Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with hiccups

Diagnose Strange Eating Malady

Mickelstiff — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 05:02:45 -0800

Diagnose this problem I have been having for several years and is getting worse. Often when I eat I start having hiccups, then, sometimes, I end up having to vomit. I am going to a different doctor this week and I will try to find out more. OK, often but not always I start eating and then I hiccup. It seems if I can belch during this process I will be OK, but if I can't it will get worse and I'll end up having to vomit. Usuall it is Ok after that, but just the other night it kept on going and I was in the bathroom for 2 hours. My previous doctor said I had esophageal spasms and prescribed dococlymine, but it doesn't seem to have helped. Thanks.

My cat has suddenly started hiccuping.

Soulbee — Mon, 05 May 2008 12:09:14 -0800

My 6.5 year old cat has developed a hiccup problem. I've never before witnessed her hiccuping but in the last 2-3 weeks I've seen it multiple times. I know you are not my vet. She seems entirely unperturbed by the hiccups. She makes no noise when she hiccups. I have noticed no difference in behavior, eating habits, litterbox habits, or anything else.
She does have an affinity for any sort of plant of the live or dead variety, EXCEPT of course things I actually offer her, such as cat grass. I try very hard to keep live or dead plant matter out of the house or otherwise out of her reach for this reason, because the eating usually turns into some mild puking. It has been suggested she craves the ruffage because she's a longhaired kitty, but I feed her good, balanced food and give her an furball supplement.
She has a fairly serious catnip addiction but I limit her intake.
She has heretoforth been very healthy EXCEPT for allergies -- in the spring and fall she gets a little bit sneezy and wheezy. I have allergy pills for her but the fallout of trying to give them to her far outweighs any benefit.
I will gladly take her to the vet if it is recommended necessary, but there's a problem. She's a doll and a sweetheart with me, but HATES being restrained or examined. HATES to the extent that the 3 vets in the area that we've patronized will no longer see her unless she's been sedated first. It's a big pain that involves the aforementioned pill-giving and is basically an all day ordeal that leaves her upset and anxious for up to a week afterwards. So, what do you think about cat hiccups that have suddenly occurred? I googled and found plenty of info saying that cats who hiccup in general are fine, but those sources all seemed geared to cats that have ALWAYS hiccuped, not had sudden onset of semi-regular hiccups later in life.

I am proud to be one of the frogs in the glen. Not.

fuzzbean — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 14:36:01 -0800

Why do I hiccup and burp like a big damn frog? I've been a huge hiccupper and burper my entire life. We're talking 5-10 minute strings of hiccups that are quite uncomfortable-to-painful and that are incredibly loud. Likewise my burps have always been more of belches. The hiccups happen pretty randomly (not after eating or any specific activity) and I'll sometimes have a day when I have five or six attacks over the course of the day. They've gotten rarer and briefer as I've aged, but that may be due to me being better at stopping them. Both are sufficiently loud, weird, and persistent that they're a long-running joke with my family and friends.

Burps will occasionally bring up a feeling of liquid in the back of my throat, especially if I've overeaten or when I'm exercising on my back (doing stomach crunches or similar). This has gotten slightly more frequently recently, but I remember this happening in childhood as well. Especially violent hiccups can do the same.

If you've heard Lady Carlotta in Phantom of the Opera when the Phantom curses her to ribbit like a frog instead of singing, both my hiccups and burps sound like that. This is more than somewhat embarrassing.

I'm not looking for "cures" for hiccups, but I'd like to know if anyone else has this problem and if there's any biological or structural basis for it. Has anyone been treated for some condition and found that all your hiccupping and burping issues went away? NOTE: You are not a doctor, you are not my doctor, this is not medical advice, my mileage may vary. Stated and understood.

I'm 24, female, BMI around 20.5. No major health issues aside from mild asthma and allergies to antibiotics. This isn't troublesome enough to schedule a doctor appointment for, but it is annoying.

Why do I get hiccups when I eat french fries or bread?

Melsky — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 18:45:04 -0800

Dense starchy foods frequently give me the hiccups, especially large cut french fries and corn bread. My mother and grandmother also have this problem. It doesn't feel like the food is stuck in there, it feels like my throat closes up a little and then it's hiccups that are hard to stop. Usually I can stop them after a while if I drink water while holding my ears shut.

Any idea why this would happen? I'm just curious.

Recurring hiccups

kirstin — Sun, 13 Nov 2005 19:04:27 -0800

My husband got quite tipsy last night and has suffered from recurring hiccups all day today. The conventional cures work temporarily, but the hiccups only come back a couple of hours later. Can we excise the demons once and for all?

Why do my hiccups hurt?

Lotto — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 15:58:52 -0800

Why do I get such painful hiccups? And how can I stop them? Today I've had hiccups for several hours straight, and nothing seems to help. They're very painful, and make eating difficult. They're also noisy, which can be embarressing, and annoying especially when people think it's funny.

When I sneeze, I get hiccups!

tomble — Tue, 05 Jul 2005 03:04:35 -0800

Everytime I sneeze, I get hiccups! This has only set in in the last year or two (I'm 31).

I sneeze, then straight away I've got hiccups. Usually they don't last very long, but it's kind of frustrating. Does anyone else experience this? Any ideas what could be going on?

Sovereign remedies for hiccups?

ThePinkSuperhero — Mon, 13 Dec 2004 15:48:25 -0800

What is your personal cure for the hiccups? I've had them on and off since 3 p.m.; I'll eat or drink, they'll go away, they come back. I'm going to the theatre at 8:15 and do NOT want to disrupt the show. Heeeeelp. I will be here doing them in real time as you post!