Voice constantly goes hoarse.
I am male, non-smoker, do not drink alcohol, and 37 years old.
For years now, it has occasionally happened that my voice "flips", it becomes significantly higher, like during puberty. However, this has only rarely occurred and only in the following situation: I talk a lot, then drink a sip of water, and after this sip, my voice flips briefly. Basically, it only happens when my throat is "dry" (even though the water doesn't reach the vocal cords... strange?). For about 10 days now, it has become stronger: Normally my voice sounds completely normal, not hoarse or raspy. But I have a slight dry cough in the throat area. When I follow this and cough strongly, my voice flips - for several seconds. The voice then sounds very high-pitched and fluctuates quickly, just like during puberty. After a few seconds, it normalizes again. It also still happens when I have talked a lot and then drink or eat. But mostly only with the first sips/bites, afterwards there are hardly any problems.
I am at my wit's end, it is also very embarrassing when squeaky sounds suddenly come out during a business dinner, where no hoarseness was heard before.
My two questions to an ENT specialist:
1. What could it be and what could be the cause?
2. How can this phenomenon be explained physiologically, why does this flipping happen specifically after a strong cough or swallow?
Thank you very much!
