What’s causing my hiccups?

Symptoms:

You suffer from a dry mouth and you chew chewing gum all the time to keep your mouth moist. Recently you’ve started to have hiccups with a slight tightening sensation in your chest, abdomen and chest.

You’re addicted to fizzy drinks and drink four or five cans a day, you have hiccups quite often and they can last up to a couple of hours.

You’ve noticed you get hiccups after your evening meal which is usually large and you often feel full after it.

It could be:

Swallowing air with chewing gum which irritates the diaphragm, the muscle that separates your chest from your abdomen.

Too many fizzy drinks when the gas collects in your stomach and presses on the diaphragm, the muscle that’s important for your breathing. When you breathe in, the diaphragm contracts and it’s followed by the sudden closure of your vocal cords which produces the characteristic ‘hic’.

Eating too much, which causes the stomach to be bloated with food and press on the diaphragm. The muscle reacts by contracting irregularly, which produces hiccups.

Stop it:

See your doctor for an alternative to keep your mouth moist, carry water with you to sip frequently, go easy on the chewing gum.

Cut down on fizzy drinks, when you get an attack of hiccups take a deep breath and hold it as long as you can. This may jerk your diaphragm back into contracting rhythmically.

Refrain from eating too much. Eat little and often. For most people a bout of hiccups usually lasts only a few minutes. Rarely, hiccups may persist for months, and if so, see your doctor.