Major sneezing fits with daughter....help please?

Have you tried giving her Nyquil? This is supposed to help with the sneezing. I know it can get quite painful if one sneezes repeatedly! Your poor daughter :( I'm sorry I can't be much help but hopefully when you take her to the specialist they can get to the bottom of it. A thought just popped in my head, does your daughter have a computer in her room or one that she uses in which she uses compressed air to spray off the keyboard? I've heard that the propellents in those things can cause much grief especially if one is sensitive to them. What about foods? Does her sneezing fits correlate to anything she eats on a regular basis?

So this specialist you are taking her to is an allergist? If she does have allergies (which is sounds like she does), I can give you a few tips to help ease her symptoms. Yes, by her avoiding the animals is a big thing but if she is anything like my daughter it will be easier said then done! If she won't avoid the animals, you can shampoo the animals in an allergy shampoo - this helps reduce the dander that animals produce which is the primary cause of allergies (that and their saliva). Vacuuming is good but it's not enough. After you vacuum, dust the house because vacuuming stirs up the animal dander, dust and whatnot that is in the carpet. This includes dusting any ceiling fans if you have any. You can also put cheesecloth over the vents to capture more allergens as well as putting a hypo allergenic filter on your furnace/air conditioner. If it's dry in your house, this will create more allergy symptoms so you should have a humidifier in her room at least. This "mats" down the allergens in the house and it doesn't let them float about. Encase her mattress in a hypo allergenic mattress cover as well as her pillows. These can usually be found online - not sure where though. I hope some of these tips can help your daughter - I hate seeing children miserable!

When I was younger I used to sneeze like crazy probably not quite as bad as your daughter but it became a part of my everyday life. I would wake my family up in the morning with my sneezing attacks and I sneezed so much it drove my mom crazy lol. My eyes would also water so much it looked like I was crying. The only time i would stop is when I left the house.  I had a cat that stayed inside and other pets that came inside from time to time.  We would vaccume and everything but nothing seemed to help. When I moved 2 years ago we would not allow any pets into our home and removed all carpets in the house and wow what a difference. It was like my sneezing attacks cleared up imediately. If someone lets a cat inside now it takes about 5 mins before I start sneezing like crazy. I dont know if this is the case with your daughter...i'm not a professional or anything but its a thought. I hope all goes well with your daughter! 

I want to thank you all for your concern and tips.  Sherry some of the tips I have already started doing and will be put the others into place this weekend.  We also had a large braided rug in the living room where she spends much of her time.  We took this out as I felt it was one of the culprits of her sneezing - the vacuum just wasn't get out all the dog hair (we have 2 dogs but 1 sheds  alot).  She hasn't stopped sneezing, but the severity of the attacks has been lessened.  During one of her more severe attacks, I actually counted how many times she sneezed - it was over 80 times and I couldn't get them all because she was sneezing so fast.  No wonder the poor thing couldn't breathe!!  We have also found that sticking her in a hot shower seems to help after awhile.  The steam must do something for her.   She saw an ENT on Tuesday for nose bleeds, because she was having a lot of them - yup this on top of the sneezing.  She had one nostril cauterized and she's still hurting from it - poor kid!  He wants her to see an allergist as soon as we can get her in.  He is going to send that recommendation to her PCP, but since I didn't know how long that would take, I decided to be proactive.  I called the PCP's office explained what was suggested and they made the appointment.  She has an appointment for Feb. 27th...it's several weeks away, but at least we have an appt.    Although she still sneezes a lot, she hasn't had any major attacks in a week so keep your fingers crossed that she won't have any more of the big attacks.   So thank you all and I'll keep you updated as we move along with everything.   Wen

Here's an update for you all on my daughter's sneezing fits.  Thankfully, she hasn't had a sneezing fit in several weeks (knock on wood so I don't jinx it).  She still sneezes a lot but we keep a humidifier in her room and send her there once she has sneezed 5-6 times in a row.  We aren't taking any chances - lol.  It works pretty well for her.   She saw the specialist yesterday for a consultation.  The specialist said her nosy is somewhat stuffy, but that was about it for anything that she could see right away.  On June 2nd, she is going to have a bunch of skin allergy testing done as well as an asthma test.  The asthma test is because she is complaining of heaviness/hard to breathe after playing hard or running.  So we have to wait another month or so for this, but we will keep our fingers crossed that all stays as it is right now.   Thank you all for your great suggestions, help and caring.  HW is such a great community.  Thanks again!!   Luv to all, Wen

Hi Sherry,   Thanks, I will definitely be keeping my fingers crossed as well.  Yes the doc told us told allergy meds of any kind for 3 days before the allergy testing appointment.  I'll let you know how things go.   Thanks for your help.   Wen

Thanks Carla, as a mom it's a very scary deal watching her go through this.  So I will most definitely keep you up to date on what we find out.   Take care, Wen

I continue to learn something new from you all every single day.  Until the two of you posted about the continued sneezing, I had never heard of that happening.  I've seen people sneeze five or six times in a row and I've done that myself, but what you all describe sounds like pure torture.

Good Luck to all!

Carla

For your families emotional sake I hope she is not allergic to the pets. What a heart wrenching decision. Maybe you could just keep her room pet free and keep her door shut all the time. If she spends a lot of time in her room that should help!

Which allergy test did she have done Wen?

Wen,

I can not believe she did not test positive to anything.  That blows my mind!

Please keep us posted and let Sneezy know she is in our prayers.  I know the sneezing spells have to totally exhaust her.

With love and prayers,

Carla

Wen,

Let's just pray that it is all over.  That would be wonderful.  I will keep praying for her.

Hugs and prayers to your daughter,

Carla