Finally broke my addiction and I can breathe again!

[Dominus]

This past spring, I had some trouble breathing due to seasonal allergies. I decided to look for a new way to breathe through the season. Found oxymetazoline nasal spray. It worked like magic. It instantly opened up my nasal passages and I was able to breathe just fine. So, I started using it several times a day regularly.

After months of using it, I began to notice that as soon as it wore off, my nasal passages became completely closed up. Literally. Completely closed. I had to breathe through my mouth or not at all. So, I would hurriedly spray more of that stuff into my nose. What I also started noticing was that I used to have to spray once in each nasal passageway for it to work for 12 hours. But now, I would have to spray 3 times in each and it would only last for 5 hours or so.

Last week, before bed I finally google searched on oxymetazoline "dependency". And wow, it's so addictive that the withdraw from it even has a name. Rhinitis medicamentosa. Most people know it as rebound congestion.

So, from my understanding, the drug opens up your nasal passages by narrowing the blood vessels in there, opening up room for you to breathe. But this makes your body react because your nasal tissue needs blood. So, as soon as the drug wears off, blood rushes to the nasal passages and now you're completely congested.

About 4 days ago, I decided to wean myself off of my addiction. I stopped using it. And oh my god my nasal passages completely closed off. For the last 4 days I've been a mouth breather. Eating was annoying because I had to juggle between chewing and breathing with my mouth. Sleeping was painful because laying down made it a lot worse. I was so tempted to spray something up there I had to go around the house and throw away all that nasal spray.

Well ladies, this morning I woke up and the first thing I noticed was I was breathing through my fucking nose! Oh my god I could breathe on my own again! So, I grabbed my boyfriend and started having sex.

Anyway, here I am sitting in my living room watching tv drinking coffee and breathing through my own goddamn nose without the goddamn oxymetazoline.

I swear to god, that was the most unpleasant 4 days of my life. Having the nasal passages completely closed off for almost all that time.

 

[Thad1527]

Even the last-generation nasal sprays could become addictive.
It's odd when something as natural as breathing becomes...unnatural. I'm glad you've returned to the land of nose-breathers.

 

[Dominus]

Even the last-generation nasal sprays could become addictive.
It's odd when something as natural as breathing becomes...unnatural. I'm glad you've returned to the land of nose-breathers.

Well, I've always had problems with breathing due to allergies for as long as I can remember. I think someone like me back in the stone age was meant to not survive to adulthood.

 

[cityboy-stl]

Congrats. Yep, I was there about 15 years ago. That stuff works really well at first. But it hooks you, and you need more and more until it doesn't work at all. The rebound is awful and miserable and your sinuses completely shut closed. I found some Sudafed and aspirin or ibuprofen helped the withdrawal. Sudafed can have some dependency qualities too, so you have to be careful with that. A few days is ok though. But yeah, it took about 4 days for my nose to open up again and a little while longer to completely resolve where my sinuses were not so irritated. Not fun.
I will admit that when allergies are really bad, and I can't sleep because I can't breathe, I may resort to some Afrin (oxymetazoline). But I'm careful to only use it once so I don't get hooked again.

Congratulations on making it through.

In the same vein, antacids like Tums can do the same thing. If you take a lot of Tums, you can get an acid rebound when you stop using them, and the rebound reflux is horrible. You just have to stop using it and go through the withdrawal until everything returns to normal. That wasn't fun either.

 

[Rickrock]

Wow, thanks for the advice. I hate it when I have nasal congestion.

 

[lockeroomguy]

Glad you quit. After 3 days, oxymetazoline nasal spray causes dependency. Without the spray, you nose closes off worse than ever.

 

[rareboy]

I have had a lifetime of clogged sinuses.

You might use saline nose spray to safely clear your nasal passages.

 

[Maklaar13]

Congratulations! I have been there too and I can relate to how difficult it was to give up the nasal spray. You have accomplished a great thing.

 

[unloadonme]

... So, I started using it several times a day regularly. After months of using it ...

That was your mistake. If you need to use that sort of thing, use it as little as possible for the shortest period possible.

Well done for kicking it.

 

[Peloso]

I swear to god, that was the most unpleasant 4 days of my life. Having the nasal passages completely closed off for almost all that time.

Consider yourself lucky.

 

[PrinceCory]

oxymetazoline (Afrin). It works great. And easy to abuse. I was surprised at the number of responses that have had the "wonderful" experience of it's magic.

I used it for years nearly every night before I got hooked. I have a stuffy nose pretty much year around. The way I used it was ONE spray in one nostril a night. That was enough to be able to breath and sleep.

An ENT doc wanted (15 or more years ago) to go in my nose, break it in a few places, realign, rototiller some passages, and hope I healed properly. It scared the hell out of me. Even my primary doc "asked" me if I was going to do what was recommended. I said I wasn't planning on it. His response was, I wouldn't either. In my mind i was hoping in after several years the medical procedure(s) would improve.

About 4 or 5 years ago I started using the 4-hour nasal spray (brand name is 4-Way) and still just one spray in one nostril. I will wake up in 4 hours or so being stuffy, but I gotta pee anyway by then. Another shot of 4-way in the other nostril and back to sleep I go. I don't use it during the DAY (I have found another spray) that kinda works if I'm really stuffy. Saline nose spray, for me, only works for a few minutes. After some research I found a saline-like spray that has capsaicin (the stuff in police pepper spray...and hot peppers). It does work for much longer. Again I only use it in 1 nostril at a time so that I can get 4 treatments during the day if needed. Brand name is XLear (they have several versions...look for Max version with Capsaicin. I get it from Amazon because my Walmart, Kroger, and 3 pharmacies do not carry it.

 

[Thad1527]

In the 1980s I was always buying Afrin for my ex. I never needed it. But I was always looking for a sale to stock up!

He passed away two years ago, but I don't think nasal congestion had much to do with that.

 

[pigface]

There is such a thing as a nasal stent. But they are expensive.