Ugh, hiccups

September 27, 2015 7:35 PM

I was at a benefit for a friend of of mine tonight who had a bad accident. There were good times to be had, but unfortunately I have a serious case of the hiccups on account of too many beers being drunk. I'm drinking water like the dickens, but all that's doing for me is making me want to pee a lot while I hiccup like there's no tomorrow.

So... help?

posted by surazal to Health & Fitness (50 answers total)

PRESIDENT TRUMP.

Okay, if that didn't do it, I usually hold my breath as long as I possibly can. Like, greying-out long. Make sure you have someone around to keep you from dying.
posted by Etrigan at 7:40 PM on September 27, 2015 [4 favorites]

Have a glass of water handy.
Take a spoonful (like, teaspoon size--doesn't have to be exact) of sugar and pop it in your mouth.
Take a swig of water VERY FAST and swallow that sugar down in one big glug.
Don't let it sit on your tongue too long.

I think the technical thing that happens is that your stomach gets an instant hit of sugar and sends an "oh holy shit, man the battlestations!" message to your brain via your vagus nerve. (If you let the sugar dissolve on your tongue your brain will already get the signal and the vagus nerve won't care enough.) Your vagus nerve is the one misfiring and causing hiccups, and the sugar bomb will reset the system.

It's worked for me literally every single time I've had the hiccups, without fail. Being startled, etc are all similar attempts to reset the vagus nerve, but the sugar is just so much easier and foolproof.
posted by phunniemee at 7:41 PM on September 27, 2015 [4 favorites]

oddly, sometimes for me, taking an over the counter zantac stops my hiccups, as apparently one of the symptoms of reflux is hiccups that won't stop.
posted by koroshiya at 7:42 PM on September 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

I used to be a bartender; our version of the vagus nerve trick was this:

One lemon wedge, heaped with sugar, and drizzled with bitters (angostura) so the sugar turns red. Bite into it and swallow immediately. It always works.
posted by axiom at 7:44 PM on September 27, 2015 [5 favorites]

Alternate nostril breathing sometimes does it for me--close nostril A with your finger, breathe in through Nostril B, close Nostril B and exhale through Nostril A.* Repeat.

*If you have a Nostril C, I can't help you.
posted by wintersweet at 7:44 PM on September 27, 2015 [3 favorites]

Ice cream works for me, so far 100% of the times I've tried it (about 10, probably.)
posted by smcameron at 7:47 PM on September 27, 2015

I have learned to do this really unattractive thing wherein I open my mouth super wide and take a giant gulping breath and try to engage my stomach muscles at the same time. It makes me sound like I'm having a hairball which not only freaks out the people around me but it makes me laugh and it gets rid of the hiccups 9/10 times. I get hiccups a lot, too. More than the average person. I think my method works because it resets my diaphragm or something. YMMV. May you be hiccupless soon!!
posted by Hermione Granger at 7:49 PM on September 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

You have to drink the water in seven fast small sips.
posted by bleep at 7:49 PM on September 27, 2015

What axiom said. Has never failed me.

In addition, there's a slower method that someone taught me twenty-five years ago that always works. Take a deep breath and hold it. Swallow three times. If you're interrupted by a hiccup before you can swallow three times, let our your breath and start again. This will eventually slow your hiccups down enough that you'll be able to swallow three times. Once you swallow the third time, your hiccups will be gone. This has not worked for other people the way it has for me, but it's worth a shot, especially if you don't have access to bitters or a spoonful of sugar or ice cream, etc.

Also sometimes a glass of orange juice helps. Shrug.
posted by Yoko Ono's Advice Column at 7:49 PM on September 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

The only thing that works for me is when my brother dares me to hiccup again, RIGHT NOW. Can't be done.

Get a friend to offer you a cash prize to hiccup one more time.
posted by jessicapierce at 7:50 PM on September 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

Hold your breath, and when you think you need to breathe, hold your breath another five seconds. And when you think you really need to breathe, hold your breath still another five seconds. Repeat until hiccups are gone.
posted by a lungful of dragon at 7:52 PM on September 27, 2015 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: I did try the plugging my ears thing. It hurt my ears, but the hiccups remain.

I have no lemons, so that rules out that solution.
posted by surazal at 7:53 PM on September 27, 2015

Breath holding works for me too. The key to swallow at the very end, right before you release and breath in again. I think it soft-resets the vagus like the other methods, but without the need for extra props.
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:55 PM on September 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

Fill a glass with water. Put a table knife blade down in the glass. Bend over from the waist and drink the water from the "wrong" side while holding the knife handle against your temple. Drink all the water.

I don't know why, but this works for me more than any other trick.
posted by bunderful at 7:56 PM on September 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

This one has worked 99% of the time. Tricky to explain though.

Works best standing. Get a glass of water. Bend over at the waist and put your mouth on the opposite side of the glass you would normally drink from. Like instead of your nose being in the glass, your chin is, and you're upside down. Then tilt the glass towards your neck to drink out of it. Had something to do with your control of your diaphragm to make the water not come back out your noise, stops the spasming that's causing the hiccups? I dunno, but works every time for me and 90% of people I show it to.
posted by danapiper at 7:56 PM on September 27, 2015 [11 favorites]

I used to swallow a spoonful of peanut butter, worked every time
posted by lakersfan1222 at 7:57 PM on September 27, 2015

My family's household remedy For hiccups was a big spoonful of honey. It always worked for me.
posted by usonian at 7:59 PM on September 27, 2015

Danapiper did a better job of explaining the upside-down drinking than I did. I think the knife addition is really key, though.
posted by bunderful at 8:00 PM on September 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

The lemon is just a delivery mechanism that's handy in a bar (where lemon and lime wedges are ubiquitous). It's the sugar that matters; the bitters are to prevent your tastebuds from seeing it coming or something like that. You can substitute another delivery mechanism, whatever you have that won't make you want to throw up.
posted by axiom at 8:01 PM on September 27, 2015

Spoonfuls of sugar (or sweetener) legit works. It can't be candy. It has to be super sweet like sugar. Put it right on your tongue until it dissolves. It resets the systems that cause the hiccups.

I used to do the sip water while holding breath thing but it was always hit or miss. The sugar thing has a much higher success rate. I hate hiccups. Mine hurt like hell.
posted by Crystalinne at 8:02 PM on September 27, 2015

+1 on the spoonful of peanut butter
posted by elvissa at 8:04 PM on September 27, 2015

This works everytime - hiccups are a result of your diaphragm going out of sync with your other breathing muscles, so you need to suppress your diaphragm:

1. Take in as much air as you can through your mouth
2. Keep taking in little sips of air until you think you're about to burst
3. Hold your breath for ten seconds (count one Mississippi, two Mississippi...)
4. Release
5. Repeat if required

But everyone I've made do this has gotten rid of their hiccups first time!
posted by sweetshine at 8:06 PM on September 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

Yeah, the breath holding almost unto death is what always works for me. If they're really persistent I drink gulps of water during the breath holding.
posted by poffin boffin at 8:09 PM on September 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

nthing breath holding, and sweetshine has explained it exactly the way I do it. It works for me every time.
posted by bedhead at 8:13 PM on September 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

Hold your nose and drink water slowly for as long as possible.
posted by fox problems at 8:14 PM on September 27, 2015

Ok, one more. Position your index finger pointing up in front of your face. Stare at it. Concentrate on it. Now, when you think you are going to hiccup, crook your finger so that it points down.

Something about the concentration seems to work for me.
posted by BillMcMurdo at 8:14 PM on September 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

Drinking from the wrong side of the glass always works for me. No need for the knife. I also always recommend it, because if you've never done it before, it's easy to end up with water all over yourself, and I find that funny.
posted by kjs4 at 8:19 PM on September 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

Breathe into a bag held tight over your mouth and nose. Keep on until you start to feel like you're not getting enough oxygen. (Of course, what you're really sensing is that you're getting too much carbon dioxide.) This has never failed to work for me, and it's so much simpler than most of the other methods people are describing. I'm surprised no one else has mentioned it. I thought breathing into a bag was one of the most well-known cures.
posted by Redstart at 8:20 PM on September 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

The one that has always worked for me: hold the base of your neck tightly, like you're strangling yourself. (Obviously, don't literally strangle yourself, but the pressure should be slightly uncomfortable.) Now drink nine swallows of water, forcing them down past the constricted spot.
posted by neroli at 8:21 PM on September 27, 2015

If stimulating the vagus nerve is the goal of most of the above methods, gagging might help. It's another way of doing that. Touching your uvula is free and portable, might be worth a try.

For me, swallowing a spoonful of dry sugar in one gulp usually does the trick. I don't use any water like phunnieme does, not sure if it makes any difference.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 8:43 PM on September 27, 2015

Seconding the first comment aout holding your breath. Take a deep breath first and go for it. I do this every single time I get the hiccups.

Sugar, peanut butter, lemon, honey? What is this tomfoolery? Just hold your breath.
posted by atinna at 8:51 PM on September 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

The only way holding my breath ever works for me is if I really concentrate on not letting my diaphragm move. Like I'm not only holding my breath, but also holding all of the muscles used to breath. I generally hold for ten seconds and then chug a whole bunch of water, also while keeping my diaphragm as still as possible. After gulping, I wait few seconds before releasing my breath. Sometimes this makes me a little dizzy, so you probably want to be sitting down.

I get horrible hiccups, probably once a week and I have never figured out why.
posted by MuChao at 9:14 PM on September 27, 2015

My nuclear option when nothing else works, make myself puke. Removes the offending beer/food as a bonus too.
posted by saradarlin at 9:19 PM on September 27, 2015

Yeah, forcing myself to vomit is the only way I've been able to get rid of hiccups when I get them real bad. It's gross and bad for you...but it works.
posted by turbid dahlia at 9:27 PM on September 27, 2015

I've described this to several people over the years, and one came back a few months later and said that it worked for her. Unfortunately it's the exact same as telling someone, "I wiggle my ears by flexing this muscle" and expecting them to be able to do it.

When I have the hiccups I sit or stand up straight, with good posture. I breathe in and expand my chest (not only with the air, but with the muscles as well) and send the message to my diaphragm muscle to chill out, to relax, to expand with me and be in sync with what I'm doing.

I have literally not hiccuped more than 2x in a row in over a decade now. Works like a charm for me.

... but like I said, it's like telling someone, "Oh, to wiggle your ears you just ... wiggle them."
posted by komara at 9:55 PM on September 27, 2015

I don't have time to read this whole thread to see if someone mentioned this, but I read somewhere that massaging the roof of your mouth can cure hiccups. (Something about stimulating the vagus nerve.)

I tried to find a link, but um, it turns out another cure is a rectal massage, and that made it hard to search for a source for the mouth massage trick. But anecdotally, I've used this before, and it's been very effective. Just be careful if you have a sensitive gag reflex.
posted by litera scripta manet at 9:57 PM on September 27, 2015

You probably don't have marshmallows, but eating 2 or 3 large marshmallows magically cures hiccups. Dunno why, but it works and it's delicious!
posted by jacquilynne at 10:01 PM on September 27, 2015

This one has worked 99% of the time. Tricky to explain though.

Works best standing. Get a glass of water. Bend over at the waist and put your mouth on the opposite side of the glass you would normally drink from. Like instead of your nose being in the glass, your chin is, and you're upside down. Then tilt the glass towards your neck to drink out of it. Had something to do with your control of your diaphragm to make the water not come back out your noise, stops the spasming that's causing the hiccups? I dunno, but works every time for me and 90% of people I show it to.

This absolutely works. My dad swore by it when I was growing up, and it has worked for me every time I've tried it.
posted by SpacemanStix at 10:14 PM on September 27, 2015

+1 to drinking from the opposite side of the glass while bending over. Feeling like you have water going up your nose is a good sign; it doesn't work for me if I quit before that point.
posted by salvia at 10:44 PM on September 27, 2015

Wow, nobody has my family cure for hiccups yet. Drink a capful of rice or white vinegar real fast. Should produce a burp and end your hiccups immediately. Too much acid is bad for you, so if it doesn't work the first time, don't repeat it. And by "capful" I mean no more than the cap on a 2-liter soda bottle in the US. Maybe a tablespoon's worth.
posted by blnkfrnk at 11:00 PM on September 27, 2015

Heartily second breathing into a paper bag. Nothing else works for me, & it's never failed me.
posted by peep at 11:41 PM on September 27, 2015

When I was small, my brother made me drink a glass of water through a folded washcloth to stop my hiccups. Even now, 50 something years later it always works, and now if I just imagine the taste of the washcloth the hiccups stop. So I think if something works for you, you may not actually have to have access to it, just imagine it!
posted by a humble nudibranch at 2:20 AM on September 28, 2015

I used to swallow a spoonful of peanut butter, worked every time

A long time ago I was pregnant and out hiking with a friend and his new girlfriend who was a nurse. She just NEVER stopped talking which gave me lots of energy to keep walking away from her as quickly as I could. I mean, she was telling me stories about her co-workers and her patients and her parents and her siblings; she was just filled with chatter.

As we were hiking, I started getting those really horrible hic-CUPS that almost seem like you're going to blow out your throat. They HURT. And it went on forever.

So I'm trying to hike away from Chatty Nurse and every few seconds I'm going hic-CUUUUP and it seemed like we were never going to make it back to the car without my throat or my ears exploding.

Chatty Nurse said, "Kinetic, take your tongue and press it against the roof of your mouth like you got peanut butter up there and every now and then try to scrape it off, but most importantly, hold your tongue against the roof of your mouth for at least a minute and your hiccups will go away."

So I'm thinking, "Great; now I'm hiccuping AND I can't talk; this is the worst day of my life."

I kept my tongue pressed up there and yeah, it took about a minute, but the hiccups went away. And whenever I tell a hiccuping person this secret, they're like, "OMG that actually works you are a super genius," but I really owe it all to Chatty Nurse who was probably a very nice person with a lot of nervous energy.
posted by kinetic at 2:32 AM on September 28, 2015 [4 favorites]

Our family's no-fail hiccup cure: Light a match. Blow it out & drop it in a glass of water. Drink the water.
posted by belladonna at 5:34 AM on September 28, 2015

The only thing that has ever worked for me is trying to force myself to hiccup in the moments when my diaphragm isn't spasming. Something about trying to do it myself shuts down the process.

I like to think of it as the diaphragm having a fit of pique. "Oh, my hiccups aren't good enough for you? FINE THEN I'M OUT"
posted by a fiendish thingy at 6:19 AM on September 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

This is 100% effective, but you need a friend to help you. Put your hands over your ears while you drink a glass of water your friend is holding to your lips. Or you can hold the glass and drink while your friend holds her or his hands over your ears. Again, absolutely 100% effective.
posted by Dolley at 6:25 AM on September 28, 2015

Echoing koroshiya from upthread in my hospital we sometimes give patients Reglan (metoclopramide) if they have hiccups for more than a couple days. It's normally for GERD/reflux/antinausea.

In extreme cases (which is not what you've described here) I've seen providers try muscle relaxants or even Thorazine, but that's sort of like using a bazooka to knock down a sand castle.
posted by Wretch729 at 7:37 AM on September 28, 2015

Response by poster: Wow, lots of good and/or interesting answers! ;^)

What turned out to work for me last night was drinking lots of water and patience. The worst thing about hiccups for me is that I don't get them very often, but when I do I get them something fierce. Last night they lasted about 90 minutes right when all I wanted to do was fall asleep. Eventually I curled up on the recliner and that seemed to help a little bit too. As suddenly and as mysteriously as the started, they just stopped.

I appreciate all of your help!
posted by surazal at 7:41 AM on September 28, 2015

axiom: "I used to be a bartender; our version of the vagus nerve trick was this:

One lemon wedge, heaped with sugar, and drizzled with bitters (angostura) so the sugar turns red. Bite into it and swallow immediately. It always works."

Ex-bartender here. This has been my go-to for many years. 99 percent of the time it works every time.
posted by Splunge at 8:32 AM on September 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

I'm glad that water and patience stopped your hiccups, suzaral.

Holding my breath has worked for me; so has a quick swallow of sugar.

Mary Roach, in her book Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, notes a lengthy case of the hiccups that was cured by sexytimes.

The person in question tried his friends' suggestions; pulled on his tongue; rubbed the roof of his mouth with a Q-Tip; even tried anti-flatulence OTC drugs.
On the fourth (!) day of his episode, the man had sex with his wife, hiccupping all the while. As soon as he ejaculated, the hiccups stopped. (Per Roach: "Unattached hiccuppers were advised that 'masturbation might be tried.' ")

Peleg, Roni, and Aya Peleg. "Case Report: Sexual Intercourse as Potential Treatment for Intractable Hiccups." Canadian Family Physician 46: 1631-1632 (2000).
posted by virago at 10:05 AM on September 28, 2015