Could Your Medication Be Affecting Your Voice?
Some medications including prescription, over-the-counter, and herbal supplements can affect the function of your voice. If your doctor prescribes a medication that adversely affects your voice, make sure the benefit of taking the medicine outweighs the problems with your voice.
Most medications affect the voice by drying out the protective mucosal layer covering the vocal cords. Vocal cords must be well-lubricated to operate properly; if the mucosa becomes dry, speech will be more difficult. This is why hydration is an important component of vocal health.
Medications can also affect the voice by thinning blood in the body, which makes bruising or hemorrhaging of the vocal cord more likely if trauma occurs, and by causing fluid retention (edema), which enlarges the vocal cords. Medications from the following groups can adversely affect the voice:
- Antidepressants
- Muscle relaxants
- Diuretics
- Antihypertensives (blood pressure medication)
- Antihistamines (allergy medications)
- Anticholinergics (asthma medications)
- High-dose Vitamin C (greater than five grams per day)
Other medications and associated conditions that may affect the voice include:
- Angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors (blood pressure medication) may induce a cough or excessive throat clearing in as many as 10 percent of patients. Coughing or excessive throat clearing can contribute to vocal cord lesions.
- Oral contraceptives may cause fluid retention (edema) in the vocal cords because they contain estrogen.
- Estrogen replacement therapy post-menopause may have a variable effect.
- An inadequate level of thyroid replacement medication in patients with hypothyroidism.
- Anticoagulants (blood thinners) may increase chances of vocal cord hemorrhage or polyp formation in response to trauma.
Herbal medications are not harmless and should be taken with caution. Many have unknown side effects that include voice disturbance.
NOTE: Contents of this fact sheet are based on information provided by The Center for Voice at Northwestern University.
Ear
Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease
Buying a Hearing Aid
Child's Hearing Loss
Cholesteatoma
Cochlear Implants
Dizziness and Motion Sickness
Doctor, Please Explain Ear Tubes
Doctor? ¿Por Qué a Mi Hijo Le Duele El Oído?
Doctor? ¿Qué Causa El Ruido En El Oído?
Ear Infections and Earache
Ear Plastic Surgery
Ears and Altitude
Earwax
Fact Sheet: Better Ear Health
Fact Sheet: Hyperacusis -- An increased sensitivity to everyday sounds
Fact Sheet: Know the Power of Sound
Fact Sheet: What you should know about otosclerosis
Fact Sheet: Your Genes and Hearing Loss
How the Ear Works
Infant Hearing Loss
Loudness-Scale
Meniere's Disease
Noise & Hearing Protection
Perforated Eardrum
Swimmer's Ear
Tinnitus
Why Do We Fall?
Throat/Mouth
Coblation Tonsillectomy Download MP3 [26 MB]
Bell's Palsy
Doctor? ¿Para Qué Sirven Las Amígdalas Y Los Adenoides?
Fact Sheet: About Your Voice
Fact Sheet: Effects of Medications on Voice
Fact Sheet: Laryngeal (Voice Box) Cancer
Fact Sheet: Nodules, Polyps, and Cysts
Fact Sheet: Tips for Healthy Voices
Fact Sheet: Tonsillectomy Procedures
Fact Sheet: Vocal Cord Paralysis
Fact Sheet: Voice Disorders
Fever Blisters and Canker Sores
Gastroesphageal Reflux (GERD) & Laryngopharyngeal Reflux (LPR)
Hoarseness
Salivary Glands
Smell & Taste Disorders
Sore Throats
Swallowing Trouble
Temporo-Mandibular Joint
Tonsils and Adenoids
Head and Neck Surgery
Children and Secondhand Smoke
Ear Plastic Surgery
Facial Sports Injuries
Fine Needle Aspiration
Head and Neck Cancer
Nose Surgery FAQs
Spit Tobacco
Thyroid Gland
Cancer
Fact Sheet: Laryngeal (Voice Box) Cancer
Head and Neck Cancer
Spit Tobacco
Pediatric
Child's Hearing Loss
Children and Secondhand Smoke
Fact Sheet: Child Screening for Hearing Loss
Fact Sheet: Tonsillectomy Procedures
Infant Hearing Loss
Pediatric Sinusitis
Tonsils and Adenoids
About Otolaryngology
What Is An Otolaryngologist?
Nose
Airflow Pathway 1
Airflow Pathway 2
Allergies and Hay Fever
Antihistamines, Decongestants, and "Cold Remedies"
Cillary Flow of Mucous Membrane
Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP)
Diet and Exercise Tips to Avoid Sleep Apnea and Snoring
Drainage Path Close-Up
Drainage Paths of the Sinuses
Endoscopic Sinus Surgery 1
Endoscopic Sinus Surgery 2
Fact Sheet: 20 Questions about Your Sinuses
Fact Sheet: Allergic Rhinitis, Sinusitis, and Rhinosinusitis
Fact Sheet: Antibiotics and Sinusitis
Fact Sheet: Build Your Own Sinus Mask
Fact Sheet: Deviated Septum
Fact Sheet: Injection Snoreplasty
Fact Sheet: Sinus Surgery
Fact Sheet: Sinusitis: Special Considerations for Aging Patients
Front View of the Sinuses
Frontal Sinus Drainage Path 1
Frontal Sinus Drainage Path 2
Fungal Sinusitis
Inferior Turbinate Reduction
Laser Assisted Uvula Palatoplasty (LAUP)
Maxillary Sinus View 1
Maxillary Sinus View 2
Maxillary Sinus View 3
Middle Turbinate 1
Middle Turbinate 2 - Concha Bullosa
Middle Turbinate 3
Middle Turbinate 4
Nasal Polyps
Nasal Polyps 2
Nasal Septal Deviation 1
Nasal Septal Deviation 2
Naso-Antral Windows 1
Naso-Antral Windows 2
Normal Sinuses
Nose Surgery FAQs
Nosebleeds
Oblique View of the Sinuses
Pediatric Sinusitis
Post-Nasal Drip
Side View of the Sinuses
Sinus Headaches
Sinus Pain - Can Over-the-Counter Medications Help?
Sphenoid Sinus
Sphenoid Sinus, Carotid, Optic Nerve
Stuffy Nose
The "Ostio-Meatal" Complex 1
The "Ostio-Meatal" Complex 2
The Inferior Turbinate
The Inferior Turbinate, Close-Up
The Nasal Septum
Uncinate Process 1
Uncinate Process 2
What Causes Nosebleeds
What is Sinusitis?
Your Nose: The Guardian Of Your Lungs
