Monday, April 4, 2011

Snatiation.

Snatiation is a term coined by some very serious scientists for a very serious and rare genetic defect.  If you've ever been around me when I'm eating, you've likely had to suffer through my disorder right along with me.  It is something that cannot be cured.  I will suffer with this defect for the rest of my life.

What is this condition that I suffer with on a regular basis?  I sneeze when I am full.  Food, drink, it doesn't matter.  I could be innocently drinking a cup of coffee when, BAM, uncontrolled sneezing.  Or maybe I'm eating chips and queso at my favorite Mexican restaurant when, ACHOO, the uncontrolled sneezing attacks. On the one hand, it is a good way to keep from really overeating.  When I get to sneezing, I simply can't indulge in whatever feast is sitting on the table. Why learn portion control when my body won't let me eat more than it can handle?

For a long time, I thought I suffered alone.  I know a lot of people experience "photic sneezing" which is sneezing when you step into bright light.  I do this too, but the sneezing when I'm full thing really wierded me out.  So I did what anyone would do. I googled it.

I've googled it a hundred times, at least.  The best I can find, it is called gastric sneezing or snatiation.  Apparently it is a rare thing to do.  I don't know anyone else who sneezes when full.  I decided to marry Eugene, though, only after learning his family history (I would have likely married him without knowing this strange bit of history...)

Early in our dating relationship, I learned that my husband gets a runny nose when he is full.  He also learned that, whenever I ate a lot (or drank a lot of water or coffee or anything) I would sneeze several times.  I told him that I sneeze when I'm full and he told me he nose runs.  The next thing he told me just let me know that fate was working in our favor.  Eugene told me that his grandmother sneezed when she was full and his grandfather got a runny nose! Having never known another person who sneezed with a full stomach, I just knew we were meant to be together!  We have, of couse, been happily snotty and sneezy together ever since...

29 comments:

  1. Is this true??? How have I never noticed you doing this? Are you never full around me? I'm going to be staring at you the next time we eat together - just thought I'd warn you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I absolutely do this and there is no way you haven't noticed it. It happens almost every time I eat!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I just learned about snatiation. I've been having this problem for years now without knowing what it was. But guess what, in my case, I sneeze AND my nose runs. Can't go to the restaurant without making use of kleenex or having to hide in the restroom.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Were you always sneezing or did it start after an age? Mine started at high school. First times I was wondering if I was always flu or got cold. Then I realized it was happening after meals. I thought it would be allergic. After maybe 8 years, I got allergic tests and made sure it wasn't so. Then, one day mom said her grandfather had it...

    I wonder if it is really genetic. If so, I wonder if we're all attached to the same family somehow. Wouldn't it be interesting? It's not impossible since it's told to be so rare...

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have this too! My grandmother gets angry at me when I don't sneeze after one of her meals!

    ReplyDelete
  6. OMG finally an answer !!!! I have had this for as long as I can remember, I am 46 years old now. All the hours trying to figure out what kinds of food I am allergic to, and not eating certain things that I thought were the major instigators of the repetitive sneezing, but still having them. then thinking it was endocrine / insulin type of dysfunction, but I am not a diabetic. Although I am super sad that there is not cure for it, I am ecstatic that I can eat what ever I want without thinking I am somehow allergic to it. It is an enormous weight lifted off my chest. For all the MD's that have either come up empty handed or misdiagnosed me..... lets do lunch..... when I have the flu.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow! I am glad I'm not the only one. I don't have anyone else in my family that does this, but I am oddly grateful because I know I can't "overeat"! I start sneezing and can't eat anymore! This happens to me whether I've eaten too much food, or even had too much water or coffee! It's crazy! Almost every morning at work, while sipping away at the last few drops of my large coffee, I feel the sneezes coming. My paralegal can hear me apologizing in advance for the sneezes that are inevitable. Every. Single. Time. I wonder-does anyone have as et number of sneezes? Mine vary, but I wonder if there are patterns out there...also, I sneeze in the sunlight. Anyone else?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hello Tall Gal, I am only three days "self diagnosed" but I am absolutely sure of it now. My symptoms do not happen every time I overeat, but it does happen 90% of the time when I eat or drink excessively on an "empty stomach". Maybe 20% of the time when I eat a normal meal. I do not have a set number of sneezes, but it will be more than 8 and less than 20. I can feel it coming on about 20 seconds before it happens, and my girlfriend can predict it with 100% accuracy by looking at my eyes. Besides the itchy, glassy eyes, the only other thing is that it kills my appetite. Because I just found out about this, I am still putting together the pieces, I still don't have the answers to some of the occasions that it happens when I am not overeating and it happens anyway. When I eat something sugary, like an ice-cream cone or chocolate cake it will set it off.... not every time. I eat them anyway because I can't refuse sweets. I will continue to investigate this further now that I know what causes it, and will post my findings. THANK YOU TO ALL that lead me to this understanding. I was so convinced that it was endocrine / insulin or allergy related that I could not see the overeating part of it. ps. I also sneeze in the morning sunlight, or after moving from a dark place to a bright lit area. but I think that it is common. I will investigate this also, they may be related somehow.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I just finished reading a page one article in today’s Wall Street Journal (11/23/13) with the headline: “Thanksgiving Can Be a Stressful Time for People Suffering from Snatiation”.

    When I walked into my kitchen this morning for breakfast, my wife greeted me by waving the paper in my face and commanding, “You must read this! You must read this now!”

    I never heard of “snatiation” and was totally amazed that what I had been suffering from for most of my adult life had a name and that other people had the same condition.

    I’m 74 years old and for about 50 of those years I have been getting a sneezing attack after every meal I eat. My wife and I jokingly referred to the episodes as my “post-prandial affliction” which fit in nicely with our facetious agreement that I was the “Prince of Weird Afflictions.” (Among other strange occurrences in my life, I once laughed so hard that I momentarily blacked out, fell forward off my chair and broke a tooth.)

    Since my teenage years, I’ve had mild to severe seasonal allergies and I always thought that my after-meal sneezing was just another allergy. I always described it to friends, family and doctors as my being allergic to the act of eating. My theory was that it was some kind of auto-immune reaction in which my body was allergic to chemicals produced by the digestive process, perhaps hormones or enzymes. Taking allergy meds never made a difference or stopped the attacks, whereas the meds almost always curbed my seasonal allergies.

    As far as I know, no one else in my family ever suffered from this condition although several have mild to severe seasonal or other allergies.

    After reading the WSJ article I Googled snatiation and eventually got to this page.

    Below is a link to the Wall Street Journal article. You can copy and paste it to your browser.

    http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304868404579192263667727266

    ReplyDelete
  10. I´ve been sneezing for as long as I can remember and I never knew the reason!! My grandma and mother sneeze and got runny nose, I just sneezed so I think Its not that bad (kind of annoying and embarrassing)! today I finally google it and Im glad theres someone else that suffer from this too! Im not a freak!!! Im from Ecuador btw so I think it doesnt matter were you are, you are not the only one!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I have had this for years. Triggered by a full feeling/satisfaction. Sometimes weird things can trigger it.... like swallowing some vitamins or brushing my teeth (I know. Sounds nuts). I did read the WSJ article last November. I hate it most when concluding a business dinner and I feel it coming on. I need to run to the mens room and sneeze it out in there. Awful....

    ReplyDelete
  12. I deal with this every time that I eat. It's not necessarily caused by over eating but anytime that I eat, I also have this happen when my stomach is upset or when I'm hungry. Very frustrating. I've talked to my regular doctor and gastroenterologist regarding this. The only suggestion that I received is to take a Claritin before eating, this didn't help.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I have this too!! I thought I was the only one, but I'm glad to know it's a real thing!!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I have dealt with this for ever. I know just when I am getting to the point I will sneeze and I stop. Even if I drink water, the second my stomach is full I sneeze. Its exhausting and annoying but I got used to it. I think its funny now and I happen to work for an ENT so its kinda ironic really. I always think it could be worse so ill just stick with my kleenex and call it a diet plan.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wow! I can't believe how many people have posted here about this! Like I said several years ago, if I get "full" or that "full" feeling, regardless of what I've consumed (water, coffee, chips and queso), I sneeze. Lots. I would love to know why! Maybe we can somehow find a scientist willing to test us!!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I posted to this website a couple of years ago noting the same symptoms of unexplained sneezing after eating anything. I was resigned to living with the condition since no doctor had any answer that worked. Then, about six months ago, I was referred to a new ENT/Allergist. I went reluctantly. He listened to my entire story, gave me a full ENT exam and announced at the conclusion of the exam that he did not believe I had an allergy. He said he believed I had "non-allergic rhinitis" caused by an over-active or over-sensitive parasympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system controls the body's involuntary intestinal and glandular chemical secretions, including digestive secretions. The doctor prescribed a relatively new drug for me called "Dymista," which is a nasal spray. Since the first time I used it nearly six months ago, I have not sneezed after meals!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My husband, who seems to suffer from this is wondering how you use the nasal spray, ie, daily, before meals.

      Delete
  17. I use the spray twice a day, one spray in each nostril, in the morning before breakfast and again about an hour before my evening meal.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Wow! I had a friend tell me (after experiencing one of my sneezing/runny nose bouts at dinner) tell me she knew someone else that did the same thing and that it was an actual medical condition. I'm so excited that there might be something that could help!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Wow! I had a friend tell me (after experiencing one of my sneezing/runny nose bouts at dinner) tell me she knew someone else that did the same thing and that it was an actual medical condition. I'm so excited that there might be something that could help!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Crazy, I've been sneezing when full my whole life and just pointed it out to others as a weird trait.. i didn't realize that this was a thing. Haha. You're not alone.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Crazy, I've been sneezing when full my whole life and just pointed it out to others as a weird trait.. i didn't realize that this was a thing. Haha. You're not alone.

    ReplyDelete
  22. My mom and I both suffer from this condition. It is genetic and pretty rare. It takes a very full stomach to trigger it for us, but we experience usually 8-9 sneezes in a row. It doesn't happen to me until I've already had too much...but once I sneeze, I don't feel as miserably full.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Check out the causes online, they're well documented. It's called snatiation and it occurs because the distended stomach triggers the mucus lining of the stomach and causes the sneezing.

      Delete
  23. Am 61, started a couple of years ago. No one else in family has it. Trying to find ot its commonality.

    ReplyDelete
  24. My mother noticed this trait of me, I think it started one year ago. Just googled its name today. Strangely it looks like all family members on my mother's side don't have this trait. I'm Asian btw. If it's genetic why does it start at some age?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As a snatiation "sufferer" and a biotechnologist, I can only offer you a scientific publication, the first one that describes this condition: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1015683/pdf/jmedgene00058-0059.pdf
      I believe it's because of how our nerves interact - the impulse of feeling full triggers the nerve that causes sneezing reaction. Probably this nerves start to interact with each other during our development, but it's not necessary that it happens at the same age to everyone. And of course, genetic traits can start to occur later in life. This genetic mutation can be only something that predisposes us to have a condition and it can be silent during our life, but something that acts on our body/genes (enviromental impact on genetics, it's called epigenetics, very important field of science now) can cause the gene to be expressed and trait to occur in a phenotype.
      Genetics is a very complex field of science, where we still discover new things, also our bodies are very complex with nervous system being the most complex of it all I think. That's why this condition is not easy to understand (and as it not very dangerous, it's not being researched) :)

      Delete
  25. Jeg er 57 og har haft det hele mit liv.
    Først nu ved jeg at jeg ikke er alene om at have denne lidelse

    ReplyDelete
  26. I also suffer from snatiation, I've known its name for a few years already, but it started when I was in high school I think. It's 5-15 sneezes after a filling meal or drink. Drinking two beers with friends is pretty annoying. As is going for big family dinners.
    My grandma has it too, mostly after breakfast though, when with me it doesn't matter what type of meal is that.
    Of course, I get "you need to eat more, you're not full yet" speeches from everyone that knows about my condition.
    I personally don't know anyone other than me and my granny with this type of sneezing reflex (I know few people that sneeze after they feel/eat something minty, maybe that's an allergy and I know many people with photic sneeze reflex). I feel like it's just a fun fact about me, not a real condition. Something fun to tell new people that want to get to know me, I even teach them the term "snatiation", haha ;)

    ReplyDelete