Afrin

E., I have had reactions that you describe. I am a massage therapist and so I use many things to help alleviate the symptoms of the swollen sinuses. I apply tiger balm (available at akin's or any natural health food store) to my chest and back. I make a spray bottle filled with distilled water and add 10 20 drops of eucalyptus essential oil and spray my whole house several times to cleanse the air and create moisture. I use steam treatments and Ocean water or any saltwater nose spray and usually It takes 2- 12 hours for everything to heal but it does work... I also use hot herbal teas, foot baths and regular baths with a blend to soothe and ease the aches Akins has a great selection of these items... and there is a nettie pot that is awesome at cleansing the whole sinuses, read the directions and it works great, just keep mixing the saltwater to avoid burning the nose.

Have you tried the "wean yourself method." It is involves de-clogging one nostril at a time. It takes a bout a week or so each side. What you do is only spray up one nostril at a time and let the other one go free. You do this until that nostril is finally free of congestion. Next you ween the other side by just not using nasal spray in the clear sinus. It is recommended that Afrin not be used greater than 3-5 days due to rebound congestion. So to round things up, wean yourself off the spray one nostril at a time. You can do it. It will take a little time a patience. You will be in agony waiting for each nostril to clear but you will feel so much better afterwards. I would run a humidifier during this process to help you breath better. Good luck.

my daughter has horribly bad sinuses has had 3 surgeries to help her and it keeps returning we changed doctors he immediatly gave her a neti pot in his office and showed how to use after about 2 days we noticed improvement 2 weeks out we have not has a sinus infection now in 3 years

http://www.himalayaninstitute.org/Netipot/NetiPotGateway....

http://www2.oprah.com/health/oz/oz_20070426_350_106.jhtml

good luck
S.

I'm really surprised at the goofball who put you on Afrin for 6 weeks! It is not intended for long term use. That doesn't help you now, but it sure irks me that you got such poor advice. Did your current ENT suggest nasal steroids like Nasacort or Flonase or similar? Those products can be taken long term and will definitely help. Symptomatic relief can be achieved from using a simple nasal saline spray...just salt water. Sleeping might be easier in an upright position until you return to some form of 'normal'. Good luck and stick with a board certified ENT at this point.

I was addicted to nose spray for one and a half years. I did it myself, though, I can't imagine a doctor advising you to use it for 6 weeks. I had a deviated septum which caused me all kinds of problems with my nose for years. I came down with a terrible sinus infection and my only relief was nose spray. After that, I couldn't quit. My fix was surgery about a month ago. I know you said it wasn't an option for you, but it was so worth it. I can breathe again, and I'm not an addict :)

You don't have to go cold turkey. You can stop one nasal at a time, that's what my ENT advised me to do. It should be about a week of misery. I have also heard of diluting the spray with water, but I never tried that. I have a wonderful ENT, if you're interested, I'll give you his name.

My father was also addicted for years and years and he was able to get off without surgery. His ENT gave him a prescription nose spray and he also used saline spray and was eventually able to stop everything.

Good luck. I definitely feel your pain.

Don't know if this is so much of an answer as to an explanation as to why that happens with prolonged use of the afrin. Maybe your doc explaned it to you this way, maybe he didn't but working in the pharmacy bizz, this is what I know about it..... After using it for so long it makes your sinuses "lazy" and eventually quit working on their own alltogether but can be "revived" after some time. Ok, so I guess that didn't tell you much more than what you already knew but your question caught my eye b/c my dad was what I called "addicted to his nasal spray" and never was successful in giving it up. Maybe you can try using an oral decongestant like Sudafed or phenylephrine for a while to help relieve some of the pressure? Of course consult your doc first but best of luck!