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Chronic Giant Loud Hiccups

Hello, I am 29 and I have had this problem for about 5 years now, and so far doctors do not know what it is or what is causing it. I have giant (very loud) hiccups, maybe about 25-50 times a day. Usually it will be one very big one, then a burp right after. It's not normal hiccups where they happen one after another, it will be like one every hour for example. They are very loud- I scare people sometimes and the entire floor of my office can hear them. Some people will describe it sounding like a screeching dinosaur or a squeaky hole-puncher. When it happens, my entire chest blows up as if I someone is startling me. I have taken an acid reflux medicine and even a muscle relaxer and still nothing seems to work. I think if this happens long term, my esophagus may get damaged after so many years. I have had a CT-Scan and nothing was found. I dont know what else to do, I just hope that whatever this is does not have any long term damage on my body. Does anyone know what this can be or can help me stop doing this? I have also tried eating stuff that gives less gas and it helps a little (I do it less) but it still happens.
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Avatar universal
my mother had these loud hiccups which often hurt her she used to get heartburn too and used to get a mixture made up from the chemist mix mag tristol (magnesium trisilicate I believe), she did much later in life develop a hiatus hernia, I also developed loud hiccups in my 30s rarely hurt me, both my daughters have developed these hiccups too in their teens (louder than mine), my younger daughter is particularly very loud (we liken these hiccups to a peacock!!), what I was wondering was if there is any relation to Joint Hypermobility Syndrome (which my youngest has been diagnosed with, suffers a lot of pain, dislocations of joints, knees popping out & locking, lack of concentration, tired etc etc), my older daughter also has some of the pains & is somewhat hypermobile - not diagnosed as JHS though, I also am hypermobile in my hands, wrists (no pain), I have tried to film my daughter doing these hiccups but as they are random it is hard to do - I did finally get a couple of clips I mean to show the Dr one day (been to Dr with enough problems regarding her), she seems to get them more when hungry, has all the problems at school of people laughing at her, she frightened a new teacher so much she dropped all the paperwork she was carrying and whenever they show people round school they are very wary to get away from her before she hiccups & frightens the visitors
Helpful - 1
3 Comments
Hello, my daughter also has these same issues and has some extreme flexibility.  Did you happen to find a connection?
What?! I'm hypermobile and these blasted single hiccups are so copious... I get them a lot. Did you find a connection?!
Omg I was looking for the answer to the hiccup and found this. I have a connective tissue disorder and the single hiccup burps also
Avatar universal
so glad i am not alone.  i to scare people and i get called animal farm or a pterodactyl (dinasour) ive actually given up going to the doctor as having the camera down my throat was so traumatic.  i scare people in the street and i do laugh at it but its a pain in the ****!  
I am going on for 5 years now and they tell me acid reflux but i not sure, has anyone actually had a diagnosis?
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1 Comments
Does anyone have upper stomach gnawing pain and  with the random single hiccups?
Avatar universal
I've always found my hiccups hilarious. I've never been embarrassed by them. Sometimes I will hiccup in the middle of class and my professors will just bust out laughing and the whole class gets a kick out of my crazy squeal. After 9 years of these hiccups, they have just become a part of me. Although they can be painful and recently have been paired with acid re flux that keeps me up at night. ALSO MY HUSBAND  HAS STARTED TO HICCUP SUPER OFTEN AS WELL!! We laughed about it but now i'm like WTF is this like contagious?! Anyone else??
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20658997 tn?1503024822
WOW!! I can't BELIEVE I'm Not alone in this!! My sister and I have this too!! OMG...well, she's 37 and I'm 47. We've both been hiccupping like yes...a car running over a cat AND a mouse, or a Dying LOUD Screeching DINOSAUR, etc, for most of our adult lives..they couldn't be any louder or more embarrassing. I Googled it..my sister thinks its a hiatal hernia..i don't know..if I have to be treated for one more thing, i'm gonna lose my damn mind..I need to know if it's actually serious..like is it doing any long term PAINFUL damage...anybody find out yet??
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1 Comments
I have had this for about six years and I didn’t go to the doctors as I felt silly but after my colleagues and friends bagged me to go I went as it is not only annoying but embarrassing as I often sound like a dinosaur or some type of animal and they also hurt like hell. Endoscopy revealed I had a hiatus hernia and gastritis of the stomach hence the acid reflux. Get it seen too! I wish I had sooner.
Avatar universal
Yeah,.. I sound like a seagull !! I've had this for the past 6 years (I'm 24) - thought it was caused by anxiety or nerves but no answers yet. The only time it does not happen is when I'm sleeping.
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Avatar universal
Hey, i'm 18, and have the same problem only mine are a lot rarer. My mam has them too and so does my cousin. It seems to me to relate to genetics. Most members of my family have hypermobile joint syndrome, a condition where your joints and ligaments are too stretchy and have too much give, it is thought to be due to a fault in a persons collagen production and affects muscles too, in some cases people complain of pain after excersicing. I believe that as the diaphragm is a muscle, will have ligaments and needs collagen to work effectively, the really loud and painful hiccups could be a symptom of hypermobile joint syndrome. There are many other symptoms too (pain in joints, clicking joints, being 'double jointed' etc.) and theres quite a bit of information on the internet where you can see if you have any of the other symptoms.

Really hate it when i get one of the hiccups in college as i always get people saying 'omg what was that?' 'i'm sure you can control it' and laughing, as if it isn't embarrassing enough! But stay strong, don't let the hiccup haters get you down!
Helpful - 0
1 Comments
I thought I was the only one too. I've been casually checking the net for years waiting to hear some answers. You get asked about it so often. And you drift in and out of interest but now I’m getting a bit more curious than usual. It’s nice to see how far people have taken it. CTC’s and MRI’s etc. It’s a shame they didn’t yield more results though. Anyway, there have been some common threads to this so I’ll throw my story into the mix.

I am 30 and I’ve been having the loud single hiccup for 15 years. Originally it happened about once an hour, but for the last 5 years it’s been on average about every 20 minutes (about 50 times a day).

I’ve always been active. I work physically and have never thought about that as having an effect on their regularity. I do notice it more on holidays, but I suspect that’s just because I have more time to think about it. It only hurts occasionally, but it’s almost always loud. I get little or no warning when they’re going to happen. As far as I can tell, nothing seems to have an effect on their regularity much, except it’s usually a sure thing after eating. But if you’re as hungry as me, most of your life is after eating.

A friend once had a theory it was because I ate too fast. I fasted for 2 days and they still continued.

I have not had the continuous hiccups since the single hiccup started. Although when I used to get the continuous hiccups, I do remember them being quite funny because of how loud and intense they were.

It doesn’t happen when I sleep or when I’m nervous (ie/ playing sport  or a gig or something). I always thought that was strange and convenient.

The most common explanation I’ve found is the acid reflux one. I don’t think that’s me because I have never had heart burn, reflux or indigestion really. My mum, who’s had some experience with medicine has always suspected it’s maybe a hiatus hernia. I’d like to have a look further down that path because my uncle once had one and I believe in mothers intuition a little bit.

I hope someone gets to the bottom of it. If you’re embarrassed about it, try to get over it because you might have it for the rest of your life. And it’s really funny sometimes. Especially when it sounds like someone just stepped on the toe of a Maltese Shitsu.
Avatar universal
Wow! I have had a form of persistent hiccups for nearly 8 years now, and I am only 25, way too young to be having this long lasting of a problem. When they first started I would have between 2-6 individual hiccups and this would happen between 20-80 times per a day (so on any given day I had 40-480 hiccups in a single day!) After a year of these hiccups, my doctors did some research, put me on an anti-depressant which could also be prescribed for persistant hiccps, however that only cut about 10% of the hiccups and I had gained 15lbs in a month, so I stopped taking that and my doctor had no other solutions, since my consumption and physical habits are unlike any of those mentioned within this forum. Over the years the hiccups have slowed down to only about 2-10 hiccups per a day, with a handful of around five-minute episodes throughout each week. Should anyone ever come up with a solution, or learn any additional information that I might benefit from, I would be very interested in hearing from you! Email me at ***@****.  Thanks!
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Avatar universal
I am17 and I have had these really loud hiccups for about 2 years now, I only get on average three a day but they do hurt my upper chest afterwards as they are forceful, friends constantly ask if I am ok as it sounds like I am gasping for air and really struggling to breath, this isn't the case but they seem to think its a pretty serious uncommon thing. Don't know if they are related but I also get a really sharp pain in the heart area when I take deep breath sometimes and so I have to take really short breaths to avoid the pain. If any one has any information I would really appreciate it. Thanks in advance.
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Avatar universal
Searching google for something about this new thing I've been having. Single, loud hiccup followed by a burp or not. Same history of everybody else. Hope we can bump this question up and get some direction. Things I notice from my experience:
Seems like it only happens with full belly, either with food or water. I drink a lot of water and maybe that's it.
Another thing is that I went from being active to become a lot more sedentary. Working on the computer and getting a bit chubby.
The other thing I'm taking into consideration is that I might have been using my elbows to sustain my upperbody thus inclining towards the keyboard, pressing my stomach, might have something to do. Hope we can have an update on this.
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Avatar universal
Try turmeric supplements for for loud random hiccups.
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Avatar universal
So I came on one these pages not very long ago looking for an answer, because....who goes to the doctor for hiccups? Well, I did. They think it is acid reflux. I didn't think that I had acid reflux, but when I got home I started realizing that all the things I had told the doctor I didn't do or have symptoms of...I actually did. I started eating foods that weren't acidic...which is like every food under the sun pretty much and it seemed to help a little. Then I went to someone's house and ate what they served and the next day I was worse than ever. I have the huge hiccups too. People must think I'm being ridiculous because they are so over the top. At the same time that I was trying to eat non acidic foods I also inclined my bed. I think my chiropractor told me to do that. In the beginning I would slouch down to the bottom of the bed to lay flat haha so it wasn't helping. I am eating what I want again and my hiccups are MUCH better. I have been house sitting for the past four days- sleeping in another bed (not inclined) and although it was a thousand times more comfortable, I have been hiccupping SOOOOOO bad! Try it. It has helped me. I almost forgot how bad I hated the stupid hiccups. Today has been the pits. I hope this helps someone. I paid $191.00 at the doctor for this tidbit of info.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
So I came on one these pages not very long ago looking for an answer, because....who goes to the doctor for hiccups? Well, I did. They think it is acid reflux. I didn't think that I had acid reflux, but when I got home I started realizing that all the things I had told the doctor I didn't do or have symptoms of...I actually did. I started eating foods that weren't acidic...which is like every food under the sun pretty much and it seemed to help a little. Then I went to someone's house and ate what they served and the next day I was worse than ever. I have the huge hiccups too. People must think I'm being ridiculous because they are so over the top. At the same time that I was trying to eat non acidic foods I also inclined my bed. I think my chiropractor told me to do that. In the beginning I would slouch down to the bottom of the bed to lay flat haha so it wasn't helping. I am eating what I want again and my hiccups are MUCH better. I have been house sitting for the past four days- sleeping in another bed (not inclined) and although it was a thousand times more comfortable, I have been hiccupping SOOOOOO bad! Try it. It has helped me. I almost forgot how bad I hated the stupid hiccups. Today has been the pits. I hope this helps someone. I paid $191.00 at the doctor for this tidbit of info.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
FYI I am not a doctor

My theory is the hiccup is so forceful that air is forced out the mouth and into the stomach. That is where the belch can comes from. I honk it is so forceful be wuss the diaphragm and lungs are the exact opposite parts of the rhythm.
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Avatar universal
I am 35 and have had this for about 15-20 years. I don't get the prolonged pain some have explained.   I can get the belch and notice if I drink or eat too fast or have an empty stomach they all seem to cause it. I work in an inbound call center and have new people to sit by at times. I always have to "break them on" about my weird hiccup. Most people adjust to it, unlike the peers of the teenagers posted here, but lately discussions behind my back have joked about torrets syndrome.
Here is what I know. Hiccups occur when the diaphragm muscle and lungs get out of rhythm. In high school I learned how to calm myself and my diaphragm  after a hiccup  so that I would only have one hiccup. I thought that was the cause for these in a way but based on what I read here I think it might be a generic thing. Not wit a marker for a hiccup gene, but in the sense that the genes decide how your body will be designed. How big is your diaphragm? Where is it In relation to guru stomavch/lungs? Maybe as a group ours is closer to the lungs than "normal hiccupers"
In any event, I have decide I will talk about this with my doctor so I can maybe learn more about it.
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1 Comments
I have the exact same thing! Ive had it for two years and no luck trying to fix it. They are so loud and I get them every single day. My doctor put me on muscle relaxants which did help but made me pretty loopy so I can't take them all the time. How did you calm yours?
Avatar universal
I have the exact problem. Been happening for about 5 years. So annoying, but a great ice breaker!
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Avatar universal
i have been suffering these same symptoms for 3 years, sometime that strong of a hiccup that it feels like a punch to the chest. i was sent for ct scan with no results, then i had an mri scan again clear, then i had an mri for a lump on my spine,(December 2011), this scan showed 4 herniated disc's. after a few days i got a letter asking me to return for a second scan. this time they seen the two herniated disc's in the lumber spine, the lump failed to show this time, but they then called in a radiographer, then he decided to scan my neck too, this found herniated disc's at c4/5 c5/6 the phrenic nerve passes through c3 c4 & c5 and i have herniated disc's at c4/5 & c5/6 and bare in mind that on more than one occasion the scans failed to get any results. i am now awaiting artificial disc replacement.
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2087292 tn?1332558904
Hey, I'm 14 and have the same problem. I've had it for 3 years and my mom has it too. She thinks that it has something to do with carbs and gluten but I don't agree because I've tried going without foods with any carbs or gluten (total torture) to no avail. I have them all day, it just never seems to stop. It has gotten increasingly worse over the years, it first started in 6th grade but then it was just some strange noise that I really didn't pay any attention to because I just thought that I had had a strange hiccup, but then after I switched schools I started having them all the time. The pressure from these things is just... overwhelming. All of the students at school constantly making fun of me, and mocking me, and last year, one of my teachers stopped class to have a huge class discussion on whether or not they were just hiccups and that I really could just hold them in just like regular ones at which point I started crying and ran to the bathroom. When the teacher called home about my "misbehavior" THAT was when my mom decided to tell her that I couldn't control them, but I still got in trouble.
I always hated it when I was in some public place and I would do my hiccupy thing (that's what I've always called it) and people would always glare at me, or look at me like I had some contagious disease, or jump and shout and make a big deal out of it.
I've had several people suggest that it's like a terrets/ tick thing , but I have no idea what is going on inside my body right now.
I never knew so many other people had this problem, I always felt so alone and different and I always had this feeling of "why me and no one else?" I always just thought that the universe was against me. Now at least I don't feel so alone.
I haven't found a solution to this yet but I'm working on it. I have figured out how to make myself do more after I've done one so I do that at home and test different ideas on how to hold them in, nothing's working so far. I've tried all of regular hiccups, but none of them work. I'll try to post again once I can figure out anything though.
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Avatar universal
im 17 and i have the same problem. some days are worse than others and some days i will only get one but others i get many and i cant help it. some hurt really bad and some hurt very little. i work at a pizza shop and i scare people. some people think im faking but i cant help it. i get burps following but sometimes that doesnt happen.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
im 17 and i have the same problem. some days are worse than others and some days i will only get one but others i get many and i cant help it. some hurt really bad and some hurt very little. i work at a pizza shop and i scare people. some people think im faking but i cant help it. i get burps following but sometimes that doesnt happen.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I'm 16 and developed the same problem over a year ago. After haveing one of these (painful and randome) attacks everywhere from my diaphram to the base of my neck just starts pounding with pain that lasts for hours. Just recently it started getting a lot worse. I can bairly eat, have problems sleeping, and sometimes I can't even breath because the pain is so overwhelming.

These random outburts basicly sound like someone is running over a cat eating a very loud bird with their car. Sometimes I can hold it back and make it sound like a squeak but the full blast even scares me. I've had teachers and store emplyees yell at me for it but theres nothing i can do to contrule it. I've found myself **** anywhere from 2-21 a day all of them pounding me so hard even the constant thump of my heart feels like a hammer.

In this week alone I've been sent to my school office 5 times because the pain is so unbarable that i've burst out crying, I even got sent to the E.R because of it. If anyone has any idea whats causeing this please let me know.

(p.s I'm sorry for any spellings mistakes I couldn't spell to save my life)
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681148 tn?1437661591
I'm still not sure about the causes either, but I did find a way that works for me to calm down the diaphragm from spasming.  At least my trick only involves a lot of water and nothing weird.  I think sometimes I get hiccups if I'm slightly dehydrated.  Fill your largest drinking glass with water.  The larger the better.  Next, just hold your breath and drink as much water as you can while you hold your breath.  Even try a gulp or two beyond what you think is your limit for holding your breath.  Then, come up for air.  I usually get hicups to stop after only one or two tries with this trick.

I do know that eating slowly usually prevents hicups from happening in the first place, as does not over eating.  Aside from that, sometimes they still seem to just happen.

I don't know why this water drinking trick works, but this is the only thing that works for me.  I only know that it helps to calm down the diaphragm muscle.  Just drinking water without holding the breath in the manner already described will not work.  And, just holding the breath alone doesn't work either.  Combining the two things, though, does work.  At least the water is something the body actually needs anyway.  I think this is worth trying when you get another case of hicups.  I agree that hicups are no fun, and they're miserable enough all on their own without also feeling embarrassed by them.  I don't think hicups are a joke either.  Unfortunately, it's usually one's peers who are the most unkind about things like that.  Young people are usually the cruelest, but it's not always the young people.  Some people never learn what empathy means.  Fortunately, most people learn empathy on some level as they get older, so there is still hope for your young peers.
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Avatar universal
Hey im am 20 and i also have this they can sometimes be super painful and they are always very embaressing... ive been asked to leave a room before because of them. Did you ever find out what was wrong with you?
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Avatar universal
I'm 19 and have also had this problem for about 3 years. I love dinosaurs and all my friends make the same joke, but the irony is somewhat lost since they are really obnoxious and hurt. Have not found any solutions either.
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Avatar universal
Does your upper abdomen ever feel tight or bloated?
Check out this article on yahoo..."Vagus Nerve Imbalance/Hiatal Hernia Syndrome". One of the symptoms described are hiccups, along with swallowing air.
Hope you get some answers.

keywest
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1 Comments
I googled " I have random loud hiccups" and came across this article...I have these several times a day and they are painful sometimes...they are so loud that people will ask me if I am ok. I don't know what causes them either...I wish it would stop.its super embarrassing....very unattractive for a woman.
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