Here is an unimportant question that I'm quite curious about...  Can
anyone suggest a plausible reason why I have frequent sneezing fits? 
These occur from every few days to several times a day.  The number of
sneezes is typically 4-7.  (My record is ~16.  Single sneezes almost
never occur.)  I am aware of the photic sneeze reflex, and sunshine
can trigger my sneezing, but it usually occurs in the absence of
sunlight.  This is probably not related to allergies--I'm only very
mildly allergic to pollen and haven't noticed a strong correlation
between allergens and sneezing.  It's also probably not genetic--my
relatives don't have this oddity.  (In fact, I've never met anyone
with this characteristic.)

For what it's worth, my sister attributes the sneezing fits to not
sneezing "properly"--doing many small sneezes instead of one large
sneeze.  She is correct that I am less likely to sneeze multiple times
if the first sneeze is large, but one large sneeze usually feels
"unsatisfying."  Anyway, I don't seem to have conscious control over
the size of the sneezes.

Thanks in advance for anything you can dig up.

An interesting question!
Another strange thing about sneezing which I have often wondered is,
if sneezing is an involuntary act, why do we never wake ourselves up
by sneezing?

Hi biophysicist-ga,

My mom had those!  I don't have an answer for you - but here's some
links for you to peruse.

http://www.comedystoreplayers.com/cgi-bin/wotw/863.shtml

"I find if you drink a lot of orange juice you can fight off colds
really easily, obviously the benefits of vitamin C!
I'd heard about milk being bad for your sinuses. I used to suffer with
really bad sneezing fits growing up and my mum read somewhere that
dairy produce in general is bad in terms of mucus production so I
stopped drinking it, took up orange juice instead and haven't had a
really bad sneezing fit in 2 years. Get the odd small one, mainly
dust-triggered!
But I love cheese!"


http://www.public.iastate.edu/~aslagell/spcm212/sneezeout.html

http://www.discovery.com/area/skinnyon/skinnyon970411/skinny1.html

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/hale/1923034

http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2003/07/24/news_opinion/local/8ead844b1f62e35c86256d5900179452.txt
 

Best regards,
tlspiegel

Hi, tlspiegel.  Thanks for the links.  It's nice to know that other
people have worse problems than I do!  Interesting suggestion about
milk, but I'm too addicted to it to test the idea empirically.

Not handling any spadefoot toads or coming off opium withdrawal or using
inhaled corticosteroids, are you, doc? ;-)
http://www.herpo.com/trans-pecos/amphibians/scaphio.html
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003060.htm

I have this periodically, today as a matter of fact, but it's 
allergies with me.  My record is 14 in a row and it's exhausting for 
us serial sternutators.  

Have you already been through Regional Allergy Screening?
http://www.fpnotebook.com/ENT73.htm

Possibly a non-allergic rhinitis?
http://www.healthtalk.com/aen/perspective/lieberman/01.html

This case was cured by electroshock.  Yikes!
http://www.coedu.usf.edu/abaresource/HORS.htm

I'll keep an eye on this question to see what my colleagues turn up for you.  

Good luck!
V

i am no doctor but i have the same condition. i kinda like your
sister's take on it. in an odd way i like to sneeze and dont mind
leaning into a sneezing fit. i saw another thread somewhere that
likened the sneeze to the orgasm. maybe the condition is some kind of
hedonistic reflex. if i feel a sneeze coming and i am in private i'll
look at bright light to trigger the fit. i wish people would wait till
the end of the fit till they "bless you" , but on the other hand i am
getting alot of extra blessings. ever have a fit while driving ?