5FU & Hiccups??

HI,

My hubby has been on 5FU for 6 mo now and each time he gets it he has the hiccups. And these are not minor hiccups. Its constant and takes a toll on him as he cant rest. We tried the rpilosec adn that helped but only for about a 20-30 min period. Other than taking another medication, is there anything that helped anyone with this problem?? Thanks!

~C

Hey Christine,

Glad to see you are both still keepin up the fight. I know you said "other than taking another medication", however, Rick has had the same problem since starting 5FU a year ago. Baclofen comes in a pill form, can be taken every 6 hours and works for him like a champ. Without it, the hiccups just continue on anytime he eats, drinks or rolls over in bed (go figure that one out). Much as he hates to take any more meds, this one seems to be a necessity and is effective.

Stay strong and keep up the good work,

Scott

 

On 3/5/2009 2caret wrote:

HI,

My hubby has been on 5FU for 6 mo now and each time he gets it he has the hiccups. And these are not minor hiccups. Its constant and takes a toll on him as he cant rest. We tried the rpilosec adn that helped but only for about a 20-30 min period. Other than taking another medication, is there anything that helped anyone with this problem?? Thanks!

~C

hi yes my father had the same problem had hiccups for several days,i called the doctor and they prescribed medicines but nothing worked.my 10 year old niece found a home remedy on the internt.take a glass of water and a straw sip through the straw little sips  15 times and hold your breath.that seemed to work

 

My husband started chemo (5FU) a couple of weeks ago and had the hiccups continually for 8 days.  He would have them even when he was asleep.  He had them so bad he would not be able to inhale and exhale for a few seconds.  We had to go to the hospital for blood transfusions and they used thorazine, 25 mg., through the IV and the hiccups are gone.  He had about 5 doses and he didn't have to continue the medicine when he came home after 4 days.  He goes back Monday for his second treatment and the hiccups will probably return.  Hopefully the thorazine will help in pill form.  Good luck. 

well they finally put my hubby on thorazine.Hes had 5 doses so far and he still has hiccups, altho they are not constant. They come in stages. But he is right now getting his belly fluids drained. The doc thinks there is a chance the fluid built up could be pressing on a nerve at the esophagus/stomach intersection.  Or it could be the tumor doing that too. When thats is done he will get IV fluids since he is dehydrated from chemo last week. Hopefully he will get some relief and by the end of the day those nasty hiccups will be gone.  :)  Thanks for all your help!

Other drugs that have been used for persistent hiccups are valium (diazepam) and Haldol (haloperidol) and klonepin.  If those fail, as a last resort there is paregoric - if you can find a dr who knows anything about it and a pharmacy that still carries it. (Also, make sure it is indeed paregoric - camphorated tincture of opium, and not laudanum - laudanum is WAY stronger than paregoric and should not be used for hiccups or anything other than extreme pain.)  Paregoric should always be dispensed in a glass or stainless steel container, as the substances used to camphorate it  will melt plastic. The paregoric seems to take care of hiccups that other drugs will not.

Sincerely,

Tre