Tell me about laryngitis!

[palarvapea]

So it appears that I have laryngitis. Which is an absolute pain in the arse with 2 unruly children who need constant talking to and chivvying along.
The more I try to raise my voice the less sound comes out.
Started with flu like symptoms on Tuesday and since Wednesday I’ve had practically no voice. I’m getting seriously ratty with family members who keep saying “pardon?” to me, which means I’m repeating pretty much every sentence I’m saying.
Please help me out.
How do I get my voice back and fast?!

Unfortunately, the fastest way to get your voice back is not to use it.

I get this a lot. Unfortunately the best thing to do is to rest your voice completely, ie don't say a word for the next few days. This is a nightmare with children! Can they read yet? If so, you can write things down. Don't whisper as that is really bad for your vocal chords. And drink lots and lots of water. Hot water with honey is very good. I know it sucks, but if you strain your voice trying to get people to understand you then it could be weeks before it returns. I once lost my voice for 6 weeks. Not good with young children and a teaching job!

Oh gosh. That’s going to be a struggle.

The older one can read. The little one definitely not.

Yup, it's rubbish!
You can get the older one to be 'mummy's voice' - write something and that child says it for the younger one! And bring a whistle with you when you go outside - it's really scary when they run ahead of you and you can't shout at them to slow down if there is a car coming ...

To make things worse, you should also avoid coffee, alcohol and dairy.
So sorry to be the bearer of more bad news!

Ooohhh I have a whistle. I’ll take that out with me.
Can’t even walk the dog off lead because she can’t hear me calling her back. Can’t shout my husband to help with explosive nappies, or to make a baby bottle.
Can’t talk on the phone. Can barely work as I work in retail and can’t actually be heard over the shop radio. Most inconvenient thing.

I know, it's really awful. I'd recommend taking a few days off work to get your voice back. No matter how careful you are, when you are at work you will force yourself to speak and then make things worse.

Do you have an Alexa? I announced instructions and orders through it on my phone app when I had laryngitis before Christmas.

Upsettingly, once you've had it it does seem to reoccur. I've had it once a year for three years now. Typically 7-10 days where for 3/4 days in the middle I can't talk. The first few losing voice, and the last few days gaining it back.

Incredibly painful too, so sorry you've fell victim to it

We do have an Alexa. That’s a great idea.
I’ve managed to get to mid 30s without ever having laryngitis so didn’t know what had hit me.
I can cope with the cough and cold and banging headache. Just can’t cope with no voice ☹️

I have exactly this! The pain in my throat is awful and I dread coughing as it's so painful. I sympathise!

Have you been to the chemist for all the good throat numbing stuff? I had antiseptic lozenges, anaesthetic throat spray and all the best painkillers kept mouth and nose covered with a scarf at all times because breathing dry or cold air was so painful and only consumed hot drinks. Nothing else.

Tried to hold my breath sometimes as the coughing was so painful. It's a really terrible thing to get.

I had this for the first time over Christmas, it was horrendous. I lost my voice for around 10 days, and even then I sounded like I smoked 50 a day for another two weeks. That along with a bad cough.

Luckily my toddler doesn't listen anyway so didn't make much difference but it was annoying.

I’m not really in pain anymore. Was earlier in the week when it first started. I had a sore throat at first.
Now I just have a cough, streaming nose and almost no voice. So not even taking painkillers to be honest.