The importance of voice in CFS

[Jo86]

Does anyone feel that they've got a weaker voice (less sheer volume comes out as you're talking), to the point that to get any discernible volume and clarity out of you, you've got to push to the limit every time you utter out a sentence, and unless you stop and gather yourself or clear your throat every 5 seconds, your voice is bound to break midway through a sentence ('cause it's pushing so hard) ?

Yeah so the voice is currently my major indicator (or "thermometer") for how good or bad I am at that moment, on that day. You could basically go as far as saying you could know whether my mitochondria are working decently or terribly at that moment, from hearing me speak. Will leave it at that as an introduction.

 

[hapl808]

Does anyone feel that they've got a weaker voice (less sheer volume comes out as you're talking), to the point that to get any discernible volume and clarity out of you, you've got to push to the limit every time you utter out a sentence, and unless you stop and gather yourself or clear your throat every 5 seconds, your voice is bound to break midway through a sentence ('cause it's pushing so hard) ?

Always.

 

[Andryr]

Sometimes (I have CFS-like symptoms, haven't been diagnosed)

 

[ruben]

Having a weaker voice has been a feature of my ME/CFS. When I'm in a noisy environment, say like at a football match, and trying to speak loudly to be heard over the crowd noise, my voice would just break and give up. I'd always considered it a minor symptom though in comparison to fatigue, nausea, bloatedness and migraines.

 

[Jo86]

Having a weaker voice has been a feature of my ME/CFS. When I'm in a noisy environment, say like at a football match, and trying to speak loudly to be heard over the crowd noise, my voice would just break and give up.

Funny thing is: for me these situations often help because they force me to get my full voice out, which is an effort but it helps me produce a constant stream of speech (much closer to my normal self), whereas using my regular voice right now in quiet situations I either need to speak in a low energy tone (a hint too quiet) or try to speak up a little and that's when my voice cracks and the slurred speech occurs. For eg if I'm talking to someone I'm very comfortable with or recording an audio message on the phone I'll use the quieter voice and I can go for good lengths, but as soon as I need to put in a bit more liveliness/rhythm and volume with strangers, or a crowd (of even 3 or 4) and the likes, the voice cracks eventually happen.
I've yet to find the right balance, it's very difficult to find that.

 

[hapl808]

For eg if I'm talking to someone I'm very comfortable with or recording an audio message on the phone I'll use the quieter voice and I can go for good lengths, but as soon as I need to put in a bit more liveliness/rhythm and volume with strangers, or a crowd (of even 3 or 4) and the likes, the voice cracks eventually happen.

Same. I can push and use a 'normal' voice but it exhausts me faster. If I speak quietly I can speak longer, but my voice sounds weak. Not at all what I used to be like. (I used to talk on the phone for many hours every day.)

 

[Jo86]

Same. I can push and use a 'normal' voice but it exhausts me faster. If I speak quietly I can speak longer, but my voice sounds weak. Not at all what I used to be like. (I used to talk on the phone for many hours every day.)

Right. There's certainly a psychological component at play here - we're trying hard to be our normal selves, but perhaps accepting the current conditions would be wiser. Some people that don't even suffer from CFS at all talk in a quiet voice for eg. But I guess it feels too boring for others if we did. If I were to speak "as I felt", as my body would naturally cause me to speak, with no stress and at my own speed, I'd probably be adding a bunch of "uhms" a lot and my tone would generally hang too much. So I attempt to compensate for that, and end up speaking faster and louder, but a lot messier too.

 

[Azayliah]

My voice changes depending on how I feel. If I can sing, it's a really good day. On a bad day it's hard to hum, and that cracks and stutters. For the past week or so, it's been waffling between low-normal to whispery and cutting out mid-sentence, and it might take a few tries and a little throat-clearing to push my voice to work.

I don't normalize it for others, so everyone can tell when something's off. On bad days I'll rely on typing instead (esp. for work), but I have a similar issue with my muscles where it might take a few tries to "push" my arms, legs, or fingers into moving, or to get my eyes to work together and focus, which can make typing not an option.