Help my stuffy nose!

[Stiganator]

I've had a severely stuffed nose for the past 8 weeks. It is affecting my sleep since I can't breath through my nose. My teeth are becoming sensitive from breathing through my mouth.
I've had some respite with Afrin, but I don't want to get "rebound congestion" or worse from over use. The only other time I can breath is when I'm outside in the cold and after 5 mins or so, my nostrils will be clear. I haven't had allergies before, but can they just pop out of no where like that?


What can I do to kick this?

 

[Safeway]

8 weeks is pretty intense. Have you been flushing out your nose? You might have a sinus infection. Go see a doctor.

Also, glad to hear you knew about the perils of Afrin overuse. Your nose will because physically dependent on Afrin after just 3 days of use. When the bottle says no more than 3 days, it means it.

 

[BlackTigers]

Originally posted by: Stiganator
I've had a severely stuffed nose for the past 8 weeks. It is affecting my sleep since I can't breath through my nose. My teeth are becoming sensitive from breathing through my mouth.
I've had some respite with Afrin, but I don't want to get "rebound congestion" or worse from over use. The only other time I can breath is when I'm outside in the cold and after 5 mins or so, my nostrils will be clear. I haven't had allergies before, but can they just pop out of no where like that?


What can I do to kick this?

a) see a doctor, have a decongestant prescribed.

b) go to pharmacy, have pharmacist give you some advice on which OTC med will work the best, and buy that.

 

[Stiganator]

Yeah, I've been bad, I've been using Afrin for about two weeks, but I need it to breath....I can stop anytime I want.....I'm so cold.....I try to only use it at night so I can sleep properly.

 

[Sust]

Originally posted by: Safeway
8 weeks is pretty intense. Have you been flushing out your nose? You might have a sinus infection. Go see a doctor.

Also, glad to hear you knew about the perils of Afrin overuse. Your nose will because physically dependent on Afrin after just 3 days of use. When the bottle says no more than 3 days, it means it.

The man said something about a doctor. I second that motion.
8 weeks is plenty long enough to start thinking about antibiotics and some kind of sinusitis.
I dont know what the treatment is for rebound nasal congestion with Afrin though.
Good luck with all that.

 

[j0j081]

it's prob the dry air depending on where you live. this winter has been a b**ch in the midwest. I am almost dying because I work at UPS with no climate control.

 

[Safeway]

Originally posted by: Stiganator
Yeah, I've been bad, I've been using Afrin for about two weeks, but I need it to breath....I can stop anytime I want.....I'm so cold.....I try to only use it at night so I can sleep properly.

Two weeks of Afrin? You are fucked. Seriously.

My girlfriend is a pharmacist, and she sees this all the time. You are going to have to be weened off of Afrin. Go to a doctor, tell him you used Afrin for 2 weeks continually, and you fucked your nose up with it. He will give you an oral decongestant that will ween your nose off of its dependence on Afrin.

Like I said, it is physically addictive to your nose. You nose stops trying to flush itself out regularly once the little mucus producers are shut down by Afrin for an extended period of time. Even if you aren't sick, you nose will continually be congested.

Do not use oxymetazoline nasal for longer than 3 to 5 days. Longer use could cause damage to your nasal tissue and lead to chronic congestion.

FOLLOW THE FUCKING INSTRUCTIONS AND WARNING LABELS!

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

u have sinitus or some type of inflammation in the sinuses.
Dr. AT is not going to cut it. go see a real doctor.

 

[Rob_63]

Originally posted by: Safeway

Originally posted by: Stiganator
Yeah, I've been bad, I've been using Afrin for about two weeks, but I need it to breath....I can stop anytime I want.....I'm so cold.....I try to only use it at night so I can sleep properly.

Two weeks of Afrin? You are fucked. Seriously.

My girlfriend is a pharmacist, and she sees this all the time. You are going to have to be weened off of Afrin. Go to a doctor, tell him you used Afrin for 2 weeks continually, and you fucked your nose up with it. He will give you an oral decongestant that will ween your nose off of its dependence on Afrin.

Like I said, it is physically addictive to your nose. You nose stops trying to flush itself out regularly once the little mucus producers are shut down by Afrin for an extended period of time. Even if you aren't sick, you nose will continually be congested.

Do not use oxymetazoline nasal for longer than 3 to 5 days. Longer use could cause damage to your nasal tissue and lead to chronic congestion.

FOLLOW THE FUCKING INSTRUCTIONS AND WARNING LABELS!

Oh dear, then I shouldn't mention how many YEARS I have been using it continuously......

 

[Riverhound777]

Maybe it's allergy related? Get a new pet recently?

 

[Dudewithoutapet]

I think the problem is that most people don't understand what addictive means. THere are two meanings. One where you really are addicted, like cocaine or something, where it is both mental and physical.

The other, less common definition, is that your body needs it naturally to function (kind of like the first really), and your body needs more and more to be "normal." As an example I will use eye drops. It says to only use one or two drops at a time and to limit uses, because otherwise your eyes will slow production of natural eye lubricants and turn red easier. I know you say you can stop at anytime and that may be true in your brain, but your body might not respond to it so well.

 

[techs]

Originally posted by: Safeway

Originally posted by: Stiganator
Yeah, I've been bad, I've been using Afrin for about two weeks, but I need it to breath....I can stop anytime I want.....I'm so cold.....I try to only use it at night so I can sleep properly.

Two weeks of Afrin? You are fucked. Seriously.

My girlfriend is a pharmacist, and she sees this all the time. You are going to have to be weened off of Afrin. Go to a doctor, tell him you used Afrin for 2 weeks continually, and you fucked your nose up with it. He will give you an oral decongestant that will ween your nose off of its dependence on Afrin.

Like I said, it is physically addictive to your nose. You nose stops trying to flush itself out regularly once the little mucus producers are shut down by Afrin for an extended period of time. Even if you aren't sick, you nose will continually be congested.

Do not use oxymetazoline nasal for longer than 3 to 5 days. Longer use could cause damage to your nasal tissue and lead to chronic congestion.

FOLLOW THE FUCKING INSTRUCTIONS AND WARNING LABELS!

I had the rebound problem from using Afrin. My doctor had to give me Flonase (one of the new corticosteriod nose sprays) to get thru until the rebound effect wore off.
I wonder if you haven't developed an allergy? I never had allergies until I was about 30 and now I have lots of them. So, you may want to go get an allergy test.

 

[Safeway]

Originally posted by: Trucker61

Originally posted by: Safeway

Originally posted by: Stiganator
Yeah, I've been bad, I've been using Afrin for about two weeks, but I need it to breath....I can stop anytime I want.....I'm so cold.....I try to only use it at night so I can sleep properly.

Two weeks of Afrin? You are fucked. Seriously.

My girlfriend is a pharmacist, and she sees this all the time. You are going to have to be weened off of Afrin. Go to a doctor, tell him you used Afrin for 2 weeks continually, and you fucked your nose up with it. He will give you an oral decongestant that will ween your nose off of its dependence on Afrin.

Like I said, it is physically addictive to your nose. You nose stops trying to flush itself out regularly once the little mucus producers are shut down by Afrin for an extended period of time. Even if you aren't sick, you nose will continually be congested.

Do not use oxymetazoline nasal for longer than 3 to 5 days. Longer use could cause damage to your nasal tissue and lead to chronic congestion.

FOLLOW THE FUCKING INSTRUCTIONS AND WARNING LABELS!

Oh dear, then I shouldn't mention how many YEARS I have been using it continuously......

Definitely not healthy. You are in full physical dependence mode if you have really been using it for years.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Originally posted by: Dudewithoutapet
I think the problem is that most people don't understand what addictive means. There are two meanings. One where you really are addicted, like cocaine or something, where it is both mental and physical.

The other, less common definition, is that your body needs it naturally to function (kind of like the first really), and your body needs more and more to be "normal."

Close, one is addiction (heroin/cocaine etc.) characterised by compulsive drug use, drug-seeking behaviour, and the desire to increase the dose or avoid the effects of tolerance building up.

The other is dependence which as you rightly say is where your body needs it naturally to function.

Those probably aren't text book but should be close enough.

 

[Safeway]

Originally posted by: PlasmaBomb

Originally posted by: Dudewithoutapet
I think the problem is that most people don't understand what addictive means. There are two meanings. One where you really are addicted, like cocaine or something, where it is both mental and physical.

The other, less common definition, is that your body needs it naturally to function (kind of like the first really), and your body needs more and more to be "normal."

Close, one is addiction (heroin/cocaine etc.) characterised by compulsive drug use, drug-seeking behaviour, and the desire to increase the dose or avoid the effects of tolerance building up.

The other is dependence which as you rightly say is where your body needs it naturally to function.

Those probably aren't text book but should be close enough.

Close, but addiction is dependence. Dependence is addiction. There is physical addiction and psychological addiction.

Afrin is physically addictive; that is, a physical dependence is formed and discontinued use will cause physical withdrawal symptoms. An oral decongestant is required to ween off Afrin addiction.

Pornography can be psychologically addictive. Discontinued use of pornography will not cause physical withdrawal symptoms, though, it may cause psychological withdrawal symptoms.