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Overuse of over-the-counter nasal sprays can lead to addiction, causing increased congestion and difficulty sleeping. Addiction is mental, not physical, and quitting may require medical help. Doctors recommend medication to clear congestion and discarding all nasal spray. Breaking the mental habit may take longer.
Excessive use of chemical nasal sprays that are widely available in over-the-counter formulas can cause nasal spray addiction. While these sprays work very well initially, they tend to have a rebound effect, which can encourage overuse of the spray. Once this rebound occurs, people need more spraying to get the same effect, and their congestion actually gets worse. The difficulty occurs when people abuse the sprays in larger quantities and far beyond the suggested usage period, and when they can start to become reticent about using them. Addiction can be established and although people are not physically addicted, they are mentally addicted and may find it difficult to quit.
While nasal spray addiction is not a chemical addiction, it is an addiction of the mind. This makes sense because the first use of the nasal spray is extremely effective. The hope of achieving the same level of effectiveness is present with every spray; although the actual ability of the spray to work decreases as it is used. The increase rather than decrease in congestion means that some people are not only using the spray beyond the point of effectiveness, they are using it too often. Usually increased congestion and using the spray in a way not recommended by the manufacturer are the first signs of a budding nasal spray addiction.
Those people who have a nasal spray addiction talk about other addictive behaviors that fuel the use. These can include stocking up on nasal spray and leaving it all over the house or in the car, always carrying it with you, and keeping some at work. Many people are aware that what they are doing is wrong or dangerous and this can lead to hiding the behavior from other people. People might go to a private bathroom to use the nasal spray at work or at home, for example so that others won’t notice. Some who have suffered from this addiction even tell stories of how they deliberately shopped at different pharmacies or stores to buy nasal sprays so that no one would notice that they overpurchased.
One of the problems with nasal spray addiction is that continued use makes congestion problems worse, and people may have particular difficulty at night with congestion and post-nasal drip making it difficult to sleep. The problem really needs to be addressed by quitting, but people may need medical help. Doctors have seen this addiction a lot, and the usual course is to give medications that help clear the congestion, making sure the person discards all the nasal spray, so they don’t use it again. The first few days of transitioning from the nasal spray are difficult and uncomfortable. However, many are successfully treated within a couple of weeks, although it may take longer to break the mental habit and if they have underlying nasal conditions that first initiate nasal spray use, these too may receive medical care.
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