6 Reasons Why You Get Hiccups in Your Sleep
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6 Reasons Why You Get Hiccups in Your Sleep

6 Reasons Why You Get Hiccups in Your Sleep
Fenton Roman/iStock
By
Jaime Osnato
Updated on August 6, 2025
by
At one point or another, most of us have been woken up by a nightmare or an intense urge to go to the bathroom. Waking up because you have the hiccups may be a less familiar middle-of-the-night disruption, but it does happen. Persistent hiccups can last for as long as a month — day and night — which can keep you awake.

Hiccups are involuntary muscle spasms in the diaphragm, the major breathing muscle that sits below your rib cage. When your diaphragm suddenly and involuntarily contracts, it closes your vocal cords and creates the typical hiccup noise.

Hiccups have several causes and aren’t often a reason for serious concern.

 If they don’t go away after 48 hours, see a doctor to help get to the root of the problem.

1. You Have GERD

Your nightly hiccups could be a symptom of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a condition that happens when stomach acid flows back into the esophagus and causes irritation in the lining of the food pipe and the diaphragm. This can trigger hiccups.

In addition to hiccups and disrupted sleep, other symptoms of GERD may include:

  • Heartburn
  • Upper-belly or chest pain
  • Difficulty swallowing
  • Regurgitation of food or sour liquid
  • Sensation of a lump in your throat
  • Chronic cough
  • Laryngitis
  • New or worsening asthma

Fix it

If your hiccups stem from GERD, the best way to prevent them is by addressing the digestive problem. Talk to your doctor, who can appropriately assess you and provide a proper course of treatment.

Lifestyle changes can help ease the symptoms GERD for some people:

  • Make dietary changes, such as avoiding trigger foods like spicy and fried foods, alcohol, chocolate, and carbonated beverages.
  • Quit smoking.
  • Prepare smaller meals.
  • Eat food slowly and chew thoroughly.
  • Wear loose-fitting clothing.
  • Reduce excess weight in the midsection.
Others may find reflux relief with over-the-counter or prescription antacids that help neutralize stomach acid.

2. You’re Eating or Drinking Near Bedtime

Eating meals or snacking right before you turn in can lead to hiccups in the middle of the night. It typically takes a couple of hours for food to be digested and leave your stomach, and during digestion, food distends the belly, which also produces more acid to break it down.

When someone lies down or goes to sleep before this process is finished, all the food and acid remain in the stomach and may even travel up into the esophagus, causing reflux. This can disrupt the diaphragm, producing hiccups, says gastroenterologist Elena A. Ivanina, DO, MPH, a gut doctor and microbiome specialist in New York City.

What’s more, trigger foods can irritate the diaphragm and esophagus and increase your odds of developing hiccups.

Fix it

Stop eating and drinking at least four hours before you hit the sheets, particularly fried foods, spicy stuff, and alcohol. Though it may feel easier to fall asleep when you drink alcohol before bed, alcohol actually leads to even more disrupted slumber.

3. You Smoke Cigarettes

Puffing on cigarettes can produce sleep-hampering hiccups, too. Smokers are susceptible to hiccups because they’re swallowing a lot of air with each drag and distending the stomach.

 And whenever your belly expands excessively, it can lead to spasms in the neighboring diaphragm, says Dr. Ivanina.

Fix it

Quitting smoking is easier said than done, but there are programs and strategies that can make breaking a nicotine addiction easier.

  • Therapy
  • Stress reduction
  • Exercise
  • Social support
  • Prescription medication

4. You’re Taking Certain Medications

Some prescription drugs may cause hiccups via various mechanisms, such as if they affect the phrenic or vagus nerves (which serve the diaphragm), says Ivanina. Persistent hiccups can be caused by these medications:

  • Dopamine agonists, used to treat Parkinson’s
  • Benzodiazepines, which slow the nervous system
  • Some chemotherapy medications
  • Dexamethasone, a corticosteroid
  • Azithromycin, an antibiotic

Fix it

If you think your meds may be the cause of your nocturnal hiccups, speak to your doctor, who may be able to prescribe you a different drug or dosage.

5. You Have an Ear Infection

It may seem like an unlikely connection, but ear infections are a common cause of hiccups.

 That’s because the tympanic nerve, also known as the eardrum, is indirectly linked to the vagus nerve.

 When the eardrum is irritated by an infection, it may impact the nerves that connect to the diaphragm, bringing on a bout of hiccups.
Other telltale signs of an ear infection include:

  • Ear pain
  • Loss of appetite
  • Poor sleep
  • Fever
  • Drainage from the ear (yellow, brown, or white fluid)
  • Trouble hearing

Fix it

Successfully treating the earache is the best way to get rid of the hiccups related to it. Ear infections can heal without treatment, but you or your child may need a prescription for antibiotics for infections that don’t go away.

 Complications of chronic ear infections include hearing loss, which may not improve if the eardrum is permanently damaged.

6. You Have Another Underlying Medical Issue

Physical problems that irritate the nerves in the chest, including laryngitis, goiters (enlargement of the thyroid gland), tumors in the neck, infections near the diaphragm, and hiatal hernia, can result in regularly occurring hiccups.

In addition, tumors, infections, or damage to your central nervous system can also affect your body’s ability to handle the hiccup reflex.

 That’s why conditions like encephalitis, meningitis, multiple sclerosis, stroke or traumatic brain injury can cause recurrent hiccups.

Fix it

If your hiccups are hanging around and disrupting your sleep and quality of life, schedule a full exam with your healthcare provider. They can perform a thorough examination to rule out any serious underlying medical disorders.

Other Tips to Manage Hiccups

When hiccups keep you awake at night, there are things you can do to get them to go away. Try these tactics:

  • Drink water quickly
  • Swallow a spoonful of sugar
  • Gently pull on your tongue or press on your eyes
  • Gargle ice water
  • Hold your breath
  • Breathe into a paper bag

The Takeaway

  • Persistent hiccups can happen both day and night. While nocturnal hiccups aren’t usually a cause for serious concern, they can disrupt sleep patterns.
  • Some people are prone to hiccups because of underlying health conditions. People with GERD or those with ear infections may be prone to them.
  • Hiccups are also related to lifestyle behaviors, like eating spicy or fried foods, drinking alcohol, or eating late at night. Adjusting those behaviors can help them go away.
  • If your hiccups last longer than 48 hours, reach out to your healthcare provider.
EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Resources
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  5. Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD). Mayo Clinic. April 23, 2025.
  6. Lifestyle Changes for Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease. NYU Langone Health.
  7. How Long Does It Take to Digest Food? Cleveland Clinic. April 19, 2021.
  8. Gardiner C et al. The Effect of Alcohol on Subsequent Sleep in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sleep Medicine Reviews. April 2025.
  9. Thompson L. You Asked: What Are My Hiccups Telling Me? Texas A&M University Health. February 2, 2016.
  10. Tools and Tips. Smokefree.gov.
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  13. Ear Infection (Otitis Media). Cleveland Clinic. June 6, 2023.
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Simran-Malhotra-bio

Simran Malhotra, MD

Medical Reviewer
Member of American College of Lifestyle Medicine
Simran Malhotra, MD, DipABLM, CHWC, is a triple board-certified physician in internal medicine, hospice and palliative care, and lifestyle medicine, as well as a certified health and wellness coach. She is currently practicing part time as an inpatient palliative care physician at Medstar Health after serving as the palliative care medical director at Franklin Square Medical Center in Baltimore for a little over four years.

Dr. Malhotra completed her internal medicine residency at Medstar Franklin Square Medical Center, where she also served as chief resident in 2015. She completed her fellowship in hospice and palliative medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2016. She was named Top Doc in Palliative Medicine in 2019 and 2020 by Baltimore Magazine.

On a personal note, she is a BRCA1 previvor with a strong family history of breast and female reproductive cancers, and underwent a risk-reducing bilateral mastectomy and total hysterectomy in 2020 at 32 years old. After learning about her own genetic risk of cancer, and grounded in her professional experiences in palliative care, she founded Wellness By LifestyleMD, a platform where she works with and educates women at high risk for cancer with or without genetic mutations on the powerful impact that positive lifestyle changes can have on their quality of life and even longevity.

In addition to being a diplomate of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, she completed the T. Colin Campbell plant-based nutrition certification in 2019, the CHEF culinary coaching certification in 2020, and the WellCoaches health and wellness coaching certification in 2022. She is a member of the ACLM women’s health member interest group and serves as the co-chair of the breast cancer subcommittee.

Malhotra has been featured on several blogs and podcasts, where she has shared her unique perspectives and experiences from palliative care as well as from being a genetic mutation carrier who is passionate about using lifestyle as medicine.
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Jaime Osnato

Author
Jaime Osnato is a freelance writer and licensed social worker based in NYC. In addition to everydayhealth.com, her work has appeared in SELF, Shape, FitPregnancy and more.
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