nasal decongestants

Does anyone out there have any positive experience using nasal decongestants long term to help relieve stuffiness at night while sleeping? I know they are intended for short term use; however anyone use them moderately and find them helpful?

Decongestants are not always the answer.
Try an antihistamine first.
Not as nasty--and might do the trick.

You're asking for positive stories, but I'm going to tell you the opposite as a warning.
I was sick all the time as a kid, I caught everything and missed a lot of school for mostly upper respiratory infections (and I had undiagnosed cough variant asthma, but that's another story). My mom couldn't stand to hear me congested, and would load me up with over the counter meds, plus she'd get the doctor to prescribe Elixir Turpenhydrate with Codiene to suppress my coughing (Tasted like firewater, but it shut me up for the night so she could sleep).

One of the things she had me use was nose drops that had a nasal decongestant--I think it was the equivalent of Neosenepherine, can't remember the brand name anymore. They would clear my nose, but they had a horrible rebound effect, so I'd get stuffier and stuffier. For most people, colds last 3-7 days. I'd fight nasal congestion for weeks and even months, and then after little if any respite, the next cold began.

As an adult I kept using those nose drops. When I learned they have a rebound effect, I tried to go without them, but had no tolerance for a stuffed up nose, so I got the infant version under the theory that I could use them more often without overdosing. EXCEPT, I'd use them, clear my nose for a blissful period of time, and then be even more congested. It got to be I'd have a clear nose for about 20 minutes at most. UGH! So one weekend I determined I had to stop using them. I never took hard drugs (except that opiate cough syrup my mom thought was great) or smoked, so I never had to do withdrawals, but this was like the misery I hear from people who had to go through drug withdrawals. I could NOT do cold turkey, it felt like suffocation. So I started out trying to go 5 minutes longer between doses, then 10 minutes, then 20 minutes, and so on. It took THREE DAYS for me to be able to go without them and I felt horrible the entire time. I'm sure withdrawal from hard drugs is harder, but this was no picnic.

These nose drops seemed so innocuous, but they were not. I will NEVER use any spray or drops in my nose except plain old saline, and even that I'm careful not to overuse. I have used a steroid nasal spray on a doctor's prescription, but it doesn't help much if you don't take it regularly, and I can't stand the flowery smell.

So that's my warning about long-term nasal decongestants. Proceed at your own risk!

sleepingbetter0209 wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 11, 2024 11:04 am

Does anyone out there have any positive experience using nasal decongestants long term to help relieve stuffiness at night while sleeping? I know they are intended for short term use; however anyone use them moderately and find them helpful?

Ok, you've heard from the nay-sayers... Hello, my name is VDBTR, and I'm an Afrin addict. Actually generic... in the pump mist bottle. I pick the worst nostril before bed and give two or three good squirts while inhaling sharply. I don't go to bed until the nostril clears and I can blow the medicine out... avoiding ingesting it is good... the medicine actually stimulates an adrenaline response in the treated tissues, which is just about as natural as you can get while actually being medicated. I've had a long-running battle with sinus/hay fever since childhood... used the Neo-Syn* and 4-Way sprays... nasty medicines, only 4 hours, burn your sinus etc. Oxymetazoline is different... 12 hours effect and way gentler on the membranes. I've tried saline and Flonase... my poor sister burned her nose with saline (think it was too hot). Flonase just gunked me up... I do use oral fluticasone/salmeterol seasonally, like right now, for asthma... have been known to take a nose-pull off the spent oral (powder) inhaler... but the liquid spray is yuck... and steroids lessen your immune response.

So how bad is your sinus? If you're in a life-long battle with it then Afrin might be for you. Don't bother asking your doctor though.