[sph]

Worse, the symptoms gets worse after you stop using it, see rhinitis medicamentosa.

Many people have used decongestants so much they cannot quit them or will have to suffer weeks of nasal congestion. I risked going through that; later I swore I will never touch one ever again.

[Terr_]

> Worse, the symptoms gets worse after you stop using it,

Very tangentially, "iatrogenic" is a nice niche vocabulary word: Something unintentionally caused by a medical activity, usually undesirable.

[morsch]

Kind of funny to see a medication that's super common in Germany, widely recommended by doctors, given to children, etc. to be discussed in those terms.

[Moto7451]

This isn’t that strange in the context that all medicines, while generally safe in OTC form, can have negative side effects if used for too long or at the wrong dose or in the wrong circumstance.

My wife has one kidney and as such is told to avoid NSAIDs as a class of medicine. She’s realistically fine taking it every so often but her doctors are asking her to avoid using kidney capacity that could hypothetically be needed to filter and excrete something else.

Acetaminophen/Paracetamol is great alternative for her since it’s processed in the liver. However if you’re a frequent drinker, have a liver deficiency, or have to take some other drug straining your liver, it’s contraindicated.

For most of us most of the time you’re completely correct though.

In the case of these nasal spray decongestants I had a case of rebound congestion due to over-reliance on them while surviving some family bringing really bad colds into the house and my son starting daycare. It was really bad. I then managed by switching to an alternating schedule of pseudoephedrine and the nasal spray so I could reduce the physical dependency on the latter and get a good night’s sleep.

My doctor eventually cleared me to take an allergy spray medication (Fluticasone propionate) that is safer for long term use but generally not used for colds because it inhibits immune response and mask the symptoms which can cause new infections and hurt your ability to heal. Yet another case of the mundane medicine that is contraindicated. While seemingly being the wrong thing to be put on while fighting off infections it worked out great.

After four months I had seen enough child germs and no adult has brought their own plague or food poisoning (it was a very bad summer for me) and I finally became healthy again.

[deng]

> Acetaminophen/Paracetamol is great alternative for her since it’s processed in the liver. However if you’re a frequent drinker, have a liver deficiency, or have to take some other drug straining your liver, it’s contraindicated.

What many people don't know: Overdosing on paracetamol is the leading cause of acute liver failure. It's also contraindicated for people with Gilbert's syndrome, which is actually pretty common (~5% of people in the US) and most people don't even know they have it, as it's harmless and usually only found accidentally through high bilirubin levels in the blood.

[pfdietz]

What is very common is hepatosteatosis, or fatty liver syndrome. Something like 1/3rd of American adults have it.

[marcosdumay]

Go read the side-effects and restrictions of commonly used medicine some day, it's unsettling.

[Eddy_Viscosity2]

I've been through this and sucked hard. Never will I use a decongestant nasal spray again.

If there was a way to somehow sum up all of the suffering caused by these sprays from dependency (which lasts weeks, months, years even) and compare that with the suffering alleviated from a cold (which lasts a fews days), my bet is these cause more harm than good.

[karmonhardan]

The best thing I ever did for decongestion was to get outside and start wearing a mask during the winter. The air entering my nose is clearer and warmer, which causes less mucus production. The mucus that is produced is more likely to drain, rather than sit around thickening and waiting to be blown out. I wish I'd thought to wear a mask while out when I was younger; could have saved myself much suffering waiting at the bus stop and during the subsequent schoolday.

[derekp7]

Back when I was a kid, scarfs were more popular and served a similar purpose.

[bondarchuk]

Did you really develop such heavy dependence after using it a few days at a time? I don't get that at all.

[pull_my_finger]

It's not a dependence like mental addiction. Your body becomes dependent on it. Your sinuses "rebound" and all but completely block in absence of the spray. I had a cold that blocked my nose up so bad I couldn't sleep because I was afraid of suffocating so I tried one of the sprays and it opens you up like magic, super effective. But about an hour after use if would completely block up again where you literally can't inhale through your nose at all. That's how it is even after you get over the cold/illness. You have to continue to use the spray to keep your airway open until you suffer through breaking the "addiction" by not using it for however long that takes. It really does immediately open your airway, but I won't EVER use it again because it's really scary to be completely blocked like that and have to get a dose in every 30mins-hour just to breath.

[bondarchuk]

Don't use more than 3x a day, and not longer than 7 days. At least those are the recommendations over here.

[wruza]

Same. I’d rather start and quit smoking again than this.