ok, i started getting the hiccups last night, and i still have them today. its starting to hurt my chest ive done it so many times now. anyone have any cures that actually work and arent just completely bogus?
Posted by Papa Moose (Member # 1992) on :
BOO!
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
I can get rid of hiccups every single time by straining very hard to expel as much air from my lungs as is humanly possible. Just once or twice does it.
Sometimes other people are lucky and have similar cures that work for them but it's so widely variable that I don't think there's any way to tell what it might be, or if you got a cure at all.
Posted by Papa Moose (Member # 1992) on :
I was about to follow up with a very similar suggestion -- basically holding your un-breath with no air in your lungs, waiting as long as possible before inhaling again. Don't remember where I heard it, but it seems to work for me.
Posted by rollainm (Member # 8318) on :
Try holding your breath while slowly drinking an entire glass of water.
Posted by The White Whale (Member # 6594) on :
Take a drink of water, but before you swallow, look up as high as you can, so swallowing is difficult. I don't know why it works, but I imagine it makes whatever muscle(s) that cause hiccups to revert back to their normal state.
I learned this 13 years ago, and have not had problems with hiccups again (as long as I had something to drink )
Posted by DDDaysh (Member # 9499) on :
The only thing that every really works (consistantly) for me is a good scare. Unfortunately, it's very difficult to contrive those. Usually I manage to get rid of them by relaxing laying down and doing deep breaths, paying attention to the muscles in my esophagus (spelling???) and diaphram. Then I concentrate on relaxing them. It usually works, but it is never all that quick.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
Have someone put their hands over your ears while you drink a whole glass of water without taking a breath. The pressure differential will fix you.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Throw back a shot glass (or medicine cup) of sugar. Try not to swallow it, but just to throw it back in your throat.
You'll choke a bit and it will stop the hiccups.
My dad used to do that to us when we were little. He said he learned it in med school.
It does work. Unpleasant, but works.
Posted by GodSpoken (Member # 9358) on :
A teaspoon or two of plain granulated sugar on the tongue. No liquid until it is gone.
Works every time for me and mine.
Posted by SteveRogers (Member # 7130) on :
Drinking backwards out of the wrong side of a glass seems to work for me. But it's more likely than not just a placebo of some sort. But it works.
Posted by CaySedai (Member # 6459) on :
We drink the glass of water through a paper towel or a straw squeezed nearly shut. My theory is that it makes you work harder to get the water, and makes it that the diaphragm can't keep spasming.
I've also had success with outlandish statements designed to make the listener laugh. I've cured Cayla's hiccups by saying, "I'm pregnant. Your dad's pregnant. Grandma's pregnant. Buster (our male cat) is pregnant." She starts laughing hilariously and the hiccups usually stop.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Sadly that never works for me. Then I'm laughing hysterically and hiccuping at the same time. Very uncomfortable!
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Two bartender's tricks:
One. Take a good-sized slice of lemon and douse it in Worcestershire sauce. Bite into the lemon, eating the entire thing.
Two. Same as above, but with a slice of lime doused with bitters.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
I have a long and drawn out history of hiccups that last for days at a time, and I've tried every "remedy" out there. I've never found one that worked.
Good luck.
Posted by sarcasticmuppet (Member # 5035) on :
quote:Originally posted by CaySedai: I've also had success with outlandish statements designed to make the listener laugh. I've cured Cayla's hiccups by saying, "I'm pregnant. Your dad's pregnant. Grandma's pregnant. Buster (our male cat) is pregnant." She starts laughing hilariously and the hiccups usually stop.
Usually my hiccups start *because* of out-of-control laughter.
Mine usually go away on their own fairly quickly, but a spoonful of peanut butter tends to help.
Posted by DSH (Member # 741) on :
I got a spoonful of honey to work for me once (out of one attempt)
I usually just hold my breath and that seems to work. Resorting to honey was for an unusually tenacious fit of hiccups.
Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
quote:Originally posted by GodSpoken: A teaspoon or two of plain granulated sugar on the tongue. No liquid until it is gone.
Works every time for me and mine.
I'll ditto this. Kind of disgusting to ingest pure sugar, but it works every time for me. I've had some serious hiccup issues in my life, too.
Haven't done it in years, though, because sugar is not my friend!
Posted by imogen (Member # 5485) on :
I do similar to Papa Moose's technique, but I breathe in deeply and hold it, pressing down with my diaphragm as I do so.
If I hold it for 90 seconds or so, it usually stops the hiccups. As I hold it, I can usually feel the spasm starting, and the trick is to press those muscles down so the hiccup can't hic.
If that doesn't work, the ears blocked water trick (as Lisa set out) usually works - but make sure whoever is doing it blocks your ears properly, so the pressure works.
Posted by brojack17 (Member # 9189) on :
A spoon full of peanutbutter.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
Exposure to gamma radiation.
Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
A good sock in the gut.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
Redivert the tachyon pulse generators.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
Never failed for me, I learned it at the restaurant I work at: Lemon slice covered in sugar, suck on it for a few minutes. I've told it to countless people who all swear by it.
Also, if you try that tachyon pulse generator thing, you'll want to be careful. If you overload the impulse manifold drive, you'll find yourself in a world of hurt, and the hiccups will be the least of your problems when you find you can't even form a stable warp field.
Posted by maui babe (Member # 1894) on :
I tickle the roof of my mouth (as far back as I can reach without triggering the gag reflex) with a cotton swab.
Posted by porcelain girl (Member # 1080) on :
That sounds really dangerous if you are still hiccoughing when the cotton swab is back there!
Posted by krynn (Member # 524) on :
ok, so most of these sound like pretty good remedies, but i forgot to mention one little thing. I'm a diabetic. so yeah, the teaspoon of sugar, or the lemon/lime, or the honey - all cant really apply. i am glad to say that my hiccups are gone, but it is very interesting to hear all these crazy cures. the only one ive heard before in here were the scaring tactic, and drinking water upside-down/backwards technique. the rest are all pretty funny. thanks everyone.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lisa: Have someone put their hands over your ears while you drink a whole glass of water without taking a breath. The pressure differential will fix you.
My mother-in-law does this by putting her own fingers in her ears and drinking the glass of water through a straw. I haven't had the chance to try it since she told me.
Posted by dantesparadigm (Member # 8756) on :
After reading this thread I realized that I honestly cannot recall the last time I had the hiccoughs. I'm talking literally years. Is that normal?
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
Freak.
Posted by TL (Member # 8124) on :
Breathe in, slowly, counting to eight. Hold the breath for eight seconds. Exhale, slowly, counting to eight. Hold for eight seconds. Breathe in, slowly, counting to eight...
Repeat this pattern three or four times. Guaranteed.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
)
![[Dont Know]](graemlins/dontknow.gif)