Bless You!

No, really. My SO (significant other) has uttered these words several times to me tonight. Why? Well, I believe I have OCS (Obsessive Compulsive Sneezing). You see, I can't sneeze just once. Oh no, I have to sneeze in multiples of at least three, sometimes four or five and if I'm feeling particularly sneezy (Maybe I was one of the Snow White's Seven Dwarves in a previous incarnation) it'll be six or more in a row. 

The one thing I know for sure is that it isn't allergies. I'm not really allergic to all that much and I've been well and truly tested to make sure but I do have chemical sensitivities. Perfumes, cleaning products, deodorants can all send me off into machine gun like bursts of sneezing but generally those are accompanied by the tingling between the ears that signifies a migraine as well as the itchy/watery eyes that go with. I also apparently have chronic non-allergic rhinitis which probably explains most of the chemical sensitivities - and my complete abhorrence for carpet.

I just finished a random burst of about six sneezes in a row and boy did they hurt. I don't know why they hurt but the more times I sneeze in a row the more it seems to hurt. Apparently, according to my interweb searches, which if I put too much stock in I'd be terminally ill with a myriad of diseases these random sneezing events can be brought on by changes in the weather (well, it is cooler than normal), stress (well, I am in a bit of stress - see previous blog post for that) and hormones (being female this kinda makes sense to a degree) to name a few. 

So now, when I sneeze I'm questioning myself whether it is any of those above things or maybe there's something else involved? I really don't know. I'm honestly not sure I want to know but the only thing I know for sure is that my body likes to sneeze a lot. At least I don't seem to have those horridly loud sonic boom sneezes that manage to frighten small children and sleeping cats though maybe I am allergic to something I'm not aware of. Now my nose is itching just thinking about it. Where did I put that Phenergan?