Why is my voice deeper at night?

October 6, 2008 8:37 AM

Why does my voice get so deep at night this time of year?

Usually in May and October I start to get the sensation that seasonal allergies are hitting me. This time around I've been taking Zyrtec and its worked great. I don't FEEL bad at all except for a sort of postnasal lump in my throat.
The thing that bothers me most is that by about 6pm my voice starts to drop and by 7 or 8 I turn into Barry White. If I wake up in the middle of the night (I have a baby so this is frequent) its still really really deep. When I wake up in the morning its back to normal.

I live in New England if that helps and I'm male.

Any ideas on what I can do to stop my voice from freaking out like this? It usually lasts about a month and then fades away.

posted by Thrillhouse to health (3 comments total)

1/ Post-nasal gunk on the vocal folds makes them vibrate at a lower pitch than normal.

2/ Ditto, being tired.

3/ If you tried to speak at a higher pitch, putting some energy into it, you probably could do it.

4/ Warming up the voice with some vocal exercises would help you speak higher.
posted by JimN2TAW at 8:51 AM on October 6

I would think it's the fluctuation of humidity. In the fall the air begins to dry out, which triggers seasonal allergies and skin irritation for many people, including me. I often wake up with a sore throat from having my head thoroughly dried out at night.
posted by [NOT HERMITOSIS-IST] at 12:34 PM on October 6

The pitch of your voice is changed by the degree of tension in your vocal cords-- the higher the tension the higher the pitch, rather like guitar strings. The Barry White cover means they are too loose (for your taste).

They could be too loose because something is tending to press against them and they need to relax in order to accommodate that.

Do you still have your tonsils? The tonsils are near enough to the vocal cords that they could impinge on them if they were swollen. Swollen tonsils are associated with allergies, and your problems are synchronized with typical seasonal allergy peaks.
posted by jamjam at 5:47 PM on October 6