Have you ever had hiccups with or after chemotherapy?
We all know what hiccups are, right? They are involuntary contractions of the diaphragm — the muscle that separates your chest from your abdomen and plays an important role in breathing. Each contraction is followed by a sudden closure of your vocal cords, which produces the characteristic "hic" sound.
Mayo Clinic investigators want to learn more about hiccups in people who are receiving cancer treatment and, if you have experienced hiccups, how they may have affected your quality of life.
So, whether you’ve had hiccups or not, we asked Connect members to take part in a survey. Responses in the survey remain anonymous and are kept completely confidential. The survey is now closed. I will share the results of survey after analysis.
In the meantime, feel free to take part in this discussion about hiccups, if you want to share.
Have you had hiccups after chemotherapy? If yes, were they different than you’ve experienced before? Did they bother you or affect your daily living?
+++Study Results+++
Frequency and Symptomatology of Hiccups in Patients With Cancer: Using an On-Line Medical Community to Better Understand the Patient Experience
By C Ehret, C Young, C Ellefson, L Aase, A Jatoi
Published April 1, 2021
https://doi.org/10.1177/10499091211006923
Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Cancer: Managing Symptoms Support Group.
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Can’t remember having hiccups as it’s been 2 years and 2 months and went off chemo treatments hated being sick 10 days out of every 21. Put on Keytruda last two years and taken off it also. Feeling good and all cancer is at stand still for know.
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2 ReactionsThis discussion was started to gather members' experiences with chemotherapy and hiccups through a survey. Your participation resulted in the publication of this study.
- Frequency and Symptomatology of Hiccups in Patients With Cancer: Using an On-Line Medical Community to Better (April 2021) Understand the Patient Experience https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10499091211006923
Dr. Jatoi continues her research into hiccups and chemotherapy having just published the follow-up paper this month (Jan 2022)
- Establishing the Groundwork for Clinical Trials With Hiccupops® for Hiccup Palliation https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/10499091211063821
Has anyone heard of or tried Hiccupops, a hiccup-stopping lollipop?
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1 ReactionVherzog777, oh I'm sorry to hear that your husband has developed hiccups related to chemotherapy. This doesn't happen to everyone, but when it does, it can be really bothersome and have serious discomfort. I moved your message to this existing discussion where others are talking about hiccups related to chemotherapy so you can connect with @susu2 @auntieoakley @becsbuddy @richcolleen @merpreb @mdcjb @susan2018 @packgb19 @dax @anacreon who have also had this experience.
Vherzog, what kind of chemotherapy is your husband getting? Have the hiccups settled? And most importantly has he been able to eat?
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1 ReactionWe did this all the time as kids. Even just dissolving the sugar in the water and drinking it slowly worked too.
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2 ReactionsI accidentally found a great cure for hiccups. Just get a spoon full of sugar and let it melt on the tongue for 20 seconds then slowly drink some water and let the sugar melt. It helps me such. I hope this works for your husband as well. God bless yall
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2 ReactionsHubby started chemo Thursday. Developed a nasty case of hiccups all night long! Any suggestions??? When I tried to give him something to eat this morning he said he couldn’t eat because his stomach hurt from the hiccups which of course he still had.
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1 ReactionI will be thinking about you, as you ask your questions and pray that some frank discussion will get you some positive answers. I have been on the difficult road you are on and it can be very frustrating. When my little brother was sick there weren’t a lot of treatment for this cancer, they just kept taking more and more surgically. He was 19, he did pass after 8 difficult years. He did take every advantage of the good days. This was 25 years ago. I am grateful that you have more options. Another question might be to ask if there are more tools in the box after keytruda, if it does stop working. When is your next appointment, where you can ask questions? How is the hiccups?
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6 ReactionsHis cancer did metastasis to lymph node at end of his single pipe. Inoperable.
Started back of tongue in his throat, then moved to 5 lymph nodes on the left side of his neck. Surgery on both sides of his neck and lymph nodes were removed. Followed with 6 weeks of cisplatin with 6 weeks of proton radiation to left side of neck and throat. He was given a 98% cure rate. 3 month petscan showed cancer metastasized to left the windpipe.
They started him on Keytruda and use radiation on the chest.
That lymph node never dissolved. All I was told that they recommend to stay on this course with Keytruda. That they will not take him off during these 2 yrs unless the Keytruda quits working or it attacks his organs.
Thank you for the questions to ask.
And also fir the website. Greatly appreciated
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4 ReactionsHi Lori, I read in another discussion thread, that your boyfriend has squamous cell carcinoma in the throat. I encourage you to also follow the Head & Neck Cancer group here: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/head-neck-cancer/
I agree with @auntieoakley. It sounds like it is time for a frank discussion with your boyfriend's medical team. Be sure to let them know that you don't want sugar coating and that you want straight-forward answers. They will be upfront and honest.
Some of the questions I would ask the doctors are:
- Why is Keytruda only used for a maximum of 2 years?
- What options are there after Keytruda?
- Is the treatment goal remission (cancer undetectable) or palliative (prolong life, manage symptoms but no cure possible)?
Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) is typically used as treatment for patients with metastatic or recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) that cannot be removed through surgery. Does your boyfriend have metastatic cancer (cancer that has spread)? Has palliative care been discussed?
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4 ReactionsI am going to address this as best I can with the the information from your post. Before I do that I will tell you that on connect the members are not the “you doctors” you refer to above. We are patients and caregivers. We can sometimes add value with our own experiences. We are also volunteers and no pay of any kind is given. I understand that you are angry, but a directed conversation from him to his doctor would be in order. Secondly, I have no idea, about his cancer other than he is on ketruda, but I did take a triple threat of high dose chemotherapy and I am 6 ft tall and came out of that weighing in at 98 pounds, 16 years ago. So that alone is not a single indicator. Just like all the other side effects you mention, diarrhea, nausea, weakness, etc. Those side effects just are not that uncommon with many chemo drugs. Something that lights up on a pet scan might be cancer, yes, and if it is gone the next time he gets a pet scan, it might be because the drugs are working. That lighting up basically means there was a large sugar uptake in that location. I am not saying that the doctors are telling you everything or not, but my experience with my husband at Mayo was very positive in terms of honesty.
I am trying to read between the lines here, but it sounds like he is being treated somewhere other than Mayo, but had a consultation at Mayo, is that correct? Do you go with your BF to his appointments? Are you both comfortable with asking questions? Sometimes you have to ask blunt questions to get blunt answers. I don’t know your BF, but I will say some people don’t want the hard answers. I usually try to write down my questions so I don’t forget any.
Lastly I would ask if you tried the magnesium and or potassium thing, because it certainly helped me with the hiccups, which is where this whole conversation started. Someone posted it on this thread a while back.
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6 Reactions