How do you overcome nasal spray addiction?

It is not easy. It says so on the bottle.
I only used the spray in one nostril and alternated.sides every day.

I finally had nasal polyps removed. That fixed it for me. I did not need the spray again.

Get a Neti Pot

@Deja_vu I used the Neti pot after my sinus surgery and must say there are few things in life that are as disgusting. Even now the thought of that salty, bloody, snot mix dribbling out my nostrils and going down the back of my throat makes me gag.
It did work though. I’ll give you that.
I was tempted to slap my Sears 5 hp shop vac onto my nose but the fear of sucking first grade, out into the filter convinced me otherwise.

Oh… not glad this is the first question I read this morning. Too early for that.

It’s very hard to do. I was addicted a few years ago and at some point it just stopped working for me, started stuffing me up instead of clearing me up. I stopped cold turkey. It was extremely hard, but I did it. It was ruining my nose.

@chyna Did you ever get the roto-rooter job or did your sinus congestion fix itself?
I had a mechanical issue that I, fortunately, could have fixed.

Yes, I did. I had to get my sinus’ drilled out as all of that nasal spray finally clogged them up.
Dr. told me to think of it as a pipe in the kitchen and pouring stuff down it to unclog the pipe. But not all the stuff goes down the drain, some stays on the side and turns to a hard powder. After years of nasal spray, it finally almost completely shut off my sinus’. I can’t remember what the surgery was called, but it was a wonderful fix. It has been fine now for about 25 years and no spray, ever.

Yes an alarming & addictive trend. Certainly not to be sniffed at. In truth, I have absolutely no idea.

I agree. It was great! I had a Nasal Polypectomy 8 years ago.
I could sleep better, taste food again and kiss and xxx without the need to come up for air. Life got better.
It’s amazing that such a simple thing can have such a big effect on daily living.

You are in for a rough row to hoe! I would echo the Netti pot or the easier to use NeilMed

I have never heard of this. Is this true for even the prescription brands? Our doctor prescribes flonase to our son. What exactly is meant by addiction in this instance? (You guys are freakin’ out the mom.)

I, too, was prescribed flonase. Flonase is not fast acting. When I used it, I seemed to get more frequent sinus infections so I stopped.
There are two main kinds of spray: saline only and those with meds, oxymetazoline HCl. (I’m sure there are others.) The medicated ones work great – for about 6 hours – and then the rebound occurs. You are plugged up worse than before, so you take another hit, etc…
I made it a rule to only spray one nostril per day. With one open passage you can still sleep and it gives the other nostril time to recover.

@Cruiser I used the NetiMed not the NetiPot. Both are equally disgusting. Bleecch!

Stop using it.

@worriedguy Yes nasal irrigation is not pleasant and so are many other bodily functions but ya gotta do em! For me OTC allergy meds are a last resort as they tend to dry you out and IMO do little to help effect a cure. At least for me blasting out the irritants is a step in the right direction.

NETTY POT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my boyfriend and best friend have both overcome nasal spray addictions due to the netty pot. sniffle. such a beautiful thing. try it!

Totally cold turkey. It sucks.

@Cruiser I just looked at the unit I had hidden away deep inside our medical supplies cupboard.. It is called NeilMed (not NetiMed). I know it works because after I had the roto-rooter job it flushed out enough nose gunk to keep a colony of maggots alive for years. I’m sure that’s why the grass is so green above my septic tank.
I just wish the process was not so damn disgusting.

Coke

Great question. Thanks for potentially calling this to the attention of those who don’t read all the fine print on warning labels.

Not knowing you could get addicted—unable to breath without more and more frequent applications of the stuff, I got a terrible case of must-have-spray during a bout with hay fever years ago, before the warning labels were added. My was out once I realized what was happening was cold turkey and walking around breathing through my mouth for about a week.

Good luck kicking the habit. It isn’t funm but it’s got to be done. If you don;t, you will eventually reach the point where no amount of spray is enough.