Girl Sneezes 12,000 Times a Day

(MYFOX NATIONAL) - A 12-year-old Virginia girl says she sneezes up to 12,000 times a day and can't stop.

The New York Post reports that Lauren Johnson's sneeze attacks began recently when she was recovering from a cold. Since then she hasn't been able to go to school and finds it difficult to even fall asleep.

"I just kind of went with it thinking that it wouldn't last this long, but it's been two weeks now and it just hasn't stopped," Lauren told Fox 43 , sneezing six times in 17 seconds.

Lauren told NBC's "Today" show on Wednesday that doctors believe she has a condition called "intractable psychogenic sneeze," a syndrome that is only present in about 40 other people in the world.

Dr. Nancy Snyderman said of Lauren's condition on the "Today" show, "If you peel back the layers of the onion and watch Lauren, she's sneezing through her mouth -- not a real, productive, nasal sneeze -- which raises the question that perhaps this is more like a tic," Snyderman said. "I just don't think this is a sneeze .... This is more coming out of her mouth into her hand, and it's involuntary. And you can tell there's a rhythmic aspect to it, and that brings up the idea of a tic."

Snyderman suggested that Lauren and her family look into child development centers where they can explore the psychological aspects of her sneezing attacks.

Lauren said she just wants to move on with her life.

"I just wish the sneezing would stop. I mean I feel fine now, but it's just the sneezing going on, and on, and on, and I can't really do anything," Lauren told Fox 43, sneezing 5 times in 15 seconds.

Two years ago Brooke Owens of Asheville, N.C., made headlines when she sneezed non-stop for three straight weeks. Allergies and neurological disorders have been ruled out, and she still occasionally suffers painful sneeze attacks.

"It feels like sharp needles or knives going through my hands and my toes," Owens told ABC News . "If somebody even touches me, I scream."