Hiccups for MONTHS -- No apparent Physical Cause

[Avocado]

As you may know, I've had hiccups for months, now, and even though I've been to the doctor many times, they can find no physical cause for this curse I'm saddled with. It's not acid reflux, not a tumor, not a hernia, not electrolytes, and not nerves. Yet, I'm going hic-hic-hic and its hurting me at work since they started cutting my hours way down. I can no longer afford these expensive doctors visits, and I have tried all kinds of home remedies to stop these hiccups, but they will not go away. What other CHEAP thing can I try?

It's not that I'm unwilling to spend more money to fix the problem, I'm just not able.

 

[Tellenbach]

If it were me, I'd probably try fasting for a couple days. Just drink water.

If that didn't work, I'd probably try running as fast as I can for as long as I can.

I'm assuming your doctors have ruled out side effects from medications or an ulcer or some other condition.

 

[Tellenbach]

Just found this:

Acupuncture Therapy Rapidly Terminates Intractable Hiccups Complicating Acute Myocardial Infarction

Acupuncture is a well-known alternative therapy in practice worldwide. Its dramatic effect on hiccups has been rarely reported. We describe a 77-year-old male who had hiccups after an acute myocardial infarction. Despite aggressive treatment including breath-holding to interrupt the respiratory rhythm, continuous positive airway pressure, and medication with metoclopramine, prochlorperazine, chlorpromazine, haloperidol, mephenesin, diphenylhydantoin, baclofen, and phenobarbital, the hiccups persisted for 7 days. Eventually, the hiccups were rapidly terminated by acupuncture at acupoint GV14 (Da zhui). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of acupuncture's reversing intractable hiccups after an acute myocardial infarction. Acupuncture may be considered for patients with hiccups refractory to conventional therapy.

Another, more impressive study:

Acupuncture Treatment for Persistent Hiccups in Patients with Cancer

The 16 case series patients were all male; age range of 27–71 years; 14 were white, 2 were black. They came from diverse sociodemographic backgrounds with respect to religion, ethnicity, nationality, employment, marital status, and education. There were 13 inpatients and 3 outpatients, including 9 referred from the Surgery Branch of NCI; 5 referred from the Oncology Branch of NCI; and 2 from the Stem Cell Transplant Branch of NHLBI. All patients presented with persistent hiccups lasting longer than 48 hours prior to treatment. The range of duration of hiccups was 48 hours to 144 hours and the average was 70 hours.

Of 16 patients, 13 had complete remission of hiccups after acupuncture treatments, as indicated by a score of 0 on the HAI. Of the 13 patients who experienced complete remission, 8 patients achieved these results after one treatment session; 2 patients required two sessions; and 3 patients required three sessions.

There's also a youtube video about a DIY acupuncture procedure (without needles):

Stop Hiccups with an Acupuncture Point (without a needle) - YouTube

I haven't watched it yet but there are apparently quite a few webpages describing the use of acupuncture points in treating hiccups. Just do a search.

Here's one that looks very simple:
4 Acupuncture Pressure Points to Alleviate Hiccups Immediately

1. Face Point

Simply place your finger on your philtrum, which is the area between the top of your lip and the base of your nose. Press this spot firmly and push in towards your teeth. Hold this pressure for about 30 seconds before releasing it.

 

[Avocado]

I will try the things in these 2 posts. I already skipped breakfast.

 

[Amargith]

Hiccups...at least the typical kind (with no further medical causes to it) tends to be caused by breathing incorrectly. In fact, if you distract a person who has the hiccups (my mom used to tell me outrageous stories about purple spotted horses that would take my focus away from it), they often return back to a normal breathing pattern.

So you could just have a habit of breathing incorrectly. I'd..play around with breathing exercises and just..tinkering with the hiccups themselves. I do find that if I get frustrated, it won't work, but if I'm just curious about it, I can lengthen my breaths, soften the hiccup response, and re-sync my breathing. I did the same thing with when I've breathed in some water and feel the need to violently cough, but am still swallowing the rest - I postpone the choking, till my mouth is clear by controlling the gag reflex.

In that regard acupuncture and practices like yoga might indeed also be beneficial, because incorrect breathing often happens when you don't breathe in fully, and go for shallow breaths instead - iow, when you're stressed and your muscles are contracted, from what I remember.

I'm guessing that that might also be why acupuncture and perhaps yoga could be beneficial, as yoga focuses on breathing fully and correctly while teaching awareness and control over the breath.

 

[Peter Deadpan]

I feel really bad for you. I can't imagine how shitty that must be.

 

[FemMecha]

I wonder if some yoga and/or deep breathing exercises could help. I understand that hiccups happen when the diaphragm is spasming. Deep breathing exercises that muscle.

 

[that's not my name]

I remember reading somewhere that the longest case lasted for years and then just as suddenly as it came on, it went away. Why did they cut your hours down, you might be able to contest that somehow...

 

[Avocado]

I remember reading somewhere that the longest case lasted for years and then just as suddenly as it came on, it went away. Why did they cut your hours down, you might be able to contest that somehow...

Tricare, which is the United States' closest thing to Universal Healthcare (that only military veterans can use, so no getting sick THEN trying to get it) moved from my company to another competitor company, and since my city is where all the nukes are kept, most of our customers are military as this is the end of the pipeline for some reason and a lot of people don't move. With Tricare at our competitor's stores, we are going through an hour drain. Part timers like me went first. I'm getting a kind of garbage degree that's very boring and irrelevant to my life, but simply having A DEGREE is better than no degree, so I was trying to hover around 20 hours to break even while I do these last few semesters. They don't pay me extra for going now due to state budget cuts, but one of my scholarships grandfathered in and school is still cheaper for me than most people. Regardless, I'm down to about 7 hours and I've thought about going to the competitor to get more hours and a raise every since I got a call from them last month, but I've wanted to treat these hiccups first. The weird thing about these hiccups is that I have a 5-15 minute attack, then I get a 5-15 minute break, then I have another 5-15 minute attack...and so on. I've found holding my breath stops individual attacks sooner, but I still keep having attacks all day every day.

 

[Avocado]

...and they are still going.

 

[Carpe Vinum]

Oh wow, I am so sorry to hear. The only thing that ever works for me is to put some water in my mouth and bend over as far as I can when I swallow it.


...yes whores, I know how that sounds.

Good luck man. I hope you feel better.

 

[Avocado]

The Baclofen does nothing.

I just want the hiccups to stop.
[MENTION=10082]Starry[/MENTION]

 

[Starry]

The Baclofen does nothing.

I just want the hiccups to stop.

[MENTION=10082]Starry[/MENTION]

Sweetie, I wish there was something I could tell you but I don't know jack shit about hiccups. I mean, I believe the original purpose for this reflex is to exercise/strengthen the baby's diaphragm in utero so that they will be strong enough to breathe on their own once born.

^If it were me I would probably be meditating on that. I really like the suggestions to take up yoga. <-I have never looked but there must be tons of videos online or at your university library. There may be free community classes...many yoga instructors have a decent understanding of what happens to a person when they are out of balance.

Again, it really stands out to me that this is a reflex. I would be racking my brain trying to remember all that had changed for me around the time the hiccups started. What unprocessed stress or pain are you stuffing and your body is saying back to you..."Sorry...not going to let you do that this time. I'm going to irritate you until you work this out."... ?

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

Have you tried breathing exercises like others have suggested?

It's probably an old wives' remedy but supposedly a good scare or ejaculating helps.

 

[Avocado]

As you may know, I've had hiccups for months, now, and even though I've been to the doctor many times, they can find no physical cause for this curse I'm saddled with. It's not acid reflux, not a tumor, not a hernia, not electrolytes, and not nerves. Yet, I'm going hic-hic-hic and its hurting me at work since they started cutting my hours way down. I can no longer afford these expensive doctors visits, and I have tried all kinds of home remedies to stop these hiccups, but they will not go away. What other CHEAP thing can I try?

It's not that I'm unwilling to spend more money to fix the problem, I'm just not able.

I am still hiccupping 2 years later. I have about 4-12 an hour (every 5-15 minutes).
@Starry

The meditation hasn't helped. Nothing really helps.

The only thing that changed right before my hiccups started was my grandmother died. The hiccups started minutes after she was declared dead.

 

[Metis]

I am still hiccupping 2 years later. I have about 4-12 an hour (every 5-15 minutes).
@Starry

The meditation hasn't helped. Nothing really helps.

The only thing that changed right before my hiccups started was my grandmother died. The hiccups started minutes after she was declared dead.

I'm sorry about your annoying medical issue. I have one of those as well; an ongoing nuisance that subtly interferes with my life all the time.

I don't know what to do about either yours or mine.

Actually, I have an idea for mine, which I'm planning on trying.

I don't have any good ideas for yours.

 

[Starry]

I am still hiccupping 2 years later. I have about 4-12 an hour (every 5-15 minutes).
@Starry

The meditation hasn't helped. Nothing really helps.

The only thing that changed right before my hiccups started was my grandmother died. The hiccups started minutes after she was declared dead.

Did you try yoga or some other core strengthening exercise? (hint: that's what I suggested in March of 2017). It sounds as if medication is only effective if the cause is gastrointestinal - not stress induced which is why I suggested yoga as it should help with that as well. Likewise, I would suggest going to a grief counselor.

 

[Avocado]

Did you try yoga or some other core strengthening exercise? (hint: that's what I suggested in March of 2017). It sounds as if medication is only effective if the cause is gastrointestinal - not stress induced which is why I suggested yoga as it should help with that as well. Likewise, I would suggest going to a grief counselor.

Now that I have more money and am starting to have a more predictable life, I can try those things.

 

[Starry]

Now that I have more money and am starting to have a more predictable life, I can try those things.

Predictable life...I can understand. Try not too spend too much money on these things though. You can try out yoga DVDs from the library if you had to...or a free/inexpensive yoga class from a community center or hospital. You often times can get super cheap grief counseling from a hospital...there should be grief support groups...

 

[Tellenbach]

It's a nightmare. I'd suggest fasting for several days at a time. Some conditions clear up when you stop eating for a period. I'd also suggest strengthening your core by doing a bunch of sit-ups or some other abdominal exercise. Can't hurt to try magnesium/potassium supplements (or at least get some blood work to see if you have any nutritional deficiencies); these help with muscle spasms. I think this condition might be some form of a muscle spasm.