Christopher Sands, 24, has tried all manner of remedies - ranging from old wives’ tales like eating honey while hanging upside down, to hi-tech cures such as sitting in a compression chamber - since his hiccupping fit began in February 2007.
Now he is to undergo keyhole surgery after doctors diagnosed a damaged stomach valve. The faulty valve has been causing acid reflux - a condition where stomach acid leaks into the gullet causing heartburn and hiccups.
”I’m pinning all my hopes on this operation. I want my life back,” said Mr Sands from Lincoln, Lincs.
“I’m losing my mind. I can hardly eat or sleep. I can’t socialise. I can’t work or drive and it’s next to impossible to make music.”
His career has been on hold, because the hiccups make it difficult for him to sing and impossible for him to drive to gigs put on by his band 'Ebullient’.
He suffered his first serious bout of hiccups in September 2006. They lasted a fortnight before vanishing.
In February last year they returned permanently.
Mr Sands estimates he hiccups once every two seconds for 12 hours a day. Therefore he hiccups 1,800 times in an hour.
That works out at 21,600 hiccups a day, nearly 7.9 million a year and approaching 10 million times in the last 15 months.
He also finds it difficult to keep his food down food and is usually sick at least twice a day.
He said: “I wasn’t too worried at first. I didn’t believe they wouldn’t stop. Now I’m wondering if I’ll be like this forever. It’s exhausting.
”I’ve tried everything to stop them. I must’ve drunk water a hundred different ways. I do yoga. I’ve been to a hypnotherapist.”
In the next few weeks doctors at Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre will carry out a procedure that involves constructing a new 'valve’ between the gullet and the stomach by wrapping the upper portion of the stomach around the lowest point of the gullet.
Mr Sands still has some way to go before his hiccupping enters the record books. The longest hiccupping fit was recorded by Charles Osborne, of Anthon, Iowa, whose hiccups lasted for 68 years from 1922 until 1990.
Have your say: Tell us your tips for beating hiccups
Hello
I saw yoy on a Brazilian TV. My husband is a medical doctor and he thinks you might have some kind of phrenic nerve irritation (neuritis). Probabbly your doctor already thought about that but I want to help you anyway.
Good luck and hope you get better.
Tatiana Leal
It may only be a remedy for more temporary hicups.. (it is obvious Chris Sands has a stomach problem which needs to be attended to).. but you never know Chris you could try this for a little relief.. otherwise for anyone else with normal hicups an instant remedy every time is a shot of vinegar! I have usually used malt vinegar, its disgusting haha! but a tablespoon full or two has always done it for me and my kids now swear by it too. Forget the peanut butter!. Cheers Chrissy
chris i am a born again christian and i believe with God all things are possible.there's no greater physcian than jesus.the bible says who so ever shall call upon the name of the lord shall be saved.call on him today and receive your miracle.jesus paid the price you don't need to suffer any longer recieve your healing now in the mighty name of jesus.please read isaiah 53:4-5 love you remain blessed
chris i am a born again christian and i believe with God all things are possible.there's no greater physcian than jesus.the bible says who so ever shall call upon the name of the lord shall be saved.call on him today and receive your miracle.jesus paid the price you don't need to suffer any longer recieve your healing now in the mighty name of jesus.please read isaiah 53:4-5 love you remain blessed
Maybe an'old wive's tale' but a remedy that has never failed me -
'swallow one's saliva three times in immediate succession'
- it must be three times. The 'third' is a bit of an effort - but if done - hiccup no more !
Rob may be an MA in Pasychology but his spelling could do with a brush up
I always have remembered that my father suffered from continual hiccups after an operation in the early 1940s. They lasted several days and the hospital staff could find no way of stopping them. Meanwhile, they were weakening him and doing no good to the operation itself. At last, they were stopped immediately by giving him Carbon Dioxide gas. This may be worth a try as it would do the singer no harm and would be preferable to an operation.
Hi
You had a story about a man with Hicups (Cronic).
I am an M.A. in Psychology and do Psychotheraphy in a practice in Toronto.
We had a patient come in with a similar story.This woman had hicups for 7 years.My partner (Psyhiatrist) suggested the drug Remeron(sp).
The woman called back several days later saying she was hicup free.
Perhaps you could relay this to the afflected gent..
Cheers
Rob Tyler