safe way to use afrin???

I've been on flonase for about 5 months and since then I rarely have any congestion problems. I also use a netti pot pretty frequently. In the last 2 weeks the allergy season here in New England has been insufferable and I find my nose terribly congested by bedtime, despite evening use of flonase. I absolutely cannot put on my mask and go to sleep if I cant breathe because that truly makes me claustrophobic. I do tend to be a mouth breather but I feel that is much less frequent since I've been using the quattro FX. Last night I was so stuffed up and could not stand to try to mouth breathe while I was trying to go to sleep that I resorted to afrin (and then I did sleep 6.4 hrs before waking up.) That's ok but last week the same thing happened and I used it for 3 nights before the weather changed and I got some relief. Of course I am concerned about using afrin for more than 3 days. BUT the fact is that for me, using it ONCE a day is adequate. I dont need it again in the morning. Does anyone know whether once-a-day use affects the "3 day" rule? I really do not want to get addicted to afrin but I have to be able to breathe or I cant mask up. As night comes and I feel my nose stuffing up and it makes me feel panicky. I do have a Rx for allegra (which I understand is OTC now) but I am concerned that it might make me sleepy during the day. I have purchased some kind of essential oil which is supposed to help sinuses and I plan to give that a try too .
thanks for any advice here

Speaking from personal experience having gone through multiple Afrin withdrawals over the years. Once a day may eventually catch up with you. Maybe not as quickly as 3 days twice a day. Now my PCP told me that a little at bedtime he wasn't so concerned about but I know how my body goes and after about 2 weeks of "a little at bedtime" the congestion starts to get pretty bad a little earlier each night. Meaning the nasal mucosa are starting to depend on the chemicals in Afrin to reduce the swelling.

Now your body might be different, I just know that when I resort to Afrin, even only tiny bit at night for very long, I will start to get the rebound. Since I know my history then I aggressively will use OTC decongestant and Flonase to help me back off the Afrin. Occasional nightly use doesn't seem to cause the rebound but if I use it every night for a week or two I will start to see some rebound. The rebound isn't as severe like it might have been if I was using the Afrin more than once a day and thus easier to get it under control. If I take OTC decongestant I will usually take it around 6 PM then that gives it enough time to get in my system and if drowsiness occurs that happens at home. Some OTC decongestants wire me up so I have to be careful what I take.

Sometimes it is hard to tell what is causing the congestion.. allergies or rebound. Given the misery of full Afrin withdrawal, I tend to think worst case scenario of rebound to try to nip it in the bud if I suspect it.

If someone wonders why I don't use a Full Face mask... Well. I simply don't want to and I have my reasons why I would prefer to deal with occasional nasal congestion issues which are minimal compared to issues I have with FFM.

I can tell you what has worked for me and maybe it will help.. After suffering miserably from allergy symptoms for the first 36 years of my life which included itchy eyes that would become so bad it looked like i was in the ring with Mike Tyson, sneezing bouts that would last for 20 minutes, itchy scalp, and just a general feeling of misery I decided to see an allergist. They did the scratch test on my back and when the nurse opened the door she looked at my back and said "oh my goodness, I'll get the doctor." Apparently I was severely allergic to all the common stuff i.e. grass and tree pollens.

He told me that controlling allergies needs to take a multifaceted approach. First off your house would ideally have hard wood floors as opposed to carpet, A/C instead of open windows, especially important are hypoallergenic pillow and mattress covers. If you are outside and your allergies flare up take a shower to rinse off the pollen. Obviously DO NOT smoke but this is true for everything.

Secondly come in the pharmaceuticals, stay away from the first generation antihistamines such as benadryl (since they will make you drowsy unless that is the side effect you are wanting). Claritin, Zyrtec, Allegra, etc.. are all very good but generally only reduce but won't completely stop your allergy symptoms. My doctor is a huge fan of the netty pot and even gave me one and said how it must be good since it was on Oprah, lol. Then you have the nasal steroids i.e., flonase, nasonex, etc. which do a very good job on the sinuses and the steroid that is absorbed is negligible so it is very safe. Newer nasal sprays that work very well are the antihistamine nasal sprays that most docs will prescribe to be used in conjunction with the steroid sprays. These are an extremely powerful combo.

The third option, which is ultimately what I chose after getting tired of all the meds is allergy shots. I can't even begin to tell you how well they worked for me. I was skeptical at first but after 2 symptom free allergy seasons I am a believer. The key is you have to be committed to go full term. Every week for a year + of shots is a big commitment and they don't work if you stop half way. I am completely off the meds and have no allergy symptoms, essentially "cured".

As far as Afrin goes, when I did use it I was told that you should go at least a couple weeks after the last time you use it. So if you use it for 3 days which is the max number of continuous days, it doesn't matter if you use it once a day or twice a day during that treatment period, you still need to let your nose rest at least 2 weeks of no use or else you will be doomed to a chronically stuffy nose. A lot of people who use afrin have stuffy noses and they don't know why.... well it's bc they have become addicted to it without even realizing it. It works so well at first it is easy to see how people can easily misuse the stuff. It can also can hide or mask more serious problems that need to be treated by an ent like nasal polyps or a deviated septum.

Hope this helps and good luck!

Pugsy, what kind of OTC decongestant do you use that makes you sleepy?
I have used mucinex-d at my doctor's suggestion in the past to avoid afrin but I have only used that in the daytime. I am definitely wary of any kind of decongestant pill at night that might prevent me from sleeping.

Midwestosa, I think I might inquire about the antihistamine nasal spray to be used with flonase in times of emergency. I do have wood floors, and I dont have a c and in unfortunately I am outside and in barns much of the time....but I dont smoke. But I have been thinking that breathing filtered air from my s9 was a help. Clearly I have to look at more options. I will definitely consider the allergy shot option but I have tried to avoid that in the past. I thought I had the problem licked with the flonase but the last 2 weeks have been terrible. I've got RX antihistamine drops for my eyes that are ok, not great. I just cant deal with the claustrophobic feeling of having a mask on and not being able to breathe.

Allergies can be an uproar for cpap users When, I first began using pillows, I tried Afrin. Afrin made congestion worse. I try nasal rinsing, with various products, and discovered NeilMed squeeze bottle works the best. I use 16oz each nostrils. The squeeze bottle has a flushing effect, other nasal rinse to do not provide, so it flushes out the sinuses. It's not an overnight process, took me about a month, nasal rinsing approx 4-5 times a day, before my nasal passages cleared up. Now, I use once a night before sleep. Congestion free, during sleep.

Another method I use, which sounds crazy to alot of folks is, when I do feel my nose getting congested, I pinch off enough cotton ball, to filter my nostrils, when it's bedtime I remove cottonball, my nostril passages are clear, then I nasal rinse, hit the sack. I also do this, while mowing the lawn, around chemicals, when allergies kick in, around cigarette smoke, etc..... Sometimes I use cottonball in nose all day. Works a charm.

The simple answer is---as sparingly as possible.

You're wise to omit it in daytime, and on nights you can get by without.

If you can get by opening up just one nostril and alternating nostrils that's even better.

If you're not using the HEPA filters that trap all allergens, try them. I'm 90% symptom-free all night. With them, I only need to spray one nostril once or twice a month.

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/In-lin ... bipap.html

bayourest wrote:Pugsy, what kind of OTC decongestant do you use that makes you sleepy?

A OTC med that has primarily antihistimine will make me drowsy. Something like Tylenol cold symptom med. It has more antihistimine in it than it does decongestant. Good old Nyquil knocks me out.

The plain Claritin or Zyrtec doesn't cause any drowsiness for me and I can take those anytime. I just avoid stuff like Claritin-D because those contain the sudafed component which wires me up too much.

Afrin addiction isn't nice. I would avoid that at all cost.
I use Flonase daily, and also use NeilMed saline sinus rinse, but sometimes I MUST use Afrin.
What works for me is ONLY using it at night, and ONLY one spray, on ONLY ONE side. If possible I alternate sides each night, and this gives me much more than three days relief ( more like 7-10 days)
Usually my cold/allergy has gotten better by then. So far, over the years, this has worked for me without rebound, or addiction.
I can't guarantee that will work for you, but it has worked for me.

bayourest wrote:Midwestosa, I think I might inquire about the antihistamine nasal spray to be used with flonase in times of emergency.

Bayourest, The nasal antihistamines are relatively new and not widely prescribed yet. I found that in combination with the nasal steroids they work much better than either one by itself. The one I used was called Astelin. The biggest downside is that it has a funny aftertaste so a lot of people don't like that but every med that works has a downside and to me the after taste is no big deal when you look at the bigger picture if it works for you.

I only use Afrin maybe twice a year and "save" it for the times my nose is completely blocked up due to a severe cold. I only use it for a few days and then stop regardless of whether my nose is still plugged or not. Again, it's so easy to misuse Afrin and make your problems worse and too many people have no idea how it will make their problems worse with frequent use. If you are "addicted" to the stuff and can't get your nose to be clear without it you need to go to your doc and they will most likely prescribe a systemic corticosteriod i.e. oral prednisone to dry up your nose and wean you off your Afrin addiction.

thank you all for your input and suggestions. it is all very helpful to me. Last night I went to bed feeling somewhat stuffy (not totally) and decided to try to ride it out to see if I could escape the claustrophobic feeling that makes me reach for afrin these days. I had to lay on my back at first but I managed to fall asleep before I felt panicky and I am breathing through my nose this a m so that's good.

I have also suffered from getting a stuffed up nose around bedtime and have had to resort to something like Afrin (in addition to daily Flonase and saline irrigation).

I have had good luck using a half-dose (i.e. a half-squirt in each nostril) or a quarter dose (a half-squirt in just one nostril) before bed when I am stuffy. I've used it only when I really need it at night (like others, I've found I haven't needed it during the day at all) and I haven't noticed any "rebound effect" even when I've needed to use it several nights in a row. Switching to nasal pillows has been a HUGE help as the pressure seems to do a very good job dilating my nasal passages. Not so much with the nasal mask (a ComforGel Blue), which has exactly the opposite effect - the pressure of the mask tends to restrict things even more than they are naturally.

My guess is that for a lot of people, a 24-hour gap between [sparing] doses may be enough to mitigate the rebound effect.

If you try the prescription sprays such as astelin or flonase during allergy season, remember, they may not work fully for a day or two.

Sinus rinse is another possibility if you start it while you can still get water to go up your nose. I've also worked out the pattern to fill my nose, hold the nose, tilt forward to let it soak into my sinuses and then blow it out.

Saline nose rinses have a natural decongestant effect as the "salt" causes your sinus membranes to dry and contract. However, it doesn't work as well as Afrin or the generic equivalents. I still use Afrin on occasion and usually just put one quick squirt in each nose when the saline or Flonase doesn't give me relief. I will usually put saline in first then one squirt of Afrin in right after. I then blow my nose out after it has been in for a minute or two. I think this reduces some of the Afrin from staying in the nose but still clears my sinuses. In general I don't get too paranoid about using the Afrin when I need it. I just don't over do it with allergies. I think everyone will react to Afrin differently.

I have had withdrawal symptoms from over using Afrin. I have not had any long term consequences from it. I just stop using it "cold turkey" for a while before I use it again. I admit I usually over use it when I have a bad cold. I'm a big wuss when it comes to Colds.

Interestingly, I have not had a cold since I started CPAP therapy over six months ago. I wonder if there is something with the CPAP therapy that is preventing viruses or if I'm just lucky this year.

Put a very minute amount of finely-ground Cayenne pepper in your saline nasal spray/inhaler or into a sterile saline solution with nose dropper. This made all my mucous pour out! Tip your head back, hold for ten seconds, and then roll your head slowly to either side (right & left) to allow it to also enter the sinuses. Another good thing is to prop your head up a bit with thick pillows, as you would to read in bed. Maybe also at the same time surround yourself with Dutch housewives (those long pillows) if you tend to roll off your bed in your sleep. For some reason this slightly inclined position keep mucous from rolling into my nose.