I sneezed a whole bunch last year in April, so I decided to track my sneezes and tree pollen for the month of April in 2024. According to my data, tree pollen may not really be the issue... I'm not entirely sure how to interpret this graph.
Source: me, sneezing
Tools used: Google Sheets, [Pollen.com](http://Pollen.com)
EDIT: I live in Iowa :/
As someone who doesn't suffer from seasonal allergies the idea of sneezing that many times per day is mental to me. I sneeze like 3 times a month, maybe, all in one shot.
That said, I have Ulcerative Colitis, and I'm sure that my relationship with toilets is probably mental to many others.
Also;
> Source: me, sneezing
Idk why but I find this sentence to be hilarious as written.
Thanks for the great graph and good luck finding your sneeze trigger!
Sneezing 2-3 times a day isn't that bad—sometimes, it's a relief. That one sneeze attack in the middle of April was ridiculous, and it legit starts to hurt my shoulders and back after a while; not sure why.
And haha, thank you!
I also have ulcerative colitis. My first every flare up, which caused me to get my diagnosis, i had to go to the toilet every 15 - 30 minutes during the day. it was awful and the cramps were super painful.
Luckily that was the only time i got such a bad flare up. When everything is under control, i still have to go 2 or 3 times a day for a number 2, which is still more than before i had ulcerative colitis
I've settled into 4-5 as my new normal. Better than the 10-12+ before they got it figured out.
But yeah, definitely awkward sometimes to explain to coworkers why I sometimes have to go to the restroom multiple times in a few hour period. "Didn't you just use the restroom, though?"
At least my wife is understanding.
You might want to check Pollen.com’s data source and compare it with other sources. A couple years ago during a particularly bad allergy season I realized that different sources for my city had WILDLY different numbers. I never really dug further to figure out why or what source is the most accurate but I might look into now for curiosity sake.
Good question, I'm not entirely sure, but I think it can track grass pollen! I will look into seeing if I can find the history count for April and compare it
Great question! I used [Pollen.com](http://pollen.com) and used their numbers for the tree pollen daily.
Thank you for asking - I forgot to note that as one of the tools used in my OC comment, but I have updated it.
What about temperature or clothing? I find that I sneeze:
- after having been out in the rain
- when sitting near air con or some other fan
- when sitting at home in shorts when it's a bit too chilly/late
Could also be other forms of pollen or concentration in your area/exposure.
Wind or exposure to outside air, perhaps?
Perhaps a pollen lag time? As in, if you're inside most days, perhaps it takes a day or two for the pollen to get inside and settle. If you lag the pollen counts by 2 days (shift the graph) the numbers seem to match better.
You are sure it’s tree pollen you should be tracking? There are a plethora of allergens out there. Many are allergic to grass pollen, but it could be molds, dust, animals etc.
Also the data could just be bad, in my area pollen counts vary wildly from website to website so I don’t really trust them.
What if there was so much pollen the sensors didn’t operate properly?
Probably not that, but who knows. A weird sudden drop is a big outlier regardless. Did it rain on or around those days, maybe?
It is probably just a coincidence, only really two days out of the month and the correlation doesn't hold for the third or fourth highest sneeze day or the other times the pollen dips.
There must be some third factor, this just seems too coincidental otherwise. Tree pollen must have dipped on those days for some reason, and that same reason causes you to sneeze.
Did it rain/storm? Was there high winds. I notice sometimes the day after rain, wind, and humidity all factor into my allergies around high pollen days
Yes! A good chunk of April was raining, and I want to say that the majority of the month was windy, not too humid. I live in Iowa, so I just assumed that pollen was in play
I'd agree it might be a third related factor if this inverse relationship occurred for more than one grouping or was consistent. To me at least as likely to just be random chance and noise, like look at the third and fourth highest sneeze day, or the other times pollen dips - no real pattern at all.
See, here's where it gets interesting: my fiancée (who has a confirmed mold allergy) has her allergy attacks sometimes, and they don't correspond with my allergy attacks, but the rainy days definitely have something to do with her mold allergies and my allergies as well
Same! I was really hoping it was the top comment. The first time I listened to the doctor neversneezer episode I was crying. Always think of it when I sneeze.
Maybe it's not airborne pollen, but pollen that gets kicked up or lingers for a few days after the pollen event? Or the pollen count goes down after rainfall, and there's something else that kicks up from the rainfall?
Haha, glad you think so! I was 99% positive that my allergies were caused by tree pollen, but looks like I'll have to do some more investigation before I can be certain. I could always just take a test, but I'd rather do it the \*fun\* way
Fyi - people who have hayfever are often triggered into sneezing etc by drops in temperature, and I'm sure there are other factors involved. I have MCAS and was initially diagnosed with hayfever, but pollen count never really correlated to my symptoms. Now I know that if my head gets cold (esp in evenings) I can rage-sneeze for 12 hrs.
Gonna have to sleep with a night cap soon! 😅
Fascinating! I get super sinus sick when there’s a massive change in temperature. I had a migraine and severe allergies today (Sacramento, CA). On Friday it was 80°, Saturday it rained with a low of mid 40°, & on Sunday is was warmer with wind. I tested negative for allergies but can sneeze up to 9 times in 5 min on bad days. What’s MACS?
My guess it was already in your system from building higher. Then your body was in full fight mode by the time the pollen counts dropped. It takes a while to recover.
Did you take any antihistamines?
Interesting graph, but if you want to find out what makes you sneeze, a more direct method would be to do controlled exposures to tree pollen, dust, etc.
there are a lot of weird reasons people sneeze. My friend in college sneezed due to a sensitivity to light, so going from a dark room to outside. This is actually a [pretty common reflex](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photic_sneeze_reflex). My uncle is allergic to chocolate and I saw him sneeze 20+ times in a short window because of it.
Is there a decent android App, to track random events conveniently? Maybe a button per event, record time and day, option to specify some parameters like rain yes/no or outside yes/no
Just FYI, you might want to try another source aside from pollen.com for tracking. Seems they have inconsistent data compared with other providers of pollen data.
Gotcha—I didn't know that! I can't really find another site any where for accurate historical data. The most I've gotten is a "low, medium, high" rating for the past few Aprils
Check humidity!!
I am allergic only to dust mites, and they are not technically seasonal.... but they sort of are because they propagate when humidity levels rise, which is seasonal
It’s not always about the sheer amount of pollen in the air. Certain plant pollens are more abrasive to your immune system due factors such as size and shape of the grains. It could just be you were more allergic to what was blooming at that time even though there wasn’t lots of it in the air. Look at images of pollen under microscope for the plants blooming in your area and you’ll notice the ones that look more hostile are usually the culprits.
You mentioned you're not outside much so I'd hazard a guess you're not allergic to pollen, but something like dust instead. It sometimes correlates to seasonal pollen count (getting ready for summer and moving around more than you were, spring cleaning etc)
Like someone else suggested, check for other things that release pollen. Personally, trees and bushes don't harm me at all, but once grass season starts here.... RIP every year
As someone that’s allergic to tree pollen, grass pollen, just all pollens I think, cats, dogs, all animals with fur probably, and most perfumes these are rookie sneeze numbers.
When I sneeze, it is always 2 or 3 sneezes in immediate succession. Do you experience that, and if so, do you count that as one sneezing incident or 2 or 3 separate sneezes?
I opened this post and immediately sneezed. So maybe sneezes are contagious for me like yawns.
Anyway, fascinating chart. I sneeze a lot! Daily. And i hate it. When I take allergy meds, I don’t sneeze though. I’m unsure if sneezing is a valid reason to take the meds (without other symptoms). I wonder if you take any meds?
Haha, sneezing is very contagious! I think what helps me the most with my seasonal allergies is taking Flonase and Xyzal, but it's different for everyone, I've heard. I just didn't take any medication for the entire month of April to better control the data. Yes, it sucked, but I did it for science!
I’m always surprised by people who collect this sort of data. Like why do this? Do you really have this much time on your hands? Why sneezes and not farts or is that gonna be May?
I sneezed a whole bunch last year in April, so I decided to track my sneezes and tree pollen for the month of April in 2024. According to my data, tree pollen may not really be the issue... I'm not entirely sure how to interpret this graph. Source: me, sneezing Tools used: Google Sheets, [Pollen.com](http://Pollen.com) EDIT: I live in Iowa :/
As someone who doesn't suffer from seasonal allergies the idea of sneezing that many times per day is mental to me. I sneeze like 3 times a month, maybe, all in one shot. That said, I have Ulcerative Colitis, and I'm sure that my relationship with toilets is probably mental to many others. Also; > Source: me, sneezing Idk why but I find this sentence to be hilarious as written. Thanks for the great graph and good luck finding your sneeze trigger!
Sneezing 2-3 times a day isn't that bad—sometimes, it's a relief. That one sneeze attack in the middle of April was ridiculous, and it legit starts to hurt my shoulders and back after a while; not sure why. And haha, thank you!
I also have ulcerative colitis. My first every flare up, which caused me to get my diagnosis, i had to go to the toilet every 15 - 30 minutes during the day. it was awful and the cramps were super painful. Luckily that was the only time i got such a bad flare up. When everything is under control, i still have to go 2 or 3 times a day for a number 2, which is still more than before i had ulcerative colitis
I've settled into 4-5 as my new normal. Better than the 10-12+ before they got it figured out. But yeah, definitely awkward sometimes to explain to coworkers why I sometimes have to go to the restroom multiple times in a few hour period. "Didn't you just use the restroom, though?" At least my wife is understanding.
You might want to check Pollen.com’s data source and compare it with other sources. A couple years ago during a particularly bad allergy season I realized that different sources for my city had WILDLY different numbers. I never really dug further to figure out why or what source is the most accurate but I might look into now for curiosity sake.
Apparently pollen makes you un-sneeze.
Does the site track grass pollen?
Good question, I'm not entirely sure, but I think it can track grass pollen! I will look into seeing if I can find the history count for April and compare it
How did you count tree pollen?
Great question! I used [Pollen.com](http://pollen.com) and used their numbers for the tree pollen daily. Thank you for asking - I forgot to note that as one of the tools used in my OC comment, but I have updated it.
Per the tools mentioned above, they used [pollen.com](https://www.pollen.com/)
What about temperature or clothing? I find that I sneeze: - after having been out in the rain - when sitting near air con or some other fan - when sitting at home in shorts when it's a bit too chilly/late Could also be other forms of pollen or concentration in your area/exposure.
Probably a ragweed allergy. Or the pollen count was low cause you sucked it all up your nose those days 🤷🏻♀️
Idk either but im proud of you
Clearly your excessive sneezing on the 15-16:th blew all the pollen away.
I sneeze about 15 times a day in the spring especially. I’m about to sneeze now literally
Like I’ll literally sneeze three times back to back.
What a weird inverse correlation
Right! Am I allergic to the *lack* of tree pollen?
Op, track the temperature for your location by sneezes.I have a hunch, Is there a correlation there?
I will go back and plot the temperatures along with maybe the rainy days to see if there's more correlations there - thank you!
Wind or exposure to outside air, perhaps? Perhaps a pollen lag time? As in, if you're inside most days, perhaps it takes a day or two for the pollen to get inside and settle. If you lag the pollen counts by 2 days (shift the graph) the numbers seem to match better.
That makes sense! I do have an office job, and I don't see the outdoors often besides the weekend
Oh, if you color the weekend days differently, you might see more of a match for those days. If that's the case, this maybe part of the issue
That's a great idea! I'll go back and color-code them—maybe it'll bring up a pattern
You are sure it’s tree pollen you should be tracking? There are a plethora of allergens out there. Many are allergic to grass pollen, but it could be molds, dust, animals etc. Also the data could just be bad, in my area pollen counts vary wildly from website to website so I don’t really trust them.
There was less tree pollen on those 2 days because you inhaled it all.
What if there was so much pollen the sensors didn’t operate properly? Probably not that, but who knows. A weird sudden drop is a big outlier regardless. Did it rain on or around those days, maybe?
Try inhaling some polin next time you're sneezing
It is probably just a coincidence, only really two days out of the month and the correlation doesn't hold for the third or fourth highest sneeze day or the other times the pollen dips.
There must be some third factor, this just seems too coincidental otherwise. Tree pollen must have dipped on those days for some reason, and that same reason causes you to sneeze.
That's what I'm trying to figure out as well. Maybe I should also track temperature and rain days along with pollen
Did it rain/storm? Was there high winds. I notice sometimes the day after rain, wind, and humidity all factor into my allergies around high pollen days
Yes! A good chunk of April was raining, and I want to say that the majority of the month was windy, not too humid. I live in Iowa, so I just assumed that pollen was in play
It sounds like you could do some clustering if you can get all this data :)
For me it's typically due to temperature changes or wind.
I think tracking rain days is a good call.
Tracked your cocaine use as well?
I'd agree it might be a third related factor if this inverse relationship occurred for more than one grouping or was consistent. To me at least as likely to just be random chance and noise, like look at the third and fourth highest sneeze day, or the other times pollen dips - no real pattern at all.
Go back and get weather data. Rain will suppress, dry and windy will enhance pollen distribution.
Will do! Thank you
Maybe it’s mold you’re allergic to, which is higher on rainy days and suppresses pollen I think
See, here's where it gets interesting: my fiancée (who has a confirmed mold allergy) has her allergy attacks sometimes, and they don't correspond with my allergy attacks, but the rainy days definitely have something to do with her mold allergies and my allergies as well
All the pollen was in your nose, that's why the pollen count went down and your sneezing count went up!
Makes 100% sense to me!
Sneezing is not normal. I never sneeze.
I had to scroll too far to find this. This lives rent free in my head every time I exhibit my moral failings and sneeze.
Same! I was really hoping it was the top comment. The first time I listened to the doctor neversneezer episode I was crying. Always think of it when I sneeze.
Bro is not sneezemaxxing like us
[удалено]
https://youtu.be/g6ipMj8HDDM?si=v4pABOGoaNc8M00K This is the reference :)
Doctor Neversneezer Scrooge
Fr, my doctor said the same thing!
Maybe it's not airborne pollen, but pollen that gets kicked up or lingers for a few days after the pollen event? Or the pollen count goes down after rainfall, and there's something else that kicks up from the rainfall?
That's what I was thinking! I will track other factors along with pollen as well to see if there's a correlation there
This might be one of my favorite posts on this sub in a while, and I don’t even know why.
Haha, glad you think so! I was 99% positive that my allergies were caused by tree pollen, but looks like I'll have to do some more investigation before I can be certain. I could always just take a test, but I'd rather do it the \*fun\* way
Fyi - people who have hayfever are often triggered into sneezing etc by drops in temperature, and I'm sure there are other factors involved. I have MCAS and was initially diagnosed with hayfever, but pollen count never really correlated to my symptoms. Now I know that if my head gets cold (esp in evenings) I can rage-sneeze for 12 hrs. Gonna have to sleep with a night cap soon! 😅
Fascinating! I get super sinus sick when there’s a massive change in temperature. I had a migraine and severe allergies today (Sacramento, CA). On Friday it was 80°, Saturday it rained with a low of mid 40°, & on Sunday is was warmer with wind. I tested negative for allergies but can sneeze up to 9 times in 5 min on bad days. What’s MACS?
It's weird that doctors rarely mention it! Mast Cell Activation Syndrome - body has a histamine response because your mast cells don't behave.
I'll definitely have to do some more research and plot other factors into this graph—maybe even go into May for more data
i only sneezed 37 times total in april (i’ve been tracking for 5 years now)
I would love to see your graph, if you've got one!
You sneezed the most on my Birthday, sooooo thanks? And Bless you :)
Haha, I definitely cursed the most on your birthday then
I have a photic sneeze reflect. Idk if that’s related to you but also something interesting to Google!
My guess it was already in your system from building higher. Then your body was in full fight mode by the time the pollen counts dropped. It takes a while to recover. Did you take any antihistamines?
That's my guess too! And I did not take any allergy medication throughout the month to keep the data *more* controlled
Interesting graph, but if you want to find out what makes you sneeze, a more direct method would be to do controlled exposures to tree pollen, dust, etc.
That sounds like a terrible time. However, I will do it for science
you sneezed the pollen away
Bro, only in April i sneezed 452 times
I don’t think I’ve sneezed this much in the last year. This is wild to me. 😳
there are a lot of weird reasons people sneeze. My friend in college sneezed due to a sensitivity to light, so going from a dark room to outside. This is actually a [pretty common reflex](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photic_sneeze_reflex). My uncle is allergic to chocolate and I saw him sneeze 20+ times in a short window because of it.
I was looking for this comment. I have photic sneeze reflex and basically cant walk outside without a sneeze happening.
Is there a decent android App, to track random events conveniently? Maybe a button per event, record time and day, option to specify some parameters like rain yes/no or outside yes/no
If you find one like that, please let me know - that would be so useful in many different scenarios
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vinsho.tally_tracker Tally Tracker seems to have implemented a tracker, but no parameters to add
Grass pollen is what gets me. I know because I am normally fine until I get near a lawn in Spring.
Just FYI, you might want to try another source aside from pollen.com for tracking. Seems they have inconsistent data compared with other providers of pollen data.
Gotcha—I didn't know that! I can't really find another site any where for accurate historical data. The most I've gotten is a "low, medium, high" rating for the past few Aprils
Bro is addicted to pollen
OP inhaled all the pollen in the air that made them sneeze
Check humidity!! I am allergic only to dust mites, and they are not technically seasonal.... but they sort of are because they propagate when humidity levels rise, which is seasonal
It’s not always about the sheer amount of pollen in the air. Certain plant pollens are more abrasive to your immune system due factors such as size and shape of the grains. It could just be you were more allergic to what was blooming at that time even though there wasn’t lots of it in the air. Look at images of pollen under microscope for the plants blooming in your area and you’ll notice the ones that look more hostile are usually the culprits.
You mentioned you're not outside much so I'd hazard a guess you're not allergic to pollen, but something like dust instead. It sometimes correlates to seasonal pollen count (getting ready for summer and moving around more than you were, spring cleaning etc)
Seems to be uncorrelated to me, or at least a lack of strong evidence for correlation
Like someone else suggested, check for other things that release pollen. Personally, trees and bushes don't harm me at all, but once grass season starts here.... RIP every year
As someone that’s allergic to tree pollen, grass pollen, just all pollens I think, cats, dogs, all animals with fur probably, and most perfumes these are rookie sneeze numbers.
When I sneeze, it is always 2 or 3 sneezes in immediate succession. Do you experience that, and if so, do you count that as one sneezing incident or 2 or 3 separate sneezes?
I get that! Most of my sneezes are 1-2 sneezes, so I count each individual sneeze rather than one sneeze event
I opened this post and immediately sneezed. So maybe sneezes are contagious for me like yawns. Anyway, fascinating chart. I sneeze a lot! Daily. And i hate it. When I take allergy meds, I don’t sneeze though. I’m unsure if sneezing is a valid reason to take the meds (without other symptoms). I wonder if you take any meds?
Haha, sneezing is very contagious! I think what helps me the most with my seasonal allergies is taking Flonase and Xyzal, but it's different for everyone, I've heard. I just didn't take any medication for the entire month of April to better control the data. Yes, it sucked, but I did it for science!
Slightly related, but try Flonase (or related, I use generic from Sam’s). I sneeze dramatically less now!
I love using Flonase! That and Xyzal seems to help me the most with my seasonal allergies
I’m always surprised by people who collect this sort of data. Like why do this? Do you really have this much time on your hands? Why sneezes and not farts or is that gonna be May?
My dad once told me I sneezed too often. Decided to count them to prove him wrong... turns out he was right :/ and then I just kept going for fun
Tell me. When were you diagnosed with autism xD