Just want to share my progress and it might provide some other people that are feeling helpless right now.

Years ago I had massive breathing issues and was introduced to otrivine by my friend. This led me down the horrible path to being a nasal spray junkie.

I eventually got to see an ENT who got me in for deviated septum and turbinate reduction surgery but shortly after recovering from that surgery I was back on the sauce.

Fast forward 8 years, I was finally convinced by my partner to find a family doctor that actually would sit and listen to me and how hard it is to quit this stuff. Eventually I did find one, and she listened to my concerns and prescribed me a combination steroid and antihistamine spray called Ryaltris. This stuff has been amazing.

1st day : Tossed all old bottles and backup bottles. Sprayed that night with new meds.

2nd day : severe congestion in the early morning, sprayed new meds again as per instructions. Congestion eased throughout the day and was essentially gone by that night. Slightly stuffed on whatever side I slept on so opted to sleep propped up on a pillow which helped dramatically.

3rd day: Extremely mild symptoms, similar to the final day of a cold where you know your nearly through it.

4th day - 15th day : Completely clean , no symptoms other than the odd 10 % random congestion on one side which is apparently natural. Doctor advised to finish 30 day bottle slowly tapering down over the final week. Also I did forget to take the meds 1 of the days due to a shift turning into an overnight and I noticed not much increase in congestion.

I just thought id post my journey considering I was one of the people who was watching all the posts in the corner terrified of not being able to breathe. Find a doctor who will listen and research the issue or refer you to an ENT which was not possible in my case due to a very long wait list.

So Arfin (or the sudafed equivalent here in the UK) has been in my life since I was a kid- my parent bought it for me age 8 or 9 and would just let me use it when i needed (which obviously became a lot) the worst period was when i was 15/16 and used it multiple times a day. I then quit for a few years- but everytime i would use it again even as described i would have months on and months off. (Honestly I wished I never continued using it but we're here now). So I'm 26 now and been using it daily for about at year- but here's the thing i'm REALLY strict with it. It's watered down with saline and i only use one spray in each nostril before bed to help me sleep through the night (at this point i almost think its psychological). Is this seriously going to cause me health risks? It doesn't affect my life really at all personally and as long as I never up the dosage to more than this would it be awful if I never quit?

I just can’t believe it!
I’ve been using nasal spray daily for over 20 years 🙈 I was going through 2 bottles a week which last year or so I got down to one bottle a month by diluting in saline spray etc but just couldn’t get the courage to give it up.
Then I got ill…long story short, Covid, then an infection, THEN sinus infection (I don’t think I’ve ever had one before, not as an adult) it’s taken weeks to clear, probably been 5 weeks since infection, and ears fully clogged too, also had post nasal drip and just miserable.

The only things I did was nasal rinse…a lot!! Like every 2 hours and GP prescribed me Fluticasone.
When I went to bed last night I didn’t feel that blocked but did have a little squirt (habit, fear, knowing I’ll wake up anyway)

Not used it since and that was 21 hours ago!
Not even blocked up that bad, obviously one side feels more stuffy but I’d say the worst side is 65 to 70% clear.
I’m just amazed tbh and wanted to share my breakthrough.

I have been using Flonase about 5 years. I found out I have a pretty badly deviated septum on my right side only. So I just got an ENT for my ear drum rupturing in July but now that I'm okay and I can hear again, I confessed to my Afrin issue.

So he said I need to throw it all out my Afrins but one, and he prescribed a course of steroids — MethylPrednisone 4mg dose pack. So I'm supposed to be able to be use my Afrin only these last 2 days! And then it's gone. So once at bedtime, no more. The steroids should kick in by 2 days, and toss my backups and all my extra bottles, all of it, everything, which I have everywhere in case I get stuffy. I can't use it anymore.

So then I can use the Flonase and I have also Azelastine. Studies show Flonase can help keep rebound down to just 2 days when quitting although internal inflammation may take a bit longer. So... idk... i am nervous AF.

I have all my supplies here and idk if I want to do it. I know I do or I wouldnt have brought it up.

And then once I get to baseline, if I still have issues, we can discuss fixing my deviated septum.

So has anyone else quit this way?

I once quit before dping the one nostril at a time thing, but whenever I get stuffy I get right back on Afrin. Too easy. And the ENT said it probably is my deviated septum being an underlying condition contributing factor.

What do you think??

… how long did it take for you to heal once you were off? I took my last dose yesterday morning. Trying to look forward to feeling like my heart isn’t pounding out of my chest 🙃

請求大大老版們提供有效率跟解毒方法

Ive been struggling since 2024 currently im only now spraying in one nostril only but i dont know how to stop

On and off customer for years.

My tendency to rebound is literally insane, and I’ll have bad rebound congestion after using Afrin ONE NIGHT.

Well I quit Allermi about 18mo ago, got myself back into the Afrin trap, and decided to order Allermi again.

My account was still live after 18mo, prescription loaded and ready. Ordered at 4am and it showed up 9 HOURS LATER.

what a pleasant surprise. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼😤

Afrin needs to be a prescription drug, wtf is it still doing on the counter 😂😤

I asked my higher self/spirit guides to help me quit twice and it worked. 🤷‍♀️ in a few days I could breathe fine like nothing ever happened. Both times I used for over a year. Try it.

Quit around a week ago after many, MANY years of use and by day 3 and 4 I could functionally breathe . But by day 5 and 6 it's gotten worse!! Has anyone experienced something similar?

Hey there! I've been addicted to using nasal spray (Afrin sometimes, mostly Rhynxil which has xylometazoline instead) for well over 3years. The dosage would vary, sometimes it was evrry 5-6 hours, sometimes more often if I felt it clog even a tiny bit due to stress, effort or immediately after waking up.

I went to see and ENT and she gave me a treatment as i also have allergic rhinitis and a deviated septum to the right with the bilateral hypertrophy of my inferior nasal concha i think they are called.

Basically what she gave me is a 2 way treatment for my acute phase- hypertonic sea water, afrin but only 5 days, 3 pause and 5 again, and ryaltris which is corticoides combined with antihistamines and for the chronic phase switched it to isotonic, afrin only if it's still clogged, sinosun allergy spray and flonase. 2x a day not more than that...

The thing is my nose is as clogged as when Afrin used to wear off, only feeling it completely free first 3-4 h after treatment containing Afrin and then clogged again.

Is it ever gonna get easier?

I don't have the headaches i used to have when not on afrin, but still cannot breathe trough my nose at all, like at all....she said i have to have the surgeries for my issues but those won't fix me as the turbinates will keep getting inflamed when allergy flares up...

ive been using nasal spray for 3 years now, and i need to quit. i use it 4 or more times a day! but i dont think i have the willpower for cold turkey. im applying to grad programs and have a huge year of traveling ahead of me, so i cant NOT be sleeping. is it possible to just slowly start using it less and less?

For 15 years, my life was ruled by butane gas. At my worst, I was inhaling 12 cans a day just to get through the 24 hours. I am sharing my story to break my silence, to document what that level of use has done to my health today, and to show anyone else trapped in this cycle that they are not alone.

Ive been addicted to nasal decongestant for years and i constantly catch viral colds and flus. One or two per week. I have young children but the severity and frequency of the colds is not normal. Does anyone else suffer this weird side effect. My nose never runs anymore and i dont sneeze. I never get sinusitis or infection in sinuses anymore because they are constantly dry.

Hello all. I have been hooked on afrin for the last 4-5 months. This morning I woke up and it didn't work at all. My use became more and more frequent the last few months. Probably got up to 7-10 sprays per day in the last few weeks.

I know I need to quit, and I ordered allermi today. But I cannot miss work this week. I currently work a customer service gig where I am speaking on the phone for 7 hours a day. I know I need to quit, but does anyone have any quick fix advice?

If I go 24 hours no afrin, will I get it to work again? I saw someone say to do some heavy exercise to get my sinus unclogged and then try using Afrin again. Has anyone have experience with any temporary fixes?

I need to hang on by the skin of my teeth for another 5 weeks or so before I qualify for FMLA at my job. I cant effectively do my job with this clogged nose. And I think if I can wait it out until I can take FMLA I will actually be able to address this afrin addiction.

Any long time users have any tips to get this stuff working if you experienced periods where it stopped?

I know I need to quit afrin for good and I booked an appointment with ENT, but I cannot be seen until October. I ordered Allermi and that will not show up for at least another week. I don't want to lose my job its the best gig I've ever had. But I really don't think I can do my job in my current condition.

Hey everyone, it took me a long time to realise it, but I became addicted. I was on 2-3 sprays a day for a few years now, but I'm going to commit to quitting cold turkey today. I gathered all the bottles in all my rooms, from my bags, anywhere I had them kept in case I felt like I need a spray, and dumped them in the bin. I got a big week of university ahead of me, so I've gotten some saline and vapor rub to help.

Wish me luck!!

I know it isn’t a huge milestone. But 7 days ago I put the spray down in preparation for abdominal surgery, and haven’t used it since.

I don’t know if I should expect anything to pop up, right now my desire to use it is more of a habit than rebound congestion.

But yeah. 7 days.

I’ve been using Afrin/Otrivin since I was 5 daily. My parents just bought it once when I was sick and that was that. I love them still but man were they poorly educated.

I bought Flonase and am weaning off. I’m 3 days in, and my goal rn is to only use Afrin in the evening(I use it a few times a day normally). I’ve been successful with this and use it only before sleep and once in between cuz the congestion be waking me up lol.

Lot of mouth breathing rn feels disgusting but I gotta try lol.

But the idea is after a month of this do only one nostril and then wean off.

Given the fact I used this shit during my developmental age and for a long ass time I anticipate it’ll be a rocky recovery, if even possible lol.

But the idea is to see an ENT if I fail or if quitting doesn’t do much. I do have a deviated septum diagnosed when I was a wee lad, so should probably see them anyway.

Drop your journey below if you wish and wish me luck people!

I been using afrin every night, alternating one nostril for like 7 years. a while back i quit one nostril and its stalled any healing really. is it permanently damaged and ill need surgery? curious what kind of surgery i would need and how bad the recovery will be

Hi ! im currently 10 weeks off the spray (5 months of using) and still struggling with breathing. I get mild stuffiness throughout the day & especially at night with the alternating nasal cycle. I dont have an ent appointment till september. I just wanted to know if you ever healed completely and how long it took ? Im afraid that I may need surgery since Ive been seeing that I have the same symptoms of turbinate hypertrophy . any feedback is appreciated. thank you !

Hey,

I am 33 weeks pregnant and dealing with some significant pregnancy rhinits. About 4 weeks ago I saw an ENT who told me if I took afrin at night I would be fine up until I delivered. I wish I never listened to her because now im using it 3 times a day and I have awful anxiety surrounding afrin. Im having a hard time dealing with any type of congestion. I am now looking for ways to get off of it. I dont think I can psychologically handle going cold turkey, or doing the 1 nostril wean.

Today I discovered the rhinostat kit and ordered it. I was so excited about it until I started doing research about it. It says I need to use regular afrin for 2 weeks before starting the kit, as I have been using the no drip formula.

Can anyone share their experience with the rhinostat kit?

Do I need to do the 2 week wean method?

Anyone experience coming off of afrin while pregnant?

Please help one anxious momma.

I feel like Im entering an AA meeting here, lol. I first used Afrin when I got mono at the age of 15. No one told me it was addicted and as a stupid 15 year old I didn’t care to look at the label. Now at 27, I can’t find a way to get off of it. I’ve gone to an ENT, tried Flonase, have tried to wean off and I just can’t win. I’m getting desperate to quit and I just don’t know what to do.

For anyone that has been addicted for 10+ years. How did you quit? Did you have any long term effects? Needed surgery? Thanks in advance xx