Hiccups after 2 hour races

I inevitably get hiccups after any races of at least 90 minutes of threshold effort. Symptom typically develops 30-120 minutes after I’m done and can last up to 12 hours. Outside of this, I never hiccup. Really, it’s just a minor annoyance as it doesn’t present itself during the race. Never occurs during training. Of note, I have very mild seasonal allergies and sensitivity to air pollution (which present themselves some years and some years not) though this seems to result in a few minutes of post-activity coughing. So maybe the coughing and hiccups are related?

Curious, if anyone knows what causes this? I didn’t see any mention of this searching on the forum and maybe I am the only one who gets this?

1 Like

I get the same symptoms, and I’ve noticed it’s more prevalent when I’m coming down from elevation. No idea why though. Just commenting you’re not the only one.

Odd, huh? Hah

I occasionally get hiccups right after hard efforts in colder weather. It starts when I finish the effort and am recovering, and usually clears up within a few minutes. I never get hiccups outside of this. You’re not alone, but I have no idea why it happens.

1 Like

Scroll down to the discussion part of this article. Possible causes are in the first paragraph. Intractable hiccups as an unusual presentation of diabetes mellitus – The New York Medical Journal
Back in the 1970’s a guy I knew had hiccups for 54 straight hours. Turns out he had hypoglycemia. For some strange reason its something I’ve never forgot about.
Look into your electrolyte intake during your races. I also read that bloating of the stomach can contribute too hiccups; possibly you are swallowing quite a bit of air during the race???

Well it’s good to know I’m not flying completely solo here…but it does appear to be rare.

Hmm, swallowing air - certainly a potential. Hyperglycemia is interesting. I do eat copious amounts of shot bloks, gels, bananas, and skratch immediately before and during a race for fueling. ~70-90 grams/hour of basically athlete candy, but I don’t think I’m unique in this respect… I never have experienced GI distress, but maybe I am inducing some sort of short term hyperglycemia. I think electrolyte imbalance is at the heart of it. I am a profusely salty sweater and prone to cramping - perhaps they are related.