Father has developed chronic hiccups

[santiagomark]

Hi,

Sorry if this is the wrong forum but was hoping for advice or some signposting.

My father had double knee surgery a few years ago. After the operation he developed sever hiccups which drained him to the point of exhaustion and he kept vomiting. These then stopped after he was given some medication for them. They then started up again a year later and had the same awful affects of vomiting, insomnia, loss of weight etc. Again these went. He ha snow developed them again another year later and he has become very weak. The GP is fairly useless and does't seem to understand the issue.

I have researched a bit and it appears that the Phrenal neve that runs from the spine can cause this issue after surgery.

We are now considering going private as i've become very worried about him, he is 77.

If anyone has experienced or knows any other information around this issue . i'd be happy to hear from you

Thanks

[LAJ12345]

I’ve heard a cure for hiccups is the triple breathe inhale. You breathe in normally through the nose then without breathing out take an extra bit of breath in sharply, then another extra bit very deeply, then exhale slowly through mouth. It apparently tricks the nerve.

I haven’t tried it though as I don’t usually get hiccups.

[chartist]

You might consider rectal massage as discussed here :

abc.net.au/science/articles...

Art

[goldengrove]

Years ago, my father-in-law suffered similarly from exhausting week-long episodes of hiccough. His were unrelated to surgery. He had a large hiatus hernia and also marked renal impairment related to his very enlarged prostate. The hiccoughs may been caused by either the hiatus hernia or the uraemia from his renal impairment. I recall that Baclofen was useful and he used it in spite of his renal impairment. But there are lots more drugs available now than in the 1990s.

[lisa103]

its interesting a year ago my father developed chronic hiccups. It lasted him about a months and then it totally dissapeared. I had read then that it could be related to his parkinson. It was the same time that his immune system was low. He had just had a covid vaccine and flu jab and was run down for a month at least. Hope you find relief very soon. It was awful watching my dad look so helpless

[santiagomark]

Thank you for the advice everyone. We are taking him to a specialist

[Reetpetitio]

How horrible. Has it passed yet? If not, I would try a craniosacral osteopath, who could do visceral osteopathy to relax the diaphragm and also work on the phrenic nerve.

The other thing that comes to mind is acupuncture, as hiccups are classed as 'rebellious chi' and they have experience in working with that.

Last but not least, a good strong Ashwaganda is great for tension / stress / anxiety / nerves - you're in the UK so I really recommend British Supplements as a source of clean, potent supplements.