Singultus

3 hours of hic-ups last night... eventually stopping at 2am-ish!
So heres a wee bit about singultus.

WHAT

A hiccup or hiccough (generally pronounced "HICK-cup") is an involuntary spasm of the diaphragm; typically this repeats several times a minute. The sudden rush of air into the lungs causes the glottis to close, creating the "hic" noise. A bout of hiccups generally resolves by itself, although many home remedies are in circulation to shorten the duration, and medication is occasionally necessary. By extension, the term "hiccup" is also used to describe a small and unrepeated aberration in an otherwise consistent pattern. The medical term is singultus.

WHY

While many cases develop spontaneously, hiccups are known to develop often in specific situations, such as eating too quickly, taking a cold drink while eating a hot meal, eating very hot or spicy food, laughing vigorously or coughing, drinking an excess of an alcoholic beverage, or electrolyte imbalance. Hiccups may be caused by pressure to the phrenic nerve by other anatomical structures, or rarely by tumors and certain kidney disease.

CURE

Some Common ideas on how to get rid of hiccups:
-putting fingers in throat, or ears
-standing on head
-someone jumps out and scare you when you're not expecting it - a famous treatment
-holding breath and counting to 10
-breathing deeply
-trying to swallow hiccups
-massaging the bottom throat between the collar bone or under both collar bones
-saying 'purple'
-drink as fast as possible
-putting sugar on tongue
-hold chocolate on your tongue


Not convinced any of these work... although the chocolate thing sounds worth while...

The Guinness World Record for the longest continuous bout of hiccups (1922–1990) goes to Charles Osborne (1894–1991) from Anthon, Iowa.
The hiccups started in 1922 at a rate of 40 times per minute, slowing to 20 and eventually stopping in February 1990 – a total of 68 years.

68 years at 20-40 times a minute... OH SNAP!
i have no complaints anymore!