sneezing fit for no reason

[atchoum]

I saw an old friend recently and it brought to mind a trip in a car with his father many years ago.

We were driving along, the father at the wheel, when he sneezed. Just a quite, discreet one syllable sneeze (*tsheew!*), which I thought was nice because it was very similar to his son's sneeze (the mother had the virile sneeze in that family!), when ten seconds later he sneezed another *tsheeew!*, and then another. Father and son then explained that from time to time, for no apparent reason, the father would have a sneezing fit. This one went to thirteen sneezes and then stopped. No cold, no allergy, just thirteen sneezes.

Has anyone else had experience with this sort of inexplicable sneezing fit ?

[Secret]

Not me, but my mom & dad do that often .

[Morningsmith]

I know a guy who occaisionally sneezes 8-10 times for no reason he knows of. He's a fairly sneezy person, but other than these fits he sneezes pretty much exclusively in singles. It's sort of odd.

I myself rarely sneeze above three at a go outside allergy season, but in the last year I can remember a couple odd fits. One time I sneezed seven times on my balcony. And I have this one memory from a highschool math class, in the days before I had allergies, of sneezing a bunch of times (probably 6 to 8 at least). The female teacher made a big deal out of it, lots of blessings/comments and a tissue box on my desk. Embarrassing but hot for me. I guess sometimes the nose just goes a little crazy?

[Lynne]

My dad does that about once a month. *gag*

[Eson]

I must confess I've never had a sneezing fit before. In fact, I remember someone having to tell me what it was when I first got here. With hope i'll be telling a story soon though.

[allergyboy2001]

I saw two college-age guys on a bus one time, and one of them started sneezing and he told the other guy, "I always sneeze about 10 times." And he did!

I wonder if some people have sneezing fits and then their brain starts to think of it as "normal" and so almost anytime they sneeze, they sneeze a very large number of times. (Conditioning.)

[Trillium]

There could be other physiological reasons, such as a person having nonallergic rhinitis (fancy medical term for a sensitive nose). For example, my ex would often having sneezing fits after drinking a few dark beers, and he wasn't allergic. My speculation is that it was due to the histamine in the beer.

[Dawnie]

Is there histamine in all booze? I know that when I drink I tend to get alittle sneezy. Nothing that I would call a fit, but my nose does feel more sensitive when I'm drinking.

Edited January 16, 2008 by Lynne

[Sneesee]

Well, I have seen this a couple of times. One is my friend Head Cashier Jeff. He has told me repeatedly he has no known allergies, but he will sneeze anywhere from 1 to 10 times when he starts. The most I've seen him do at once was four. He told me he's done 8 in a row. Anyway, I figure he has a very sensitive nose, and that's why he sneezes so much. And certain things can trigger more sneezing, like the time he inhaled red pepper and said he sneezed for "like, two minutes."

I also have a friend at work named Mike, who when he sneezes, it's definitely a double or 15. Again, he claims that he doesn't have allergies, but I've seen three seperate fits of 10 to 15 sneezes, for what seems like no reason at all.

[Gruft]

Is there histamine in all booze? I know that when I drink I tend to get alittle sneezy. Nothing that I would call a fit, but my nose does feel more sensitive when I'm drinking.

I dont know, but I do know that it is very common for alcohol, or being drunk to make people sneeze. I kow a couple of people that I can expect a good show if we go drinking.

[Lynne]

and you didn't invite them? LOL (joking... I probably would have found that quite awkward.... and we weren't exactly "out drinking" either LOL)

[Trillium]

Is there histamine in all booze?

I know there is histamine in both beer and wine, because (geek that I am) I looked up medical research articles on those two beverages. Hey, a girl's gotta know her sneeze facts! I suppose it's possible, because I recall reading that the fermentation process releases histamine.

I think if you went on PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/) and searched, you might find out.

[donttakenostuff]

Thanks for posting that there's histamine in beer and wine. I noticed on the youtube vidoes, folks do a lot of sneezing when they are drinking.

[atchoum]

Well, I have seen this a couple of times. One is my friend Head Cashier Jeff. He has told me repeatedly he has no known allergies, but he will sneeze anywhere from 1 to 10 times when he starts. The most I've seen him do at once was four. He told me he's done 8 in a row. Anyway, I figure he has a very sensitive nose, and that's why he sneezes so much. And certain things can trigger more sneezing, like the time he inhaled red pepper and said he sneezed for "like, two minutes."

I also have a friend at work named Mike, who when he sneezes, it's definitely a double or 15. Again, he claims that he doesn't have allergies, but I've seen three seperate fits of 10 to 15 sneezes, for what seems like no reason at all.

Interesting. But I think these two are pretty frequent sneezers anyway, they have a sensitive nose. What I was thinking of in this post was people who normally do not sneeze much, but who occasionally have a sneezing fit out of the blue.

[elements]

Is there histamine in all booze? I know that when I drink I tend to get alittle sneezy. Nothing that I would call a fit, but my nose does feel more sensitive when I'm drinking.

YEA! Plus there are so many youtube things with drunk people having fits! i have been meaning to ask about this!

and my aunt is a person who has these random attacks.

[ringsfan02]

My stepdad, Atchoum, about whom I've written to you before was like that. He wasn't a particulary sneezy person, that is, I don't remember him sneezing daily or anything like that. But about once a week, usually in the evening, he would launch into an incredible fit of 10 to 15 sneezes or more. I think the most I counted was 25. In fact, I never heard him sneeze a mere single or double. It was always a fit that he had trouble stopping. He did drink, so maybe that had something to do with it, though I can't say he was always drinking when it happened.