Violent and stormy sneeze attacks

[Withywindle]

I'm a nasal allergy sufferer, and most of the time, I cope. But one really annoying effect that I can do NOTHING about is the sneeze attacks.

They come on every 3 or 4 days, usually in the evening, and when they happen, they LAST. It's not just one sneeze, it's a linked chain of as many as a dozen, seconds apart.


The MOST annoying thing isn't even the sneezes themselves, it's the coworkers or friends who insist on saying "bless you" after EVERY SINGLE FUCKING ONE and I'm supposed to reply to them while my nose is trying to blast itself either into the core of the earth or wrinkle itself back up into my third eye.

Anyone else? What do you do? (Don't say "blow your nose" - all that does is make my ears pop like I'm descending from cruising altitude at crash speed.)

[pokerfan]

1. My SIL does that

Anyone sneezing in the presence of my SIL doesn't merely receive a "bless you." They get a "God bless you!" And if it's a sneezing fit, she makes sure there's a 'God bless' for each and every single fucking sneeze. She just runs them together. And oh yeah, she shouts the blessings. It's extremely annoying.


George: I said 'God bless you'. Was that so wrong?

Jerry: The question is, did you allow a space for the husband to come in with his 'God bless you'? Because as the husband, he has the right to first refusal.

George: Yes, yes, I definitely waited. But let me say this: Once he passes on that option, that 'God bless you' is up for grabs.

Jerry: No argument. Unless, she's one of these multiple sneezers, and he's holding his 'God bless you' in abeyance, until she completes the series.

George: Well I don't think she is a multiple sneezer, because she sneezed again later, and it was also a single.

Jerry: What if she's having an off night?

[Withywindle]

2. I inherited it from my mom. She does this too.

And when we're both in the same room and going off at the same time, and the snot droplets are flying, and our eyes are scrunched shut and watering, and our noses twitching like extras in 'Watership Down'...we still manage to keep gasping out "saúde!"* at each other.


*She's Brazilian, she was my primary caregiver when I was a baby and toddler, that's both our natural reflex to say to sneezing people - "good health" in Portuguese.

[MiddleFingerMom]

3. Don't try to mute them...

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
...in fact, EXAGGERATE them, making them as loud as you
possibly can to cover up the powerful FART you and I both
know (and now everybody else) they're going to eventually
and violently PUNT from your body.
.
.
.
You'll know it happened (if YOU didn't personally hear it
because of the explosion in your head) because NOBODY
will be sayin' "Bless you" to that one.
.
Say... ... ... ... that's ONE way to stop those annoying folks!!!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

[Withywindle]

4. Oh honey, I don't even worry about farts!

The explosive force originating in my sinus passages is strong enough to blow my tampon through the toilet down into Chicago sewers and propel it through the earth's core into China.





And if it's not that time of the month...I just worry that my pancreas will be eaten by some sheepherder's dog in Mongolia.

[kentauros]

5. My sneezes are so violent that I haven't used paper tissues in decades.

They can't handle the force! So, I always have at least one cotton handkerchief on me. I need to get more because some of them are getting kind of ragged...

The last place I worked I had a coworker that would say "bless you" but she was a good person. We'd joke about my sneezing fits and she'd hold back (like the Seinfeld advice above) until I was done :)

An interesting factlet about handkerchiefs is that they are at their softest when they are about to fall apart

[era veteran]

6. Most of my family has the attacks. They don't bother me

when it happens but it scares other people. When it passes it's just gone. I had them when I was young before my sinuses went bad. I live in the worst allergy place in the world, greater Ohio valley. No wonder the Native Americans wouldn't live in Kentucky. LOL

[era veteran]

13. sometimes it sucks

Lexington is recognized as a high allergy area by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.The results for the spring of 2008 rank Lexington at first.

[TheManInTheMac]

7. I always say,

"Did you get any on you?"

See, it could always be worse.

[kentauros]

11. "No, it went all over the computer screen.

I'll call IT to come over and clean it off." :P

[frogmarch]

8. I had that problem. I'd

sneeze and sneeze till I blacked out sometimes. My nose ran and my eyes watered all the time. I became a mouth breather, but I considered myself lucky to breathe at all.

Early this spring we had our furnace cleaned - ducts and all - and now I'm sneeze free, for the first time in years. The cleaning was pricey, but it was worth it! Within a day or so of the cleaning, I felt like myself again.

Edit: Having the furnace ducts cleaned took care of the AC too.

[TommyO]

9. I used to work with a group of people who had the perfect solution

Sneeze #1: Bless you, or something similar

Sneeze #2: Bless you, or something similar

Sneeze #3: Shut Up!

Sneeze #4+: Silence, except for the sneezes

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[pitohui]

12. i don't have the sneeze attacks that often any more but know what you're talking abt

i prefer someone to just pretend it didn't happen to all the making a fuss and "god bless you" so if the sneeze goes on and on, i usually just go somewhere and hide

that said, if your health insurance (if you have it) can cover a trip to the allergist, you should find out what is causing the sneezing to happen this frequently

i have these attacks MUCH less often now that the allergies are under control

you may need to use an inhaler in addition to pills for a couple of years, i did

what the other poster said about cleaning the filter, too, because if it is only happening at the evenings, presumably at your place or another place you visit often, this might be the "spark"

[hippywife]

14. Any time anyone talks about sneezing

this is the first thing that always comes to mind:







Sorry you're plagued with this. :hug: