Hey guys, if you want you can search for my previous thread in Sept about my vocal problems, and thought now would be a good time to update my situation along with some questions I have.

At the end of October I went to the laryngologist (and a good one, seeing as he contributed to that new singing book by TC Helicon) and was told my vocal cords were completely healthy (other than the "interesting" fact that my cords were uneven sizes)and he saw some signs of reflux, but nothing actually damaging my cords so that was a huuuge relief.

Anyways, my current situation (aka jobless and living at home) doesn't allow me to buy groceries and make food completely opposite the rest of my family (aka I eat the dinners my mom prepares). This isn't to say my diet is horrible, I do avoid all the trouble foods as much as I can. So since I can't really go on a complete dietary change, I instead bought some digestive enzymes and took them after each meal.

These enzymes actually reduced my reflux by ~80% or so, so I was pretty happy with that. Now though, I really want to see if I can reduce it more and get some of my mega-high (B5 and up) range back and also stabilize the rest of my fifth octave. So I was going to pick up some Bragg's tomorrow.

My question is, how exactly do you use it? Do you use it when you feel it, or after each meal, or at certain times of the day? I suffer mainly from silent reflux, so I notice the effects in my singing but not a whole bunch of real noticeable symptoms other than the occasional feeling of a lump in my throat.

Also, do you think I should continue to take the enzymes as I use the vinegar or should I stop using them to see if the vinegar works by itself? Obviously, my goal would be to not take anything for my reflux but the only way that's happening is by figuring out the dietary problems, unless the problem is not caused by particular foods but more with my diaphragm from singing.

Thanks!

Hi Jordy, take a tablespoon or half tablespoon of ACV into one cup of water, or even more if you want, 20- 15 minutes before each meal. and drink it rather with a straw. ACV helps stomach acid to digest food. there´s a lot of misinformation on GERD about too much stomach acid production, while the opposite has turned out to be the underlying issue. I know it´s hard to keep the right diet, first of all sugar candies are probably the worst thing to your cords (in my experience) because of mucus production. ACV helps with downregulating mucus production in intestinal walls. The worst thing about mucus is that once your intestinal walls start to produce excess mucus your sinuses gets activated in mucus production too. I drink ACV with lemon tea and honey, but sometimes my voice gets raspy if I have a session within 3 hour interval after drinking 2 cups of lemon tea. I dont think that taking enzymes is counterproductive while taking ACV. maybe I´m wrong, but I think it´s OK to take both. Are you sure your problem is really silent reflux? I thought so too, but it seems that I have some parasites, yeast or candida. Is your tounge white? if yes you may suffer from yeast overgrowth. I think many people think they suffer from silent nonacid reflux because they get excess mucus in throat, but the fact is that many times sinuses are guilty. And one study (in Mayo Clinic) found that 96 % of patients suffering from chronic sinusitis have fungi (yeast infection) in sinuses. I am astounded that many doctors don´t know that colone (intestines) are many times underlying issues for your sinus heath. I recently found that alcalic diet is bad for your colone leading to alcaline enviroment in your colone (producing a lot of gas) and yeast overgrowth. yeast overgrowth or candida overgrowth is responsible for food intolerancies and it cant be found through alergy test. Food intolerancy means mucus production and some vocal distress depending upon how much mucus gets in your throat. food sensitivity doesn´t invoke immunologic response strong enough to get into the bloodstream. ACV is good for killing yeast overgrowth and candida. by the way what enzymes do you take?, it might be helpfull for me. Good Luck :)

Yu can take apple cider vinegar before or after your meals in water or juice. I'm really into coconut oil right now. It's become my new favourite superfood. Try it!

"People suffering from acid reflux and ulcers have taken to adding about a tablespoonful of virgin coconut oil to their hot drinks like coffee or tea as coconut oil has been found to help relieve acid reflux as well as in the treatment of stomach ulcers."

http://www.usesfor.net/uses-for-coconut-oil.html

Hey thanks for the reply!

I could maybe have yeast affecting me, but I really propped up my bed and it seems to be working wonders, so I don't know if yeast has an effect at night (while reflux definitely does).

The pills I take are just Vitamin World's basic digestive enzymes. Supposedly Zypan is really good, but I can't buy it in stores in my area.