By
Rick Carney
For
over 20 years, I looked for a cure for my stuttering. I have tried
meditation, self hypnosis, various diets, medicines, and visualization
exercises. I have met with several physicians and have tried speech
therapy twice. My frustration, anxiety and need to feel and speak
normally have led me on a quest over the past 20 years which finally
resulted in finding a cure for stuttering. By dumb luck, or maybe
it was fate, I found a real cure which has worked for me 100%
with no relapse or other difficulties. I would like to explain
why I feel this cure has worked so you can decide for yourself
if you think this cure is right for you. Once you read this and
the articles listed below, I would encourage you to do some of
your own research and then go speak to your own doctor.
Neurological
Problem?
First of all, let me tell you that all along I believed stuttering
was caused by some chemical problem. How can you explain that
you can have occasional short times of fluency? The cure I have
found consists of medications which have to be prescribed by a
medical professional. In my research I found that the drug propranolol
and other Beta Blockers have been known to help people who stutter.
At this point I wondered why my speech pathologist had not mentioned
the use of propranolol. But first let me explain my particular
situation, because propranolol alone will probably not work for
you. My first step toward trying to find a cure came when I was
24 years old. Frustrated with my stuttering, I visited a physician
who recommended speech therapy and prescribed Xanax. The Xanax
helped a little at first, but eventually was of no use. Speech
therapy did not work either, and I was puzzled. The speech therapist
recommended air flow techniques and to tie a string on my finger
so I would remember to breathe properly. I felt this was hopeless
because the way I felt inside was the problem, not how I was breathing.
Over the next 15 years I read books on stuttering, looked at my
diet, and started taking all sorts of vitamins. I eventually found
out I had low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) which today I can trace
back as a side affect of the stress caused by my stuttering. At
this point in my life, I thought the hypoglycemia was the cause
of my stuttering. Boy, if I only knew then what I know now.
Speech
Therapy
It wasn’t until 10 years ago I finally decided that something
had to be done about my stuttering. I decided to see another speech
therapist, who further confirmed my thoughts that my problem was
something chemical and not physical. You hear this debate all
the time about stuttering. The speech therapist did not suggest
any medication, which seems to be against their teaching, as they
feel air flow is the solution to stuttering. I don’t disagree,
but how can you breathe properly if you are tense, anxious, and
can’t take a deep breath easily? After a few weeks, I decided
to see my doctor. This was my last shot at finding a cure and
I was going to explore everything. I talked to my doctor and explained
that I was anxious and was stuttering worse than ever. He prescribed
Xanax and I figured I would try it again. After all, it had been
15 years since I last tried it. However, he said I should see
another physician. I figured I had nothing to lose, and maybe
they would have some ideas about the cause of stuttering.
The
Key: Dopamine
Yes, I felt a little odd at this stage of my life seeing yet another
doctor about my stuttering. I guess I am a pretty “normal”
guy, but wasn’t feeling so normal. I am married with two
kids, dog, cat, and working the same job I had for 7 years. Anyway,
I started talking to another doctor who was a triathelete and
had the typical discussion you might have regarding my background
etc. Finally, the discussion got to my feeling of anxiety, etc.
I had read something on the internet about stutterers and a neurotransmitter
in the body called Dopamine which is typically found in high levels
in stutterers. I mentioned this to the doctor and she mentioned
that triathaletes have high dopamine levels before an event, which
causes an adrenaline rush where you get the butterflies-in-the-stomach
feeling. The doctor, being a triathelete herself, was aware of
the drug propranolol which reduces this anxiety caused by adrenaline.
The
Answer
I was prescribed Propranolol, but a month prior to learning about
it I was told to take Paxil, an anti-depressant, and Busparone,
an anxiety reducer, to see if this helped my stuttering. I was
also told to keep taking these medications while trying the propranolol.
Eventually I quit taking the Paxil and just took the other two
drugs. The Buspar really helped relieve the anxiety, which in
great part I feel is a result of being a stutterer. With these
drugs I noticed that I slept better than I had in 15 years and
that my breathing was effortless. With better sleep I felt better
all around and noticed that my stuttering was disappearing a little
each day. As my stuttering lessened each day, I felt more and
more confident, which enhanced my fluency even further and gave
me greater self esteem and a better mood. The way the two drugs
work is as follows: The propranolol, which is a beta blocker,
blocks the receptors in your body that are affected by adrenaline,
which in turn lowers your heart rate. The Buspar further reduces
your anxiety, which allows you to relax and breathe easier, which
ultimately helps you relax your vocal cords for effortless speech.
The first thing I really noticed as my stuttering disappeared
was the ability to take a deep breath and completely fill my lungs.
Before, my breathing was very shallow. The energy that comes with
good breathing is natural, so between better sleep and better
breathing you can’t help to feel better, which is why the
Paxil was no longer needed.
Today I only take a 10mg tablet of Propranolol in the morning
and that works fine. I have found that more is not better and
that too much makes me feel tired so I only take the one pill
each day.
Success
I can’t tell you how great it is to speak effortlessly again
without the worries and fears of of stuttering. I guess I should
say I was very self-conscious about my stuttering, which probably
didn’t help my anxiety. Now, just the simple things like
ordering a hamburger at a drive-through restaurant without stuttering
brings me such comfort. This was something that was very, very
difficult and I could list endless examples, i.e., saying my name
when meeting someone new, giving someone my phone number, or just
saying the number 2. Now I have no fear in any situation or social
gathering. It is like being reborn and given a second chance to
prove yourself, which I have been taking advantage of ever since.
Through a lot of hard work and persistence I was very fortunate
to find the proper medication to help me stop stuttering, and
I believe you can do the same because stuttering is definitely
a neurological disorder caused by a chemical imbalance. After
being prescribed the medications, I researched them on the internet
to learn more about them. I would suggest you do the same before
seeing your physician. As mentioned before, Propranolol is a Beta
Blocker and is known to have reduced stuttering in some people
with varying degrees of success, but this is not widely broadcast.
Please look these drugs up on the internet for further information,
because you won’t hear about them anywhere else. Speech pathologists,
at least the ones I visited, did not suggest any prescriptions
or know of any to help stuttering which, thinking back, is surprising.
I think it boils down to speech pathologist not knowing much about
medicine and doctors not knowing much about stuttering. I guess
stuttering has not been given enough attention, but through my
readings it sounds as though more research is now being done on
medications relative to stuttering.
Propranolol
and Buspar
I have been taking propranolol now for 10 years and have been
stutter-free. It takes a few weeks for you to start to feel better
as your body gets used to the medication (Buspar and Propranolol;
I am not sure if Paxil is necessary or not). The propranolol may
cause a little dizziness and nausea feeling at first, but will
disappear. At first I took 10mg twice a day, then cut back to
once a day. If you can exercise, I think this may help in your
overall treatment, which is something I did. I was feeling so
good as my breathing improved that I entered a mini triathalon
and finished it with no problem. I would also suggest cutting
out the caffeine, sodas and sugar while trying the medication.
I hope you experience the same success that I have; I wanted to
share this information with you so you can understand how the
medicines helped me, and to help you believe that stuttering can
be cured. I am not sure how well my found cure will help others,
but I believe it is worth a try. Overall, I feel the reasons as
I have explained them are the reasons why I don’t stutter
anymore and is only my opinion and not medical fact. These medications,
combined with a true willingness to want to stop stuttering, are
why I feel I have been cured. If you are tired of being tired
and being a stutterer, please share this information with your
physician.
I hope this information helps you and gives you hope that there
is at least one cure for stuttering. For confirmation on this
therapy, I found an article on the Stuttering Foundation website
which confirms the use of the types of drugs I have used, although
the brands mentioned are different. To read the article, go to
the search menu on the Stuttering Foundation website and enter
drug therapy. The first article about Alprazolam, Citalopram,
and Clomipramine for stuttering is the one you want to read. You
can also go directly to the article at http://www.stuttersfa.org/research/drugther.htm.
This research pretty much confirms my same findings, except a
beta blocker (Propranolol) has not been included, which I believe
is a key element. I couldn’t believe I found this information
confirming the use of these types of drugs after searching for
years for an answer. Maybe they are finally making progress as
to the cause of stuttering. In addition to articles on the various
medications, I would also recommend that you look up information
on Dopamine since this seems to be related to the cause of stuttering.
I have not tried to explain how these drugs work in medical terms,
but will leave that to your own research and your doctor. However,
I did want to impress on you that a combination of drugs has worked
to cure stuttering, and this treatment should be explored with
your doctor. Best of luck on finding your cure. I truly hope this
information helps you.
Sincerely,
Rick Carney
This publication cannot be reproduced or duplicated without express
written permission from the author.
See
Below:
Visit these for additional information:
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/support/stuttering/section-16.html
http://members.tripod.com/~phobiagroup/
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro98/202s98-paper2/index.html
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro98/202s98-paper2/Frederickson2.html
Dopamine
Hypothesis by Anne Frederickson
