite negative effect on sd the next morning.
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Posted by: acewood ®
04/06/2006, 15:50:02
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A good night of drinking and smoking makes my voice smooth as silk the next morning. I wouldn't recommend it for everyone but it seems to work for me.Dave
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Posted by: Renee ®
04/06/2006, 22:57:46
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My speech therapist, also, told me that caffeine makes the voice worse. Alcohol has been discussed on this board before, and the general consensus was that drinking alcohol helps your voice, but the next day it would be terrible. I would definately stay away from caffeine, though(as I'm sitting here with my diet coke!). NOT good for the voice...Renee ADSD/ Austin, TEXAS
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Posted by: Mary Bifaro ®
04/09/2006, 11:14:43
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We had a speech-language pathologist address our SD support group meeting last week on voice therapy.One of the issues which she raised was the importance of having good vocal hygiene habilts. They will help to optimize your vocal quality in spite of having SD. The tips given were: . drink 70-80 oz of water daily
. use humidification in your home and at night
.* limit caffeine and alcohol intake
. don't smoke Sincerely, Mary Bifaro
Abductor SD since 1987
Charlotte, NC
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Posted by: gsmalhi ®
04/09/2006, 21:14:24
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Yes,Certainly!!!!
I have stopped taking milk
and reduced tea.It is much better
in 5 months.No flem in throat and I am
feeling better voice.
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Posted by: Speed Racer ®
04/09/2006, 21:41:52
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Drinking alcohol causes my voice to work better, and I mean ALOT better...no idea why though...Speed Racer
ABSD, Dallas.
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Posted by: Emily Lim ®
04/10/2006, 22:08:06
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Oh dear, milk coffee and milk tea is like a national addiction in Singapore - I've actually never been very conscious of it but after reading all the postings here, I felt flam in my throat whilst having my milk caffeine fix this weekend. Guess I should try to cut down....Anyone received any advice on chilli/spicy food impact to SD? That's of course another quintessential part of the Singaporean palate, don't think I can wean myself off that though...sigh.
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Posted by: Laurie ®
04/11/2006, 13:09:58
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Hi, Emily.Personally, if you like milk, I wouldn't cut down on it, hoping it'll improve SD symptoms. In regard to reducing milk, my experience tells me that it won't help. I'm severly lactose intolerant and mildly allergic to milk. My diet is completely milk free. My SD, however, is going strong. I'd say the same thing for spicy food. Don't cut down on it for the sole idea that it may improve your SD. While perhaps milk or spicy food or whatever may create phlegm in some people and/or have a miniscule influence on someone with a voice disorder already, my take is that diet changes (adding or subtracting things) will have negligible effects on SD symptoms. If you notice something actually causes a problem for you, cut it down. There's no harm. But if you're just imagining the potential of problems/symptoms based upon other people's experiences with foods, I'd say you probably don't have to worry you're making things worse (you're not), or that you need to make too many adjustments. I wish it were so easy. Laurie
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Posted by: Emily Lim ®
04/12/2006, 08:54:51
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LaurieThanks - you're right. And I love milk and chilli (not in that combination)! Emily L
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Posted by: Gary Lea ®
04/15/2006, 14:46:15
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I have conducted my own "research" on the effect of certain foods on my SD. I have purposely had days without certain substances, ie, a week without suspected foods and then with and there is a difference athough even on "good" days I still have tremors. Identified foods include caffeine, chocolate, all dairy, citrus, nuts, and spicy foods. They can all make my speech more difficult. So, yes, for me there is a difference, sometimes quite marked.Gary Lea
SD/AD 1992
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