CPAPtalk.com

palerider wrote:

jaycee2 wrote:Thanks everyone. My sleep medicine doctor warned me against Afrin so I haven't bought any. The weird thing is, the nasal passages aren't really producing anything. It's as if they're swollen

well, nasal swelling is what afrin takes care of.

I have no idea why your sleep doctor told you to avoid it, other than the fact that used twice a day as normal, it's very addictive, and causes rebound swelling when you stop.

there may be other reasons, but I've never heard of 'em, and... it works for me when my nose get stuffy.

I've had a few medical professionals tell me it elevates blood pressure which I don't doubt but to what degree I have never checked. BP is not an issue for me now. I use it only occasionally when I'm too clogged at bedtime to breathe nasally. Other things being equal I probably take a half dose 3-4 times a month. The CPAP seems to help my congestion overall; I find myself nose breathing more than I used to.

Afrin has a rebound effect. It clears your sinuses TEMPORARILY, but then more congestion returns. You take more, get relief, and then worse congestion. You get trapped in an endless cycle because the rebound congestion is terrible. This happened to me years ago. It took three weeks to wean off the Afrin. Three miserable weeks where I had to try to stand going without just a few minutes longer. It was awful. It sounds so wimpy, but when you feel like you can't breathe you'll do anything.

I will never put anything in my nose except saline ever again.

Thank G-d I never tried cocaine!

Janknitz wrote:Afrin has a rebound effect. It clears your sinuses TEMPORARILY, but then more congestion returns.

absolutely, if you take it 2x a day (12 hour effectiveness).

take it once a day, however, and the side effects are *greatly* diminished, almost to the point of non-existence.

Update: I went to the walk-in clinic today and saw a PA. Despite the symptoms she wasn't really sure that I have a sinus infection. However she did prescribe an antibiotic. She also said that the Flonase doesn't start working until 3-5 days of daily usage. I also cleaned the humidifiers and don't turn them on unless humidity is at high 50 per cent.

As it turns out prior to this I had ordered the Airfit P10 nasal pillows from our sponsors to try and now don't want to try them until the congestion is under control. I still have a couple more weeks before it needs to be sent back so fingers crossed. Last night I slept on my side for 2 hours without the nasal mask then when the congestion was gone I used the mask for 4 hours.

I get a bit congesded in the evening, too. My doc told me to get nasacort. It's worked like a charm.

https://www.nasacort.com/m/#/home

I went through that and my doctor prescribed a steroid nose spray that worked after about 3 days. It worked great. Here's the catch, however. It's very addicting and your nose might plug up seriously within a week if you just stop. You get dependent on those sprays, but they do work. I weened off and It took a wile. I started using the Hybrid mask so I could open my mouth wile I was going through it. The chin cushion as great, but the pillows are super soft and I would wake up sometimes from a leak so I just place a cloth headband from the drugstore over the pillows to hold it all in place all night. Once I saw that I was closing my mouth again and using the pillows more, I was able to go on to a full time nasal pillow only mask.

I'm not saying not to go on a prescription nasal spray because steroids work. I got totally dependent on it, however, and had to use it even once winter season passed and I didn't like that. I now use salt water only and alternate back to a mask with a mouth feature if I really plug up. Nine times out of ten, your doctor will just prescribe a steroid spray for you.

If you don't want to use a steroid , try saline spray and breath rites , just a though