What causes dryness of mouth?
Patient: I'm a healthy, fit 64 yr. old female and my voice has been "croaky" for two years.  It's worse in the morning and about the same time I started noticing my voice problems, I noticed my mouth being dry when I wake up at night or in the morning.  So, it appears that I'm mouth breathing at night.  I don't have acid reflux, and my vocal cords have been scoped twice, but the last time was a year ago.  I take a probiotic with a broad spectrum of helpful bacteria and a total of 60 billion organisms, and this has helped somewhat.  My voice seems to clear up more in the summer and when I go to the coast sea kayaking each Sept.- probably due to more moisture.  I do sleep with a humidifier.   I don't know if I have post nasal drip or allergies, other possible factors, as I'm not symptomatic for these things.  I also tried nasal irrigation using a Neti pot last spring, but didn't notice much difference.   I used to have a powerful voice and did some public speaking, but now my voice is embarassing and is hurting my career in sales.  I'm very fit and active and live in NW MT and ski/hike/ workout 5-6 days/week, and don't look my age, but sometimes sound like I'm 90.  HELP! Doctor: HI, thanks for using healthcare magicSome persons may have all or only some of the symptoms associated with a medical condition.The fact that the voice change is worse in the morning may indicate that it may be related to post nasal drip which is normally worse at this time or in the evening period.Some persons may be unaware of the drip itself.You may want to consider allergy testing to see if a particular trigger can be identified and then eliminated.In addition the use of a topical steroid nasal spray and oral antihistamine may also help.I hope this helps