Do you get hiccups often? How do you stop it?

India
November 19, 2009 3:44am CST
From my childhood, I get hiccups quiet often. I drink water and swallow fast. I stop my breath for a second at the time of getting the hiccup. I take sugar. But it will not stop. I suffer for a while then auomatically it stops. People say if somebody frightens us, it will stop. What do you say? Do you also get hiccups? How do you stop it?
6 people like this
36 responses
• Philippines
19 Nov 09
I do get hiccups once in a while, what I do is I just hold my breath count to 15 and then swallow.. If that doesn't work then I'll drink lots and lots of water. hehehe. and If that still doesn't work, I just recently found out that laughter can make it go away. hehehehe. cause once I was getting hiccups while I'm at the office, and my teammate made some jokes, I laughed at it, then after that the hiccup was gone. this happened twice, so I concluded that laughing is a cure for hiccups. hehhehe.
• India
19 Nov 09
What a great invention friend, this will really help people like me. But somebody should say some joke immediately.
1 person likes this
@Maggiepie (7816)
• United States
20 Nov 09
[b]That's interesting, because sometimes laughter gives me hiccups! Maggiepie WHERE ARE any OF OBAMA'S RECORDS?!?[/b]
1 person likes this
• Philippines
22 Nov 09
so maybe it can give you hiccups, and it can take it away. LOL. laughter is that powerful. hahahaha. Anyway, what causes hiccups anyway?
2 people like this
@ybong007 (6643)
• Philippines
19 Nov 09
I seldom get hiccups nowadays but i recall getting one when i was working then as a call center agent. I can hear the other person I'm talking with laughing on the other line, I was so embarrassed but it's against company policy to hang up the phone on a caller so I have to push the pause button every time i hiccup LOL. I still can't help but laugh on that experience up to now. According to some, a hiccup is a sign from your body that there's something wrong with it, it just like an alarm so you have to do things to distract your thought so it will go away. Getting surprised is one way to get rid of it which often works with my kids. Cheers!
2 people like this
• India
19 Nov 09
Your experience makes me laugh. But I am sure that at that time it would have been embarassing for you. So getting surprised is one way of getting rid of hiccups is it? I did not know. Thanks for mentioning it.
1 person likes this
@Maggiepie (7816)
• United States
20 Nov 09
[b]Yes, this is a common remedy. A friend will sneak up behind you, then quickly poke you in the ribs & say, "BOO!" It often works, because the surprise sends a shock of adrenaline through you! But for a particularly stubborn case, try my 5 second cure (detailed elsewhere here). Maggiepie WHERE ARE any OF OBAMA'S RECORDS?!?[/b]
1 person likes this
• India
25 Nov 09
Thanks friend Maggipie for the words. Are you joking about Obama's records? Ha Ha Ha
1 person likes this
• China
20 Nov 09
I seldom get hiccips ,this phenomenon has it's specific case of environmental.It is said that hiccups happen when eat meal too fast,too hot.Under normal circumstances,it takes a few minutes to quell.There are some self-treatment of small recipe,you can try.For example,eats a spoonful sugar dryly,stoops to drink water,chewing and swallowing dry bread.
2 people like this
• India
25 Nov 09
This chewing and swallowing dry bread is new to me. May be I should try once. Thanks for the information.
@Sreekala (34314)
• India
19 Nov 09
Hi Buchi, You know this hiccups is considering as a sign of physical growth. I don’t know whether it is a myth or truth. If this happens to a small baby then elder people is asking to allow the baby to place down and giving water to drink. I think may be some scientific reasons behind it, if the baby lie down then the hiccups may stop soon it would be the fact. I heard this belief in our state only. It won’t happen with me very often. If it happens I usually drink water even if we didn’t drink water it may stop after some time.
2 people like this
• India
19 Nov 09
True, small children get hiccups very often. My granny was telling it is a sign of growing up, that the food path is growing. Though hiccup goes on it's own, till it stops, it is such a headache.
@Maggiepie (7816)
• United States
20 Nov 09
[b]Oh, yes! I get them often! And I have found a sure-fire cure! I keep it in mind always, as my hiccups are so violent & noisy, I have to stop them as soon as I possibly can! I got this remedy many decades ago, by the way, from one of those "free" government pamphlets printed in Pueblo, Colorado. It was about cures for everyday problems, & when I saw the one on hiccups, I seized upon it, desperate for a cure, & to my great surprise, it worked instantly! It helps to first know what hiccups are, the better to understand how & why it works. Your diaphragm is spasming. There's a small flap of tissue that will close over the epiglottis to block out anything that shouldn't go into your windpipe. It stays put, most of the time, but a glitch in your system (caused by several different thing, from swallowing too much air to just being stressed)can set it into unwarranted action. It flops over the pipe, in repeated spasms. The "hic" is the sound of it closing, & the "cup" is the sound of it opening. What you have to do is interrupt those spasms. It's an electrically-based spasm, given the nature of your brain, so any little shock will make it cease immediately. But rather than sticking your finger in the neareest wall socket--a tad drastic-- try a chemical shock. The pamphlet recommended a spoon of straight sugar, or a sip of vinegar. Eew. Neither appealed to me, but then I had an idea. I love the taste of "kosher" dill pickle juice. It's tasty, AND, it also has sugar & vinegar in it! So I tried it at the very next opportunity, & no more than 2 tiny sips later--my hiccups were history! Yaaay! I keep a jar of that stuff chilled in my fridge at all times. Goes great in some salads, too! Maggiepie WHERE ARE any OF OBAMA'S RECORDS?!?[/b]
• India
27 Nov 09
Very kind of you Maggiepie to have written once again such a detailed response. I will find out whether any such pickle type is available in market. Otherwise, as you said, I will try vinegar or sugar. Have a nice day. I am marking your response as Best.
1 person likes this
• India
26 Nov 09
That is really informative Maggiepie. I never knew of it before. As you have found out pickle juice, I must find out something to get that effect on hiccups. Thanks a lot for writing this in detail response.
1 person likes this
@Maggiepie (7816)
• United States
26 Nov 09
[b]Well, regular dill pickle juice, or the liquid from bread & butter pickles would do, but I just happen to like "kosher" dill pickles. Very tasty! The key ingredients, remember, are sugar and/or vinegar. "Kosher," by the way, just means that a food is "acceptable" for one's diet if one is Jewish( (I'm not), & has been blessed by a rabbi. In the case of the pickles, however, it has become associated with a spicy, semi-sweet brine in which cucumbers have been soaked. I'm sure anyone could find a recipe online. But you needn't eat pickle juice. I just need a sip or 2 of the juice, & my hiccups are gone! You need to find some kind of fluid you would enjoy drinking that has a hefty amount of the vinegar OR sugar (or both) in it. If you don't enjoy anything like that, a spoonful of sugar or a sip or 2 of straight vinegar would work...they'd just be less palatable. And you're welcome! I'm always happy to share that cure. By the way, I found in that same little pamphlet a cure for SMOKING as well as a way to kill plant-destroying aphids--both of which cures worked just as well as the hiccup cure! Anyone who asks, I'll happily share that info, too! Maggiepie STALKERS WILL BE EATEN ^..^
1 person likes this
@mymelodake (1338)
• Philippines
19 Nov 09
I use the water method. I hold my breath and down a glass of water without stopping to take breaths. It usually works for me. I don't get hiccups often though. I'm not sure about all those other methods like scaring, or breathing into a paper bag as what a friend of mine used to do. I personally find those methods funny.
1 person likes this
• India
20 Nov 09
Hai, here you are giving another method of stopping the hiccups. Breathing into a paper bag is the new suggestion I ever received from any one. Even my granny did not tell this to me.
• India
25 Nov 09
Nothing to beat water treatment is it not?
• Philippines
5 Dec 09
I don't really know, there may be a better method that I'm not aware of, but in my case, the water treatment is the tried and tested method!
1 person likes this
@stephcjh (38473)
• United States
19 Nov 09
I get hiccups every now and then but not very often. I usually try to hold my breath for a while to make them go away. It works sometimes but not all of the time. I have heard that scaring someone would stop their hiccups too but I have never seen it work.
1 person likes this
• India
19 Nov 09
Even in India they say that frightening will stop hiccup. I too never tried.
• India
20 Nov 09
Now-a-days children are very smart Sir, we cannot cheat them so easily. Thanks for the response.
@Baluyadav (3643)
• India
19 Nov 09
Hi,stephcjh,as Buchi,said,it is a popular remedy in India and it is practically gives good results . I am not going deep to the scientific reasons as i am not qualify for tha,but i played that trick few times on my daughter[suddenly asking that why you have broken this?.like stunning questions..]and successfully get relieved her from hiccups.But the Joke was ,when i want to play the same trick when she attained 13 years also,she herself declared..that "sorry dad,you are trying to do this because to stop the hiccup,i know it". In many villages and where old generation living with their grandchildren..they might have known this now a days. Have a nice day.
1 person likes this
@jpso138 (7851)
• Philippines
22 Nov 11
I rarely experience hiccups now as compare dot when I was still young. I have read somewhere that hiccups are some sort of modified respiration due to some spasm in the diaphragm. This will usually create some problems with the body's gas. Then hiccups occur. Well one way perhaps is to hold your breath since this will basically re adjust your breathing and retain some carbon dioxide. Some people say that drinking water also helps. Well, I guess its just the same as holding your breath. Its not the drinking that stops the hiccup but rather the effect on drinking. If you consider, the moment you drink the water, you also hold your breath. So in a way, its just the same as holding your breath. Some people also say to stop a hiccup is to give the guy a good scare. Again, when you are scared, you tend to hold your breath thus I would say, holding your breath would be the best solution.
1 person likes this
• India
16 Jan 12
Hai, your explanation is too good. I never thought of these lines till now. Thanks for the posting, which provoked my thought process.
@jpso138 (7851)
• Philippines
23 Mar 10
I do have my share of hiccups but its not very common. There were instances that I did have hiccups. Well, hiccup is a modified form of respiration that is usually done by your system to control and balance the system of gas. When there is to much oxygen in your blood, the body will tend to create a hiccup so a to interrupt the breathing and lower down the oxygen. A great way to stop hiccup is to hold the breath. Considering that as you hold your breath the oxygen is lowered. Drinking water can also help considering that as you drink, you also hold the breath. Well, when someone frightens you then you also hold your breathing is also interrupted and obviously the oxygen is lowered. Among the choices, I think holding the breathing for a few seconds would be the best option to stop hiccups.
1 person likes this
• India
10 Jul 10
Yes I hold my breath for a little while and it stops coming.
@walijo2008 (4644)
• United States
21 Nov 09
If I get hiccups I usually take 7 small sips of water, why 7, I don't know but it works for me. I've tried the scare thing and it doesn't work, but the small sips of water do.
1 person likes this
• India
26 Nov 09
This is interesting. I will also try 7 sips of water. Thanks.
@May2k8 (17979)
• Indonesia
22 Nov 09
hiccups may occur when we eat and drink while we were talking, usually to treat it I just need to drink several glasses of water so the rest of ingested food that is soluble.
1 person likes this
• India
26 Nov 09
This water treatment is the best of all I think. Thanks for the suggestion.
• United States
20 Nov 09
No I don't get them often. And if I did get them I drink water to try to get rid of them. Or hold my breath for a few seconds to try and get rid of them. Someone scaring me never worked to get rid of them. Some people go through the hiccups more then others do.
1 person likes this
• India
26 Nov 09
That is true. I get quite often than others. Once it starts, it never goes so easily.
• United States
27 Nov 09
I wouldn't like getting hiccups like that. I bet they hurt after a while. Or it would tend to bother me after so long of having them. I get the hiccups every now and then but not often and they never stay long. Its only mainly after dinner or I get full from eating something then they go away.
1 person likes this
• Malaysia
19 Nov 09
I would usually drink some water, but I always believe that it always works if somebody scares you or tell you about something that will surprise you. I have experienced it before when I was younger. I got a hiccup and someone told me that my grandaunt saw me 'stole' a ring from the closet or something. I was so surprised *of course I didn't steal anything* but the hiccup was instantly stopped. It happened to my nephew recently as well. He was having hiccups and I signaled my mom to tell him something that would frighten him. It stopped immediately. Actually, it has happened many times, but I only shared a couple of them.
1 person likes this
• India
19 Nov 09
I know frightening will stop the hiccups. Some friends here have responded that even giving surprise and laugh also stops the hiccups. We should try that.
• India
20 Nov 09
Ha Ha Ha my hiccup stopped by you now.
• Malaysia
19 Nov 09
Err... yeah, I did mention about giving surprise (??) Anyway, if next time it happens, I will get myself to listen to funny stories or something humorous and see how fast the hiccup will stop.
1 person likes this
• India
18 Nov 12
Swarnaji Yes right if some one frightens you it stops , all that is needed is to divert the attention,a sudden jerk on the neck helps, eating sugar or dry molasses without sugar helps. I had hiccups non-stop , for 4 days, reasons could not be known, but as per advise , i licked a mixture of honey with ash of burnt peacock feather helped, it has not recurred since 8 years, try if you have next time
1 person likes this
• India
24 Dec 12
This is a new technique. Will try next time. Thanks Sir. Happy New Year to you and Madam Kalyani.
@smilyn (2967)
• United States
20 Nov 09
You are right..The solution for stopping the hiccup varies. I usually hold my breath to stop the hiccup. Here are few tips fro wikihow.com that can help you: Holding your breath Take a deep breath. Hold for as long as you can. Exhale slowly. Open your mouth Open your mouth and keep it open for a couple of minutes. If you feel the need to swallow, do so, but try to keep your lips apart when you do. Water Method Fill a glass full with water. Drink all the water without stopping. Hold your breath and close your nose with your fingers. Gulp Make sure you are not wearing anything tight around your chest. If you are, loosen it. Keep gulping every few seconds, especially when you feel a hiccup might be coming. A couple of hiccups might escape, but with continuous gulping, hiccups should definitely be gone within 3 minutes. Looking at an object Divert your attention towards any object. Keep concentrating on the object. While concentrating, think hiccups are okay. Hiccups are not harmful. They can be overcome. The Drinking Method Get a 12 ounce glass of water Plug your ears with your fingers Plug your nose with other fingers at the same time Now pick up the glass with the remaining fingers Drink as much as you can as fast as you can Repeat the steps, if necessary. The 30 Seconds Cure Start by inhaling through your mouth until your lungs feel full (when it feels like you cannot inhale any more). For overall best results, try to do this as quickly as you can. Try to not let any air out before you have completed the steps below. Swallow. You are not really swallowing anything but it seems that without this act, it doesn’t work. Now inhale some more. You don’t need to inhale a lot, but do get some more air in. It will start to get difficult to do this as you go, but keep trying. You obviously can’t suck in as much air as you did initially, but just a little will do (think of it as taking a “sip” of air). Swallow again. This too will become more difficult as you go. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you cannot swallow again. While it seems you can almost always suck in just a little more air, it is the swallowing that gets to be impossible. When you feel like you cannot swallow again, swallow again anyway. It will be hard to do, your face will probably turn red, and you may make squeaking sounds. But you can swallow one last time. By this time, your lungs should also be quite full and it should be difficult to get much more air in as well. While you should try not to let any air out, if you have really repeated steps 3 and 4 as many times as you can, you probably will end up letting a little out before you can take that last swallow. If you find that air keeps escaping out of your nose even early in the process, try squeezing it shut with your fingers. Exhale. Hope this helps you.
1 person likes this
• India
26 Nov 09
Thank you so much for the elaborate response giving all the details of stopping hiccups. You have taken pains to go through the net and have written answers here. This will help many people I am sure. I will follow the methods prescribed by you. Thanks once again. smilyn.
1 person likes this
@dloveli (4366)
• United States
20 Nov 09
If you get the hiccups, try taking a few deep breaths. If that doesnt work, try drinking a glass of water and drink it down. I am sure this will help. Dont try any thing that involves taking deep breathes and having someone squeeze you. This can kill you. As hiccups are irritating they wont kill you. Its the remedies that people try that will. If you try taking a few deep breaths then guzzle a big glass of water this should relax the esophagus and allow the door that opens and closes to your stomach to relax as well. Good Luck dl
1 person likes this
• India
26 Nov 09
Thanks for the suggestions dloveli. I will do that.
@cream97 (29087)
• United States
20 Nov 09
Hi, B,b. I just try to drink some water to see if that will help. Try that and wait for five minutes to see if that will do you some good.
1 person likes this
• India
26 Nov 09
Thanks cream97 for the suggestion. I will try that.
@blablablu (221)
• Indonesia
20 Nov 09
Drink a water should do it fine. Hiccup actually is a spasm on your diaphragm. About somebody frightens us, it actually related to your neural system that affect your diaphragm. I often get hiccup when I'm eating too fast, or put too much food at once on my mouth. I stop my hiccup by drinking water or altering my breath pattern. I have a friend that have a hiccup disease, can't stop hiccup-ing for 3 days. He had to drink some medicine gave by a doctor to stop that.
1 person likes this
• India
25 Nov 09
My God, hiccups for three days is horrible. We must bear with that nuisance for three days. Fortunately for me it lasts for about half-an-hour to one hour. That itself is too much for me.
• Mexico
20 Nov 09
Personally i dont have hiccups really often, but i have to say... i love it. The sensation is incredible, you know, the little jumps and the surprise that it gaves to you, you never now when a hiccup is coming. :) Cheers
1 person likes this
@Maggiepie (7816)
• United States
20 Nov 09
[b]Well! Your take on hiccups is unique in my experience! I would never have thought of hiccups as an interesting, maybe even pleasant thing. You are interesting! Maggiepie WHERE ARE any OF OBAMA'S RECORDS?!?[/b]
1 person likes this
@sunnycool (12714)
• India
20 Nov 09
I think the best way to stop hiccups is to give an solid shot on their face or on their tummy so their attention would be towards the pain nd u dont find those hiccups.if u keep on getting more continuously then it said that u may deelop some problem with ur heart so dont ignore it nd try to stop it.if u can provide me ur address i dont mine kicking ur a** to ur hiccups LOL.gud day.
1 person likes this
• India
25 Nov 09
This shock treatment is horrible.