Page 14 - Classical Singer magazine Spring Issue 2020

It all started with heartburn. It was a muggy spring day, and I was on my way to
a student musical theatre competition. As I pulled into the parking lot, I felt something I almost never experienced—heartburn. Shrugging it o , I went in and got
to work. I continued to feel worse throughout the day, so I stopped at CVS on my way home and picked
up some Tums. They didn’t help, but I gured it was just some hormonal weirdness that would work itself out as I had just started my cycle. The next day, I felt ne.
But the day after that, it came back—and the next day, and the next. Soon, I was experiencing a cascading spiral of ever-increasing symptoms, culminating in waking up in the middle of the night with acid pooled in my throat. I realized that I was su ering from that malady which all singers dread: acid re ux.
Wanting to protect my voice at all costs, I immediately and radically
adjusted my diet, lifestyle, and eating schedule. My symptoms got worse. Over-the-counter acid reducers didn’t help, and my voice began to show
signs of wear and tear. Several months, specialists, and proton pump inhibitors later, I was on a highly restrictive low fat/low acid diet, following an in exible schedule for my meals and daily activities, and experiencing a host of increasingly disruptive GI symptoms.
Despite the specialists and the restrictive diets, I wasn’t seeing improvement, and my response (or lack thereof) to treatment did not make
any sense. The state of my voice on any given day felt like a roll of the dice and was a huge source of stress.
Finally, almost one year after that fateful heartburn- lled day, I was diagnosed with small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO).
I eagerly seized my new diagnosis and aggressively changed course. I took conventional antibiotics, herbal antibiotics, and supplements. I radically changed my diet, again.
Within three weeks, my acid re ux symptoms had decreased by about 75 percent. After a few months following a low FODMAP (fermentable oligo-, di-, and mono- saccharides and polyols) diet, I was able to come o heartburn- related medications entirely. With the re ux in check, I was able to get my voice back to full function.
But the GI symptoms remained— daily, persistent, uncomfortable,
and occasionally debilitating. I changed my diet again and again. I saw more specialists. My symptoms improved somewhat, but not enough. I researched SIBO relentlessly with precious few answers.
It’s been two years since my SIBO diagnosis, and three years since my symptoms began. I’m relieved that
I, mostly, no longer experience acid re ux, but many of my GI issues remain. The more I research, the more I have had to swallow the bitter pill that this condition may be chronic.
As singers, we are taught from very early on that our body is our
Singing with Chronic Health Challenges
BY KIM LAMOUREUX
When a singer’s physical well being is drastically changed by persistent complications, nding answers can sometimes only lead to more questions. Empowering yourself with knowledge can help, but that’s only one small step in a long process.
14 Classical Singer | Mar/Apr 2020