Can Mumsnet readers please help me - i am desperate for a hiccup cure

[Squaretiles]

I get hicups regularly but they do tend toake me sick and extremely distressed. They come at the worse times and usually when it happens, it comes and goes in spells. There were a few weeks where I got hiccups about 2 or 3 days and they were on and off like spasms. They were awful. Googling hiccup cures didn't work. I was resorted to banging my chest with my first and strangling my neck in the hope they stop. My chest is often left sore then for for up to a week or two at a time because I am really hammering my chest to fuck to stop the hiccups.

Try breathing into a paper bag. As your carbon dioxide levels go up the hiccups will stop.

If breathing in to a paper bag or controlling your breathing doesn't work I'd consider seeing your GP. There's a couple of meds they may prescribe

I know this sounds stupid, but it works for me - stick your fingers in your ears and drink out of the wrong side of a glass. I have no idea why it's effective, but it is.

Have you asked your doctor?

I was reading up on gastrointestinal stuff yesterday (I’m having some issues) and one of the things I read were that hiccups CAN be a sign of GERD (gastro esophageal reflux disease). If that were the case for you, there might be a medication that would help.

I don't know how to stop getting them, but to get rid of them once you have a bout drink 20 quick sips of water

Drink from the other side of the cup. Get a cup of water and sit on a chair. Lean forwards with your head down and then drink from the wrong side of the cup. It always works for me.

This takes 2 people but has never failed me. Get someone to block your ears with their fingers. You then need to pinch your nostrils together so they are sealed shut. Then drink a pint of water. Someone told me this about 15 years ago and it's worked every time.

I find this works - breathe out slowly through pursed lips (as if gently blowing out a candle) but just as you think you’re running out of breath, keep going.

Medicine cup (the ones that come with cough medicines) of lemon juice knocked back shot style 🍋

The only thing that has ever worked for me is as follows. Breathe out and wait for your next hiccup. Then take a deep breath in through your mouth - not all the way - and hold it for a few seconds. Then without breathing out take a few short breaths in through your mouth until you can’t take any more, then slowly breathe out through your nose. Your hiccups should have stopped. If you hiccup at any point before you take the long breath out through your nose, you need to start again from the beginning.

OP if you’re getting hiccups regularly it could be a sign of a gastric problem - might be worth seeing your GP.

Sip of vinegar

Both remedies suggesting drinking water from the opposite side of a glass, and someone feeding you a glass of water with your fingers in your ears always cure my hiccups.

My most successful method is the yoga child posture. It stretches your diaphragm and calms you.

I read a recommendation on here which works with me. Breathe out as far as you can, expel every bit of breath you can. Then slowly fill your lungs again and with full lungs, swallow 7 times (or more if poss) in quick succession. Then breathe out.

But if it's frequent and violent, it can be symptomatic of something else and therefore, treatable. I'd see the GP as well.

Me too. I do it standing up and leaning over but I don't think it's ever not worked.

I find if i breathe in all the way then hold it for about 15 seconds it normally works.

You have to hold your breath very deeply though (if it is possible to hiccup while holding it, then it hasn't worked and you can try again with a deeper breath)

Put both arms straight up towards your head. Keep them there whilst holding your breath.

This works brilliantly also when something goes against your breath and your eyes stream and you cough, cough, cough. Instant relief.

Continually gulping water works for me - swallow several times with no breaks.

Agree about drinking from the opposite side of a cup - it generally works for me.

Get checked out though. There have been rare cases where persistent hiccups can be due to a brain tumour. I had a benign tumour and noticed I had lots of awful hiccups in the days before my diagnosis.

Sit down reasonably straight upright on a chair, and with your fingers locate your diaphragm - in the middle of your chest just where the bottom of your ribs meet. This is the bit of you that's going into spasm and causing the hiccups.

Now, slow your breathing down and concentrate on your diaphragm under your fingers, try to keep it relaxed. Make sure your concentration is completely on your diaphragm during this, don't try to talk, drink, eat or anything else. It will probably take a couple of mins to fully stop them, but this is the only thing that has ever worked for me.

Letting a teaspoon of sugar completely dissolve in your mouth works for me, as does drinking from the wrong side of the glass. I think it is just about completely concentrating on that task. I used to get hiccups a lot.

Have you tried bending double and drinking out of the opposite side of a glass of water? Has always worked for me and those I've given the tip to.

Mint tea works for me

I tell everyone this because it works every time and it's so simple- half a mug of water warmed through in the microwave, not boiling and just drink it. You don't need to hold your breath or gulp it down, just at a normal pace

Have someone put their hands over your ears and drink a glass of water (just drink normally, doesn't have to be upside down or from wrong side of glass, but your ears need to be covered ).