Texas Girl with Mystery Illness Sneezes 12,000 Times a Day

Sometimes, it feels great to let a good sneeze fly. But imagine having to live with uncontrollable fits of 20 sneezes every minute -- or roughly 12,000 times per day.

That is, in fact, what started happening to Katelyn Thornley, a 12-year-old girl from Angleton, Texas, about a month ago and hasn't stopped since. The nearly nonstop sneezing has left the seventh grader in constant pain, and doctors are scratching their heads over the cause and how to stop it, having ruled out a virus or allergies, according to a report by Houston's Fox 26. It's probably safe to assume the whole saying "grapefruit" in your head trick isn't working at this point.

"I just am constantly in pain with, you know, my abdomen and my legs are hurting because I've been weak and I can barely eat," Thornley told WABC. "It's not fun at all." And if you've ever sneezed while chewing food, you can empathize.

The sneezing only subsides when Thornley relaxes and listens to music after taking Benadryl, or when she sleeps. But even then, she said she can't shake the sneezes because it happens in her dreams, too. Now, that's just terrifying.

Thornley's parents hope their daughter's story will reach an expert who might discover a cure for the rare condition. "It's hard to watch," said Thornley's father. Sounds like the perfect case for one Gregory House, M.D. It's definitely not Lupus -- it's never Lupus!

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Tony Merevick is Cities News Editor at Thrillist and hopes she's got plenty of tissues. Send news tips to news@thrillist.com and follow him on Twitter @tonymerevick.