Hi Debbie
The first couple of days with an expander are definitely very trying. My upper expander is not removable but does have the key. I've had it for about 3 weeks now and I don't even notice it anymore (except when I'm eating and some food gets caught). It hasn't caused too much trouble with my speech but there were a few words that were difficult for me to pronounce, such as "cute". The weird thing is that now that I have the lower expander, which has caused a great deal of problems with my speech (especially words with "s" in it), I can now pronounce the words that I originally had problems with perfectly
.
I must admit that I have been feeling very embarrassed since I got the lower expander in just last Tuesday. Talking at work can sometimes feel like a nightmare and I have to keep reminding myself that others don't seem to have a problem with it like I do. At first, when my upper expander caused me to have some minor speech problems, I just laughed it off. I found it humorous
. But when my lower expander increased my speech problem, I just wanted to hide for the next 3-6 months until the thing was removed
.
Since running off and hiding for a few months isn't an option, I've been practicing reading out loud and have to slow down my speech, which must have helped some since my coworkers have commented that I sound much better. I've also recorded myself a few times to get an idea of what others are hearing. Surprisingly, I sound a lot worse to myself. I still have a lot of practicing to do but at least I can speak a little more clearly than when I first got my lower expander.
Best of luck with your expander. It will get better. Just make sure that you keep the expander in. I think that if mine was removable, I might be tempted to take it out to talk. It's a good thing that mine is cemented in tight
!
. However, this lower expander is awful. I think my speech is getting a little better but it still ends up hurting my tongue. I use wax on it at night to give my tongue a break from rubbing on it. However, when I try to use wax throughout the day, it never stays put. I have to talk all day at work and when I do, my tongue rubs against the bar, making the wax fall off and causing my tongue to feel sore again 
. The more my tongue gets sore, the more my speech is affected because I'm trying to avoid contact with the metal bar. At least some of the sores have started to heal since I've been trying to use wax whenever possible.
with the seeming lack of movement with my teeth - no gap etc. Is that common with quad helix appliances? or because of my age? it seems that those with a hyrax get some movement quite quickly.