Sleep disordered breathing & musical ability ?!?!

[tillymarigold]

Okay, this is going to sound really weird, but:

I come from a very musical family. My grandmother, mother, and sister are/were all great singers (not professional but good amateurs). I was a very good singer when I was little, however when I was about 11 or 12 I pretty much went tone-deaf so anything I already knew, I can still sing okay, but anything I learned after that, I learned wrong b/c I couldn't hear the difference. BTW my husband is a singer, I mean he has a degree in it and everything.

About 11 or 12 was also when I started telling my doctors I was tired all the time. I never thought there was any real connection between the two. (BTW I was a late bloomer, that was a couple years before I hit puberty.)

However, after 4 months on CPAP, I'm really starting to notice a difference. I mean, I had more energy right away, but now my metabolism is really starting to ramp up (I joined Weight Watchers, but I've been losing "too much" weight without trying--you're supposed to not lose more than 2 lbs a week and last week I lost 3 and a half even though I was doing exactly what I was supposed to) and other things that have been more long-term are starting to improve as well.

So today after church, my husband told me that my pitch was right on today! That I sounded like my voice was really rusty, but like I actually could sing if I practiced my voice. He said he'd actually been wondering ever since my mom told him the story of how I had a really good voice as a child but went tone-deaf in middle school, whether that might be related to my sleep-disordered breathing and whether I might get better with CPAP. But he didn't want to say anything to me unless he actually noticed a difference, which he did today. We sang a whole bunch of hymns today (well, 4 instead of the usual 5, one of them twice) and he said my pitch was pretty good for all of them.

So, anyone else? And what's the weirdest difference you've noticed with treatment? Until this, it was that my roseacea had gotten better, but I think this is way weirder.

[Organplayer]

As a singing teacher (one of my jobs among many), there is a high corollary between good pitch and good "breath pressure". Sounds like you are getting your pressure back up to snuff, which means better pitch.

Pitch is not always a hearing question. More often its a support question.

Congrats,
Kevin

[Catnapper]

You asked for weird improvements, so here is one. My dental hygienist says that my teeth are much cleaner since I started CPAP. There are less stains and plaque.
How could that be related? Maybe because I keep my mouth closed while I sleep. No more drooling or dry mouth.
Could be no connection, also. I don't think I will stop CPAP to find out if it is connected, though.
Any dental folks out there who care to share an opinion?

[tillymarigold]

I've also always (my whole life) had very red gums and when I was a teenager a dentist finally figured out that it was because I slept with my mouth open. When I first started CPAP I stopped doing that so my gums got a lot better, however I started opening my mouth and waking myself up so I switched to a FF mask, and now they're red again (though not quite as much).

[bipappap]

This is kind of a weird result of BIPAP. My hair was totally white. I have been on BIPAP for about a year and my hair on the sides is starting to turn dark. I have never heard of anyone's hair going back after turning white.

Ted

[lilsheba]

Oh you definitely win for weirdest one

[quote="bipappap"]This is kind of a weird result of BIPAP. My hair was totally white. I have been on BIPAP for about a year and my hair on the sides is starting to turn dark. I have never heard of anyone's hair going back after turning white.

Ted

[Vader]

I tend to doubt the correlation.

I've done professional singing, and am considered to have perfect pitch, yet I have sleep apnea.

[roster]

[quote="bipappap"]This is kind of a weird result of BIPAP. My hair was totally white. I have been on BIPAP for about a year and my hair on the sides is starting to turn dark. I have never heard of anyone's hair going back after turning white.

Ted

[roster]

[quote="Catnapper"].... My dental hygienist says that my teeth are much cleaner since I started CPAP. There are less stains and plaque.
How could that be related? ...........

[lilsheba]

[quote="rooster"][quote="bipappap"]This is kind of a weird result of BIPAP. My hair was totally white. I have been on BIPAP for about a year and my hair on the sides is starting to turn dark. I have never heard of anyone's hair going back after turning white.

Ted

[tillymarigold]

I tend to doubt the correlation.

I've done professional singing, and am considered to have perfect pitch, yet I have sleep apnea.

And I don't snore, yet I have SDB.

Not everyone is affected the same way.

Although if you can come up with an alternative explanation as to how I could lose my ability to hear pitch at 11 and spontaneously regain it at 29, I'd be interested to hear it.

[Moby]

Is it hearing the pitch or maybe just repeating it?

If your muscles are tired, your voice muscles are tired too. Maybe your vocal chords couldn't hold steady where you tried to put them.

Di

[Vader]

I tend to doubt the correlation.

I've done professional singing, and am considered to have perfect pitch, yet I have sleep apnea.

And I don't snore, yet I have SDB.

Not everyone is affected the same way.

Although if you can come up with an alternative explanation as to how I could lose my ability to hear pitch at 11 and spontaneously regain it at 29, I'd be interested to hear it.

Like I said, I "tend to doubt" the correlation.
But neither your experience nor mine necessarily proves anything one way or the other.
I can only share my personal experiences. I guess we'd have to do a full blown study to get "facts".

[scenestealer]

I'm an amateur singer also, and about a year ago (before being diagnosed), I suddenly completely lost the upper half of my range - not like it sounded bad when I did it, my voice just WOULDN'T go up any further. I developed a sore throat at some point after that, and it took almost six months for my voice to come back.

I'm still having trouble singing at the upper end, but now it's because I'm dealing with sinus problems and getting dried out by the CPAP machine (there's a whole thread about that issue). But I'm hoping I'll get it back eventually.

Man, I wish I was having that kind of weight loss. Though I think I did manage to drop 4 lbs in the last two weeks. I'm only three months into treatment, and due to the sinus issues, I'm still struggling a lot. Hoping my health and energy rise soon (and my weight drops).

Speaking of weird, and this was one that had my doctor COMPLETELY mystified, even though I'd been complaining of it for three years before I was diagnosed: I used to be desperately thirsty all the time, and no amount of water made me feel quenched, and conversely the smallest amount of liquid made me need to pee within 10 minutes. Everyone made fun of me for having the bladder of a squirrel. Now that's pretty much clearing up. And the weirdest part is that when my therapy is going badly and I'm starting to feel worse again, I start peeing constantly again. That's one of the number one reasons, despite only seeing minor improvement in my energy, that I can tell the CPAP is doing something for me...

[tillymarigold]

Is it hearing the pitch or maybe just repeating it?

If your muscles are tired, your voice muscles are tired too. Maybe your vocal chords couldn't hold steady where you tried to put them.

Di

I really think it's hearing it. I mean, I always *thought* I was singing the right notes, and I did retain the ability to sing songs I'd learned as a child on-key. My husband agrees that the explanation that it wasn't a hearing thing but a voice control thing would make far more sense, but he says I don't sound like my voice itself is better, just more on target.

Like I said, I know how weird it sounds.