I had hiccups for 15 YEARS until I figured out six things I was eating were to blame

A WOMAN plagued by hiccups for 15 years managed to get them to stop after carrying out a bizarre experiment.

Nicole Allard (37), was able to relieve her symptoms by herself.

Nicole Allard and a pal spent ages working out why she was hiccuping

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Nicole Allard and a pal spent ages working out why she was hiccupingCredit: Jam Press
She had been plagued by the nuisance for 15 years

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She had been plagued by the nuisance for 15 yearsCredit: Jam Press

She simply got them to stop by tweaking her diet.

The emergency dispatcher, who now lives in Alaska, lamented how she was called a “constipated pig” at school as she couldn’t control the noises.

Sometimes the pain was so intense that she was forced to go into hospital in an attempt to get her breathing back.

She stated that during high school she was called a constipated animal, a baby seal clubbed and a pterodactyl.

“As I grew older, the pain got worse. “Sometimes the hiccups would be louder, sometimes quieter, sometimes so frequent I couldn’t catch my breath.

It was initially annoying, but it became funny. Then, as the process progressed, I felt more settled.

“Sometimes I would get a little down but I was so used to them I didn’t feel it too much.

“I had a little anger but not red hot anger – more of a festering irritation.”

The hiccups began at age 15, and were often accompanied with stomach pain.

Although they could last for short periods of time, most often, they lasted hours.

Nights were when her hiccups stopped.

The hiccups were not caused by stress, and no doctors were able to diagnose it.

They carefully eliminated 'problem foods' that might be causing her to hiccup

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They carefully eliminated ‘problem foods’ that might be causing her to hiccupCredit: Jam Press
They narrowed it down eventually to six main things

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They narrowed it down eventually to six main thingsCredit: Jam Press
And now she is largely hiccup free, as long as she watches what she consumes

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And now she is largely hiccup free, as long as she watches what she consumesCredit: Jam Press

Nicole explained: “I had hiccups pretty much all the time for 15 years. For the first five, I looked for help but didn’t get any answers.

“After that, I would try every now and again to get answers if I thought of something new. “

She discovered what was causing her hiccups in 2011.

After being free from them for several months, she was able to get back to her normal self after eating a spicy chicken sandwich.

Nicola wondered if her diet might have caused the hiccups.

Over three years, she worked with a friend to identify the specific food groups that were causing her problems.

She ground up certain foods and made pills. Her pal randomly gave her one to try.

DIET DETECTIVES

Nicole said: “I would take one pill a day for two weeks, or until I got the hiccups. If that happened, I would wait until they stopped and start with the next jar.”

She ended up with a list of six things she can’t eat – peppers, wheat (but not gluten), cow dairy, peas, corn and peanuts – and is virtually hiccup-free.

Nicole stated that it was liberating because she felt better and was more in control.

“There is not much data.

“My particular diet is probably something that will only help me but I’d love to be able to bring more people with the condition together to try to piece together some answers about it.”

We told you about a doctor who suggested rectal massage as the best way for hiccups to be eliminated.

Doctor reveals simple ‘body hacks’ to banish hiccups and eavesdrop better

Posting toTikTok, Dr Karan Raj explained why the process works and who came up with the bizarre idea.

He explained that hiccups are caused in part by the vagus neuro’s erratic electrical impulses.

“Rectal massage stimulates and activates the vagus nervous system, which is part of parasympathetic nervous.

“Increased stimulation of the vagus nerve helps to control the diaphragm and then terminates the hiccups.”

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