Florida Teen Hiccups for Three Weeks

No Cure in Sight

Rain Patchett, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Feb 15, 2007 "Share your voice on Yahoo! websites. Start Here."

She was in first-period class when the hiccups began. It was January 23rd. After about 15 minutes of these nonstop spasms, Jennifer Mee, a ninth-grader at Northeast High School, sought help at the campus medical clinic. She remained there for five hours while the staff worked with her. Still, her hiccups persisted.

She has tried:

• holding her breath,
• drinking water from the far side of the glass,
• putting sugar under her tongue,
• sipping pickle juice, and
• breathing into a paper bag

along with countless other home remedies. Nothing has helped. Even well-meaning strangers have approached Jennifer at Wal-Mart and attempted to scare the hiccups away. Still, she hiccups.

Jennifer hiccups at a rate of approximately 50 times a minute.

Over the past three weeks, she has been treated by a pediatrician, a cardiologist, and a neurologist. She has endured blood tests, a CT scan, and an MRI.

Mary Jane Park of the St. Petersburg Times interviewed Jennifer and her mother, Rachel Robidoux. During that interview, Robidoux remarked that Jennifer sounds like a barking chihuahua. She said that at first it was kind of funny, but now it's become much more than an annoyance.

"It's actually really stressful,'' Jennifer said. "Really, there's nothing much I can do except stay home."

"She just wants to be a normal teenager again," Robidoux also said during Park's interview.

Jennifer complains that her chest and hips hurt. They are sore from the spasms that occur constantly from the hiccups. She must take caution when showering so as not to inhale water. She must eat foods she can swallow quickly between hiccups such as applesauce and ice cream.

Jennifer's hiccups subside only when she sleeps. The relief of slumber comes to her only by way of medicinal help in the form of valium, a prescription antianxiety drug, and Benadryl, an over-the-counter antihistamine.

Jennifer has been unable to attend school since her hiccups began and has had little contact with friends. Parks reports that Jennifer says she's contemplated jumping off the Sunshine Skyway just to make the hiccups stop.

According to Parks, Dr. Melissa Teitelman, a gastroenterologist at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., states that Jennifer's attitude is not surprising.

A prolonged occurrence "can be pretty miserable," Teitelman said. "People become suicidal."

Charles Osborne of Iowa has the dubious distinction of being on record as having the longest case of hiccups on record. His diaphragm spasms lasted 69 years and five months. Osborne's hiccups occurred every 11/2 seconds.

"I'm just looking for some answers," Jennifer's mother expressed during Park's interview, "where somebody's gone through this. At this point, we're willing to do anything."

Sources:
Park, Mary Jane. St. Petersburg Times tampabay.com. Hiccups defy remedies -- for weeks. February 14, 2007. http://www.sptimes.com/2007/02/14/Tampabay/Hiccups_defy_remedies.shtml. Retrieved February 15, 2007.

Published by Rain Patchett

Rain is a multimedia artist and graduate student in Public Health specializing in disaster preparedness. She previously earned a BS in Film/Video specializing in screenwriting. She is an avid dog trainer cur... View profile

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Florida Teen Hiccups for Three Weeks

No Cure in Sight

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