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Chronic Hiccups

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twentysix

Bluelighter
Joined
Jun 5, 2008
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878
My dad has had hiccups for almost a week. It's honestly kind of scary at this point. I haven't been around to see him yet but he is 68 now, and has never really had an issue. The doctors have tried thorazine to calm the nerve, to no avail, and gave him another drug to stabilize his digestion, or something. He is getting wary... and tired. He's usually strong minded, but I can tell when I talk to him it bothers him pretty badly.

His diet isn't the best at all.. he eats a home-cooked meal around once a day... the rest are probably white bread sandwiches and fast food or other restaurant... but drinks a few cokes, smokes... I have tried suggesting a fast but he never takes my advice... not that I know it would help, but if it was something digestive causing it, it might.

He has went in for tests and they find nothing. Ultrasound and CT (or MRI... this got mixed up in the communication between us).

I feel partially at fault because just recently the BMV decided to go back 10 years on me to a DWI I had back then, tacking on other speeding violations since then, two years after my last offense mind you, and suspend my license for five years coming February... and in order to defeat this I got a lawyer to help me get a probation license so I won't be so disabled. I also deal with multiple chemical sensitivities, myself, so not having (i mean having) a vehicle to get around is pretty vital to me at this point.... To find work... I just lost a job, as well. In interview process right now for a couple of others which I hope can be compatible. But right at this moment I don't have the cash... hence... he helped me out, laying down a good sum of money, cheap for an attorney but still. I just can't help but to feel that I somehow caused this... or my situation.

It doesn't help (me) that I went to the drug and alcohol counselor yesterday per the requirement of the court to get my probation license, and mentioned this, and he said his dad had the same thing, and it ended up killing him. He had it for years. It never stopped, until it wore him thin enough that he "gave up".

But I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with this level of chronic hiccups? Do you have any advice? He just got the "digestive stabilizer" to help him yesterday, and today my mom sent me a text saying she timed his hiccups at 25/minute. I guess this makes me think that it is possibly digestive related... and that maybe he should try fasting...
 
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Wow, I never knew this actually happened. Your poor Dad. :(

I get hiccups regularly, but they always seem to disappear before too long.. Sorry I can't be of anymore help. I hope modern medicine can help your Dad as soon as possible. <3
 
Thanks. Yea I didn't either. I had them for three days after surgery once but they came and went in response to sudden excitement. I can't imagine what he has gone through.

I talked to him today though, and he seems to be doing better. Thinks the medicines are helping. I just pray it keeps getting better.
 
yikes...

i worked with a guy who had the hiccups for several years, and still did at the time while i worked with him. i cant recall any procedures or meds he tried :\

but he was a lead waiter in a restaurant...and so obviously was able to cope and successfully hold a position that demanded he communicate clearly. personally i would try and let my body learn to adjust with out the aid of drugs at first, his body needs to adjust and becoming used to drugs to help could be counter productive.

idk


i hope it works out for him twentysix.


maybe try hypnosis ?
 
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I tend to agree with you! I think my parents put way too much faith in what's given out freely... they don't seem to do their own research. I suggested fasting, baking soda.. quitting cokes... (and cigarettes)... eating better/alkaline foods, as I know he doesn't really do this, or drink regular water often. It's usually coffee, cokes, cigarettes... I'm sure the caffeine isn't helping either. And the nicotine also acts to stimulate, as well. I remember when I'd get hiccups smoking cigarettes made them worse.

I just hope it doesn't go on too much longer, or an end won't seem in sight... and may not for him, either. He may just convince himself he is going to have hiccups, so he'll have them. In this case trying alternative treatments, meditation, hypnosis early on might prove the best.

Perhaps the meds for him will work, though. I hope. As said he did seem better when I talked to him, after the acid-stabilizing meds were doing their work.



that's pretty crazy about being a lead waiter at a restaurant with chronic hiccups... how did he take it? did he adjust, mentally? i couldn't handle it.
 
Is your dad on any kind of opiates for any reason? I mean no offense by this, I'm just trying to help. Long-lasting hiccups can be a side-effect of opiate use, and I'm speaking from both personal experience and the words of a few health professionals I've asked about this. Any time I take opiates a few days in a row, I get hiccups that can take days to go away.
 
No offense taken at all. I don't think so. I think he may take a certain NSAID class drug, and he uses an inhaler from time to time for asthma... I think asthma.

Considering there's nothing physically wrong with him that they can find in regard to this, I can't help but to to think he could beat it mentally. Hiccups seem to me at least in part, after a while, mentally aggravated. When I had them things like fast talking or excitement from the puppy they have, barking at everything (when stayed with them after surgery), made mine recur.

I almost think if he started chanting... practicing saying "Ohhm", etc... he might be able to beat it.. humming. deep slow, or natural breathing. If only I had a proxy to talk to him for me. Parents never seem to want to listen to their own kids, just like vice versa. Maybe if this is still going on next week I'll contact about the only friend he talks to and tell him to suggest hypnosis or something.
 
Yeah, I have heard that hiccups can sort of become self-induced after a while just by thinking about it too much. Someone told me the reason for the whole "drinking water upside down" and scaring people methods is that it just takes your mind off of it. By thinking about it too much, you can actually cause it to continue. The mind is a powerful thing... Best of luck to your dad.
 
No offense taken at all. I don't think so. I think he may take a certain NSAID class drug, and he uses an inhaler from time to time for asthma... I think asthma.

Considering there's nothing physically wrong with him that they can find in regard to this, I can't help but to to think he could beat it mentally. Hiccups seem to me at least in part, after a while, mentally aggravated. When I had them things like fast talking or excitement from the puppy they have, barking at everything (when stayed with them after surgery), made mine recur.

I almost think if he started chanting... practicing saying "Ohhm", etc... he might be able to beat it.. humming. natural breathing. maybe he needs a guided meditation.... hypnosis.
 
twentysix said:
I tend to agree with you! I think my parents put way too much faith in what's given out freely... they don't seem to do their own research. I suggested fasting, baking soda.. quitting cokes... (and cigarettes)... eating better/alkaline foods, as I know he doesn't really do this, or drink regular water often. It's usually coffee, cokes, cigarettes... I'm sure the caffeine isn't helping either. And the nicotine also acts to stimulate, as well. I remember when I'd get hiccups smoking cigarettes made them worse.

I just hope it doesn't go on too much longer, or an end won't seem in sight... and may not for him, either. He may just convince himself he is going to have hiccups, so he'll have them. In this case trying alternative treatments, meditation, hypnosis early on might prove the best.

Perhaps the meds for him will work, though. I hope. As said he did seem better when I talked to him, after the acid-stabilizing meds were doing their work.



that's pretty crazy about being a lead waiter at a restaurant with chronic hiccups... how did he take it? did he adjust, mentally? i couldn't handle it.
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it took me awhile to notice but then once i did it was every 30 seconds sometimes... i think he had a surgery done and then this became a consequence. he was really good guy and could play into in his way, haha, idk ive seen it talked about once on some medical show.


it is stupefying all the benefits of freaking Baking Soda...kinda scary. but glad i know now, there is much that seems just to good to be true, and so..............$$$



let m know what happens.
 
When you get the hiccups take a bite of peanut butter. I had the hiccups once for an hour and it got really annoying and I tried this and it worked immediately, I was mind blown. I hope it works for you too.
 
^its true.

I had really painful hiccups the other night right before I went to bed, and I could not sleep!!!

I did a search online for home remedies and it said to try eating something sugary, the sugar helps to 'distract' the nerves in your throat and diaphragm so that it can calm that absurd reflex. I ate a yogurt and they went away instantly.

http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/13-techniques-to-cure-the-hiccups.htm

Hiccups are little more than a reflex. You get them when the vagus nerve or one of its branches, which runs from the brain to the abdomen, is irritated. Experts say hiccups are most often a reaction to common digestive disturbances. And they're usually more a nuisance than anything else. Even infants hiccup, and the reflex continues, about three to five times a year, throughout life.
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The home remedies used to stop hiccups are believed to work on two principles. One way to stifle hiccups is to overwhelm the vagus nerve with another sensation. The vagus nerve signals the brain that more important matters have arisen, so it's time to knock off the hiccups. Other methods interfere with breathing, increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the blood. This probably causes the body to become more concerned with getting rid of the carbon dioxide than making hiccups.
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http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/13-techniques-to-cure-the-hiccups1.htm

Overloading the nerve endings in the mouth with a sweet sensation may do the trick. Have a teaspoonful of sugar, and if you can, place the sugar on the back of the tongue, where "sour" is tasted. This way, the sugar overload will pack the most punch.
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Hey. I haven't read everything in this thread, so maybe somebody already touched upon it, but OP: Has your father had any lab work run? I ask 'cause I'm doing research and there's a case study where a patient came in with persistent hiccups. "Both hyponatraemia and hyperglycaemia have been associated with persistent hiccoughs."*

* Source: Srirangalingam, U., Selvaratnam, R., Monson, J.P., & Grossman, A.B. (2011). A case of hiccoughs. Clinical Medicine, 11(4), 366-368.
 
His have actually subsided, I'm happy to report. It turns out his was caused by an ulcer in his esophogus caused by a tiny cholesterol pill that he took and it didn't go all the way down... Getting stuck in his throat. It was just so tiny, and he went to sleep thinking it would dissolve and he'd be fine.
 
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