# What's your surefire cure for hiccups? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 8, 2008, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943 "2008-10-08T02:32:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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 8, 2008, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/21 "2008-10-08T13:21:20Z")
I just take as deep a breath as I can and hold it as long as I can–most of the remedies you see here amount to “hold your breath, and do something else to distract you and make you hold your breath longer.” It’s the holding your breath that actually does it. I don’t remember the last time I hiccuped more than once, unless there were people who’d mock me for having hiccups and spoil it. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/22 "2008-10-08T13:24:19Z")
Spoonfull of granulated sugar, works every time. ---
**Author:** ![counsel\_wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/65b543/32.png) [@counsel\_wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/counsel_wolf)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/23 "2008-10-08T13:27:37Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > I just take as deep a breath as I can and hold it as long as I can–most of the remedies you see here amount to “hold your breath, and do something else to distract you and make you hold your breath longer.” It’s the holding your breath that actually does it. I don’t remember the last time I hiccuped more than once, unless there were people who’d mock me for having hiccups and spoil it. I’m the same in that it’s rare for me to hiccup more than once. I also just hold my breath, but I do it with my lungs deflated (probably tying into the concious control of diaphragm mentioned above) ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/24 "2008-10-08T14:19:02Z")
Try to force yourself to hiccup. You can’t do it. Then you notice that they’re gone. Works about 90% of the time for me. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/25 "2008-10-08T14:57:31Z")
If you’re in a bar or restaurant (or at home with the right ingredients): take a lemon wedge, sprinkle some sugar on it and a few drops of bitters (Angostura, not British beer). Bite down and suck on the lemon. Hiccups will be gone. I think the flavor combination shocks your system into a reset. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/26 "2008-10-08T18:02:12Z")
On a somewhat-related note, my first sip of a carbonated drink always makes me hiccup - does anyone else get that? ETA: Forgot to mention that I almost never get hiccups outside of that. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/27 "2008-10-08T18:11:48Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > On a somewhat-related note, my first sip of a carbonated drink always makes me hiccup - does anyone else get that? > > ETA: Forgot to mention that I almost never get hiccups outside of that. No, but I tend to get the hiccups after about, say, 250 sips of carbonated drink, or so. ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/28 "2008-10-08T18:25:20Z")
I breathe out all the air in my lungs and hold it. And hold. And hold. I’ve passed out before. I hate hiccups, and that’s the only way I’ve found that works for me. ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Corey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/29 "2008-10-08T18:29:53Z")
**Corkboard** , are you in Philadelphia? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/30 "2008-10-08T18:34:03Z")
Blowjob from Salma Hayek. Well, it would be worth a _try._ ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Corey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/31 "2008-10-08T18:36:35Z")
Damn straight. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/32 "2008-10-08T18:39:19Z")
> [@Mrs\_Johnson](#): > > My grandma’s tip: 7 sips of water. Don’t breathe - just sip, swallow, repeat. It works for me every time. My granny always said 9 sips of water without breathing … and it also always works for me. ---
**Author:** ![Debon\_Err](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ea924/32.png) [@Debon\_Err](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debon_Err)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/33 "2008-10-08T18:45:50Z")
> [@Lanzy](#): > > Spoonfull of granulated sugar, works every time. I second that. It’s the only hiccup cure that has ever worked for me. ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Corey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/34 "2008-10-08T18:53:49Z")
BTW, I asked **corkboard** that question because I have the same cure. I was just wondering if he(or she) got it from the same bar I did. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/35 "2008-10-08T19:17:22Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Blowjob from Salma Hayek. Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/36 "2008-10-08T19:34:15Z")
> [@Carl\_Corey](#): > > BTW, I asked **corkboard** that question because I have the same cure. > > I was just wondering if he(or she) got it from the same bar I did. No, got it from a bartender in Brooklyn, and I now reside in NJ. Maybe just a mid-Atlantic region thing. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/37 "2008-10-08T19:42:03Z")
> [@Leah\_M](#): > > If the hiccups are really painful and persistent, swallowing a level teaspoonful of dry plain sugar quickly, all in one gulp, completely gets rid of them in seconds for me. Me too, though I’ve never quite been able to swallow in one gulp. Verrrrrrryyyy rarely, I’ve had to resort to a second spoonful. Bleh. On occasion, I’m able to “catch” myself about to start a bout of hiccups and somehow - not quite sure how, maybe catching my breath funny - abort the threatened bout. Anyone else able to do that? ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/38 "2008-10-09T01:21:56Z")
Preferred method: shot of alcohol. I tend toward gin, but tequila or other hard liquor will do in a pinch. Have yet to have a time where this didn’t work, but you _do_ have to “knock it back.” Secondary method: The aforementioned spoon of sugar or peanut butter. ---
**Author:** ![Arglefraster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3bc359/32.png) [@Arglefraster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arglefraster)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/39 "2008-10-09T16:15:11Z")
All the usual tricks (holding the breath, various methods of drinking water, etc) don’t seem to work for me. However, if I can find something to distract myself with, that I can really immerse myself in, they go away fairly quickly. As soon as I start hiccupping I’m reaching for a good book or a video game. It sucks if I’m out somewhere and don’t have anything handy. An odd thing - when I have the hiccups, I always get an irresistable urge to yawn just before each hiccup. So it goes like this: _yawn_ HIC! … _yawn_ HIC! … _yawn_ HIC! Makes them even more annoying than they already were. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943/40 "2008-10-09T17:13:47Z")
> [@Arglefraster](#): > > An odd thing - when I have the hiccups, I always get an irresistable urge to yawn just before each hiccup. So it goes like this: _yawn_ HIC! … _yawn_ HIC! … _yawn_ HIC! Makes them even more annoying than they already were. It’s coughing for me. If I have a dry throat or a tickle in my throat, I spend the evening _cough_HIC!.._cough_HIC!.._cough_HIC!.. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-surefire-cure-for-hiccups/466943.md?page=1)