lost my voice

I received my dual lead pacemaker almost five months ago. About two months ago, I lost my voice. I can whisper, but I cannot talk ! I have been to several specialist, with mixed results. When they checked my vocal chords with a scope down my throat, they found my vocal chords to be in great shape. The latest specialist I have seen, an Endrocinoligist, suggested that I should try a month of no coffee, wine, spicy foods, & anything else that might irritate my throat.
Previously, to him, I have had x-rays of my lungs, cat-scan of my lungs, ect. I also had an ultrasound of my neck.
Everything is fairly normal for a 77 year old man.
One doctor, made note of the fact, that one of the pacemaker leads , going to my heart, is right against a blood vessel, which supplies blood to my vocal chords, & may, in fact, be the problem.
Has anybody ever heard of something like this ?

6 Comments

Interesting

by NiceNiecey - 2014-10-28 10:10:43

No I have not heard of this but I'm practically new to all this at just 10 months out.

Did they think you were having gastric reflux? I know heartburn and that sort of thing can cause one's voice to become hoarse. That's obviously the tree the endocrinologist was barking up, which is good. Endocrine problems are quite complex.

If it's the blood vessel and the lead, why didn't it cause problems until 3 months post-PM?

Just be prepared: the next diagnosis will be some sort of psychological problem.

One question: you're not taking systemic steroids for some reason are you?

reply

by stron - 2014-10-29 04:10:25

Yes, I have gastric reflux, which I have had for years. The Endocrinologist did double my omeprezol dosage, & after almost three weeks, nothing has changed. I have no answer to why it didn't cause me to lose my voice right away, but I'm darned if I know what's going on. Not taking any steroids, so that's not a probable cause. I am going to see a pulmonary specialist next week, to see if he can shine a light on this problem.
Meanwhile, I'm the whisperer ! Thanks for your input !

Just a thought

by NormaLou - 2014-10-30 10:10:44

Do you have spasms in your vocal chords or just whispering. A friend of mine lost her ability to speak normally. It's called spasmodic dysphonia. She can speak a few words normally, then her voice "breaks" from the spasms. I looked it up at Mayo Clinic and it's a neurological disorder.

Going gluten-free is a good suggestion for reflux.

Gluten

by NiceNiecey - 2014-10-30 12:10:18

Hello again. A friend of mine that's a nurse and her husband is a physician, told me to go gluten-free so I could get off the Omeprazole, which had stopped working anyway.

I had nothing to lose so I tried it (not very hard if you don't have Celiac's Disease). My gastric reflux was cured after 2 days or so. I couldn't believe it.

They warned me that reflux could happen again if I went too heavy on rice products or another grain besides wheat.

I limit my bread intake and for the past 2 or 3 years haven't had a reflux problem and don't need medicine for it. Give this a try. What have you got to lose? Maybe your voice will come back!

Any update?

by kbarkey - 2015-11-17 11:11:29

This is interesting to me bc my mother (age 69, very fit) had to have a pacemaker 3 weeks ago for bradycardia & as of now, I'm very concerned bc she just doesn't seem better...still having chest heaviness & not able to get a full breath & her other distinct symptom is that she has a very weak, hoarse voice & there is no other reason or explanation for it & seems to get worse if she does try to exercise at all such as going for a walk. Would love to know if you've since been able to get any answers or fix?

reply of husband

by stron - 2015-11-18 12:11:09

I saw your reply to my husbands symptoms and did not want you to wait for a reply. My husband passed on July 15th, 2015. Losing his voice did not have anything to do with the pacemaker. There was a large tumor in his lung which stopped him from speaking. The tumor was too large to be removed, it was too late. He had been to four doctors before one figured out the diagnosis. We wondered how this very large tumor was missed by so many doctors and technicians who gave him MRI's, Scans and X-rays tests then operated on him to put in the pacemaker, this was all done within months of finding this large tumor. Of course asking these questions which no one answered didn't do him a bit of good and the only one that suffered was my husband by losing his life. Good luck to all of you on this Board, research & question everything you are told, get 2nd and 3rd opinions and make sure your Primary Doctor is competent. I miss my husband every second of the day.

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My pacemaker is intact and working great.