# My near-death episode with hiccups **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 15, 2002, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-near-death-episode-with-hiccups/132332 "2002-10-15T14:48:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Marine\_One](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marine_one/32/3461_2.png) [@Marine\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marine_One)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2002, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-near-death-episode-with-hiccups/132332/1 "2002-10-15T14:48:56Z")
Minding my own business on Sunday, when the hiccups attacked me. Well, they’ll pass eventually, I thought. But no. And they’ve grown into chest-heaving head-tossing hiccups. Am I having a seizure or am I possessed by Satan? I try everything: 1. Sip water. - No, that theory is wrong. 2. Scare myself. - Well, I watch the K.C. Chiefs defensive backfield in action. :eek: As scary as that is, no effect. 3. Hold breath. - Nope. I’m beginning to think in terms of Emergency Room after about an hour of this. So I head for the PC and do a Google search on hiccup cures. Someone suggests **inhale and exhale slowly into a paper bag 5 times**. It works. Instantly. So, if I can just save one life, try this the next time you get hiccups. ---
**Author:** ![Second\_Guest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@Second\_Guest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Second_Guest)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2002, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-near-death-episode-with-hiccups/132332/2 "2002-10-15T15:48:29Z")
Isn’t Google great!? Congratulations on your narrow escape from the hiccupping jaws of death. Just in case it happens again, though, some other cures I’ve heard about: Swallowing a spoonful of sugar. (“Mary Poppins” soundtrack in the background is optional.) Engaging in a long, passionate kiss. (Cooperation of an amenable partner is _not_ optional.) Drinking water upside down. (This one works for me. It upsets my dog to see me do it, but he eventually gets over it after breathing slowly into a paper bag 5 times.) ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2002, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-near-death-episode-with-hiccups/132332/3 "2002-10-15T17:07:24Z")
I used to get really horrible, painful hiccups every day at least once. ☹ Thankfully I don’t anymore. ---
**Author:** ![EchoKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@EchoKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EchoKitty)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2002, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-near-death-episode-with-hiccups/132332/4 "2002-10-15T17:30:53Z")
Take a lime wedge and squeeze 1/2 the juice out of it. Soak the wedge in bitters. Bite into the wedge and then swallow the squeezin’s. Works like a charm. Luckily, I usually get the hiccups at a bar, so these things are on hand. ---
**Author:** ![Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2002, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-near-death-episode-with-hiccups/132332/5 "2002-10-15T20:11:41Z")
Gah, what is it with hiccups? Seems, just from my own experience, they only come in two flavors. 1. Mild disturbance 2. Category 5 hurricane And of course, I too am a category 5. Damn. Sometimes I’ll suffer an attack, and just cancel my plans for the day. I just know every conversation I have is gonna take two or three times longer than it should, and about 90% of the people I talk to today are gonna either offer me useless suggestions (nothing but time ever seems to work for me, as in, eventually, they just go away) or laugh at my feeble attempts at speech, or both. [sub]And after about 20 minutes, they hurt, too.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2002, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-near-death-episode-with-hiccups/132332/6 "2002-10-15T21:01:37Z")
I can honestly say I can’t remember the last time I had hiccups. Not to gloat or anything. However, just in case it happens tonight (my luck), I will keep these tips in mind. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2002, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-near-death-episode-with-hiccups/132332/7 "2002-10-15T21:17:06Z")
I have the absolute grossest hiccups in the history of mankind. I get them all the time when I’m very hungry. I hiccup, swallow air, and burp—all in one smooth motion. I’ll do it for 5-6 times, then the balance of nature is restored or something, and they quit. I never get “regular” hiccups anymore. My son calls them hicca-burps. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Marine\_One](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marine_one/32/3461_2.png) [@Marine\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marine_One)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2002, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-near-death-episode-with-hiccups/132332/8 "2002-10-15T21:34:19Z")
I think the culprit was **Fitz’s Micro-Brewed Root Beer** , a made in K.C. product. I must have chugged too much of it. Yeah, I know. I can’t drink root beer right, but your kids can. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2002, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-near-death-episode-with-hiccups/132332/9 "2002-10-15T22:11:13Z")
I get hiccups that…well, there’s no way to describe them, but when my now-husband first heard them, he thought I was faking. Category 5, definitely. The only way to cure them: Get a full glass of water. Plug up your ears and nose, and drink as much of the water as you can. Hey presto, no more hiccups! Yes, I look really stupid…my thumbs go in my ears, index fingers over nostrils, and the rest hold the glass. Very tricky. ---
**Author:** ![Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-near-death-episode-with-hiccups/132332/10 "2002-10-16T04:56:51Z")
That sounds vaguely like something outta the Kama Sutra…