Home Sun Sneezes?!

[Jas12]

My 13 month old son is a Sun Sneezer.

Ever since he was born he will sneeze twice in a row immediately after being exposed to the sun (when we head out the door of the house or store, when we get out of the car, when i remove him from the shade and go into the direct sun etc. etc.) I always thought it was just kinda cute but after running a bunch of errands today (and many a sun sneeze) i began to wonder what the heck causes it

Apparently around 25% of the population has this optic-nerve reaction to bright light and kids have a 50% chance of getting the ''gene'' if their parents have it (neither hubby nor i do).


So just wondering, any other closet sun sneezers out there? Fess up

found this article on the topic.

 

[jas]

I confess!

I will never ever be able to sneak up behind anyone on a sunny day.

 

[cnspotts]

Yep, my Mom, me & my daughter all do this too. lol Very funny when we''re all together!

 

[Circe]

Me too! I always joke that I must be part vampire, since I''m allergic to sunlight.

 

[pinkstars]

I don''t do this, but I have a friend who does every time the sun is out. BF does occasionally but I don''t think he does it every time.

 

[Sabine]

Interesting! I''ve never heard of this. But whenever I get that feeling like I really need to sneeze and for some reason it won''t happen, I look up to bright light or to the sun, and that does usually make me sneeze. I''ll have to pay attention to if it happens naturally from now on.

 

[Delster]

Guilty as charged!

It''s gorgeous weather in Ireland at the moment by the way. Sun is splitting the stones...

 

[Lauren8211]

I''m definitely a sun sneezer!

 

[Lilac]

It''s funny to see how many people actually are sun sneezers! It happens to me too, but I always thought it was just me (or that it only happened to a few people and wasn''t that common).

 

[Jas12]

ya, i am surprised there are so many too! It''s a quirky thing for sure...


Jas, ha--you always make me giggle. I now have visions of you playing hide and seek with your boys and them pullin back the curtins, letting in the light and..."AHHH CHOOO"...."we found mom!"

 

[purselover]

Yes I am! I didn''t realize this was something people have actually studied, I thought I was just weird

 

[lyra]

My oldest daughter is the sun sneezer. It''s funny! She''s 21 now.

 

[Erin]

I have never in my life heard of this. I''m a salt cougher though...

 

[julabean]

I do this! People always think it''s crazy when I need to sneeze and I look at bright light to trigger the sneezes. I sneeze after coming out of a movie theatre or even going outside on a cloudy day. People have given it funny names, from the ACHOO syndrome to photic sneeze reflex. Here''s the wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photic_sneeze_reflex
And an article from Medterms.com:
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=11491

I heard from an old friend''s mom that it is more common with fairer skinned/light haired people, which fits my dad and sister and myself who all have it, but I''ve met people who were other ethnicities or had darker complexions that get it, too.

 

[Blair138]

I''m a sun sneezer too!

 

[icekid]

I suffer from this affliction too

 

[luvthemstrawberries]

Add me to the list! Doesn''t happen every single time, but it sure is related.

 

[meresal]

Guilty. My mom always called it "Dracula Disease".

ETA: Sometimes I'll even go into the sun, or just move my head into the sun when I'm driving, just to get a good sneeze

 

[Amandine]

Count me in!

 

[Jas12]

hehe. I like "Dracula disease"

 

[fisherofmengirly]

I never knew this existed until I met my husband. He sneezes (always in threes) every time we come out of a store into the sunlight, any time he''s fallen asleep in the sunshine and then wakes up and looks around, any time we leave a movie theater. It was really quite odd to me, and he said that it was to his mother, too. She took him to the Dr. when he was little about it. At the time, that Dr. said that it''s much more common in blue and green eyed people than it is in brown eyed people. I wonder if that''s true, or if that was just a theory back then.

One fun thing I''ve started doing since I found this out and realized other people have the same reaction to the sudden sunlight is to leave the movie theater and then watch to see how many people sneeze as they enter the sunlight. Sometimes you''ll see total strangers doing it in unison. Cracks me up (I''m easily entertained, apparently).

 

[movie zombie]

i do this less now that i''m older which is a blessing because i did it a lot.

mz