Yes, my voice has been affected by RA. I don't think I have nodules there. My voice does not project at all, so I am always having to repeat myself because nobody can hear me. I work in a noisy place, this is not a minor inconvenience.
There is a great article about this problem at RA Warrior.

yes, I have nodules on my vocal cords, I havent been told it is because of my RA but I have been to an ENT because of loseing my voice several times and having a small sore area on my throat. They gave me no DX just treated me with lidocane and saying to come back. I have been soft spoken all of my life but now even more so because raising my voice for any length of time causes my voice to lessen , I cant even sing any more and loved to sing .In researching RA I have come across a few instnces where it was said that RA does or can affect the vocal cords.

Thanx for your replies. I am new here and should have joined up a long time ago. I have great family support but they kinda get as frustrated as I do sometimes it is hard for them to watch me go thru all this and not be able to help, so it's nice to kno there are others like me out there.

I'm so glad you posted this. I often wondered this also. When I talk to much my voice goes hoarse. I do have inflammation around my thyroid. Maybe some is around my voice box also

now you've all got me paranoid. a couple weeks ago i went to the doctor for my throat bothering me, describing it as feeling like i pulled a muscle in my throat. the doctor told me i had a blocked salivary gland and sent me to an ent dr, who put me on antibiotics (which led me to find out i'm allergic to amoxicillin, but that's another story - i then got a different antibiotic), and i'm going back to the doctor friday - he says that he's going to do an xray or cat scan to see what it looks like if it's not cleared up by then. since it's still hurting badly, i'm guessing it won't be cleared up, and since i didn't know that ra could affect your throat, now i'm thinking what if that's it? this would be super bad for me, as i'm a singer - not professionally (though i did actually start college as a vocal performance major, but changed majors when my hearing started to go - also an autoimmune problem), but still, music is a big part of my life and if i lost my singing voice i'd be very upset, especially since it's hard enough with not being able to hear well. well, hopefully it really is a salivary gland problem and not the ra. but it feels pretty much like you guys have been describing it. guess i'll update everyone once i get a chance to talk to the doctor on friday.

This is an interesting thread. For probably the last two years, each time I've had a cold I have ended up completely losing my voice for a couple of days, followed by a long stretch of hoarseness. I have never mentioned it to a doctor, as I don't generally go to the doctor for a cold, and have forgotten all about it later.

Before I was diagnosed in June and having a flare that affected my whole body I was terribly hoarse, my voice would come and go and I had to continually clear my throat. Surprisingly I had no sore throat with it. It stopped the day I started prednisone so I am almost positive it was an RA thing.

I was thinking of RA Warrior, as lynndavidson mentioned.
My voice has been affected, too. Which is tough, as I am a teacher. But try explaining that to anyone! I have RA in my voicebox! Yeah right! Haha!

I have this problem too :( Another way RA has taken away my life even I feel pretty good if I try to sing it will usually strike before i've had the chance to sing one song. Singing was my outlet a part of who I was after this disease and treatment with steroids I have nothing left

I am having periods of hoarseness for no good reason. I haven't been using my voice too much and I don't have any post nasal drainage. I clear my throat often but nothing is there. About a year ago I lost the ability to hold a note when I sing. Boy, did that depress me. I always comforted myself by saying "At least I can still sing." Not anymore. I also have an intense sore throat that appears suddenly, lasts a few hours, and then one of my joints will swell and become very painful. All of this is so weird.

RA can and does affect the vocal chords. My cousin had a nodule so big it closed up her throat and she stopped breathing and died. Fortunately, she was in the ER at the time, and they revived her, but she has lived about 4 years with a permanent trache.

So I had one 3 years ago when I went off meds to get my foot reconstructed. The surgery failed, and I lost my voice totally for months. I was a singer, professionally and a music teacher. I was just accepting today that I will never be able to sing well again. When I go on prednisone it improves a bit, but it will never be the same. The ENT's couldn't figure out anything by the way. I knew that as my voice came back, the last notes to return were A and B in the middle of the staff. Only on the left side. But it really affects tone quality. Oh, and I had a very loud talking and singing voice before this. Now it is a strain just to talk on the phone for a few minutes.

Another part of RA they don't talk about, like brain fog, heart disease and RA lung.

yes yes yes. There is research on this. I read that about 67% of people with RA have their voicebox affected whether they realize it or not. Amazingly I think it was my FIRST symptom of RA that started 6-8 years ago, but I haven't noticed it of late because I gave up dog training, where I was talking a couple hours straight (which I don't do anymore). When I talk for any length of time my voice becomes hoarse for at least 12 hours. I don't think I have nodules but I also end up hoarse whenever I get sick. Thank you for posting on this topic. I think it is overlooked.

when I feel at my worst, my voice always reflects this. I don't know if nodules are involved or not, but I do know that flares make me hoarse all the same. And mine would last for months and months. An airy fairy friend of mine used to say that when your voice is affected, it can mean that you are having trouble expressing yourself for some reason. For me, that was also true. I couldn't express or even understand the whole lupus/ra mess and I was very frustrated but had no outlet for it. That seemed to add to the problem, for me personally.

But, imho, as a medical doc and they will usually say "no, not related." lol

Thanx everyone for your replies! It is so nice to know I am not alone with this.

Thanx everyone for your replies! It is so nice to know I am not alone with this.