Severe hiccups / diaphragm spasms on Reta

[bluefootedboobie]

Tldr;

Has anyone else experienced hiccup problems on reta? Does anyone have any advice?


Long version:

Beginning September 1st, I've had off-and-on severe hiccup problems.

The first time it happened (9/1), I had moved from 5 mg to 7 mg of Reta weekly two weeks prior and was doing extremely well with both weight loss and digestion/stomach issues. For whatever reason I ate quite a bit more September 1st (including unhealthier foods) and that set off hiccups for exactly four hours straight. They went away... until I compounded the idiocy and had an entire large pizza the next night, which set them off again. Fortunately they weren't terrible, and they were gone by the middle of the next day.

Then on September 10, I'd been eating well again and decided to have yet another large pizza, almost as an experiment to see if it would cause the hiccups. And yes it sure did. This time they felt worse and lasted five hours straight. Lesson learned, I thought! No more big single-sitting servings, especially of fatty foods like pizza, and this won't be a problem.

And it wasn't for about the next week.

Here's where it gets quite strange.

On September 16, the hiccups returned. This time I'd been eating very well, my typical foods and in low, normal quantities. I'd been thinking it was overeating / stomach overfullness that was causing the issue and it wouldn't happen just on its own. Not only did it happen, it was far worse and painful. Since this is obviously related to retatrutide, I dialed back my 7 mg weekly dosage to 5 mg, which was the dosage I'd been taking before when I'd had zero issues whatsoever.

Unfortunately the problem has not gone away. Every day since September 16th I've had at least some problem with hiccups. Oftentimes it's painful and loud and violent. As I've typed this message, my diaphragm has been doing anything from mild spasms every few seconds to large, involuntary contractions that force VERY loud hiccup shrieks.

I can't manage them in public. Recently I was on a train with these hiccups and I absolutely couldn't stop. It was very embarrassing in addition to being a bit painful.

I've searched reddit's r/retatrutide and this forum ... I found this thread of someone with a similar experience, but on the whole it seems like this is very rare. My life has massively changed for the better due to losing 40 lbs since July 1, and I'm scared to death of the prospect of needing to come off reta because I have this rare side effect.

• Does anyone have thoughts on why it would have suddenly become so much worse as of two weeks ago, despite eating significantly better and having lowered the dosage?
• Does anyone have any ideas for treatment?
  • I've tried regular antacids (calcium carbonate) and a daily acid reducer (omeprazole 20mg), but they've done nothing.
  • All the home remedies such as cold water, sugar, and holding your breath also have done nothing at all.
  • What HAS helped occasionally, is
    • 1. physically messing with my throat and gag reflex... on a couple occasions I got the spasms to stop by sticking my finger down my throat (NOT puking). And,
    • 2. it's somehow tied to stress. The spasms often start back up when I'm frustrated with something, for example, last night my AC remote control wasn't working, I got upset about it, and that results in three more hours of hiccups.

Thank you for the reading my very long post. I'm pretty desperate and would really appreciate any help or thoughts.

 

[Superchicken1]

There is a post on the Meso forum where another person dealt with this. I didn’t read the whole thread, but I do remember they eventually stopped. It might be worth reading through.

 

[Incognitodoberman]

I get them as well. Not as much as I used to. They are loud and they come from deep in my chest so they can hurt, like you said.
I notice it more if I eat too quickly. I chalk it up to digestion interference with the GLP.
The only thing I've done to stop them is holding my breath. Sometimes it'll take a couple attempts but if I can get a good deep breath and hold it as long as I can they disappear.

 

[Bflo_Bflo_Bflo_Bfl]

I have always had painful,uncontrollable,loud hiccups when I overeat. Now with Sema it takes very little to bring them on, so I just have to be careful not to overeat - even though that means sometimes making a single soft pretzel my entire meal. Like I’ll sit down with a pretzel, small salad, and some protein shake. Then I eat the pretzel and I can’t eat the more nutritious stuff.

Luckily I don’t experience hunger or cravings like I used to. I just need to be careful about getting enough protein and not just filling up on a little bit of junk food all the time.

For me at least, wretching makes it stop. I don’t actually need to vomit, just stick my finger down my throat until I gag a few times. I don’t make a regular habit of that and I know it’s generally bad for my health- but sometimes when I get them and they’re bad, I just need to do something.