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Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,798
Registered: ‎07-24-2013

continuous hiccups in an older woman

my mother has had hiccups for months  .  she is 85.   they arent so strong she would use a paperbag to stop them.  she has them day or evening. i hear them, they are faint.

 

i hear them when she is on the phone with me.  she has had an ultrasound of her abdomen and everything was clear. she had a stress test last week, results normal.

 

she says she feels like she has candy stuck in her esphagus.  i think she should see a gastro doc.  i don't believe she has ever had an upper GI series.

 

has anyone had hiccups that dont go away?  thank you

Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,090
Registered: ‎01-02-2011

Re: continuous hiccups in an older woman

The stress test was to rule out heart issues then?  

 

Does she use a straw to drink fluids?

 

I'd encourage a gastroenterologist visit, too.

 

 

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Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,178
Registered: ‎07-26-2014

Re: continuous hiccups in an older woman


@ashleigh dupray wrote:

my mother has had hiccups for months  .


And you never took her to the doctors?????

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"Never argue with a fool. Onlookers may not be able to tell the difference."


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Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,798
Registered: ‎07-24-2013

Re: continuous hiccups in an older woman

i don't live nearby and my mother is perfectly capable of making her own doctor appointments. i have, cajoled, nudged, hounded, haunted, nagged and short of dragging her there is nothing more i can do.  all i can do is talk to her and make suggestions.

 

they are people like everyone else and you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make them drink

 

i was asking about hiccups

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,258
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: continuous hiccups in an older woman

[ Edited ]

@CatsyCline

 

Re the ultrasound: one is allowed per Medicare.  My take - from afar - was that that might have been the easy way out for the doc that ordered it.

 

Your mother would benefit from films (x-rays) A/P and Lateral of the lungs, diaphragm and upper G.I..  Further, a gastroenterologist should be consulted and tests ordered to make an appropriate clinical diagnosis.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 8,955
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: continuous hiccups in an older woman

When MY mother was 85, she had a STROKE, and only because DH could cajole her into doing SOME things whe didn't really want to do, we got her to a hospital where, IN PINCURLS, she had a few basic tests and was diagnosed.

 

After staying TWO nights in the hospital, she told her neurologist she wanted to go home because "they" weren't feeding her what she wanted to eat, and her doctor told me he had NO WAY of keeping her there, so if I stayed with her until she could have an office appointment with her internist (who had died several years before- we got her an appointment with OUR internist) he had to send her home.

 

She went to that appointment the Wednesday after she'd had the stroke. 

 

After I drove her home from her appointment, she said politely "I think it's time for you to go home to your family".  And I did.

 

She lived BY HERSELF for the next 5 years, then fell in her bedroom and sustained a badly broken hip. The surgery and necessary anesthetic revealed a mild dementia, from which she never recovered.

 

Anyone who thinks it's possible to motivate a mother like mine to do something she hasn't decided on her own to do has never been the child of a mother like mine! 

Keep up the good work, OP.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 15,519
Registered: ‎09-01-2010

Re: continuous hiccups in an older woman

Obviously something is wrong to cause these continuous hiccup spasms.  While I have heard of this happening to many people of different ages, it is not normal, and should be investigated.  I know people who resolved this issue with a muscle relaxer type medication, and someone who had to undergo a simple day surgery procedure to resolve their spasms.   

 

Please encourage your mom to follow thru with getting a diagnosis and resolution.   Best wishes.

Contributor
Posts: 65
Registered: ‎08-11-2010

Re: continuous hiccups in an older woman

Hiccups can be a sign of an infected gall bladder! I hope she is able to find relief.
Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,755
Registered: ‎05-08-2010

Re: continuous hiccups in an older woman

Whenever DH or I get hiccups, we take a couple of Tagaments.  It works every time.  I would want more testing done to find out why hers never stops, but if the woman refuses to go, other than hogtie her, what can the OP really do?  It isn't as if you could call an ambulance or 911 for hiccups.

 

All the best to the OP and her mother.

Fear not Brothers and Sisters! I have read THE BOOK..........we win!!!
Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,713
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: continuous hiccups in an older woman

Hi @CatsyCline  I'm sorry I have no advice but I hope she sees a gastro doc. Has to be very annoying for her.