Steely Asked :

Can you give me some advice on a longstanding stomach complaint I’ve been suffering from for about 3 years now.

Over that time, I’ve had three extended periods (several months each) during which I’ve been experiencing a lot of belching (continuously throughout the day, beginning when I get up in the morning) and pretty much constant nausea.

I went to see a gastroenterologist during the first bout, who gave me a sigmoidoscopy and gastroscopy, and decided (since he’d seen spasms in the colon) that I must be suffering from IBS. He then prescribed a series of IBS treatments (colofac, mebeverine etc), none of which worked, until he started me on a course of amitriptyline. This seemed to work, and I was symptom free for about 8 months.

continue reading Episodes of Constant Belching, Bouts of Burping A Lot

Samansara Asked :

I stopped smoking seven months ago after 40 years. I had a chronic smoker’s cough. I am still coughing but it seems worse to me. My doctor keeps telling me it is my sinus and has given me steroids, antibiotics, benzonatate to help with the cough, nasonex…….and the list goes on.

Now I have a stabbing pain in the sternum from all the coughing I am doing. My doctor assures me that all of this will pass with time but I feel as though I will never see an end and want to just give up. Should I see another doctor?

continue reading Chronic Smoker’s Cough With Stabbing Sternum Chest Pain

PuzzledCompletely Asked :

It has been 11 years since I had my child and when stimulated I still get discharge from both nipples. It comes out both clear and sticky and sort of yellow/whitish milky – both fluids  come out separately from the individual pores and sort of resembles what I remember the colostrum looking like.

I have no breast pain or unusual lumps, no itchiness, and no tenderness. It does not leak on it’s own that I have noticed. There is a history of thyroid issues in both my mother and father’s sides of the family both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism. I do not take any birth control medicines. I am not pregnant as I just had my menstrual cycle and have had it every month. Should I be concerned about the discharge I have?

continue reading Milky White, Yellow Breast Nipple Discharge, Not Pregnant

What is a Hiccup?

Hiccups are the repeated involuntary spasm of the diaphragm which causes a sudden intake of air. This is followed by the abrupt closure  of the glottis (the vocal cords and space between it) which then restricts the air rushing in. These two actions, diaphragmatic spasm resulting in rapid air intake and closure of the glottis resulting in obstruction of the air flowing in, results in the characteristic sound that we know as a hiccup.

A hiccup is also known as a hiccough or is referred to by the medical term, singultus.

Hiccups usually occur in episodes lasting a few minutes to a few hours. These episodes come and go, often without warning or any clear cause and do not pose any risk to your health. These odd incidents of hiccups are known as transient hiccups.

However, there are cases of persistent hiccups which lasts for more than 2 days or intractable hiccups which can last for more than a month. Persistent or intractable hiccups can be embarrassing, affect daily functioning and even cause pain and distress to the sufferer.

The exact causes of hiccups are not known but transient hiccups are known to occur in certain conditions and situations. While hiccups are not a harmful phenomenon, it can sometimes be a symptom of an underlying cause which may be serious or life threatening.

continue reading Hiccup (Singultus) and Causes of Hiccoughing