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Yo asthmatics and other nerds,

I've got some medicine that is really good - Symbicort which is a combo budesonid/formoterol. But it fucks up my talking voice and also vox (to a lesser degree), even if I'm awfully careful about gargling after etc.

Has anyone experienced this? Any good solutions, or alternative medications? I mean, alternatives to the stuff I'm taking that are accepted by the medical community at large, not "chamomile and purple crystals" or jade eggs or anything.

Also looking for tips for your favourite pocket protector.

Why did I put this in music?

goroth wrote:Why did I put this in music?

Because we don't have either an asthma or singing subforum?

I wish I had an actual suggestion - all of my first inclinations were classic sarcastic responses, like "counterbalance it with whiskey and cigarettes!" Buuuuuuuuuuuuuut that would probably end poorly.

Have you tried classic "singer" tricks like hot tea with honey? I mean, I don't know if they actually work for unmedicated vocal cords, but maybe it's worth a shot!

I don't sing (I have inherited my father's ability to hit two or three notes and all of them flat), but asthma and it's inhaler friend definitely dry my throat out. I tend to drink anything with plenty of sugar in it (coca cola for me, but that's probably a bad thing to drink if you are about to sing). Maybe sucking boiled sugar type sweets? Would that help?

I have an issue where I'll lose my breathe too quickly if I push my voice to hard. Perhaps, you are pushing yours past it's limits too. A lot of people don't think about what their actual vocal range is versus what they want it to be. Regardless, I do still lose my breath. My only solution to this has been to be softer with my voice.

You need albuterol for your asthma most likely.

Since these drugs are a beta 2 agonist, I'd also recommend taking benadryl for a least a week every month or so to clean out those receptors. I'm actually extremely knowledgeable on this subject due to doing bodybuilding. You use a similar substance and sister to albuterol to lean out during show preps. So I taught myself a lot about how the drugs work and how you fix hang up from them.

I'd also recommend some kind of saline nose spray. That could moisturize your throat and keep your nasal passages clear, which also affects vocals.

Hope that helps?

I'll try the nasal spray for sure jwar.

I think it trashes my speaking voice more so than my singing voice. The singing voice doesn't sound real flash either, especially falsetto, but I can at least warm it up and get it to like 92% good. But my speaking voice just goes to shit.

It seems to come and go in phases as well - I take the medication, same dose, constantly during the allergy season - from like March to the end of September. I can go a week or two without having noticeable wear on the voice, then it'll be like two weeks of bullshit.

Benadryl is an antihistamine - I take cetrizine, which is a 2nd gen antihistamine as well.
Fuck... maybe that's the problem. I just read on the wikipedia page that dry-mouth is a sypmtom that 5% of folks on cetirizine have... maybe that's it.

Though my mouth doesn't feel dry. Just my throat feels trashed. But maybe that's the same thing.

Hmm...



I think next asthma season I'll just take all the drugs.

jrmy wrote:

goroth wrote:Why did I put this in music?

Because we don't have either an asthma or singing subforum?

I'll PM Tom about the asthma subforum

yea i hear u on the inhaler / dry throat thing. i've had asthma all my life and had always used inhalers everyday.
a couple years ago tho, i switched to the fluticasone nasal spray which is usually for allergies
but has the same medicine in it as the main medicine that my inhaler did (advair)
plus it was generic and so much cheaper than my inhaler was, so double bonus.

i'd say it works 80%-90% as good as my inhaler did.
only sometimes in the heavy allergy season (like springtime/early summer), i'll need to take my inhaler like twice a week or something.
but other than that, the nasal spray works just fine for me.
is much better on my throat than the inhaler was.

it was kind of a fluke how i switched but my doctor checked into it to make sure that it was okay for me to swap the two and all that.

I will check this with my GP. Thanks Sherms!

goroth wrote:Also looking for tips for your favourite pocket protector.

Pockets are so 2018

If you have allergies and are taking anti histamines, that for sure could be the issue. Couple that with weed if you smoke or cigs and boom, voice fucked. LOL. I take three allergy meds all year long because I have too, no fucking choice. Especially since we just had the worst year for allergies two, going on three years in a row. Meaning, each year it's gotten worse. I can barely go outside somedays. Fucking sucks ass.

Coffee dehydrates you, soda does as well. Milk can fuck up your vocals because of mucus.

There's a lot to this unfortunately. I envy those singers that can just go at it. That's only happened to me like twice ever. lol

So I say, either say, fuck it and just go with what you got, or overhaul a few things and try and solve the issue.