3 posts shown.
Is there any way to actually cure this for good, and if so, how?
I’ve been dealing with this since I was a little kid—it used to flare up every once in a while, but over the last two or three years, it’s been happening much more frequently... probably due to all these crazy weather shifts we've been having lately. I’m 19 right now... I’ve never really relied on any medications... and honestly, I don't catch many bugs; maybe just a couple of colds or flus a year? But man, this thing is starting to get to me mentally—it's incredibly frustrating. I went to see a doctor once, but they didn't prescribe anything specific; they just gave me some cough syrup, which seemed to stabilize things for a bit. After that, I used an Albuterol inhaler for about fifteen days or so. I even went through blood tests to check for allergies, and every single one came back negative. I remember reading somewhere that this kind of thing often clears up around age 25, since that's when most people have finished their physical development... so, I’d love to hear what your experiences have been like.
🤷
It’s actually taken me quite a while to finally sit down and force myself to write this out.
For a while now, I've just been feeling... off. It's hard to describe—this constant, swirling thought in the back of my mind that I'm seriously ill. It all started so abruptly about two years ago.
To give you some context, I'm 19 years old, standing about 6'1" and weighing around 160 lbs. I used to be really into basketball, but I kind of drifted away from it when I was around 14 or 15. I'd say I'm pretty outgoing—I love a good laugh, I'm definitely not the shy type, and I have a great circle of friends. Lately, though, I've been working over at Studio 54, and during my shifts, this nagging fear that I'm sick just keeps hunting me down. I picked up smoking when I was 14, and while I managed to quit for stretches here and there, I've recently fallen back into the habit. And once I did? That's when the word "Cancer" started spinning around in my head like a broken record. Whenever I catch myself coughing, this wave of pure panic just hits me. Or sometimes, I'll feel completely overheated, even though I check and there's absolutely no fever. Sometimes I find the whole thing almost absurd—honestly, a little funny in a dark way—but the anxiety is just stronger than my logic. I went through the ringer with medical tests about four months ago—did everything, blood work, urine samples, checked my glucose and iron levels—and everything came back perfect. Then three months ago, I even had my lungs scanned, and again, totally normal. But still, the intrusive thoughts and the dread just won't let go. I mean, what are the actual odds of a 19-year-old having cancer?😕 😕 😕 😕 I mean, realistically, probably zero, right? But my brain is playing tricks on me—it's telling me one thing while my body says another. It's become this endless cycle for the last two years; these thoughts hit me hard, they linger, then they fade, and for a while, I'm actually happy and feeling fine again, only for the loop to start all over. Just as a side note, everyone in my family smokes, but no one has ever dealt with anything like this. Does anyone have any advice on what I should do?😕 🤷
So, here’s the situation......I’m 22 and I live and breathe music—singing is my life. But, much like a lot of kids growing up in the States, I picked up the smoking habit back in middle school. I actually tried to quit a few times because of my singing, but then—out of nowhere—after a few months of being clean, the urge just hits me again. There was even a stretch where I was constantly hanging out with smokers and managed to stay away from it without any trouble at all....but now, I find myself slipping back into it. That’s why I’m reaching out to the experts here, because I know deep down that cigarettes are absolutely brutal on the voice.
Is there anything I can eat or drink—vitamins, honey, maybe...?—to keep my voice in peak shape and prevent that raspy texture...while I’m still smoking?
To be fair, I’m smoking way less than I used to; sometimes it’s just two or three cigarettes a day just to take the edge off the craving.
Please help—I really don't want to destroy my greatest passion, music, but I just can't seem to quit....
And am I doing myself any favors by being a passive smoker? I mean, in a way, I'm not inhaling constantly, so isn't that giving my body enough time to flush out the nicotine?