# Hiccups?



## auntiejude (Jun 19, 2016)

Does anyone have any trusted link for diabetes or metfomin specifically and hiccups? I have found some anecdotal evidence and reports on various discussion pages and forums, but nothing near a scientific or medical comment. 

Has anyone else here had an increase in hiccups with diabetes or metformin? Is it a common side effect? Does anybody know the cause?

All I know is that since I have been taking metformin I get hiccups at least twice a day, whereas before it was usually nearer once a month.


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## grovesy (Jun 19, 2016)

I have not heard of or experienced personally, but since Metformin does make people more windy , maybe it is a gas thing?


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## auntiejude (Jun 19, 2016)

I have IBS which has improved since diagnosis with diabetes, so I'm actually less gassy than before! But gas isn't usually linked to hiccups for me.


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## grovesy (Jun 19, 2016)

It was only a thought!


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## Northerner (Jun 20, 2016)

I'm not on metformin myself, but it's not something I've ever heard reported on the forum by others. That's certainly an increase in frequency. Are hiccups a symptom of anything else? It may just be coincidental that they increased when the metformin was introduced.


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## Schmarn (Jun 24, 2020)

auntiejude said:


> Does anyone have any trusted link for diabetes or metfomin specifically and hiccups? I have found some anecdotal evidence and reports on various discussion pages and forums, but nothing near a scientific or medical comment.
> 
> Has anyone else here had an increase in hiccups with diabetes or metformin? Is it a common side effect? Does anybody know the cause?
> 
> All I know is that since I have been taking metformin I get hiccups at least twice a day, whereas before it was usually nearer once a month.


Dear Auntie,
I'm on day 2 of starting Metformin. I typically don't have hiccups, only very infrequently, which means I go many months, if not years, without getting them.
The first day, I got hiccups and chalked it up to just a coincedence, not tying it to the medicine.
Today, I've been experiencing hiccups for hours now, on and off, but mostly on, and it's getting to be a bit annoying.
It occurred to me that maybe there is a connection with the medication, and I googled it.
Seems we are not alone in this, as it only took 2 words,
Metformin + hiccups.
I'll chat with the chemist (UK term ) tomorrow and see what they say.
Till then, keep a glass of water handy...


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## Becka (Jun 24, 2020)

This case suggests Metformin cures hiccoughs!









						Intractable hiccups as an unusual presentation of diabetes mellitus
					

Visit the post for more.



					newyorkmedicaljournal.org
				




There does not appear to be any mention of hiccoughs reported as a side effect of Metformin via the Yellow Card scheme, though.



			https://info.mhra.gov.uk/drug-analysis-profiles/dap.html?drug=./UK_EXTERNAL/NONCOMBINED/UK_NON_000156812423.zip&agency=MHRA


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## trophywench (Jun 24, 2020)

Aha! - have either of the people with the hiccups, tested their BG whilst in the middle of a spate of them? - just wondering, in view of the report Becka posted - if it's actually a symptom of higher (or indeed lower) BG, rather than metformin?


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## rebrascora (Jun 24, 2020)

Since Metformin can upset the stomach as well as the gut, it may be a reaction to the Metformin... I suffered very occasional nausea and more frequently indigestion with it, so I could see how it might irritate the stomach into spasms of hiccups. Do you take it mid meal with a substantial amount of food. That tends to help mitigates the other digestive upset symptoms so worth a try if you are not doing that. I certainly would not take it on an empty stomach ie before food.


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## mikeyB (Jun 24, 2020)

Hiccups aren’t directly caused by any particular food or the contents of the stomach. They are spasms of the diaphragm with a closed larynx- it’s all to do with the phrenic nerve. So anything that irritates the phrenic nerve can bring them on - eating too quickly, a full stomach, hiatus hernia. Anything that startles the phrenic nerve can switch off hiccups - biting a lemon, quickly drinking cold water, pulling your tongue, or just the opposite- wearing the nerve out by holding your breath. Holding your breath is effectively an induced hiccup - a fixed diaphragm and closed larynx.

Techinical info: the phrenic nerve originates from C3/4/5 nerve roots in the neck and follows a complex course into the chest close to superior vena cava. It’s because of this course through the chest that some interesting conditions can cause persistent hiccups or diaphragmatic paralysis, such as neck or lung tumours.

How come I know all this? PTSD. “Describe the origin and course of the Phrenic Nerve.” was one of the questions in my final Anatomy questions at St Andrews.

I should add, though this vanishingly rare, the phrenic nerve can be damaged as a result of diabetic neuropathy, but you’d have to live through a dozen medical careers to see such a case.


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## Bruce Stephens (Jun 24, 2020)

mikeyB said:


> How come I know all this? PTSD. “Describe the origin and course of the Phrenic Nerve.” was one of the questions in my final Anatomy questions at St Andrews.



Neil Shubin's popular science book "Your Inner Fish" argues that hiccups are vestiges of forms of breathing used by animals (like tadpoles) that have both lungs and gills. https://www.npr.org/2008/02/09/18847862/recognizing-your-inner-fish


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## trophywench (Jun 25, 2020)

Breathing in and out of a paper bag always stopped them for me but I was a bit stumped the other week when, wishing to ripen my husband's bananas which were delivered by his younger daughter very green and we both said Aaarrgh and she was absolutely HORRIFIED that we wanted YELLOW ones in the house - I wondered where the hell I'd find a paper bag (infanticide conviction saved by a prescription bag)

However, individual crisp bags are just the right size to breathe in and out of and calm the phrenic nerve down again, apparently!


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## Becka (Jun 25, 2020)

trophywench said:


> I was a bit stumped the other week when, wishing to ripen my husband's bananas



Goodness!


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## everydayupsanddowns (Jun 25, 2020)

Schmarn said:


> Dear Auntie,



Welcome to the forum @Schmarn 

This is quite an old thread and the original poster has not been on the forum since October 2016.

I hope the responses from current members have been helpful


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