Hi, Guess What? Another symptom they dont talk about much. The PD effects your muscles= throat is a muscle. My voice is very horsy and volume veryyy low. Also choke and cough . There is speech therapy "Lee Silverman". Just put the name in and you will find it. It is especially designed for PD patients and is approved by mst all movement disorder clinics and Doctors.I believe that one of the PD fundations also recomend it.

Take the LSVT therapy in voice. It helped my husband. As long as he continues for at least 5 minutes daily. When he skips a day, I can see the difference. Good luck.

I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM. I TOOK MANY TEST THROUGH MY ENT. THEY DEFINETLY FEEL ITS A PD SIDE . FFOR ME THE FLAP ON MY LARYNX DOSNT CLOSE LIKE IT SHOULD AND PARTICLES OF FOOD GET CAUGHT WHICH CAN CAUSE IRRITATION. THEY SUGGEST EATING SLOWLY AND PLENTY OF FLUIDS ESPECIALLY HARD WATER. ITS A POWDER MIXTURE IN WHICH I CAN DO WITHOUT. BOBP

Dear Fellow Horseys (love it!).
I've seen 2 ENT's; 2 Pulmononologists; 1 Gastronterologist; 1 Cardiologist; 2 MDS; 3 Speech Therapists (ALL trained in Lee Silverman's Voice Therapy)and of course my regular MD...when my hoarseness began and people could barely understand me. GUESS WHAT? I don't know anymore now then I did one year ago when the hoarseness, cough, muscle spasms in my throat, shortness of breath, ETC.,all began. When these vocal cords (which are muscles) and throat muscles go into spasms, nothing works! The hoarseness, etc., can last for a few hours to all day. When the throat muscles spasm and narrows the opening of my throat, I become so short of breath, which leads to anxiety, and it's a never ending cycle. This, almost more than anything is what is the hardest for me to accept. It's hard to struggle for air. It's harder to be referred from one specialist to another and get different opinion from each one. The speech pathologists say that it's NOT my PD because my voice doesn't sound like the normal PD patient's voice (what's normal?). The ENT's both say it's my Parkinsons. The Neuros say its muscle tension dysphonia (no cause for it); Gastro doctor doesn't see any damage to cords/muscles because of my gastro problems....are there any specialists that I missed? One scenario is what was discribed by Bobp, as food may go into the lungs and cause aspiration, leading to pneumonia. Then, we really have problems. So, this hoarseness, throat problems is much more serious than the docs would have us believe. Oh well.....

I have had these sym[toms also but I never ask about them some how I figured its just another part to Parkinson. My voice gets real soft, people tell me that they have trouble listesning to me.

Hello there,
I have similar problems like the others here. My voice has become very soft and I have to be careful when I eat so I don't choke, but even being careful, it still happens from time to time. Also I have had a cough for about a year now and at times it is quite bad.
In May I found that there was a the Booth Gardener PD Care Center here in western Washington State near Seattle. Even though it meant a 2 hour drive for us, my husband and I decided that it was where we needed to get me so I could get the help that my nuero was not giving me, all he wanted to do was send me to the U of W for brain surgery. Not at the top of my list for treatment!!! Anyway, got an appt. with one of their MDS doctors. What a difference. It was amazing, she actually talked to me and my husband asked us questions and let us ask her questions, and then had me do some different things that tested my motor skills. The appt. was an hour long, again amazing!!! She got started on making some changes in my meds, got me into physical therapy voice therapy. Both have been a huge help. I had started on my own many years ago stretching and walking, so I was a little ahead of the game, but they taught me some new things and also teach you things to do to prevent you from falling, and believe me I needed that help badly. Speech therapy also helped me a lot. My family and friends no longer are telling me to speak up cuz they can't hear me. And that is very nice.
So glad you will be seeing a MDS. Think you will find a real difference in the MDS doc. and a regular nuero.
One other thing I have learned is to make a list of things you want to ask about and things you want to talk about, cuz if you don't, if you're anything like me, you will forget at least one thing.
Hope some of my experiences will help you in some way. Good luck and let us know how you are doing.
Take care.

Im glad you mentioned that you mentioned about voice problems. Im in the same boat,and like ladybug14 I too am taking part in the lee silverman exercise.And I too cough and choke.will let you know if this lot works for me.Georgievw35