The majority of time, after dining out at a restaurant when I am
finished with my meal I have a sneezing attack.  Most of the time the
sneezing attack occurs once I have left the restaurant but not all the
time.  There is no common denominator in the type of food I am eating.
 I would say that the majority of the time I consume a couple of
alcoholic beverages but that could be wine, beer or mixed drinks. 
This occurs in smoking as well as non-smoking restaurants.  These
sneezing attacks do not occur at home, even if I have a drink so I do
not believe it to be the alchohol.  Again, the common themes are
Restaurant dining, alchohol and more times than not, once I hit the
outside air, but not always.
I am trying to figure out what if anything is causing this reaction.

---

Request for Question Clarification by sublime1-ga on 20 Jan 2006 15:32 PST

sonny...

I will offer you an observation from my own experience of the
same phenomenon, coupled with my experience from a metaphysical
perspective, which includes an experiential knowledge of the
energies of what is called the aura, or the biomagnetic field
surrounding the body.

The phenomenon you're experiencing is not unlike what a healer
experiences in mingling his energy with another, and then doing
a process of re-integrating his energy so he feels like himself
again, after a session.

Eating together, from a metaphysical point of view, is one way
in which groups form what's known as a group aura. It can help
strengthen the bonds between members of a family or any group
which regularly participates in dining together.

When you partake of food in the company of a large number of
other people, you take in some of their energy, as well. Food
is an outer symbol of the thoughts and feelings we take in,
"chew on" and digest, keeping whats of value and eliminating
what we find unusable.

So when you eat with a large group of people, your aura opens
a bit, expanding (as does your stomach), and taking in energies
from those around you. As long as you stay within the group, 
the boundaries of your aura tend to stay in the softened and
receptive state promoted by the ingestion of a relaxing meal.
It isn't until you leave the building that the boundaries of
your aura tend to re-assert themselves, closing and solidifying
so that you are no longer in such a receptive state.

In my experience, this is frequently accompanied by a sneeze
which contracts the abdominal muscles sharply and cuts the
connections that you were experiencing with the energies of
others in the room. I've also found that I can intentionally
initiate or promote this process, if it's daytime, by lifting
my gaze to the sun and letting it tickle my eyesight. This
will inevitably initiate one or more sneezes, after which I
feel more like myself again.

The reason I feel fairly confident about this observation is
because I've seen it in circumstances other than eating, as
well. I worked in the field of mental health for 25+ years,
and one scenario I'll never forget was when a very assertive
Nurse Administrator decided to confront a patient who had
everyone else intimidated by his threatening demeanor, his
obvious rage, and his physical size and strength. I walked
her to his door and watched, fascinated, as she stood face
to face with him (looking up a bit), leaned forward in an
assertive stance, and told him flat out that his behavior
would not be tolerated. He was obviously angry, but somehow
clearly impacted by this thin, elderly woman's obvious sense
of authority, so he agreed and backed away.

As we walked away from his room, and achieved a distance
of about 20 yards, she sneezed heartily, and then said 
the most curious thing to me, referring to the sneeze:
"And that's the end of that. That's all there is to it".

I'll leave it to you to decide if this constitutes an
acceptable answer, but I had to take the opportunity to
awaken you to the possibility that things are not always
as simple as they seem. I think we're all much more 
sensitive to the energies of others than we know, and
a lot can be learned by observing the activities of 
the body with an eye toward what is taking place in 
terms of energies and emotions.

sublime1-ga

---

Clarification of Question by sonnyj9-ga on 21 Jan 2006 17:50 PST

I appreciate the response and the explanation.  I do think that this
occurs more when there is a larger group although it does happen with
one other person as well.  This sounds like an acceptable explanation
and I will continue to monitor.

---

Request for Question Clarification by sublime1-ga on 21 Jan 2006 18:11 PST

sonny...

Shall I take your last post to indicate sufficient satisfaction
that I should post what I provided as a formal answer?

sublime1-ga

---

Clarification of Question by sonnyj9-ga on 22 Jan 2006 04:55 PST

Sure, I would accept that.

sonny...

Thanks for confirming my input as an acceptable answer.
I'll repeat it here for the sake of future readers.

-----------------------------------------------------

I will offer you an observation from my own experience of the
same phenomenon, coupled with my experience from a metaphysical
perspective, which includes an experiential knowledge of the
energies of what is called the aura, or the biomagnetic field
surrounding the body.

The phenomenon you're experiencing is not unlike what a healer
experiences in mingling his energy with another, and then doing
a process of re-integrating his energy so he feels like himself
again, after a session.

Eating together, from a metaphysical point of view, is one way
in which groups form what's known as a group aura. It can help
strengthen the bonds between members of a family or any group
which regularly participates in dining together.

When you partake of food in the company of a large number of
other people, you take in some of their energy, as well. Food
is an outer symbol of the thoughts and feelings we take in,
"chew on" and digest, keeping whats of value and eliminating
what we find unusable.

So when you eat with a large group of people, your aura opens
a bit, expanding (as does your stomach), and taking in energies
from those around you. As long as you stay within the group, 
the boundaries of your aura tend to stay in the softened and
receptive state promoted by the ingestion of a relaxing meal.
It isn't until you leave the building that the boundaries of
your aura tend to re-assert themselves, closing and solidifying
so that you are no longer in such a receptive state.

In my experience, this is frequently accompanied by a sneeze
which contracts the abdominal muscles sharply and cuts the
connections that you were experiencing with the energies of
others in the room. I've also found that I can intentionally
initiate or promote this process, if it's daytime, by lifting
my gaze to the sun and letting it tickle my eyesight. This
will inevitably initiate one or more sneezes, after which I
feel more like myself again.

The reason I feel fairly confident about this observation is
because I've seen it in circumstances other than eating, as
well. I worked in the field of mental health for 25+ years,
and one scenario I'll never forget was when a very assertive
Nurse Administrator decided to confront a patient who had
everyone else intimidated by his threatening demeanor, his
obvious rage, and his physical size and strength. I walked
her to his door and watched, fascinated, as she stood face
to face with him (looking up a bit), leaned forward in an
assertive stance, and told him flat out that his behavior
would not be tolerated. He was obviously angry, but somehow
clearly impacted by this thin, elderly woman's obvious sense
of authority, so he agreed and backed away.

As we walked away from his room, and achieved a distance
of about 20 yards, she sneezed heartily, and then said 
the most curious thing to me, referring to the sneeze:
"And that's the end of that. That's all there is to it".

-----------------------------------------------------

If you'd like to learn more about practical metaphysics,
and things like the relationship between eating together
and group auras, a good place to start is with the book
'Practical Occultism in Daily Life', by Dion Fortune,
which is out of print, and now published as 'Practical
Occultism' by Dion Fortune with Gareth Knight:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0850306639/104-2396192-1225528?v=glance&n=283155

Her biography at InnerLight.org relates other books
she wrote:
http://www.innerlight.org.uk/dion/DionFort.html

"The Society of the Inner Light is a Mystery School within
 the Western Esoteric Tradition, founded by Dion Fortune."
http://www.innerlight.org.uk/


Paul Solomon, a spiritual teacher with whom I had the
opportunity to study, said he was taught by her after
her physical death in 1946. He started a group called
the Fellowship of the Inner Light:
http://wisdomofsolomon.com/fil.html

Paul did readings very similar to the ones by Edgar
Cayce, the Sleeping Prophet, and his works have been
carried on since his death by those who knew him:

Grace de Rond and Daniel Emmanuel's site:
http://www.wisdomofsolomon.com/

They have a good page of links to his work:
http://wisdomofsolomon.com/paulsolomon.html

The Paul Solomon Foundation:
http://paulsolomon.com/index1.html


Please do not rate this answer until you are satisfied that  
the answer cannot be improved upon by way of a dialog  
established through the "Request for Clarification" process. 

sublime1-ga

---

Clarification of Answer by sublime1-ga on 23 Jan 2006 00:10 PST

An answer confirmed as accepted, rewarded with 3 stars
despite additional information and links, and a polite
request not to rate the answer until the process of 
clarification resulted in a completely satisfactory answer?

Whatever are you thinking? Don't plan on asking a question
with this username ever again. For that matter, I may well
join the ranks of researchers who never bother with any
question priced less than $5, since only those customers
seem to feel entitled to rate the answers in accordance
with the miserliness with which they price the questions.

---

Request for Answer Clarification by sonnyj9-ga on 23 Jan 2006 11:13 PST

I apologize.  You are correct, I should have rated higher.  It was an
obvious mistake by me and if I could correct it I would.

---

Clarification of Answer by sublime1-ga on 23 Jan 2006 12:32 PST

sonny...

I deeply appreciate the fact that you were open to my
somewhat bilious feedback, and that you have the strength
of character to apologize. I'm very impressed. 

In fairness to you, I should say that yours was not the
only inexplicably low rating that I received this week,
and I shouldn't have taken it all out on you.

For that, I apologize as well.

Best regards...

sublime1-ga

My brother used to have sneezing fits that occurred a few minutes
after he ate a meal containing monosodium glutamate. Even small
amounts of MSG sent him into paroxysms of sneezing. There is, of
course, no way to know whether this could be the trigger of your
symptoms, but it might be worth considering.

Is this mainly a daytime or nighttime phenomenon?
If it is happening after lunches and emerging into daylight? or does
anyone else in your family react to light by sneezing?
If so it could be Photic Sneezing
http://loin.free.fr/john/photic_sneezing.html
possibly exacerbated by nasal mucosal engorgement due to alcohol consumption.

Gesundheit!

It's called vasomotor rhinitis. Here is a little quotation from
emedicine. You might have to register if you want to follow that link
but it's a free registration.

"Vasomotor rhinitis (ie, nonallergic noninfectious rhinitis without
eosinophilia) [...]is believed to result from a disturbance in the
regulation of the parasympathetic and sympathetic systems, where the
parasympathetic system dominates, resulting in vasodilation and edema
of the nasal vasculature. The resulting symptoms are rhinorrhea,
sneezing, and congestion. Symptoms may be exacerbated by cold air,
strong odors, stress [and spicy food] or inhaled irritants. Women with
vasomotor rhinitis have been shown to have higher rates of state
anxiety, trait anxiety, and depression when compared to healthy women
without rhinitis. Patients with profuse rhinorrhea and those with
predominant nasal congestion are distinguished by using the terms
runners and blockers, respectively."

Source: http://www.emedicine.com/ent/topic402.htm

And... Forget about the aura thing...

From a last year medical student...

To jondays-ga:

After researching the condition you mentioned I would have to agree
with you.  Thank you for the response.  I appreciate it.

For future reference I would refuse to accept answers from someone so
feisty - blimey! what an onslaught!  Don't think I would have accepted
such a load of codswallop as an answer.

Have you ever considered that it might be the air conditioning drying
out your nasal passages?

Is it related to sunlight? It could be ACHOO syndrome

http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=11491