u/Delam2

As a singer onboard a ship in a rock band it ruined my singing voice and led to a few years of vocal trouble.

At the time on the ship I went through all these problems with my voice, loss of vocal range, loss power in my voice and ultimately more stress. At the time I suspected I had nodules or something similar like a vocal haemorrhage… it was the most likely explanation for my symptoms.

I never knew that it was acid reflux which was giving me a sore throat every morning and leading to the stressful loss of range and power in my singing voice.

After leaving the ship I went to see an ENT to find out what I was suffering from. I had the camera up my nose and down my throat and was misdiagnosed with muscular tension dysphonia. It’s what ENTs diagnose when there’s no visible scarring or other physical evidence of damage. Essentially what the ENT said was I was too tense and I needed to relax the muscles around my voice.

After another year of pandemic and continued poor vocal health I decided to see a laryngologist (An ENT who specialises in voice problems). She disagreed with the MTD diagnosis and suspected reflux. She gave me a prescription for Omeprazole which worked wonders for my voice within 2 weeks. After a month my full range and strength of vocals came back like before.

Once the reflux symptoms resolved I spent the following 3 years up until now focusing less on specific triggers (which I couldn’t identify) and more on variety & quality of foods, specifically avoiding ultra processed foods and eating lots of fermented food. After worrying that I would be on PPIs for the rest of my life working on my gut health (hard to prove but don’t have other explanation) gave me the confidence to cut down to 1 pill every 36 hours, then 48, then 72 and then 96, eventually stopping completely.

I have no reflux symptoms now unless I drink copious amounts of booze or eat ultra processed foods in significant amounts. No foods are off limits, even curries. My go to is Gaviscon Advance to control flare ups. The reason I’m sharing this is because I once thought I’d be on PPIs till I’m old and now I’m not. I’m aware this information won’t help everyone but I believe it’s worth mentioning that for my reflux isn’t really been about specific triggers like it is for many people as it has been about my gut health.

I believe working as long as I did on a cruise ship with cheap, oily, ultra processed food essentially destroyed my good gut bacteria which led to the reflux, stress, inflammation, repeat cycle which I am so glad to have escaped from, I also think that I never would have escaped the cycle without the help of PPIs. It was the important first step to peace of mind and reduced stress which helped me get the rest of my life in order.

Any singers on here with similar experiences?

As a singer onboard a ship in a rock band it ruined my singing voice and led to a few years of vocal trouble.

At the time on the ship I went through all these problems with my voice, loss of vocal range, loss power in my voice and ultimately more stress. At the time I suspected I had nodules or something similar like a vocal haemorrhage… it was the most likely explanation for my symptoms.

I never knew that it was acid reflux which was giving me a sore throat every morning and leading to the stressful loss of range and power in my singing voice.

After leaving the ship I went to see an ENT to find out what I was suffering from. I had the camera up my nose and down my throat and was misdiagnosed with muscular tension dysphonia. It’s what ENTs diagnose when there’s no visible scarring or other physical evidence of damage. Essentially what the ENT said was I was too tense and I needed to relax the muscles around my voice.

After another year of pandemic and continued poor vocal health I decided to see a laryngologist (An ENT who specialises in voice problems). She disagreed with the MTD diagnosis and suspected reflux. She gave me a prescription for Omeprazole which worked wonders for my voice within 2 weeks. After a month my full range and strength of vocals came back like before.

Once the reflux symptoms resolved I spent the following 3 years up until now focusing less on specific triggers (which I couldn’t identify) and more on variety & quality of foods, specifically avoiding ultra processed foods and eating lots of fermented food. After worrying that I would be on PPIs for the rest of my life working on my gut health (hard to prove but don’t have other explanation) gave me the confidence to cut down to 1 pill every 36 hours, then 48, then 72 and then 96, eventually stopping completely.

I have no reflux symptoms now unless I drink copious amounts of booze or eat ultra processed foods in significant amounts. No foods are off limits, even curries. My go to is Gaviscon Advance to control flare ups. The reason I’m sharing this is because I once thought I’d be on PPIs till I’m old and now I’m not. I’m aware this information won’t help everyone but I believe it’s worth mentioning that for my reflux isn’t really been about specific triggers like it is for many people as it has been about my gut health.

I believe working as long as I did on a cruise ship with cheap, oily, ultra processed food essentially destroyed my good gut bacteria which led to the reflux, stress, inflammation, repeat cycle which I am so glad to have escaped from, I also think that I never would have escaped the cycle without the help of PPIs. It was the important first step to peace of mind and reduced stress which helped me get the rest of my life in order.

Any singers on here with similar experiences?

I’ve got mustard seeds fermented in brine & garlic fermented in honey, both stable after 6 weeks at room temp.

Wondering if there’s any reason I can’t blend the garlic cloves, honey and mustard seeds together, and add apple cider vinegar to form a fermented dressing paste?

I would mix this with olive oil when needed for a dressing.

Would these two ferments interfere with each other / last in the fridge?