r/QuitAfrin

Hello,

Long time lurker, first time poster here.

I’ve been addicted to Afrin for probably 15 years now. It started when I had a bad cold and bought some to clear my passages like anyone else, but it turned into an awful addiction I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.

I used to carry a bottle with me everywhere I went, and would have light panic attacks whenever I couldn’t find a bottle or didn’t have one on me.

At my worst, I was going through a bottle a week, and would go to my local drug store to “stock up” for the month.

I started to get bad headaches, nose bleeds, and my sleep was awful as I’d be waking up several times throughout the night because I couldn’t breathe.

What caused me to stop was when I went through an entire bottle in one day.

One. Day.

I needed to break this cycle.

I looked at this sub— and did my own research separately— and made an appointment with a local ENT. They were able to prescribe me a heavy steroid that I would take daily. It started with 3 pills a day for 4 days, then 2 a day for 4 days, then 1 for 4 days.

This helped. A lot.

I then started diluting my Afrin with saline after every use until it was nothing but saline.

And now, after 15 years, I can proudly say I no longer need it to get through the day.

I wake up every morning and can breathe. I don’t have panic attacks whenever I check my pockets to make sure I have a bottle.

If you’re struggling like I was, please start the process to get better. I promise it’s worth it. Your quality of life will improve drastically once you’re off this awful drug.

Much love to everyone else who has battled this. Stay strong.

Used afrin daily since fall 2022. Decided to do one nostril method. For the first 9 days I saw I didn’t need the spray as much. Then on day 10 I saw I didn’t need it at all for both nostrils. So left nostril has been off afrin for 16 days and the right one has been off it for 8 days. However my nose still gets stuffy then it clears a bit then stuffy again. What’s going on? Help please

Anyone here who stopped taking Afrin and still suffers from some blood vessel inflammation? I took it nonstop for about 3 months and it's been about a year since I stopped. ENT told me to take Flonase and allergy medicine but I'm just looking for some tricks to stop the pressure. Nasal rinses don't help much.

Okay so about a month ago I was given prednisone for 5 days, immediately after it was given to me I ended up having another med cause me 160+bps so I put off the steroid. Would the dilution method plus steroids plus Flonase be an effective method?? I just want off the roller coaster ride but I can't lose sleep. I am barely sleeping as is because I have to wait and redose till I can sleep and my nose needs to be perfectly unstuffed. I'm starting to think I won't be able to get off ever. should I wait till after allergy season? I need significantly less afrin in the winter but idk if I can wait.

ok so i’ve been going pretty deep on this and one thing that keeps coming up is that the tissue gets genuinely damaged over time. like the barrier function of the mucosa gets compromised, which might explain why even after the rebound congestion settles the recovery still feels so rough.

has anyone found anything that actually helped with that side of it? not the breathing obstruction specifically but the tissue recovery. gels, barrier sprays, anything that made the withdrawal period more manageable beyond just saline?

So, I’ve been an addicted to nasal spray for 16 years of my life. I have constant congestion problems stemming from structural problems with my nose including a deviated septum. I cannot lay down on the side or have my head flat without heavy congestion. The only means to fix my problem would cost $6000 (yes even with insurance) which would be more expensive than being an addict for life.Thankfully, my rate of consumption has not increased. What are the long term problems of being an addict for life?

I had been using Sudafed and Otrivine (I’m in the UK) for almost 10 years. After a couple of years of hard use, spraying several times a day and going through 2 bottles a week, I started getting heart palpitations. I didn’t know what was wrong with me until I found this Reddit and read all the horror stories, and gave me the willpower to quit. It was pretty hard for the first couple of weeks but I managed to stay off it for a year, although struggling to breathe when laying down, but nasal strips helped.

For some reason I started using a little bit of the spray again at night as I was getting really clogged, and I am now back to spraying twice a day, unable to quit due to awful rebound congestion.

I also feel that the lateral cartilage from my nose has gone as my nose feels a lot more wobbly than before, I felt the “pop” during a recent flight.

I’m scared about the long term damage that I have probably already caused, but I want to quit again and for good.

Is it worth seeing an ENT doctor? any tips on how to manage nights better? anyone else has stopped it and struggled at night for a long time? any words of encouragement are more than welcome!’

I was a 20 year user and got on allermi to help get off of it. And it worked! Until…it didn’t. And I was having a really awful go of it. Basically, I was a snot monster. Couldn’t sleep laying down bc I was afraid of drowning in my own snot. So I went to an ENT,and low and behold, my septum is slanted - not just deviated (pretty much everyone has a deviated septum) - but completely slanted, so I can’t breathe well out of one side of my nose, due to the opening being so small.

Well, Afrin will temporarily open it, even if just a little, so of course I’m an addict. Anyways, I was referred to a plastic surgeon that specializes in functional rhinoplasty, and I had my surgery yesterday.

When she got done, she told my husband that the back of my septum was completely missing. She had to take cartilage from my ear to rebuild - and my ear hurts more than my damn nose!!

Now, I’ve never done coke or any other hard drugs, no illnesses or trauma to cause it…this was done by Afrin. And it explains why my nose bleeds were so severe, my sinuses were so bad, and why I couldn’t stop the spray. Purple box was my favorite flavor, if you were curious.

I know y’all know how bad this stuff is, but I don’t think you realize HOW BAD THIS STUFF IS. Please please, try your very best to get off of it ASAP. 0 stars on this recovery, y’all. I don’t wish this on anyone.

I have had several periods of nasal spray dependency in my life, sometimes lasting for years. Most recently I started using it in December when I caught a cold and couldn't bring myself to come off it.

Some days are worse than others for nasal congestion, so when I woke up 3 days ago with relatively mild symptoms I decided it was a good day to start the cold turkey process. I'm three days in now and basically back to normal. I think picking a good day to start really makes a big difference. If you wake up with your sinuses completely swollen shut then you'll have a worse time of it. Also, always start the cold turkey from the moment you wake up - you've already got all the time you were sleeping behind you at that point.

Just remember that having a blocked nose is not the end of the world and it does get better pretty quickly.