HOARSENESS in my VOICE or LARYINGITIS

Hi. My husband has advanced copd and his voice is very raspy. You can hear the raspiness in it when he talks. I am not sure it is from the copd or from all the smoking he does or has done for many years. I imagine it is a little of both. He does not seem to care about it. The only time his voice is loud, is when he coughs. I believe he exagerrates the noise he makes when he coughs. I never hear a person cough that loud before. As far as what you can do for the hoarseness, I would talk to your doctor. coughdrops may help. Good luck in finding help for that.

I'm gonna guess that your prescribed inhaler contains a steroid. My pulmo guy has prescribed several meds (Breztri, etc.) and a couple of add-on steroids, "just try this", and I'm a willing guinea pig. BUT... every time I've started inhaling a steroid, I develop a hoarse, scratchy voice, and sometimes a tightness in my throat - not exactly desirable results - and so after discontinuing them, voice and throat return to normal. I'm grateful that my pulmonologist pays attention, listens, takes notes. We're learning together. I'm back to Stiolto (tiotropium and olodaterol) and while I'm not scheduled for any marathons, I'm doing as OK as I can be, I think.

Hey CapnJack > I am going to refer your notes & story to my Pulmo Guy. What do you think is the best NON STEROID ~ what is Breztri. It is extremely difficult to have hoarseness in my voice especially a Marine Corps Veteran even when using the telephone etc. Semper Fi Bob NOTE: Anyone with any advice or tips please let me know! Thank You

Hey, Bob! Army VN vet here...or as my USMC buddy says, "that's an anacronym for Aren't Real Marines Yet". As far as "the best", I think you just gotta recon what's out there 'til you find something that works better than whatever else you've been using. Stiolto (tiotropium and olodaterol) has consistently worked for me. I belong to another online support group, also, called "StuffThatWorks", you've got to dig around to find the COPD group there, but lots of good info, and I learned that I wasn't the only one with voice issues from inhaling steroids. Keep yer powder dry, Marine, and thanks for reaching out to me. // CapnJack

Hi semperfibob16 - I tried different inhalers over the past 6 years. They all contained a steroid, and yes, within the first 2 weeks, I was hoarse. I did a lot of research on it, because initially it looked like this was a coincidence. It's not. Research is finally showing that well over 50% of us who use ICS inhalers become hoarse. I did everything 'right' - rinsed my mouth thoroughly, including using an herbal antifungal - no help. Not a Marine Corp Vet :-), but I was a singer and still love to sing, even with my 75 year old vocal chords (and its good for us too), so I finally asked my pulmo if we could try and inhaler without the steroid. Since I was aready on Trelegy at the time, I switched to Anoro, which is basically Trelegy without the steroid. After 6 month 'trial', the numbers on all of my pulmo tests remained basically the same. And the hoarseness was gone! This may not work for everyone - we are all different. Some of us do much better with the steroid component added. But it's worth a try. What's the worst that can happen? - You go back onto your inhaled steroids... All the best to you! And thank you for your service.

Kathleen > thank you for the information > I just started to use Mayo Connect and WOW my Pulmo DR is about to be bombarded with the Mayo Marine Corps Q& A! I intend to try Anoro and I will keep in touch for GREAT ADVICE with all my newfound Mayo Marine Corps Buddies. Thank You Kathleen! OORAH~OORAH SemperFiBob

Hello Kathleen @kabob I have a new question for you regarding "Exacerbations or Flare Ups" What are they and what causes them? I think I had something like that this morning ~ lots of coughing & expectorating ~ Should I use an Inhaler when this occurs. Oxygen seems to have helped somewhat. I am new at this Mayo Connect and its helped me (and my wife) immeasurably. Anyone reading this > please also offer your tips & advice as well. Thank You Kathleen ~ Please see my answer to you yesterday as well.
SemperFiBob

@semperfibob16 Hi- Just saw this. The whole thing about exacerbations, etc. - what they look and feel like, what can be done - that's something to definitely talk to your pulmo about. There are various things that can be useful, depending on the severity. For me, when something is mild, something like Mucinex can be helpful, sometimes a nebulizer, rescue inhaler, O2 is something you have found to be useful.... My first year, I learned a hard lesson - that a 'cold' is not 'just a cold' for us. I proceeded with 'business as usual, and ended up in the ER because my O2 dropped and resp. symptoms increased, seemingly 'all of a sudden'. Was in the hospital for 3 days. And so, that motivated me to talk with my pulmo about a 'plan' - like how do you know if your congestion, etc. are getting out of hand? And of course, what can you do? We are all so different, so having that discussion sooner rather than later is a good idea. My personal plan is to get on top of things right away - whatever supplements I take, or extras that I do to stave off or lessen respiratory symptoms. If that doesn't seem to be working, then move on to the call to the Dr. and/or take my "emergency stash", which my Dr. now prescribes for me to have on hand - a combination of oral steroids and Azithromycin. I'm not saying this is what you should do, but rather saying it's important to have a plan. Otherwise, in addition to feeling bad, it's pretty scary (at least it was for me). Having a plan has greatly reduced my anxiety, which was really high for quite awhile after the diagnosis. Hope I didn't go on for too long, and hope this was helpful. Do let us know how that conversation with your pulmo goes 🙂

Kathleen@kabob > had a Tele-Health phone call with Dr Pulmo. I have been on Wixela Inhaler past 2 years ~ result Hoarseness > Pulmo says now try Anoro. What is best Anoro or Advair. I will not go back to Wixela. Anyone else that had been or is using Wixela now? Thanks Kathleen, SemperFiBob