# What is your remedy for hiccups? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 16, 2015, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771 "2015-10-16T01:23:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/1 "2015-10-16T01:23:06Z")
My remedy used to be to drink a glass of water with a teaspoon of sugar dissolved in it. I guess one time sugar wasn’t readily available, so I tried something different, drinking a glass of water by taking a continuous series of very fast, teeny-tiny sips without a break and without taking a breath. I might do 15 or so and it never fails to stop my hiccups. What’s your remedy? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/2 "2015-10-16T01:53:01Z")
I take as deep a breath as I can and hold it as long as I can. When I have to breathe, the hiccups are gone. All of the remedies I’ve read for hiccups involve forcing your lungs to get by on whatever air you have in them long enough. An explanation of why the hold-your-breath fix works is that you’re basically rebooting your breathing cycle; when you get the hiccups, your breathing regulator gets all out of whack and taking a deep breath and holding it gives it a time-out. So, rather than dealing with the paper bags and the glass of water and the whatever, I just take a deep breath and hold it as long as I can. ---
**Author:** ![Periwinkle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Periwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Periwinkle)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/3 "2015-10-16T02:02:27Z")
If I hold a sip of water in my mouth and time the swallow to happen concurrently with the hiccup, that always works. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/4 "2015-10-16T02:04:18Z")
Holding my breath ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/5 "2015-10-16T02:12:11Z")
Holding my breath while drinking as long as I can. Works every time. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/6 "2015-10-16T02:25:46Z")
Teaspoon of sugar. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/7 "2015-10-16T02:31:23Z")
Holding my breath usually works for me. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/8 "2015-10-16T02:32:16Z")
Ask someone you know to jump out and surprise you when you least expect it. A bit like [this](https://youtu.be/S2l5Yt6LBfo?t=71). ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/9 "2015-10-16T02:37:38Z")
> [@Periwinkle](#): > > If I hold a sip of water in my mouth and time the swallow to happen concurrently with the hiccup, that always works. This sounds like a good way to choke to death. Or at least that’s what I imagine will happen to me if I tried it. But yeah, holding breath thing works for me too. Except for when it doesn’t. But then it usually does when i try again. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/10 "2015-10-16T02:40:10Z")
> [@Periwinkle](#): > > If I hold a sip of water in my mouth and time the swallow to happen concurrently with the hiccup, that always works. I do that. If I don’t have something to drink I hold my breath. ---
**Author:** ![Nefario](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/59ef9b/32.png) [@Nefario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefario)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/11 "2015-10-16T02:54:10Z")
Holding my breath. I’ve read that hiccups are caused by the nerves to the two sides of the diaphragm getting “out of phase” and needing to breathe puts your brain into survival mode and resets the timing. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/12 "2015-10-16T02:55:36Z")
Take a deep breath and hold it. While holding your breath swallow as many times as possible before breathing again. I can usually get anywhere from 5-10 swallows. 95% of the time this will cure the issue. Reading other people’s replies, I wonder if holding my breath is the most important part and the swallowing issue is not needed. Next time I will just hold my breath w/o swallowing and see if that works. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/13 "2015-10-16T02:59:23Z")
Drinking a glass of water upside down. Lean over, mouth on the far side of the glass , And drink. ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/14 "2015-10-16T09:33:35Z")
Take as deep a breath as possible, hold for a 10 count, exhale as deeply as possible, hold for a 10 count. Repeat if necessary, but usually only one or two cycles are required. They’re just spasms of the diaphragm, so working said muscle to it’s opposite extremes will usually work them out. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/15 "2015-10-16T09:43:53Z")
I do deep breathing exercises. ---
**Author:** ![Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrogance_ex_machina/32/192_2.png) [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/16 "2015-10-16T09:56:31Z")
Teaspoon of sugar as well. I thought my friend was joking when he suggested that after I complained about my hiccups but it worked instantly. ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/17 "2015-10-16T09:56:58Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I do that. If I don’t have something to drink I hold my breath. This. It’s painful, but it works. ---
**Author:** ![Archeonomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Archeonomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archeonomist)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/18 "2015-10-16T10:05:05Z")
There is actually a cure, according to [this](http://qi.com/infocloud/hiccups) “The best cure for hiccups, in the sense that it’s medically proven, rather than being mere folklore, and involves no drugs or surgery - is digital rectal massage: a finger up the bottom. It’s been used successfully in cases of chronic hiccupping at least twice, in hospitals in Haifa, Israel, and in Tennessee.” ---
**Author:** ![tuesdayweld](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@tuesdayweld](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tuesdayweld)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/19 "2015-10-16T10:38:45Z")
Pour bitters over a wedge of lime, put it in your mouth and chew. Works every time. ---
**Author:** ![TheSpeculationElucidation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@TheSpeculationElucidation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheSpeculationElucidation)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771/20 "2015-10-16T11:02:56Z")
Though there is no scientific [cure](http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jun/06/scientific-research-hiccups-cure-cause) to hiccups, I eat a spoonful of peanut butter. It works every time for me. If I don’t have that, nothing seems to work. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-remedy-for-hiccups/734771.md?page=2)