I’ve seen lots of threads here and on Facebook about what folks use to help their pain while they wait for doctors/surgery.
My issue is that my primary symptom isn’t pain, it’s hoarseness that just seems to be getting worse.
I hate that I primarily work in a bar during COVID, but it is what it is and I have been having so much trouble shouting over loud music, through a mask, and being heard.
Have those of you with vocal symptoms discovered anything that has helped while you’re waiting for more permanent treatment? I just need something to help me get through the next couple of months without needing to quit my job. I’ll try anything!
I did have a quick search of the previous discussions, & can’t find any solution other than surgery, I’m afraid!
Hopefully someone will chip with some ideas for you…
Thanks, Jules! I appreciate it. I’m definitely ready to have surgery ASAP- just hoping for some tips for in the meantime! I’ve noticed ice cream sometimes helps (like ice for the inside of your throat)- definitely needed an excuse to eat more of that!
Not that this really makes anything better, but I just found out my place of employment is going to be closed for the next 1-2 months due to COVID stuff. Doesn’t help with the needing to have an income part, but it does help with the not wanting to have to quit part. Small blessing in disguise that I have some time to figure this out before needing to go back.
Thank you!!! I really appreciate this advice. I’m usually a huge tea person but it’s been so hot this summer I’ve gravitated much more towards ice water (which I usually hate, lol). I have some cough drops still from when this whole thing started and I thought I had some sort of nasty virus, so I’ll have to break those back out.
I tend to be a nuun/emergen-c in my water kind of person. I was at one point told by a doctor that I tend to OVER-hydrate, which might be BS because this is the same doctor who told me my vocal cords were swollen because of my period (lol) but it is true that I tend to drink 10-12 cups of water a day. I’m just always thirsty, what can I say.
Good for you for drinking so much. I’ve been working w/ a nutritionist for several years & she wants me to drink no less than 80 oz & up to a gallon (128 oz) per day. If I really push, I can get 80-100 oz of fluid into me but it is a GIANT struggle. I have noticed I feel better when I do though. For a sedentary person that might be too much, but since you work(ed) in a job that keeps (kept) you active, & you exercise, I don’t think you’re over hydrating.
I exercise a fair amount & am a prodigious “sweat-er” so need to consume fluids. I’m also not a water drinker so I try to push myself to drink two 40 oz bottles of dilute herb tea daily along w/ 20 oz of something warm in the morning & an 8 oz almond milk/alkaline-detox mixture in the afternoon. I’ve been “off” recently but am working to get back on track.
These are all extremely good points. I did a little research just now and it looks like the National Academies recommends 2.7 liters for the (average) adult woman and 3.7(!) for adult men! I suspect I do need more than the average person because I’m active and I live in Colorado where it’s extremely dry all of the time. Plus, I’m just thirsty the vast majority of the time as well, so if it’s not going to hurt me I suspect I’ll get to 128 oz without a problem.
For those of you who have challenges getting enough water, I highly suggest getting a pack of silicone reusable straws. For some reason I’m just much more likely to drink water if it has a straw in it, and at least these significantly reduce waste. I also love them because I’m clumsy and they keep me from spilling water from my wide-mouth nalgene all over myself several times a day.
I do wish this doctor had done some bloodwork if he suspected I was basically chronically hyponatremic. It seems sketchy for them to tell me to drink less water without actually knowing whether drinking too much water was an issue, especially since I’m extremely active.
You would know if you had hyponatremia as the symptoms are pretty distinct & severe. I believe we know what our bodies need fluid-wise if we’re tuned into them at all. I can clearly tell when I’m even mildly dehydrated & when my body is happily “saturated”. Doctors often don’t consider the individuality of their patients’ body chemistry & thus the differing needs of each human body. Instead they look at research & statics & declare some average number as the standard to which all people should adhere.
I’m doing battle w/ my PCP over my cholesterol levels right now. The standard set for cholesterol levels was established by research done in the 1960s…REALLY?!? He wants me on meds, & I’m arguing I don’t need them. I’ve learned a ton about cholesterol production, absorption & particle size significance from a functional med doc I’m seeing. Much more thorough info than the basic lab test ordered by my PCP. My functional med doc is on my side - no meds needed at this time.
Good, I think statins do more harm than good often- my dad ended up not being able to walk properly because of the muscle pain, so he put lots of weight on instead!
That’s the worst. I wrote several rants about statistics before eventually deciding that’s beyond the scope of this website. The ultimate point is that doctors need to realize that individual patients biological metrics do not always fall within a population average, and that does not necessarily indicate pathology. On the other hand, sometimes individuals whose biological metrics DO fall within the population average still have a problem (i.e. someone who’s styloids are 2.8cm but still has ES).
I’ll keep drinking my water and monitoring what’s normal for my body and remembering that I am the expert on my particular biology. <3
I’m definitely ready to have surgery ASAP- just hoping for some tips for in the meantime! I’ve noticed ice cream sometimes helps (like ice for the inside of your throat)- definitely needed an excuse to eat more of that!
