# Why do I sneeze when I'm hungry? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 2, 2007, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-when-im-hungry/417829 "2007-09-02T19:00:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2007, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-when-im-hungry/417829/1 "2007-09-02T19:00:59Z")
If I go too long without eating — say I’m working a long shift and haven’t had a chance to take a lunch break — I start feeling normal hunger pangs … and then I start sneezing. Complete with excessive mucous buildup in my nose/sinuses. It’s almost as if I’m having an allergic reaction to hunger. Any medical explanation for this? I’m never heard of anybody else experiencing this phenomenon. ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2007, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-when-im-hungry/417829/2 "2007-09-02T19:59:43Z")
[QUOTE=Phase42] If I go too long without eating — say I’m working a long shift and haven’t had a chance to take a lunch break — I start feeling normal hunger pangs … and then I start sneezing. Complete with excessive mucous buildup in my nose/sinuses. It’s almost as if I’m having an allergic reaction to hunger. Any medical explanation for this? I’m never heard of anybody else experiencing this phenomenon. [/QUOTE] It happens to me a bit. I asked my (doctor) aunt about it, and she told me that the process involved in wretching or vomiting is similar to sneezing in some way that I couldn’t quite fathom. Since hunger pangs can cause nausea, maybe that’s the connection. And now I will promise to stop answering medical questions when I really don’t know what I am talking about 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2007, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-when-im-hungry/417829/3 "2007-09-02T20:06:04Z")
[QUOTE=PaulParkhead] It happens to me a bit. I asked my (doctor) aunt about it, and she told me that the process involved in wretching or vomiting is similar to sneezing in some way that I couldn’t quite fathom. Since hunger pangs can cause nausea, maybe that’s the connection. [/QUOTE] Now that you mention it, the sneezing _is_ frequently preceded by mild nausea … ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2007, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-when-im-hungry/417829/4 "2007-09-02T23:05:49Z")
[QUOTE=Phase42] Now that you mention it, the sneezing _is_ frequently preceded by mild nausea … [/QUOTE] Same in my case. I’d be interested to hear the views of medical Dopers. ---
**Author:** ![Romola\_Des\_Loups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@Romola\_Des\_Loups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Romola_Des_Loups)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2007, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-when-im-hungry/417829/5 "2007-09-02T23:12:36Z")
I sneeze when I have sudden sexual thoughts. I always assumed it was to do with erectile tissue, but never saw anything to back up the theory. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2007, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-when-im-hungry/417829/6 "2007-09-02T23:45:17Z")
I also have sneezing and a runny nose, but only when I’ve had just enough to eat. That began only after I had had a gastric by-pass. Curious. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-when-im-hungry/417829/7 "2007-09-03T16:18:45Z")
Another odd thing is that this only started a couple years ago. I wonder if it’s connected somehow to eating on an irregular schedule. I lived in a homeless shelter for eight years, where meals were served three times a day, always at the same times. I held down full-time employment for most of the time I lived there (I was trying to get out of debt, which was made easier by not having to choose between paying on the debt and paying rent/buying groceries), so meal times were irregular when I was working, but since I worked as a cook it was a simple matter to nibble on something as soon as I felt the first hints of hunger. I don’t cook for a living now, though, so eating at work is mostly limited to break times, which can sometimes be far enough apart that my stomach starts to complain.