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What is the most powerful nasal decongestant available?

'Addicted' to decongestant nasal spray.?

  • This started years ago, when I was as young as 10. When I would get a bad cold or something and my nose would congest, I would use Otrivin to relieve it. The rebound effect was so bad, however, that it drove me to steal the Otrivin from my mom's bathroom cabinet and use it on my own accord. This went on an on until my addiction was finally realized by my parents (when I was 14) and I managed to get off of it. Occasionally I would end up using the Otrivin or other nasal spray more than the suggested dosage, but I managed to wean myself off of it. Now it's all gotten even worse. My addiction started back up in September of 2011, and I've been buying my own nasal spray with my own money behind my mother's back. The stuff I get is supposed to relieve congestion for 12 hours, but I go through them in just a couple weeks, the rebound is so bad. I wake up at 5 AM because the effects wear off, and then when I use it again they're slow to kick in. I feel so trapped at this point because I want the freedom to breathe without needing a decongestant on hand 24/7. Simply put, I CANNOT BREATHE without it. My sinuses throb when the effects wear off and it just feels awful. I have tried quitting cold turkey before, and it is very difficult. I've managed to wean myself off of it on my own before by slowly alternating between the Otrivin/Drixoral and my perscription of Nasonex until I was using just the Nasonex and not the others, but my perscription expired. At this point I'm so desperate I'm considering surgery, because I'm pretty sure I permanently ****** up my sinuses. Even when I've been off the decongestant, one side of my nose is blocked whenever I lie down. Does anyone have any ideas on how to STOP? Anyone who says 'just stop taking it' clearly has never experienced this before and has no idea how hard it is.

  • Answer:

    Get a Nasaline nasal irrigator that just uses sterile saline solution -- no drugs involved. You are making your situation worse and damaging the membranes of your sinuses with your present antics and if you don't stop there's no surgery in the world that will fix the problem because there's no such thing as replacement sinuses or mucous membranes. This is a pretty bizarre way to kill yourself. You probably also need some form of cognitive therapy.

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Get a Nasaline nasal irrigator that just uses sterile saline solution -- no drugs involved. You are making your situation worse and damaging the membranes of your sinuses with your present antics and if you don't stop there's no surgery in the world that will fix the problem because there's no such thing as replacement sinuses or mucous membranes. This is a pretty bizarre way to kill yourself. You probably also need some form of cognitive therapy.

thenosek...

The more you use the more you need. One of the main ingredient is muratic acetate, they use muratic acid to clean concrete and swimming pools. Use saline spray and eucalyptus oil.

Doc / widowmaker54

Talk with a Physician. Stopping medications abruptly can have possibly severe side effects.

scott p

Ask your GP for an nasal steroid spray. After you've been using it for a week or so, try to back down off the spray you've been using by diluting it, very slowly (maybe 10% water first week, 20% second week, 30% third week, etc.) That will make the "rebound" you get from the store bought stuff diminish with time. It sounds like a slow process, but what's a few weeks when you've been abusing the stuff for 10 yrs? (And I know what you mean about NHS. Although I'm and American doc, I did 5 weeks of training in London as part of medical school. You folks can wait 18 months for a surgery that would be done within a week over here! I could call and ENT friend who would see you the same day! Of course, it would cost you, either for the appointment or for your insurance. We have quality, but for a price...)

Rachel

The more you use the more you need. One of the main ingredient is muratic acetate, they use muratic acid to clean concrete and swimming pools. Use saline spray and eucalyptus oil.

Doc / widowmaker54

Talk with a Physician. Stopping medications abruptly can have possibly severe side effects.

scott p

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