Stretching the Sleeve and Hiccups

[Shoppingbeemom]

When I was a small child I would get hiccups and my mother would tell me that hiccups expand our lungs. Now I get hiccups after I eat and my concern is that I'm stretching my sleeve. I still measure my food and eat off of a tea cup saucer. Does anyone know why we get hiccups after we eat? Best wishes

[Munchkin]

I don't get hiccup but I sometimes burp.

[compact]

hiccups come from a spasm in your diaphragm (i dunno if anyone really knows what causes them). can't see how they could hurt a healed stomach. even a brand-new sleeve probably wouldn't be hurt, but hiccups could make it ache.

[Tammy64]

Hiccups and farts....what a lovely combination...guess we are blessed for life.

[cathyp357]

I don't know why we get the hiccups, but I have found that I get them if I have eaten just a little too much. They have become my warning signal to stop. Any more and I am flirting with disaster!

[tibiann]

i find that when my tummy is full then the hiccups start. Its liek a sign for me to stop eating lol!

[5DogMa]

This is what Dr. Alvarez said on another forum about hiccups. This was at Vertical Sleeve Talk dot com.

"Not everyone gets hiccups after surgery but the people who do, it is normally a sign they are full or almost full. Some people get hiccups right immediately after surgery as a sign that the sleeve and tissues are swollen and then subside. People who get the hiccups after the initial postop phase is normally related to the irritation of the phrenic nerve that is very close to the esophagus or to the GE junction. I tell my patients who do get it to use it as a signal of fullness and stop eating. I hope this explanation helps a bit. I tried to put it in a not-too-cietific way.

Congratulations to everyone with their sleeves!

Dr. Alvarez"

[compact]

Thanks ma -- that makes sense. The phrenic nerve controls your diaphragm, which is what moves to make you breathe. The GE junction is the meeting place of the stomach and the oesophagus (the food tube) and the phrenic nerve runs close by it. Enough anatomy -- any one got a cure for hiccups?

[Tuliptwy]

Like Cathy and Tibiann, I get the hiccups when my tummy's full. Don't worry about it stretching your sleeve - the hiccups come from the diaphragm, like Nel says.

[Loverlyme]

Hiccups can be likened to having an air-bubble in your diaphragm. (Note, it's not your stomach.) I guess if you're starting to get full, there might be some pushing up on the diaphragm.

My all-time cure for hiccups is to lift your arms up above your head, stretching out your ribs as far as you can (thus, stretching out the diaphragm area). Then breathe in, expand your ribs outwards all around (even around your back) as much as possible, hold for 5-8 seconds, then breathe out. Repeat 2 more times. Then relax your ribcage. If really necessary, repeat the process.

I've developed this technique from teaching vocal muscle control when teaching students to sing. I've never had this not work for myself or anyone I've talked through it.

I hope this helps.

[blues*room]

Yep, me too! If I get really full, I get hiccups

[Witnmore]

Thanks for posting this questions - I was just going to post it myself! I was never one to get hiccups - maybe once a year. Now, it's a couple of times a week. Fortunately, they don't last long, but they sure are annoying! Thanks to everyone for the good answers. Unfortunately, my hiccups start about a 1/2 hour after I finished eating, so that doesn't help much with the "knowing I'm full" part. Oh well. Again, thanks to everyone.

[nickicole]

Lmao at the farts... I never thought I had I in me but now well sometimes I just have to!