Seeking Help With Anxiety & Speech Worries

[CandyM314]

Hi all

I went to my GP yesterday, not to get advice or reassurance on twitching/cramping etc but to ask for some chill pills. I don't think I can go on like this for much longer so I hope they work :crying:

The thing that really bothers me is that I fear my speech is weird. I know bulbar onset of *** starts often with slurry speech but does anyone know what that means?

If I could only get someone to listen to my speech and tell me if it were or were not slurry I think I would relax a bit.

It is really bad for me because I am a teacher and I'm sure that when I call the register, for instance, my speech is off

My tongue is as strong as it ever was, I can puff out my cheeks with it, touch my nose with it, waggle it about. Would my tongue be weak if my speech was being affected by weak muscles?

Sorry, I am trying to be positive but I'm having one of those days

Anyone got any thoughts on this?

Thank you, Julia

 

[LizyKarenyPam]

Hi Julia

I've had a chat with neuro about the Speech thing (i've seen two neuros now and had lots of questions answered)

Speech pbms in *** is essentially very slurry -
neuro told me, in fact, that he has picked a diagnosis of *** over the phone once (confirmed of course by testing etc etc) because of the speech.


there are two types of weakness that can cause speech problems in ***
a) bulbar palsy - there is a lot of weakness in the muscles that control speech and swallowing. ie: the really slurry kind of speech, problems swallowing, weak tongue muscles, weak throat muscles. very obvious apparently. Sounds like a drunk, but worse, with drool and saliva kind of speech.

b) pseudobulbar palsy - this is a "stiffness" kind of speech problem. sounds very robotic and mechanical. problems with control. tongue movements VERY SLOW and stiff. Very Obvious as well.

I'm not an expert, but from what my neuros told me, speech pbms of the above two variety in *** are PRETTY OBVIOUS, and usually associated with Weak or Slow tongue. If you have good strength in the tongue, mouth, lips, swallowing etc, doesn't sound like something to worry about.

take care

 

[Fiona.]

A friend of mine had a relative diagnosed with *** and the slurred speech came on so fast that they didn't even have time to get a recording of her voice. She was going to have to use a computer to talk for her and they wanted to use sounds from her own voice but in a matter of days you could barely understand her. They ended up taking a sample of her voice off her answering machine! Sounds to me like this type comes on VERY fast ... you would know it in a very short time.
val