Emily Marsh, 13, given afternoons off school because hiccuping for ten weeks and condition keeps her awake all night Emily Marsh has hiccuped every two seconds for ten weeks Given afternoons off school as the condition is so painful and exhausting Experts are baffled as they cannot find a cure for the condition Drugs that normally help sufferers are too strong for the 13-year-old Schoolgirl Emily Marsh's hiccups started on a normal day in January when she was on her way to a maths lesson. But the 13-year-old has not been able to stop since, hiccuping every two seconds, even when she is asleep. Experts are baffled by her rare condition and haven't yet been able to find a cure. Schoolgirl: Emily marsh has not stopped hiccuping for ten weeks and has experts baffled as they cannot find a cure Emily has undergone a whole series of tests since she went to her GP after a week, and was referred to St Helier Hospital, in Epsom, Surrey. She has had an MRI scan, ultrasound scan, chest X-ray, endoscopy, biopsies, a nasal chute to measure her pH levels, and a gastric emptying study. Doctors have prescribed a variety of different drugs, which haven't worked and she has tried osteopathy and hypnosis. The schoolgirl has tried every home-made remedy, from a spoonful of vinegar to holding her breath and is so desperate that she is about to have a go at acupuncture and has appointments to see an audiologist and tic doctor. She finds it so exhausting she's been given afternoons off school to rest. "We are willing to try anything," said her mother Cathy Barrett, 45, a charity worker from Wallington, Surrey. It's been 10 weeks now, and a very long 10 weeks at that. Emily is exhausted by it all but she's taking it in her stride. Concern: Mother Cathy and sisters Natasha 15 (left) and Libby 10 (right) have been worried about Emily's condition It makes her throat very sore but she deals with it very well. The thing that frustrates her is this constant tired feeling. Strangers are forever offering her a glass of water. But school have been very understanding. Emily is one of only a handful of young people known to have had sustained chronic hiccups. She can only manage half a day at Stanley Park High School, Carshalton, Surrey, because the constant movement is not only painful but exhausting. Emily said: 'I have tried everything - even the spoonful of vinegar. That was horrible - I refused to do it again. I've tried drinking backwards, holding my breath and people at school have been trying to scare me a lot. The hiccups - an involuntary contraction of the diaphragm -become minimal when Emily is in a deep sleep, but return at full force as soon as she enters a lighter sleep. Exhausted: Emily has been given afternoons off school as her condition leaves her so tired She is currently being treated with two drugs - domperidone, an anti-nausea medicine, and omeprazole, used to treat gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. Cathy added: "Absolutely nothing has worked. We have tried hypnotherapy and osteopathy but we are now completely running out of ideas. She's just got to the stage where she's just fed up and wants them to go. I can understand - if you have hiccups for 10-15 minutes it's horrible. We believe that someone somewhere must be able to help or come up with a solution. She said Emily had never had health problems Dr Ritu Handa the paediatric consultant looking after Emily at Queen Mary's Children Hospital at St Helier Hospital, said they had tried a string of tests on Emily including an MRI scan, blood tests and extensive assessments of her stomach. Hiccups that last more than 48 hours can be categorised into: Persistent or protracted hiccups - a bout of hiccups that lasts for more than 48 hours Intractable hiccups - a bout of hiccups that lasts longer than a month Hiccups are common and most people will get them at some point during their life. They can affect people of any age, including babies. Men and women are equally affected by episodes of short-lived hiccups. However, for reasons that are unclear, persistent and intractable hiccups are more common in men. Intractable hiccups are more common in adults. These types of hiccups can be tiring and upsetting, and can make eating and drinking difficult. Persistent and intractable hiccups are rare and usually caused by another underlying health condition. In 80% of cases of persistent or intractable hiccups, a cause can be identified. The remaining 20% of cases usually have a psychological cause. Most hiccups will pass quickly and usually only last a few minutes. Treatment is not usually required. However, in cases of persistent or intractable hiccups that last longer than 48 hours, further investigations are needed to identify the cause and appropriate treatment. As well as treatment for underlying conditions, there are also self-help techniques that may help some people to stop common types of hiccups. However, all the tests have proved inconclusive. Other medical problems have been known to cause chronic hiccuping, but doctors have so far been unable to find anything wrong with Emily and have ruled out serious medical conditions. Dr Handa said: "This condition is very rare and it is frustrating for Emily and her family. We are doing everything we can, working with our colleagues and closely with the family, to try and find an answer to this young girl's hiccups. Cathy said the problem was medication known to have worked on adults cannot be used on Emily because it is not suitable for children. One drug she has already tried - Haloperidol - left her ill in hospital for a week. Cathy said a young American girl had created a 'hiccupop' which she believes will stop hiccups as it worked for her but it had yet to be released for public sale. She praised St Helier Hospital, Stanley Park High School and the Chiltern Health Centre who are all providing help to the youngster. Other cases of people to have had chronic hiccuping include an American man, Charles Osborne, who is in the Guinness Book of World Records after having hiccups for 68 years from 1922 to 1990 - when they mysteriously stopped. In 2010 a musician resorted to brain surgery after hiccuping an estimated 20million times over several years. Chris Sands, 26, from Timberland, Lincolnshire, suffered his first hiccuping attack in September 2006. It halted after a fortnight, then returned in February 2007, becoming as frequent as every two seconds, 24 hours a day. The normal remedies all failed, including hundreds of different ways of drinking water and eating a teaspoon of peanut butter, medical schemes including an oxygen chamber and alternative therapies such as yoga and hypnotherapy. Finally he appealed for help on the internet and was flown by a Japanese TV station to see a Tokyo hiccup specialist who found a tumour the size of a Malteser on his brain stem. Following an operation to remove it, Mr Sands believed he was cured but as a result of the dangerous operation suffered numbness down his left side and now has difficulty with co-ordination which he was warned could last for years.