Get a whiff of this nightmare.
A young woman struggled for years to breathe freely after becoming hooked on a popular over-the-counter nasal spray — making it nearly impossible to quit.
“I could not breathe without Afrin,” TikTok user @scaredandsobbing said in a viral clip with over 4 million views. “I was addicted to it for about, maybe like a decade.”
Afrin is a fast-acting decongestant that shrinks swollen blood vessels in your nose, clearing congestion within seconds and providing relief for up to 12 hours.
But the label warns: Don’t use Afrin for more than three consecutive days.
“If you use a decongestant spray too much or too often, your body can become dependent on them,” Dr. Mark Aronica, an allergist, told the Cleveland Clinic.
“Then, when you try to stop using the spray, your nasal passages start to swell up again, which causes your congestion to return. This can lead you to use nasal spray again in order to try to feel better,” he explained.
Over time, this vicious cycle, called rebound congestion, can lead to chronic sinusitis and other serious long-term problems.
The TikToker’s addiction to the nasal spray became so severe, she slept with three bottles in her bed every night.
“I would wake up maybe twice a night, maybe once a night, depending on how bad it was, and I would need to spray Afrin into my nose because I could not breathe and it felt like I was dying,” she said.
She carried bottles with her everywhere, and would race to buy more if she ran out. Without it, she said couldn’t focus in her college classes.
On a family trip to Morocco, she accidentally packed Afrin in her checked luggage instead of her carry-on bag. This triggered an emotional breakdown at the airport as she desperately searched for the spray.
“It was so bad that my dad literally went back through security to go back to the entrance of the airport because they had a pharmacy there,” she said.
Shaken, she saw several ear, nose and throat specialists. They all told her the same thing: quit the spray immediately.
“Twice I did it cold turkey, it was miserable,” she said in another Tiktok. “I think it took me a week until I could finally sleep and like, start breathing.”
Even then, she admitted to “some slip-ups” that made her fall back into the habit.
“The third time, I went to another ENT and he said at that point I damaged my nose,” the woman said. “I burnt a hole through my nose.”
He prescribed her a course of steroids and urged her to quit for good.
“The first day was horrible, like, I could not breathe at all” she said. “I thought I was going to die.”
But by the next morning, the woman found herself breathing freely for the first time in years without the spray.
“It was perfect,” she said, adding that she hasn’t touched Afrin since.
To avoid this nightmare, Dr. John R. Craig, an otolaryngologist, recommends starting with an over-the-counter nasal corticosteroid like Flonase if you find yourself congested.
“While it is theoretically possible to develop rebound congestion with nasal corticosteroid sprays, it’s much less likely,” he told the American Medical Association.
This kind of medication also works on multiple pathways, Craig noted.
“It’s going to decrease the inflammation behind the stuffy or congested tissue, and it might actually have some constriction effect on the blood vessels,” he explained.
Experts also recommend trying oral antihistamines and decongestants — which are taken by mouth and don’t all carry the same risks of a rebound.
Using another method to relieve your congestion, like a nasal rinse or Neti pot, can also clear up clogged airways.
And if you do opt for a decongestant spray like Afrin, stick to the label and don’t use it for more than three days.
“If you have prolonged congestion, it’s best to speak with your healthcare professional,” Aronica advised. “They can help get to the root cause and recommend the right course of treatment to get you feeling better.”