Woman Who's Had Hiccups For Eight Years Appears On ITV's 'This Morning' To Try And Find A Cure

We all know how incredibly annoying it is to have hiccups. But for one woman, who hiccups anywhere between 20-150 times per day, it is a living nightmare.

Lisa Graves has suffered from chronic hiccups since she fell pregnant with her first child eight years ago.

It is estimated that the 27-year-old from Lincoln has hiccuped 3.4 million times since she first developed the unusual health condition.

However doctors are completely baffled it and, so far, have been unable to find a cure.

The mum-of-two, who appeared on ITV's This Morning on 12 November, says her perpetual hiccups stop her from going out and enjoying her life.

"I avoid going anywhere quiet in case I hiccup. I don’t go to romantic restaurants and cinema is a no-go," she said previously, according to The Sun.

"I went to bingo and let out a hiccup. They thought I shouted ‘Bingo!’."

Sometimes Graves' hiccups can be so loud that she wakes up her husband in the night. She said: "They’re almost like a scream. Some people say I sound like a dinosaur."

Doctors are unsure of what is wrong with Graves, who has tried all of the tricks in the book to try and stop them including: holding her breath, getting people to scare her and drinking water "the wrong way".

She's also undergone a brain scan, X-rays and numerous other tests to try and determine what's wrong. But to no avail.

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Graves has now issued a plea asking for anyone with advice, or a similar problem, to get in touch.

She also appeared on ITV's This Morning to discuss her unusual health problem and get a second opinion from Dr Dawn Harper and Dr Ranj Singh.

According to Dr Harper, persistent hiccups (anything that lasts longer than 48 hours) can be linked to irritation of the diaphragm and can sometimes signal serious health problems.

However in Graves' case, because she has had so many tests, this has been ruled out.

So it's "simply a case of managing them".

Dr Singh suggested trying medications such as baclofen or gabapentin to try and ease persistent hiccups. While Dr Harper added that there's some evidence that acupuncture or hypnotherapy might help.

Get Rid Of Hiccups

Just Breathe(01 of06)

There are seemingly endless hiccup remedies that involve some sort of alternate breathing method, from holding your breath to taking deep breaths to holding your breath while plugging your ears."Anything you do in regard to your breath, it's possible that you could disrupt that nerve impulse from the brain to the diaphragm so you stop the hiccups," says Udermann.A little extra carbon dioxide may also help to relax the diaphragm, according to Dr. Oz, although we don't know exactly why.Flickr photo by Camera on autopilot (credit:Flickr: Camera on autopilot)

Take A Drink(02 of06)

There may be even more claims of water-based ways to stop the hiccups than there are breathing tricks.Among the many we've heard: Drink from the opposite side of the glass, drink through a straw (with and without plugging your ears), drink through a napkin or towel and drink a big glass of water without stopping.Swallowing -- which, when you think about it, is a temporary change in your breathing, says Udermann -- may override those diaphragm spasms, according to Reader's Digest Canada. "It doesn't matter if you drink upside down or sideways or from a spoon," says Udermann. "It's that act that could be disruptive."Flickr photo by eschipul (credit:Flickr: eschipul)

Eat Something(03 of06)

"What works in our house is a teaspoon of sugar," says Udermann. "You eat it, and they're gone, 99 percent of the time." Others swear by a spoonful of peanut butter or ice cream. We've even heard biting into a slice of lemon coated in sugar and bitters can do the trick.But there's not likely anything specific about the peanut butter or the sugar or the bitters that's easing those hiccups. Like with drinking and breathing tricks, eating has the potential to affect your breath and therefore your diaphragm, says Udermann.We can't help but remind you though that that spoonful of sugar is just that, a spoon full of sugar, and it counts, calorically. Women should aim to eat fewer than 5 teaspoons of sugar a day, men 9 and kids about 3, so you might want to try other remedies first! (credit:Alamy)

Stick Out Your Tongue(04 of06)

When you stick out or even pull on your tongue, you stimulate a part of the throat connected to the nasal passage called the nasopharynx and the opening between the vocal cords, which may offer some relief.Flickr photo by xlordashx (credit:Flickr: xlordashx)

Get Startled(05 of06)

A little scare could work for two reasons. First of all, it's likely to change your breathing cycle -- hear that gasp you just made? It may also work as a mental distraction, which seems to quell hiccups. Want proof? Have someone ask you to hiccup on the spot, and see what happens, suggests Discovery Health. (credit:Alamy)

Physical Distractions(06 of06)

Reader's Digest Canada also suggests squeezing your palm -- hard -- to distract your nervous system away from hiccuping to the sensation of mild pain instead. This may work similarly to the way that slapping or pinching yourself can distract from an itchy mosquito bite. (credit:Alamy)

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