patut Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 Am coming aboard now as I'm feeling so bad for my hubby who has had his hiccup/spasm bouts return after they went away for awhile. And we just got him eating more too. He's good all day and then evening comes and it starts up again. He's on chlorpromazine 25 mg which he can take three times a day and which make him really sleepy when taken with his cough medicine. Anyone relate to these hiccups, and how to handle them? (such as what to eat and not eat?) Diagnosed with squamous cell nsclc and told it was most easily treated of all of them. First symptoms were fluid retention under eyes which turned out to be vena cava syndrome last September. Treated for allergy for 5 months before it was figured out (we live in a very small community). Has had five weeks radiation and three treatment of chemo. Dr. won't finish up his chemo until his body gets more stable again. So…that brings us back to those darn hiccups which are slowing us way down. Reading all your posts has been encouraging to me. Thanks so much!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betplace Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 patut, I don't have any advice for you, but I do have a Hug ((patut)) and a warm welcome to our board. Sorry you have to be here. Someone has probably had to deal with this at some time, and will post. I am sure you have tried all the normal remedies: sucking on a lemon, water etc. Good Luck with it. Blessings Betty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ry Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 Patut~ Sorry to hear about your husbands hiccups and spasms. I know others on here have had the same problem so i am sure someone will address that. My husband was also diagnosed due to vena cava syndrome. I wish you both the very best. Welcome to the wives club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna G Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 Wish I knew a quick fix for your hubby's hiccups. Usually it is an upset stomach that irritates the diaphram causing the hiccups. Nausea medicine as compazine or antacid usually help. Keep us posted Donna G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayd Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 Hi, My husband had hiccups the entire time he was on chemo, I always thought it was from the decodron and Kytrel that he took for the nausea. He would hiccup in his sleep, and sometimes it would cause what he called wretching. He hated it, but nothing seemed to keep him from hiccuping. Kayd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phyllis Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 I don't have any answers on the hiccupping other than my friend gets hiccups all of the time since she has fibermyalgia and this seems to be a symtom. She is on antidepressants which help her symptoms. I was having coughing/sneezing/itchy throat spasms which allergy medicine seems to have fixed. My question is what is vena cava syndrome.? I am on carbo/taxol and for the last few months suffer three-four days of fluid around my eyes. The swelling goes away gradually throughout the day. I also will get from time to time some blood out of my lungs. I have a suctioning device that I use since I have an opening in my throat to breath. Sometimes I get brief heart palpitations. I have normal blood pressure and am healthy otherwise. Thanks for any info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patut Posted May 12, 2004 Author Share Posted May 12, 2004 Phyllis, I doubt if you have vena cava syndrome. For my husband, it was found that a tumor was near his bronchial tube causing pressure on a central nerve that runs down the front of us called the vena cava. As soon as they shrunk his tumor with radiation, the puffiness under his eyes went away and he now looks normal. I wish you the best- you have certainly come a long long ways. C.H. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ry Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 The vena cava is the vein that brings the blood back to the heart. John's tumor was pressing on it and restricting the blood flow back to the heart. The blood backed up causing his neck to swell. Radiation shrunk the tumor enough to get the blood flowing better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phyllis Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 Thank you for the reply. Everyone on here always has such good answers and so knowledgable. I e-mailed my doctor just in case. I am just really tense since my shoulder started hurting again with this last treatment and before that the pains had gone away. I really need a good CT scan to help make my case with the rfa docs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay A. Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 hiccups and other muscle spasms can be related to liver toxicity. And that can be caused by any number of things, both cancer related and non cancer related. For me it was brought on as a severe negative side effect to a prescription medication. I have a friend who was taking a common over the counter medication who drank ONE martini, and it caused liver damage severe enough to bring about the muscle damage that resulted in severe hiccups and uncontrolled itching. Do an information search on chemical hepatitis, or for that matter liver dysfunction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carla Posted May 13, 2004 Share Posted May 13, 2004 For what it's worth, my dad had hiccups in hospital following his spinal surgery and they told him it was probably the morphine. When he went home they pretty much went away. Sometimes minor recurrences. The radiation doc said if they weren't bad, generally the cure is worse than the hiccups, although sometimes they were related to liver issues. So then they went away again but came back. This time they were connected to this abdominal pain which was connected to nausea that we all thought was side effect of radiation. Once admitted to the hospital for suspected blood infection, the infectious disease doc put hiccups + abdominal pain (which by then was really bad) together and started looking at the gall bladder, which turned out to be the problem. Not related to the lung cancer. Not that this is a definitive answer, because everyone else seemed to have a different theory -- one nurse even suggested a mild dose of THORAZINE, which seemed pretty radical to me. Fortunately it never came to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stand4hope Posted May 13, 2004 Share Posted May 13, 2004 Hi patut, and WELCOME! I can't offer any advice on the hiccups or spasms, but I just wanted to welcome you and say hello. I know what you mean about feeling bad, though, when your husband is having this discomfort. I can hardly stand it when any of the three men in my life are feeling bad. You've come to the right place for support, advice, caring and even humor, and we're all here to help you get through this. God bless you, Peggy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamie Posted May 13, 2004 Share Posted May 13, 2004 Patut, Welcome to the board. Im sorry I have no answers, (Somehow my Dad missed that symptom), but I do want to wish you all the best. Keep in touch and let us know how things are Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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