Question:
Anyone have hiccups more frequently after surgery?

I am 10 months post op and lately I seem to hiccup all the time - sometimes after a meal but not always. They last longer than they ever did pre op. Just wondered if there is any way to avoid them. Last night they lasted so long I got a headache from them. Thanks for any insight.    — Karen Q. (posted on March 27, 2002)


March 26, 2002
I have had more hiccups too- although not as bad as you!! Poor thing, they are so annoying! My 'cure' is to take a DEEP breath, so it expands your diaphram, and hold it for 10 seconds. There is a medical reason this works, but I don't remember what it is. This won't prevent them, but hopefully make them stop sooner!! Good Luck!
   — Angela B.

March 26, 2002
Hello! I'm a pre-op and I was once told by a doctor that what I had to do was at the onset of a hiccup to alter your breathing pattern and it will stop. The way I do this is to think of something so deep like something that would really freighten me if it were to really happen and wa la it's gone. Hence this is the reason they say that someone has to surprise you or scare you for it to go away. Good Luck! Hope it works for you..((((HUGS)))
   — Nellie S.

March 26, 2002
I, too, hiccup much more since surgery. I'm 6-1/2 months post-op and I hiccup after every meal, but it usually only lasts 2 or 3 minutes.
   — artistmama

March 26, 2002
I cannot believe I am not the only one! I start to hiccup when I am almost full... it is funny. I will be slowly eating my food and suddenly I will start to hiccup. My husband laughs because now everyone knows when I am almost done! It lasts a couple of minutes and then stops. I actually like my 'fullness indicator'... as if I eat a couple more bites I am still fine but it is hysterical. I understand that your problem is more severe and not a good thing but there must be a nerve that is stimulated by our surgery that triggers this... I would ask the doctors office about it.
   — SusanMaria

March 27, 2002
I get the hiccups quite frequently. I am also 10 months postop. I have determined it to be when I've overstuffed myself. They don't last long, but they do hurt!
   — dolphins94

March 27, 2002
I had them as a fresh postie, but not after months. Where is your potassium level? Can you get 'em to run a fresh one for you?
   — vitalady

March 27, 2002
I am almost 5 months po and get the hiccups every day. It is usually after I eat, even if it is a small snack. Even water has caused me to hiccup. I wonder what the physiological cause is?
   — Cheri M.

March 27, 2002
Let me add my name to the list. I, too, hiccup for a few minutes after eating or sometimes drinking. And sometimes the hiccups are so deep, it hurts! But they pass.Someone else said it was a fullness indicator. Hmmm. I'll check that out next time they occur. Seeing as I am only 6 weeks out and some of the posters are 10 months out, I guess I had a while to go.
   — Cindy R.

March 28, 2002
I am only a pre-op, but I have to say that you are not alone. After I had my gall bladder surgery in Nov '01, all I do is hiccup nearly every time I eat or drink something. I share an office with a coworker and every time I come back from lunch I start to hiccup. It is a big joke to us now. I just say... "One too many sips on the bottle today".... Anyway, that was just my thought =)
   — Beffy W.




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