Conference napalm::guitar

    Not enough water.  Keep a large glass at your desk and sip it now and
    then.  I'm the same way.  When I used to sing, I'd always have water
    handy for between songs.
    
    And if you smoke, QUIT!!
    
    There is a MEDICAL notesfile and a HOLISTIC HEALING notes file.  I'll
    look up the nodes when I get a chance.
    
    Chris D.

    
    
    No,I donot smoke. I do have to drink a lot of water,especially when I
    
    do a gig. I'm pretty sure it is an alergy,but,I havnt found anything
    
    off the shelf that will effect it. Could it be the invironment. with
    
    all the garbage put in the air every day? I'd be interested in the
    
    note nodes for the files you mentioned. Thanks.
    
    
    Mike
    

    	I'm not sure if this is the same thing...  When I was in my teens,
    I moved to Arizona for about a year.  The climate had an effect on me
    similar to what you described.  I always had phlegm in my throat.  It
    didn't go away until I moved back to New England.  Can you be alergic
    to a climate?
    
    	Dan
    

    THe notes are:
    
    HYDRA::MEDICAL
    HYDRA::HOLISTIC
    
    
    Chris D.

    
    
    Its interesting that you mention climate Dan. I recall this problem
    
    started about the time I returned from a trip to Nashville. Within a
    
    week or two,and,hasnt gone away since,and,we made a second trip there
    
    last year. Do you think I could have picked up something in Tennessee?
    
    Mike
    

    	It might be related.  The difference, though, is that my problem
    lasted only while I was *in* the other climate, and left when I
    returned to the climate I had grown up in.
    
    	Dan
    

    I have a similar problem & always assumed it wa an allergy or cold or
    something.  It was never a real big deal, just kind of an unconcious 
    throat clearing.  Then, some years back, my wife observed that she could
    always tell when I had a bad day 'cause she could hear me clearing my
    throat all the way up the stairs.  After that I kinda noticing that my
    throat problem did seem to coincide with stress, and if I would make
    an effort to calm down, do some breathing exercises, bunch the heavy
    bag, etc., it would tend to stop.  By and by the frequency decreased.
    Then, last year, when I was auditioning for my first part in community
    theatre, I found myself starting to develop a "throat problem" as I
    waited to be called. My first thought was "Oh no, what a time to catch
    a cold!", but then it occured to me that it was probably just a nervous
    reaction, and I was fine.

    
    ref -.1
    
    
    Thats interesting. I will make note of my mood at different times,mabe
    theres a link. Another thing,how about exercise? I mean,I havnt been
    doing much in the last three years,have gained some weight,etc. 
    
    Mike
    

    I don't sing, but I have the same problem.  I don't remember it from
    way back, but perhaps I just ignored it (like I pretty much do now).  I
    think it started around time time I moved here to Colorado, but perhaps
    it existed in North Carolina where I lived before too.
    
    In any case, I've never found a solution.  I presume it's allergies and
    just kind of grin and bear it.  It's worse in the morning and right
    after I eat (food seems to stick in the stuff or something).
    
    VERY interesting point about the stress, Joe.  I've been working pretty
    high stress jobs since I've been here.  I'll watch and see if there's
    any coorelation.
    
    ..and no, I don't smoke either.
    
    Greg

    try more beer

>                     <<< Note 1976.10 by GOES11::G_HOUSE >>>
>                                  -< Cough! >-

I've had the same problem since I moved to Colorado. I use Sudafed, Asprin
and Advil as needed (and not in excessive amounts). 

Cigarette smoke in th places that we play seems to cause much of the problem.

							Jens

    Re: Colorado & Arizona
    
    Since both states have relatively dry climates, maybe your throats
    aren't moist enough.  
    
    I always drink hot tea with honey in it before I sing.  It really
    loosens things up and keeps the throat moist.  The music/choir director
    at my church gave me this tip.
    
    Mike

    
    
    Nope,more beer doesnt seem to help either! :^) .
    
    I have noticed a lot of people having the same problem. I have to drink
    
    a lot of water,about a quart per set,when singing. Cigarrette smoke
    
    effects my eyes as well as my throat. The things we have to deal with
    
    to be in a band. I guess I'll just keep trying different medicines and
    
    see if anything helps. I havnt tried Sudafed yet,I'll check it out.
    
    Mike
    

    My throat problems began at the hight of the pollen count, about a
    month or so ago.  It never went away.  I'm not normally affected by
    pollen, but where the count was so high, I guess I was this time.  Why
    my throat hasn't cleared up yet, I haven't the slightest idea.
    
    Chris D.

      Another vote for the tea and honey solution. My drummer swears
    by it.
      I don't think beer helps your voice at all, other than keeping
    your throat moist and loosening you up. I'm not talking getting hammered
    here. I usually have a glass of club soda with lime (or lime juice)
    in it during a set. Then I'll have a beer during the breaks.

    							-BooM-

    
    	If you are (or have been taking) antihistamines for allergies,
    they can really dry you out.  I often wake up in the middle of night
    so dry I could fart sawdust.

26-SEP-1990 

I sing (and play guitar) in a band and you described the exact same problem
that I had (and still have to a lesser degree).  Its been going on with 
me for about two years as well.  I don't smoke.  Basically, like everyone
else I just sort of lived with it for these two years just attributing it
to *getting older* and to lifes little ailments.  But then some friends of
mine who are doctors were visiting me and they told me to go see a specialist-
that I shouldn't have to put up with this.  I went to a nose,throat doctor,
who took x-rays of my sinuses and said everything was okay.  He attributed
the problem to the (bad) air conditioning system here - and in fact said
a lot of people from DEC  had been in to see him with the same problem.
It sort of made sense because I've been here 4 years and about 2 years ago
we moved into this new building and the problem started. He gave me some oil
that you put up your nose to keep your sinuse membranes moist.  It didn't
help and the oil upset my stomach.

I then went to a Lung specialist.  These guys spent an entire morning putting
me through a bunch of tests.  They performed allergy tests - they poke you
all over your back with little needles that have different allergins (pollen,
wheat, etc..) and look at you 1/2 hour later or so to see if you've reacted.
I wasn't allergic to anything.  They also did what's called a provocation
test on my lungs.  You breath in some *provocation* stuff through a 
respirator and then go over and breath it out (soft and hard)into a 
computer which compares your breathing after the provocation to normal 
breathing.  The idea is that they look to see how much your lungs react
to injested foreign material - AND, most importantly to see if they overreact.
If they overreact that could mean that your lungs are hyper-sensitive to 
*normal* air pollution, or general dust or whatever in the air.  They obviously
must have this all calibrated somehow.   Anyways, it at least seemed like they
were doing all the right things.

But my lungs were okay, no overreacting or anything.  The doctor then was
honest and said, well, they couldn't measure anything, but that didn't
mean something wasn't going on.  He said, yes, it could be the air conditioning
at the plant (in-door air pollution).  He also said some peoples lungs react
more strongly than others to stuff in the air.  He gave me a spray that
you breath in - like these antihistamine sprays.  I used this for about
3 weeks - it seemed to help a little.  This stuff was called DNCG - 
Cromoglicin, Dinatrium. After that he gave me an anti-biotic that I had to 
take for 25 days.  This was called Acetylcystein.  I also didn't drink any 
alcohol during this time. After the anti-biotic I have to admit that the problem
diminished by I'de say at least 50%.  Singing with the band now I notice
that my range is better again and that I don't have to be all worried about
hitting a bad note because of my throat.

Anyways, I didn't want to give such a long winded response - but I know
this problem pretty well now and could sympathise.  Basically I still
don't know what it is, I have to attribute it to either the shitty air
conditioning at this location, and/or to something that doesn't quite
agree with my throat in the air here.  I really think the stress bit 
is a good point too that I never thought of.  Drinking lots of liquids
I'm sure helps as well.   But I'de still suggest 
going to a lung/allergy specialist and at least having all these things
checked out.  This anti-biotic seemed to dry it up to a good degree - but
the problem isn't totally gone by any means.  As to the other responses
regarding climate - I'm from Mass and never had a problem there, I moved
to Colorado for 3 years and never had a problem there, I moved over
here to Germany and had no problem the 1st two years, and have had the problem
the last two.  So I don't know, for me its hard to draw a conclusion
on that, even though it makes real sense that climate could be a source
of the problem.

I'm sure exercise and limiting alcohol intake helps.  The 3 guys I play
with all smoke, but now finally they've agreed to take breaks and smoke
outside of the practice room instead of smoking during practice.  This
helps too.  Good luck.

Roy

    
    
    Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. It seems that this problem
    is common to a lot of people,but,I guess if you arent a singer or
    someone who speaks a lot,it is not much of a problem. I went to have my
    sineses checked too,with no problem found. I was considering having
    alergy tests done,but,didnt think they would find much,as in your case
    Roy. I really think it has to do with the increasing air polution.
    After I returned from Tennessee I read that they are one of the highest
    polutioned states in the country,which makes me think I picked up
    something there and carried it with me. It could be a virus as
    well,which would explain why it doesnt want to go away.
    
    Mike
    

    
    I pretty much agree with the guy who says don't smoke. that will help
    
    considerably. Also, you might try learning some good warm up
    
    techniques, such as some scales, this will help loosen up your vocal
    
    chords.
    
                      a serious non-smoking singer.