Woman, 46, has hiccupped constantly for 11 YEARS ... She struggles to even drink a cup of tea
Awoman who has suffered from constant hiccups for more than a decade says she is in despair over her condition. Amanda Corby, 46, of Hull, has bouts of hiccups five times a day every day, leaving doctors baffled.
She hiccups every two seconds in episodes that can last up to ten minutes at a time.
This means that since the problem began in 2003, she has hiccuped approximately three million times.
Hiccups are a result of the layer of muscle below the ribcage, known as the diaphragm, suddenly and involuntarily contracting. She said: ‘I’ve tried scaring myself and sipping water - all the old tricks, but nothing works for me.
‘I tried hypnosis once which stopped the hiccups for three months, but then they started up again. I’m out of ideas as to what to try next.’
Miss Corby, who works in a bingo hall, says her ailment has caused mirth among colleagues and customers.
She said: ‘ They began one day while I was at work. When I had more episodes the next day, I wondered whether it was something I was eating.
‘They continued for the rest of the week. Weeks turned into months and years. They haven’t stopped yet.
‘Other staff members have made a bit of a joke about it, and I tend to laugh along. But there are moments where it’s quite embarrassing, particularly when I’m in front of customers.
‘At those times I really wish the problem go away forever.’
Six months after the bouts
She hiccups every two seconds in episodes that can last up to ten minutes at a time.
began, Miss Corby saw her GP in the hope of discovering the cause of her hiccups and whether they could S be cured. he said: ‘They tend to occur when I’m at work and I can feel when they going to start. At first I thought it was something I ate or drank, but then I realised I don’t eat or drink during a shift, so it can’t be that.
‘The doctor didn’t know what to tell me. He just suggested I take sips of water but he wasn’t able to explain why the hiccups had started or what could make them go away.’
Miss Corby said: ‘I don’t see the point in going back for medical help. I don’t think anyone will be able to help me.
‘A hypnotherapist trained me to imagine putting the hiccups away into a box, and putting that box away forever. By filing away the hiccups like that, I seemed to be able to control them.
‘Perhaps longer sessions of hypnotherapy would work, but if they’re just going to start up again in a few weeks, I don’t really ‘ think it’s worth it. It would be helpful to talk to someone who knows what it’s like, but I don’t know anyone else who has this problem.
‘I expect I’ll just have to live with T it.’ he world record for hiccups is still held by Charles Osborne, an American who died in 1991.
He endured 68 years of regular hiccuping between 1922 and 1990. In his case, the hiccups began after a pig fell on him.