Girl has hiccups for 5 weeks

08.MAR.07

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (AP) – She sipped pickle juice, held her breath, breathed into a bag, even went to a neurologist, but for more than five weeks nothing would stop a 15-year-old girl’s rapid hiccups – until they finally just stopped on their own.

After trying countless remedies and attracting national media attention, Jennifer Mee said her hiccups suddenly stopped around 5 p.m. Wednesday. No one is certain why.{{more}}

“Right now, my nose is burning and my throat hurts,” she told the St. Petersburg Times, but she said she felt a lot better than she has in weeks. Jennifer had started hiccupping January 23 close to 50 times a minute and said it only stopped when she was sleeping.

She saw an infectious disease specialist, a neurologist, a chiropractor, a hypnotist and an acupuncturist. She tried a patented device that is designed to stop hiccups, plus all the old remedies. Her mother called the media two weeks ago to try to find more help for her daughter, who ended up on NBC’s “Today” show.

According to the National Institutes of Health, hiccups can be triggered by anything from spicy foods to stress, and they can start for no reason at all.

They’re caused by involuntary contractions of the diaphragm, which cause the vocal cords to close briefly, making that distinctive sound.