Hiccups during BEP

[TBM]

Hi, my bro is on his 2nd day of BEP, and woke up with the hiccups and can't get rid of them. I hadn't heard that as a side effect of BEP. Has anyone had that, any tricks that work to avoid or get rid of them?

Thanks, Todd

[Tatt]

STarted my chemo last week, and i had hiccups on the second day too - they are a fairly common side effect as i've seen others mention them here. I was offered chlorpromazine (an anti-psychotic, at a low dose) to cure them, which i took but they werent unbearable - and i prefered not being on the chlorpromazine to be honest as it made me a zombie

[ebfun7]

Hiccups with chemo

My husband was offered Baclofen (it is a drug to treat spastic movements including hiccups). It worked well. One thing with thorazine or any antipyshcotic - it takes about 2 weeks to kick in. Good luck.

[petep]

take a look at this thread - something I wrote and others added to:

http://www.tc-cancer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3699

I had the exact same thing...and I stopped taking the thorazine (spelling?)...a 10mg dose that did not work and made my feel fuzzy...

try the apple cider vinegar (a couple tablespoons) in water and/or the teaspoon of sugar...remarkably these often work...

I had the hiccups....and acid reflux and eventually my esophagus hurt so bad it made eating & drinking very difficult...really set me back. I went several days without eating and then lived on ensure, maybe 2 glasses a day) till I could eat again.

they did prescribe nexium after a while for acid reflux, which can go hand in hand with the hiccups...and this helped a great deal.

if I were to offer advice, try the sugar, vinegar for hiccups if the thorazine does not work (remember they have a 10mg, 25mg and 50mg dose...but the 10mg was too much for my head)...and see if the doc/nurses would suggest nexium to minimize any acid reflux from the cisplatin.

hope this helps.

pete

[James]

Same thing here - first round - first few days, I had uncontrolable hiccups. They prescribed me some Ativan which either helped me relax (hence kill the hiccups) or I just fell asleep. The good news is, these HORRIBLE few days were just during the first round for me. Rounds 2,3,4 were hiccup free. I thinks some of our bodies just done know what to do when they first introduce these potent chemicals.

[Knightmd]

Day 4 of my first round of BEP.... Uncontrollable hiccups for the past 3 days, it's starting to hurt my throat. But it's comforting to know others have experienced the same problem during the same period of treatment. Hopefully it'll go on its own.

I tried peanut butter, holding by breath and swallowing.....etc. Still no drugs, but I'll ask for Baclofen tomorrow during my Day 5 session this week.

[wolff516]

My hiccups were horrible on day 3. I called in the middle of the night and the doctor prescribed Chlorpromazine 10mg. I took three per his instructions. Hiccups were gone, but I was dumb as a stump the next day - big hangover. I might try a smaller dose to start. But that was the end of my hiccups. Thank God for that!! I had tried everything. Good luck.

[LightWarrior]

Hi,

Are they giving him dexamethasone/steroids during BEP treatment to help with side-effects? If yes, there is a known interaction between dexamethasone and cisplatin (see this link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16256900 ) , which may cause hiccups especially in men. In my first cycle, I had hiccups lasting for something like 24 hours after which they started giving me dexamethasone via IV and didn't have any further problems and didn't need any other drugs to help with hiccups.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

[Amar]

Hi,

I would suggest to avoid medications and follow the natural way. During my 4*BEP I used to have two teaspoons of sugar and hold my breath for atleast a minute and the trick worked most of the time.

Here is the link if you are interested.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/29674/what-causes-hiccups-and-why-does-sugar-cure-them

Between i tried many tricks but the sugar one worked for me. below are some more methods.

http://www.wikihow.com/Cure-Hiccups

Hope this helps

[LightWarrior]

I also tried holding my breath, vinegar, sugar etc. but nothing and I say nothing could stop them in the first cycle until they changed the way how they were giving me nausea medications from pills to IV.

[zak0691]

I remember having bad hiccups during BEP. They gave me some medication that helped a bit. Can't for the life of me remember what it was called.

[Steve1979]

I remember having bad hiccups during BEP. They gave me some medication that helped a bit. Can't for the life of me remember what it was called.

Thorazine? I had really bad hiccups during my first cycle. After that, the nurses would give me thorazine when they popped up, so I didn't have 6 hours of being irritated with hiccups again. The hiccups lessened with each cycle, thankfully.