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Linda Ronstadt and PD affecting her voice
Linda Ronstadt lost her ability to sing due to PD. Has PD affected your voice?
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44 Replies
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I sing, though as a crow to Linda’s meadowlark. Still, so far PD hasn’t really affected my voice. I’ve had to give up the guitar and clarinet though, because I’ve lost precision.
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hi lou
i am glad you are still singing. unfortunate you had to give up playing instruments 🙁 i hear what you are saying about precision. i started to take ukulele lessons and it was so frustrating i quit … i wrote an article about my experience…
https://parkinsonsnewstoday.com/2019/01/29/frustration-parkinsons-fierce-symptoms-treatments/
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I never have been able to sing but I find I get hoarse often, have lower sounding voice and will start coughing if I speak too long.
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hi toni, i was diagnosed in 2015, i feel my voice is starting to be affected , i am always coughing …. there is a good utube videos for voice training, that i am starting to use. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHvc9lUJvJ4
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Thank you Jean. I appreciate your feedback.
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As a professional trombonist and vocalist, I have been very concerned about losing my voice and the ability to play. I’m still booking gigs and performing, but I think I have noticed a change in how my voice feels when I sing. I’ve been having a little stutter in my speech where I have to really think about what I’m going to say, or I will repeat a phrase two or three times. That has not been an issue when I’m singing at this point. My trombone playing appears to be affected mostly when I’m improvising in my jazz quartet. Phrases that I have played for years, have become difficult to play now, unless I slow them down. Which is something else I found. I was having trouble signing my name until I realized that if I do it slower, I can sign it just fine. It’s almost like my mind is responding slower. When I play trombone in the orchestra, I don’t really have any issues, and I think it’s because the music is very straightforward and regimented, and you’re just reading a part, where as in jazz improvisation, you’re creating a new melody line on the fly. It’s really frustrating when I watch videos of myself playing a few years ago where I could get around the horn so easily, something that just doesn’t happen anymore. I can still play a decent solo, but I have had to rethink how I improvise.
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I’m 46 and was diagnosed 3 years ago and have had symptoms for much longer. My voice is definitely softer. People always ask me to repeat myself and my family tells me I’m too quiet. I can speak louder with conscious effort but feel like I’m being extra loud when it’s actually just right. I coach soccer teams for my kids and shouting to players downfield makes me go hoarse more easily than it used to, especially at the start of the seasons.
I’ve been considering LSVT Loud training.
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Re: Linda .. In a few scant interviews before and during the release of the documentary this year, Linda shares that her diagnosis is actually Progressive Supranuclear Palsy … According to my neurologist, this is a cousin of Parkinson’s and not completely the same thing … in some cases, patients present with elements of dementia, which does not appear to be her problem …
To Joe Escobar, the trombonist: I’m 68 and played drums professionally for 30 years … 18 for a living … then I walked away from it for 15 years to pursue journalism … I retired young and took up music again (for another 13 years), but by this time I was diagnosed with Essential Tremor, which really complicated my playing (despite that I went back to college for an MFA but I wasn’t exactly excelling in performance … lol) … Neuro Feedback reduced the tremor for some time and docs reaffirmed by diagnosis for more than 10 years … then my “action” tremor changed to “resting” and about a year before that I began developing other PD symptoms but I wasn’t connecting the dots … slowness of muscle movement and rigidity … playing became much more difficult … In June of this year, I met with a new doc who ordered a DaTScan, and my dopamine levels were clearly impacted … I had quit playing in March before all this and concentrated on managing a band I founded …
In September, my second opinion docs at Cedars Sinai in LA determined that I have Benign Tremulous Parkinsonism, notable for its extra slow progression (hence, the decade that passed between the first symptom, tremor, which could not be confirmed as PD, and the other symptoms) … I’m not on medicine and could conceivably go for some time (perhaps my whole life) without it … fingers crossed … I do NeuroBoxing (similar to Rock Steady) three times a week and a lot of other exercise routines … cardio, yoga) …
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I sing in the church choir. During the 6+ years since my diagnosis, my voice has become lower – an alto for many years, I can now easily sing with the tenors – and sometimes even with the bass! The really cool thing is that now I even have a little vibrato! Singing is a good exercise for breathing and voice stamina – and gives one a constructive outlet in which to be LOUD!
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My voice has definitely become much quieter and more indistinct, to the point where people are finding it difficult to hear what I am saying. A speech therapist has given me exercises that I am supposed to do twice a day (when I remember) and my wife is helping me to speak more loudly and more slowly. I would guess that about one-quarter to one-half of the people in our PD Support Group have similar problems.
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Hi, Charles. I really appreciated reading about your story — thank you. I played piano many years ago but gave it up when I was diagnosed with ET (20 years ago). I never heard of Benign Tremulous Parkinsonism before, so I found this fascinating. I have both a resting and action tremor. Do you still have the action tremor or just the resting tremor? It’s difficult to differentiate between them sometimes — even for my docs — although I see a difference in how the tremors manifest in my hand. If you still have both kinds of tremors, do you see a difference between them as well?
I don’t think I have BTP (just regular PD) because I have so many other common symptoms in addition to tremor, and I’ve had them for at least 15 years. But, like you, my disease progression has been slow compared to other people. (I was diagnosed in Feb. 2019, and am on C/L, which has helped several symptoms, but it hasn’t helped my tremor a whole lot.) I don’t know if it’s a combination of having always maintained a higher-quality diet (plant-based and mostly organic), avoiding mainstream (chemical-laden) household and personal-care products, and always doing some form of exercise (primarily yoga and walking) or whether I’ve just been lucky. I recently started Rock Steady Boxing and am loving it so far. (I also do yoga, walk, and jump on a rebounder/mini trampoline.) I definitely feel better after my boxing classes and understand why PWP rave about them.
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I was starting to have bad voice problems around the time I was diagnosed (early 2019). My voice was getting hoarse quite a lot and was becoming softer. Even though I normally have a soft speaking voice, I noticed more and more people asking me to repeat what I had just said, and I couldn’t sing on key if you paid me. Recently, I wrapped up several weeks of speech therapy and adjusted my meds (which have already been adjusted several times since my diagnosis), and I’m able to sing quite a bit better than I was previously (but not better than prior to having PD — haha!). One of the side effects (I think) of the meds for me is a cough and more phlegm or post-nasal drip or whatever it’s called, so I sometimes cough quite a bit when I try to talk or sing. Other than that (which doesn’t happen all the time), the speech therapy (along with the meds, I believe) have helped my voice return to relatively “normal.”
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I have these symptoms as well. Being a singer all my life, I was dismayed to say the least, when I noticed quite suddenly that I had lost my singing voice. After reading Jo’s post, I sense that my loss of some control of my voice is due to the meds, either the dopamine agonist, but more likely the pyromidide or however it’s spelled, since I noticed it shortly after I started taking that med.
However, I had noticed the developing of the hoarseness of my speaking voice for several years before I was technically diagnosed with PD. I had noticed a loss of wind and control of my diaphragm for 20 years before he diagnosis.
I have also been recently diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis as well, which my neurologist says is responsible for my reduced control of breathing, speaking, singing, swallowing and essential tremors.
I’m not happy with this second diagnosis for sure, which she says is more of a daily threat to my breathing, but I take it one day at a time, and sometimes hourly. It’s autoimmune she says, so I feel I have some control over it, and could possibly go into remission at some point, as I did with lupus previously. Chin up!
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Hi Jo S.
Yes, I now experience both types of tremors, action and resting. I also have a head tremor, which is consistent with ET. I found one medical abstract on BTP after my second opinion. It said that patients with this diagnosis experience both types of tremors.
As I recall, the study was trying to determine if PD operates on a spectrum, analogous to autism, but in this case suggesting that PD runs the gamut from very rapid progression (such as early onset) all the way down to really slow progressing (in my case, BTP) … But the researchers were unable to draw any concrete conclusion on that question.
I forgot to say one thing earlier … I’ve never really been a singer, other than in ear training classes in college or for assignments … My voice, so far, has not been impacted and is still robust. In general, there’s been very little impact to my overall quality of life, other than giving up playing music.
Over the last 20 years, I gravitated to what would be called a Mediterranean diet … about seven years ago, I cut way back on carbs, particularly on my dinner plate … helped lose a lot of weight … I also do strength training, which is critical for weight loss at this age (68) …
The one thing that irritates me is that docs will diagnose you with an action tremor and call it ET. I get that. A clinical diagnosis. But no one on the 10 years I was seen every said that action tremors can sometimes be a sign of PD … or volunteered that (and this is my speculation) that the only thing that really confirms if you have ET is the absence of other PD symptoms … I would have liked to have known that …
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The PD spectrum concept is an interesting one, Charles. You are fortunate that your voice is still robust. Yes, it certainly seems that ET would (or should) only be confirmed in the absence of other PD symptoms. In my case, no one ever connected the dots between my tremor and my many other symptoms until my action tremor seemed to morph into a resting tremor. I’m sorry that you also have a head tremor. Oddly enough, my mother had one for several years and then it seemed to disappear. Her head tremor seemed to confirm my familial ET, but the disappearance of her head tremor later on left me baffled.
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Gosh, Tina, you sure have a lot on your plate to deal with! I sincerely hope the conditions you have that can go into remission will do so (and stay there)!
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My voice is still reasonably good, but my guitar playing has been compromised, primarily due to my shaking picking hand. I’m still performing at small gigs occasionally, but I’m certainly not what I once was…
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Hi Jo S.
Just re-read your reply … ET diagnosis 20 years ago? And PD this last February? That’s a long time … twice as long as me … what were/are your other PD symptoms and how long ago did they appear …
Re: Linda’s diagnosis … https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/28/entertainment/linda-ronstadt-anderson-cooper-intv/index.html
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I have just completed a voice therapy program entitled “SPEAK OUT Live with intent” which I found very helpful. It addresses both concentration, volume, etc. and the cognitive problems facing individuals who have PD. This is not an advertisement. I have experienced the effects of PD (physical, mental, including vocal) for almost two (2) decades. I have survived, partially, through repetitive application of the therapeutic exercises given by trained therapists who have helped me regain and maintain solutions to the multiple problems attributed to this disease (normally obtained through prescriptions).
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Thanks Jo. And I’ve never been a person in favor of meds but I can say they have truly helped with controlling some symptoms of both. My internal med/geriatric MD said it was remarkable I was on so few meds to see such good results so quickly. I trust my neurologist figured it out based on my symptoms and the antibody test for MG. I’m looking forward on getting second opinions from another neurologist when I move to another state in a few months. I’m also looking forward to moving in with my daughter also. It’ll be less stress in some areas but more in others, so I know it’ll be a period of adjustment which will probably increase some symptoms like tremors and confusion. Just got to stay positive. Some of it is just getting old!
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You certainly have the right attitude, Tina! I hope the move goes smoothly and the adjustment period goes quickly.
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A little follow up. I just sang and played with a big band a couple of nights ago. My voice was just fine and I received many compliments, and I also played in the trombone section when I was not singing. That went just fine as well, probably because I was just reading parts and not doing any soloing or improvisation. I think the one thing that bothers me the most is the fear if something is going to happen at one of these performances. Another symptom I have had of late is that my emotions seem to be really really amplified. If I see something sad on TV or in a movie, I don’t get teary eyed like I would in the past. Instead, I break into full blown sobbing. Same thing happens at the other end of the spectrum where if something is funny, sometimes I break into uncontrollable laughter. This causes me to be concerned that in the future, if am singing a somewhat emotional song, could it possibly make me break down and not be able to get through it. That would be quite embarrassing. I have always been thought of by my friends and family as sort of a Renaissance Man. I can pretty much a build or fix anything. I build my own computers, classic cars, I autocross one of my cars, work with wood, metal, you name it. Pretty much all of these skills require working with your hands. Although I still have full dexterity in my hands, I find that simple tasks like tying my shoes and buttoning my pants seem to take more concentration, causes a little tremor in my jaw and my left hand seems to respond a little slower. Has anyone found that they are less motivated? Even though I am retiring, I have a lot of hobbies and things to do to keep me busy and active. But I find that sometimes I have to really push myself to get going doing things that I normally find fun to do.
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joe,
thanks for sharing. i too sometimes worry if PD is going to make me do something stupid and what people will think. eg; when i fell and people came running up to me to help me. most people are kind and understand, if they dont, it is their problem, not mine. i too have problems with using my hands like typing, putting bills into a wallet, putting a card in an envelope etc.. i have found emotions make my symptoms worse and i get anxious, it is a vicious cycle. i also suffer from lack of motivation and apathy…i used to love to exercise, now i could care less, but force myself to do it since it is so important for PD. sometimes, i would just like to sit in my favorite chair and watch tv all the time. keep doing what you are doing and stay active.
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Joe, it sounds like you have so many wonderful hobbies and skills that you are still able to do, and that is quite fortunate indeed. My tremor has made me unable to pursue my former hobbies, and my apathy and general disinterest holds back my exploration of new ones. I hope you’ll find the motivation to continue being the Renaissance Man that your friends and family admire, even if you go at things a little more selectively or slowly. Pushing ourselves — even to do fun things — seems to be the name of the game these days for those of us with PD. It’s not easy sometimes, but we’ve got to keep fighting.
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