Caters
Spare a thought for mum Lisa Doherty - instead of just having to contend with extra weight gain and the odd swollen ankle, her pregnancy caused chronic hiccups! For five years!
Lisa, 24, from Lincoln began hiccuping in January 2008 when she was pregnant with her daughter Emily.
Emily is now four, and far from stopping once her little girl arrived, Lisa - who runs her own mobile casino company - is still stuck in her hiccuping hell, and doctors have no idea why.
Her condition can get so bad that she can hiccup up to 100 times a day.
When Lisa, who is now also mum to Sophie, three months, first went to the doctors about her ghastly gulps, she was told it was relatively common in pregnant women and not to worry.
She has since tried all sorts of remedies and old wives tales, including drinking water upside down, holding her breath and being given a fright, but her hiccups seem here to stay.
"I started hiccuping when I was around four months pregnant with Emily. I went to the doctor and I was told it was a part of pregnancy and a hiccup could be a way of getting air to your baby quickly," says Lisa.
"I thought nothing of it, until three months after having Emily I still had hiccups. It's not usually fits of hiccups but just one very loud hiccup every hour. At worst I've had up to 100 a day, I've even started hiccuping in my sleep.
"I can hiccup really loud, so it can be a bit embarrassing - some people say I sound like a dinosaur. I get some very funny looks, especially from old ladies because if I'm quite close to them when I hiccup I can often make them jump.
I've tried everything to cure the hiccups. My partner Matthew still jumps out at me every now and again to try and help but nothing works.
Lisa's gulps have baffled her doctor, and she is now waiting to have a gastroscopy - a procedure where doctors use a fibre-optic camera to examine the inside of the gullet and stomach.
"I've been passed from pillar to post," says fed-up Lisa. "One doctor even told me I had the hiccups because I talked too much and that I should try talking less.
"I'm waiting for a referral for a gastroscopy which will hopefully find out what's causing the hiccups and put a stop to them."
Poor Lisa!
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