How I Beat My Nasal Spray Addiction!

I wanted to make this hub on how I beat my nasal spray addiction hopefully it will help anyone else who might have this problem.

If you have this problem, then you know how it can consume your life. It may sound silly, I mean it's not in the same category as other more serious addictions to drugs but it is still something that has a grip on someone with this problem.

It started as just a bad case of sinus congestion, sinus infection, that I just wanted relief from. Nasal spray has this way of just giving relief almost instantly. I was addicted to Nasal spray, nasal decongestant with Oxymetazoline Hydrochloride, a very effective decongestant. The problem with that is that after a couple of days of using the spray, your nose just seems to expect it, it almost feels like it will only operate correctly once it gets it's fix of nasal spray.

I used this stuff for approxiamately three years or longer, to be honest I lost track. I had to make special trips to the wal-mart just to get some. And I would stock up on the stuff just to make sure I would never run out. And that's not all. I would have some in my purse, in my medicine cabinet, by the bedside, in the kitchen cupboard, and I would even carry a bottle around in my pocket. It was disruptive to my day, literally. I mean when I needed to use the stuff, I would have to excuse myself to go to the restroom just to use it. I didn't think people appreciated me using that stuff in front of them, disgusting.

Any way I want to get down to what it took to stop the habit. I had read several different articles about using a new product that was non-addictive to replace this stuff, but I thought I wanted to get rid of this stuff altogether not switch to something different. So I didn't even bother with that other stuff. Don't get me wrong it might work great but it wasn't what I wanted. But then I read somewhere that this guy had just sprayed in one nostril, and deprived the other nostril. Then once the deprived nostril had healed and no longer needed the spray he stopped the other nostril.

So I tried it. It took about a week and a half for the deprived nostril to heal and no longer need the spray. Yes while I wasn't using the nasal spray in the one nostril it did get very congested and I could just feel the swollen nasal passages closing up and making it a little miserable. But I did use the nasal spray in the other nostril so it would be clear and I could at least breathe. Now I did have some pain when it was swelling and I just took some Excedrin or Tylenol for the pain and since they are anti-inflammatory they also help with the swelling.

What worked out great was that once I decided that I could stop the spray in the other nostril, it didn't do as much swelling or get congested as the first one did. I think I took one excedrin on the first day of depriving that nostril and haven't had to take any since.

It has been two days without any nasal spray and I am feeling great and have no desire for any nasal spray ever.

There are some things I did to make this transition a little easier. I did get a cool mist humidifier to put our bedroom at night. It helped to keep the room air humid and therefore easier to breathe. My husband even liked this and he said he could breathe a little better. I wouldn't swear to it but he actually seemed to not snore as much either, that was a bonus.

I also got a Netty pot and started using it about a couple of times just to clean out my sinuses, that also helps if you have allergies. I don't use it often just once every week or two.

I don't know if this will work for everyone, but it worked great for me and I will never use nasal spray again ever. So I hope this helps someone and would love to hear from you if it does.

Thanks for your interest.