For many, this post may seem ridiculous, but there are so many people out there who, following a cold or blocked nose, have become dependent on their decongestant spray, for me it was Sinex.

It was only after I’d been using the spray for over almost a year and needed to use the spray every other hour (I know, it states quite clearly on the box how to take it, it was my own silly fault that I became dependent on using it) I realised I had a bit of a problem, but being busy at work I just kept going. I tried stopping all together but it was horrific, I felt like my entire nasal passage was plugged up and breathing, especially at night was terrible. So…. I went back on the nasal spray. It was so bad, even when I went out for dinner I had to have a quick spray before eating so that I could actually taste my food.

Enough was enough, I went to the doctors (I just want to say that this was well after a year – I did mention before that I am in fact a medical procrastinator!) after seeing the look of horror on his face when I told him how long and how often I was using it, he advised me of why I was dependent on the spray. The blood cells in my nasal passage had apparently changed the way they were formed and when I stopped using the spray they would enlarge to such a great size that it was blocking my nose.

He had to prescribe me with a prescribed nasal spray (not a decongestant) and also tablets that would allow my blood cells to get back to normal so that I could completely stop using the decongestant.

I have never used a decongestant since… just in case!

So be very careful when you use a decongestant spray, follow the directions very carefully and do not overuse the spray for long periods of time. If you are already dependent, go straight to the doctors, it can be fixed and you need to sort this out now, you’ll be so glad you did.