Why do I sneeze when going into bright light? (Light Sneezing)

I rarely sneeze for any reason except for any time I move from a low light situation into a very light place. A good example of this is moving from a store into the sunshine. I will sneeze every time, and if I need to egg the sneeze on, I will look right at the light until I sneeze. If I feel a sneeze coming on, I will either look at the sun or a bright light in a room. I rarely sneeze in a low light situation.

My doctor thinks I am nuts, as does my opthamologist. However, my Mom did this (but not my Dad) and both of my daughters do it too. My Mom says that her Mom did it as well.  It's very strong reflex and completely uncontrollable. Does anybody else have this or know what it is about?  I've always called it "light sneezing."

[graceknight]

hi,im sure next time you sneeze,take a close look at the light rays from the sun and try to see the dust particles floating in the rays of light,im sure youll see the huge amounts of dust in the light,all you are is sensitive to dust and probably can smell carbon monoxide smells when no one else can,as i do,all you have to do is make sure you are driving slow when you feel a sneeze coming on because i had to practically pull over once from the extreme way i had to sneeze,i turned into the suns rays and puf,so it gets worse,to the point of getting chemically sensitive,so if you are not yet good,but im almost 40 years old and im using more organic products because im getting dizzy spells from chemical store products,so you are not nuts,they just dont study sneezing

[evie80]

Check out the link below.  It explains everything.  Scientists aren't sure what causes this, but think the abrupt change in light triggers something in the optic nerve which in turn triggers the sneeze.  You're not alone.

http://kidshealth.org/kid/talk/qa/sneeze.html