# Warning to all re Nasal Sprays **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 27, 2013, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-to-all-re-nasal-sprays/677316 "2013-12-27T22:15:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![yorick73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5a626/32.png) [@yorick73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yorick73)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-to-all-re-nasal-sprays/677316/41 "2013-12-29T02:12:58Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > A lesson from the surgeon who did my sinus surgery: > > Decongestants are counter productive because, while they provide relief, the do it by drying up what’s clogging your sinus. Effectively turning non draining snot into gummy bears. What you want is MORE moisture, to assist draining, not less. It does sell more product however. Afrin works mainly by reducing swelling of the airway by vasoconstriction. This is why you experience an immediate effect. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-to-all-re-nasal-sprays/677316/42 "2013-12-29T03:04:35Z")
> [@Lazlo Hapsburg](#): > > The pharmaceutical companies must have found a real gold mine here. They get people hooked on this stuff and then they use it every day for several years - without ever missing a day. The pharmaceutical companies don’t get people hooked on nasal sprays. People who are too stupid and/or lazy to read the damn directions get themselves hooked on nasal sprays. > [@](#): > > Can you imagine? They sell a product advertised to help you. But instead, it just increases the level of damage it does to you and makes them a fortune in the meantime. The product _does_ help you–if you use it as directed. It’s saved my sanity by allowing me to breathe many and many a time. There is, in fact, a bottle sitting on my kitchen counter this very moment. (And it’s printed right on the bottle that overuse can make symptoms worse. In letters big enough I can read them at about 18" away.) Yes, it can cause problems if you misuse it. So can every single other thing on the whole planet, including things you need to live. You ever hear of [water intoxication](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication)? ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-to-all-re-nasal-sprays/677316/43 "2013-12-29T07:41:55Z")
I’ve been addicted to Afrin for over 20 years after being advised to use it by my doctor while pregnant to avoid sinus medications. I’ve been through courses of steroid sprays many times but I never completely stop. I can’t break the feeling of drowning on my own mucous. I can’t sleep without it. For years I was able to get by with generic sprays, but now it HAS to be Afrin “sinus” brand, with the menthol added. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-to-all-re-nasal-sprays/677316/44 "2013-12-29T08:04:29Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > The second thing he taught me was that while people may insist that apple cider vinegar will cure cancer and bring peace to the Middle East, those people are idiots! However, because it’s made by fermenting the apples with the skins on, it concentrates something present in the skins which does actually thin mucus. > > Drink an ounce or half ounce, (shoot it back like tequila at the bar, or mix with syrup, jam etc!), a couple of times a day. (I recommend on a full stomach, and before bed!) you will be stunned at how quickly this will clear your sinus, be prepared. A couple of minutes and BANG, done! More importantly though, it will thin the mucus and it will drain away magically while you sleep. (Always brush your teeth afterward, vinegar is hard on the enamel!) the real beauty of this one two approach is it enhances your bodies ability to do it’s job. No pharmaceuticals, and costs pennies compared to OTC stuff! Have you ever actually _done_ this? The reason I ask, is that many years ago I did try the remedy, but it recommended diluting the vinegar with 10 parts water. I mistakenly saw the recipe as 10 parts cider vinegar to ONE part water (still, more diluted than yours). Took a swig, and immediately my airway closed up and I was fucking GASPING to breath. Scariest near-death experience ever. ☹ To drink neat cider vinegar is not something I would advise at all, ever. ---
**Author:** ![MrDurden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ed655f/32.png) [@MrDurden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDurden)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-to-all-re-nasal-sprays/677316/45 "2013-12-29T08:09:44Z")
Yeah, I was on this stuff once. It ain’t exactly crack or heroin guys… Go a week or 10 days without it (with completely plugged sinuses) and it’s gone. You dont HAVE to breathe through your nose guys. Talk about first world problems. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-to-all-re-nasal-sprays/677316/46 "2013-12-29T13:16:32Z")
Yes, I did so on the recommendation of a surgeon. Yes it works. If you can do shots in bars you can handle it. If you can’t, mix it with maple syrup, honey, ketchup, whatever. And it’s apple cider vinegar, NOT white vinegar! But it’s a one two punch, aerosol saline spray to keep the passages very moist and slippery, with saline to fight the infection, and ACV to thin the mucus so drainage happens mucho easier. Your body does the rest. I use it all the time, truly, never ever buying decongestants! Cured my chronic sinusitis with it. The surgeon was an, and forgive me if I spell this wrong, ontolarygoligist. (Ok I’m sure that’s not right, but it’s close, I swear, and you have to admit it’s a tricky one! Someone, anyone, can you help a girl out here? ) Not an ENT! Specialist in throat and neck, ENT type surgeries, I believe. I do not dilute it at all, seriously. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-to-all-re-nasal-sprays/677316/47 "2013-12-29T14:18:13Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > The surgeon was an, and forgive me if I spell this wrong, ontolarygoligist. (Ok I’m sure that’s not right, but it’s close, I swear, and you have to admit it’s a tricky one! Someone, anyone, can you help a girl out here? ). Otolaryngologist ---
**Author:** ![yorick73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5a626/32.png) [@yorick73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yorick73)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-to-all-re-nasal-sprays/677316/48 "2013-12-29T17:32:50Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > The surgeon was an, and forgive me if I spell this wrong, ontolarygoligist. (Ok I’m sure that’s not right, but it’s close, I swear, and you have to admit it’s a tricky one! Someone, anyone, can you help a girl out here? ) Not an ENT! Specialist in throat and neck, ENT type surgeries, I believe. ENT and Otolaryngology are the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-to-all-re-nasal-sprays/677316/49 "2013-12-29T18:19:36Z")
Just start using saline in one nostril, spray in the other. Only at night. Then, once the one nostril clears up, go to the other (someone mentioned above). Yes, it sucks waiting for things to clear up, but you aren’t going to suffocate. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-to-all-re-nasal-sprays/677316/50 "2013-12-29T20:04:46Z")
> [@MrDurden](#): > > Yeah, I was on this stuff once. It ain’t exactly crack or heroin guys… > > Go a week or 10 days without it (with completely plugged sinuses) and it’s gone. You dont HAVE to breathe through your nose guys. Talk about first world problems. Gee, why didn’t I think of that?:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![SerafinaPekala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@SerafinaPekala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SerafinaPekala)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-to-all-re-nasal-sprays/677316/51 "2013-12-29T20:10:53Z")
> [@MrDurden](#): > > Yeah, I was on this stuff once. It ain’t exactly crack or heroin guys… > > Go a week or 10 days without it (with completely plugged sinuses) and it’s gone. You dont HAVE to breathe through your nose guys. Talk about first world problems. #1. For how long were you “on this stuff”? It only gets worse the longer you use it. #2. Jesus invented the nose for breathing thru so that the air would get hydrated before going into the lungs. Also the nose hairs trap all kinds of dirt, cat hair, pollen, etc etc. Are you saying Jesus got it wrong? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-to-all-re-nasal-sprays/677316/52 "2013-12-30T03:25:22Z")
> [@Poysyn](#): > > Just start using saline in one nostril, spray in the other. Only at night. Then, once the one nostril clears up, go to the other (someone mentioned above). > > Yes, it sucks waiting for things to clear up, but you aren’t going to suffocate. Perhaps not, but in my brother blocked sinuses have been known to trigger his claustrophobia. Nothing like someone screaming in the next room to screw with your sleep. I would actually prefer to be nauseated than have blocked sinuses, but I have worked out routines that do not require nasal drug sprays other than occasional steroid sprays when I am actually ill. On a daily basis I use a neti pot and saline. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-to-all-re-nasal-sprays/677316/53 "2013-12-30T03:38:45Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Perhaps not, but in my brother blocked sinuses have been known to trigger his claustrophobia. Nothing like someone screaming in the next room to screw with your sleep. Ask him what he was dreaming about during one of these episodes. I find my dreams becoming increasingly claustrophobic and have learned to wake myself up before it gets out of hand. I can’t even begin to convey how unpleasant this is to experience. Even knowing full well it’s not a normal mental state of mind it’s difficult to put things right. I have to force myself into distraction and it takes 15 to 30 minutes to spool down. Be advised this is something that has an infinite level of severity. sometimes I’ve gotten up to go to work and a hot shower ramps up an otherwise tolerable level of angst. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-to-all-re-nasal-sprays/677316/54 "2013-12-31T03:19:43Z")
There is another thread titled **“Anyone else ever kick a nasal spray habit (or need to)?”** in which someone talks about the benefits of breathing steam before bed to prevent the nasal passages and sinuses from drying out. But that thread was started about six years ago so I figured it would be better to add any discussion to this thread instead. Here is a link to the older thread. > **[Anyone else ever kick a nasal spray habit (or need to)?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=441817)** > > About a year ago, I got a bad headcold. I started using Afrin nasal spray. I experienced a major “rebound effect”, and I’ve been using Afrin every 5 or 6 hours a day ever since- including waking up during the night to use it. I decided that I... As far as the benefits of breathing pure steam, I went to see my doctor today and he recommended that would be my best course of action now too. I asked him about humidifiers or vaporizers and it wasn’t clear whether either of us knew just what the difference was between them. So, I’ve been looking into it and apparently, vaporizers work by heating water whereas humidifiers work without heating water and use many other techniques to release water vapor into a room. Personally, I want to use a vaporizer because I want to be able to add some kind of mentholated ointment or other kinds of substances to the steam. Here is a web page that talks about the differences between vaporizers and humidifiers. It’s titled “What is the Difference Between a Humidifier and Vaporizer?” and it’s pretty short and easy to read: > **[What is the Difference Between a Humidifier and Vaporizer?](https://www.beautyanswered.com/what-is-the-difference-between-a-humidifier-and-vaporizer.htm)** > > Though a humidifier and a vaporizer both dispense steam or vapor into a room, a vaporizer does so through boiling the water, and a... I have seen machines priced all over the place and some of them seem very wacky - kind of like ways to separate people from their money. So I suggest you be careful and don’t throw away money on wacky sounding machines that supposedly do all kinds of far out things. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-to-all-re-nasal-sprays/677316/55 "2013-12-31T03:50:47Z")
I have a similar problem with chapstick. If I get chapped lips and use it once or twice, maybe three, I’m okay. If I use it more than that, something weird happens and my lips get all weird and painful even past where the lips actually are out onto my face and this lasts days and days. Yeah, I made the mistake of using chapstick too much a few days ago and am currently going through this again. Sux 2b me. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-to-all-re-nasal-sprays/677316/56 "2013-12-31T04:17:53Z")
> [@SerafinaPekala](#): > > #1. For how long were you “on this stuff”? It only gets worse the longer you use it. > > #2. Jesus invented the nose for breathing thru so that the air would get hydrated before going into the lungs. Also the nose hairs trap all kinds of dirt, cat hair, pollen, etc etc. Are you saying Jesus got it wrong? 😕 If Jesus was born to Mary and Joseph then he was not the first person in this world. Just curious how people were able to breathe before he was born if he did in fact invent the nose. How did people who were born before Jesus breathe? And how did Jesus get a nose? If he invented the nose, then who invented his nose? ---
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-to-all-re-nasal-sprays/677316/57 "2013-12-31T11:25:25Z")
This stuff works wonders for my nasal congestion [http://www.fess.com.au/our-products/fess-sinucleanse-hypertonic-wash-starter-kit/7C86A150A6E32042BB313CFDC726F1B6](http://www.fess.com.au/our-products/fess-sinucleanse-hypertonic-wash-starter-kit/7C86A150A6E32042BB313CFDC726F1B6). Sorta like the neti pot someone mentioned upthread. ---
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-to-all-re-nasal-sprays/677316/58 "2013-12-31T11:41:41Z")
Sorry wrong one. This one (first on the left) [http://www.neilmed.com/aus/products.php](http://www.neilmed.com/aus/products.php) ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2015, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-to-all-re-nasal-sprays/677316/59 "2015-01-03T18:54:12Z")
I just want to report back to this thread to let you all know that thanks to my doctor and a very helpful pharmacist, I have stayed clear from this stuff for more than one year now and I feel very lucky to have done that. Unfortunately, like any addiction, I realize there is a huge danger of using this stuff again and becoming fully addicted once again. These kinds of re-addiction events usually start out seeming to be so harmless and begin without any thought of danger. But before you know it (well, I should say, “ **Before I know it** ” … I would be fully addicted once more). That is one big problem with most any addiction. Some people may think that being addicted to some items is not nearly as serious as being addicted to Heroin or Crack Cocaine or the like. I have to agree that being addicted to Heroin is probably the most serious kind of addiction there is and I thank God I have never been addicted to that. But Cocaine, Codeine, Tobacco, Nasal Sprays, Marijuana, etc. are all just as dangerous because, sad to say, once I start using one of those things, I know that I’d be in danger of using most any other of them. For anyone who has children, I think it’s really important to find a way to monitor any addictive substances they may use and be ready to intervene at a moment’s notice. I do not have any children, so I can’t really speak to that. But, the thought of having some kids and one day finding evidence they’ve been using some addictive substance really terrifies me. The thought of myself starting to use this stuff once more terrifies me. I remember one time some lady told me she was addicted to Marijuana and I had a good laugh about that (to myself - I never let her know that I thought there was anything funny about that). But now I realize that it \*\*is \*\*possible to become addicted to Weed and it is very serious because it can lead people right back to some more serous addiction. Bottom Line? I wish everyone here (including myself) the very best of luck and here are a few links to some threads in this forum that may be of help to anyone suffering from addiction to Nasal Sprays. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=441817&highlight=NASAL](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=441817&highlight=NASAL) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=711505&highlight=NASAL](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=711505&highlight=NASAL) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=547482&highlight=NASAL](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=547482&highlight=NASAL) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=682354&highlight=NASAL](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=682354&highlight=NASAL) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=682052&highlight=NASAL](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=682052&highlight=NASAL) ---
**Author:** ![anamnesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@anamnesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anamnesis)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2015, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-to-all-re-nasal-sprays/677316/60 "2015-01-04T23:48:06Z")
Congratulations on conquering the addiction and steering clear of it. I didn’t happen to catch your thread over a year ago, but it’s nice that you came back to provide an update. I personally consider it more of a chemical dependency than an addiction even though I know that these sorts of substances always get labelled as “addictive”, but it is nevertheless one I’ve suffered through on more than one occasion, I’m ashamed to admit. Fortunately you had a pharmacist who was completely open with warning you about buying this product from the very start; we definitely need more of those people in the world these days. My personal experience getting off of it was to ween myself by reducing the intake and just suffering until my sinuses adjusted back to the absence of the oxymetazoline. I think the stuff should probably be outlawed, frankly. And I say that as someone who was desperate enough to use it on more than one occasion and then had to “re-ween” myself off of it again. I know it’s not something that came up in the original discussion, but diet and nutrition often play a strong role as a cause for the problem in the first place. Sometimes it’s hard to know what triggers such a reaction that we become so desperate as to use these substances for relief. We’ll just be going along with our lives and our sinuses will snap shut, as yours did in the middle of the night. Used to happen to me too. For me, cutting cow’s milk out of my diet virtually eliminated what used to be a recurring problem with my sinuses, creating an endless feedback loop of what I now believe to be a chemical suppression of an allergic food reaction. I thought that getting rid of milk would be an impossibility but these days I barely miss it and my sinuses are much better off than they were when I consumed milk regularly. I even tried really high quality grass pasture fed and low-temperature pasteurized milk and while it seemed to cause less of a reaction, it still caused a reaction nonetheless. I still consume other dairy like butter and cheese and have half a mind that if I eliminated those my sinuses might improve even further, but those two are a little harder to abandon because they’re common in a lot of recipes. I don’t mean to imply this is the case for everyone, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all to think a lot of people suffer similar conditions without even realizing the correlation. I also don’t mean to demagogue or preach about what to eat or why, but ultimately just want to add that a lot of problems stem from diet in the first place. In this age, we’re encouraged by pharmaceutical companies - and some doctors - to solve problems with medicines (although I think to call this kind of stuff medicine borders on criminal misuse of the term) that bring life-impacting side effects rather than addressing the root of the problem. In the [often argued as misquoted] words of Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine and a man much wiser than me: “Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-to-all-re-nasal-sprays/677316.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-to-all-re-nasal-sprays/677316.md?page=4)