Sneezing Girl Hopes For Cure For Days Of Sneezing Fits

ANGLETON, TX (CBS) - A 12 year old girl in Texas is the key player in a medical mystery. Katelyn Thornley started sneezing 22 days ago and hasn't stopped.

And it's not just one or two sneezes, sometimes it is up to 20 times a minute, that adds up to 12,000 times a day.

For Thornley, it's not just annoying, it's painful. "I'm constantly in pain with my abdomen, my legs are weak, I can barely eat."

She also can't play her beloved clarinet and can't got to school.

"Some kid will start making fun of me or something like that," she said.

Her parents have taken her to six doctors who have ruled out viruses and allergies as cases for the sneezing. No medications have helped with the sneezing.

Experts say it might be related to stress.

Her parents say it is simply heartbreaking. "It's hard to watch," her father said. "Anything you talk to her about that irritates here - you can see it spike and continuous sneezing."

The sneezing only stops when Katelyn falls asleep and she has to take Benadryl and listen to the Beatles for that to happen.

"Sometimes I wish I could leave my body for a little while so I could watch myself sleep," Thornley said, "because even in my dreams, I sneeze."

Thornley says she doesn't care what it takes to stop the sneezing, she wants it to end so she can look back and say, "You know, I was once on TV for sneezing."