Afrin nasal spray and zyrtec

Idk if that's the right term for it but it happened to me. When I was in kindergarten I broke my nose on a box with a bunch of ceramic plates in. My nose turned into the colors of the rainbow but NOBODY thought it would be a good idea to take me to the ER or at least a doctor. I now have a deviated septum. Best thing is when I was still in school my classmate would always get me sick. At the last bit of the school year she made me sick once a week for an entire month which made me use nasal spray. Yeah guess what? My nose is now addicted to nasal spray and there's jack shit I can do about it and obviously the broken nose is not helping. For a really long time nobody thought it's weird that a child with severe chronic asthma didn't have meds or anything. As a kid I never had a say in anything and wasn't allowed to do anything on my own. Well shit I can't even make a fucking doctors appointment now without help and of course it's the "you're an adult you can do that yourself" shit I get now. I need to go to therapy desperately since I have so many undiagnosed and untreated disorders and childhood trauma but nobody fucking helps me and everyone just hopes everything will just go its own and when it doesn't then it must be my fault and I should just stop being sick. I'm so fucking sick of this shit and that I can't do anything about it

Here are things that I’ve done differently in the last 4 weeks:
Migraine ice cap - As soon as I wake up and before I go to bed! I do it for about 30 min each time. Even if I don’t have a headache I still do it. If I feel a headache coming I put it on right away.
ICE! -If I start feeling a migraine on a side of my head I put ice on it. I rub the ice around my eye and temple until it melts.
I started taking Vitamin D supplements ( https://www.biotechpharmacal.com/products/d3-50-50-000-iu ) -it says one capsule once a week but I do one twice a week.
I started running! I jog 2 miles 4 days out of the week.
Coffee as soon as I wake up, redbull by noon and 6 bottle of waters a day! Yes I spend most of my time in the bathroom now but it’s worth it.
Eye massager from amazon! - I usually do this like once a week for 1 hour, so far so good. Downside is that I do end up blind for 10 minutes, and it only heats up which sucks because I prefer the cold.
I also bought a nasal spray for headaches, and oxygen flavored canister from Walmart. ( I haven’t tried the nasal spray yet, but the oxygen does help me with my breathing!)
I eat more fruit now usually strawberries and pineapple.
I try to get 7-8 hours of sleep.
I don’t know if this will help any of you but I hope it does, and I hope I continue to be cluster headache free! :)

36F, 5’11 198lbs POTS syndrome diagnosis, it is not severe at all.
40mg fluoxetine and 150mg bupropion xl daily, plus Zyrtec and women's multivitamin. No recreational drug use, very occasional alcohol use (a couple beers only, never liquor or wine). Non smoker. 3-4 cups of coffee a day, no other beverages aside from plain water or the occasional sparkling water.
I came down with a very nasty head cold shortly after recovering from mastitis from milk congestion after weaning my 17 month old. I had Sudafed leftover because the doc had suggested taking a dose or two to assist in lactation suppression.
While trying to keep up with my spunky toddler and busy schedule, over the course of 2 days in addition to my usual meds, I took several doses of Sudafed. My post nasal drip caused a cough that was keeping me up all night, so l added delsym to it. I foolishly overlooked the fact that it was a 12 hour dose, and probably took 5-6 doses over the course of 2 days.
The night before last around 11pm, out ot nowhere, I felt practically drunk. Very loopy, warm, and fuzzy. Was reading on my laptop and had to put it away because I was starting to struggle to understand anything I read. Went to bed. Woke up coughing at 4am, took a dose of delsym in my unending genius. Back to sleep until my toddler woke up around 7. Woke up with the intention of getting him from his crib, fell over on the way. Intense vertigo. I was stuttering and having trouble speaking properly. I was super confused. Sweating my butt off. Husband stayed home from work and I rested up. Couldn't sleep though- I felt positively wired. Would occasionally nod off then full body jerk/startle myself awake. Had a very brutal day and night last night, it was all very jarring and unpleasant.
Am I crazy to think this may have been very mild seratonin syndrome? I took my regular meds as usual yesterday because I had no idea what was going on with me, but now I'm pretty apprehensive about taking my SSRI.
Honestly , I’m feeling pretty gun-shy about all meds right now. I know that's an overreaction and I caused this by taking way too many meds, and the specific ones I took shouldn't be mixed...out of desperation to keep up with my life despite being sick and needing rest.
But I really don't want to ever feel what I felt over the last ~36 hours again.
l've been wanting to come off my fluoxetine for quite some time but planned on asking my doc to taper me off. But now I can't imagine willfully taking an SSRI any time soon. So knowing and fully understanding that cold turkey is not an ideal way of stopping SSRI meds, can anyone tell me vaguely what I can expect and maybe suggest mitigation tactics that are not drug-related?
Thanks in advance. Sorry for the long rambling. Still not feeling 100% normal. And for laypeople who have read this far... please do not make the mistake I made of thinking OTC drugs are benign in nature. I'l never be so careless about what I put in my body again.

Suffering from symptoms of blockage muffled hearing, tinnitus from more than 6 weeks now. When I do nasal rise using neti pot I always get mucous coming out from my left nose( same side of affected ear). I am surprised by the amount of mucous I get daily. Is it that the mucous is generating every day ? I had a bad cold before all the symptoms stated. Doing nasal rinse and salt soray e ery say. Dr gave mometasone spray not finding any relief yet. Any suggestion about the cause and possible solutions are welcome. Thanks.

I've been using viraleze nasal spray for a couple of weeks. It has methyl p-hydroxybenzoate in it. I've had the worst feeling like I was vibrating on another plane, forgetfulness, worse sleep than usual and now crashing so bad. Has anyone had a similar experience?
About a week ago I added some more supplements so my stack became d3 k2, omega 3, inositol, tmg, taurine, mg bisglycinate, melatonin, colostrum, ALA, vit E & c and - the big mistake - a methyl b complex.
I'm thinking I overloaded my system? Whether it was the whole combo or just some items. The energy was welcome as I've had a bad couple of years that I attributed to long covid but since landing here I realise I wasn't managing my mthfr (I was just supplementing infrequently with B12, methyl folate and tmg and also taking things that I now realise were exacerbating the situation like Metformin at times and serrapeptase, no zinc/copper).
I'm really crashing but still having trouble sleeping.
https://i.imgur.com/1sCUSgy.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/oC5H2tZ.jpeg
Sorry about the photos of a phone screen to show my genetic genie report. I really can't brain today.

36F, 5’8.75”, 136.5 lbs down from 153 lbs 2 weeks ago. Just spent 12 days in the hospital, most of that in the ICU, due to myasthenic crisis, including 2 days intubated when my NIFs dropped to -14. Received IVIG for 4 days then another 1 day when I went back into crisis after a day at an acute rehab hospital.
Meds: 60 mg pyridostigmine q6h, prednisone taper (2 more days of 10 mg, 3 days of 5 mg, then stop), levothyroxine, Advair, Spiriva, Dupixent (currently held because of recent IVIG), esomeprazole, levocetirizine, fluticasone nasal spray, azelastine nasal spray. I have severe eosinophilic asthma and severe environmental allergies. Allergic to corn starch as well.
The neurologists (not neuromuscular specialists) in the hospital are not entirely convinced I have myasthenia gravis despite saying I experienced myasthenic crisis and me having positive LRP4 antibody results. In April, I was hospitalized at a different hospital where a neuromuscular specialist (the one who ordered the LRP4 test) felt I had functional myasthenic symptoms because she declared I improved during the hospitalization when I did not (my neck became floppy the day of discharge and I could not support it on its own). By the time of discharge, she felt my symptoms were long Covid related but the “functional symptoms” note has followed me around like a plague and because of this, the neurologists at the hospital last week were uncertain if I do have myasthenia gravis despite the LRP4 antibody results and experiencing what they fully admitted was myasthenic crisis that improved with IVIG and prednisone. They now want a single fiber EMG to confirm diagnosis.
My concern is that I have to be off pyridostigmine for 24 hours before getting the sfEMG done. Pyridostigmine is the only thing that helps me to breathe comfortably right now and I am afraid of going back into an exacerbation or crisis the 24 hours I am off it to get the sfEMG done.
Do you have any thoughts?

Hi everyone my GP has prescribed me fenofexadine anitistamines and she has put me through for an allergy blood test. If i have a blood test shall I stop taking the antisitamines a few days prior to my blood test as it may interfere with the results (dust mites, pollen and grass). I also have been prescribed a throat and nasal steroid spray. Would they interfere with results if so Should I stop these for a few days and how many days prior. I forgot to ask my GP. Many thankyou in advance

Hi everyone my GP has prescribed me fenofexadine anitistamines and she has put me through for an allergy blood test. If i have a blood test shall I stop taking the antisitamines a few days prior to my blood test as it may interfere with the results (dust mites, pollen and grass). I also have been prescribed a throat and nasal steroid spray. Would they interfere with results if so Should I stop these for a few days and how many days prior. I forgot to ask my GP. Many thankyou in advance

Back in 2007, I started experiencing what I found out were migraine headaches. After a few years, I found myself very rarely experiencing them anymore, but in 2021 had a headache lasting several days, went to the Dr, and was told it was a migraine. I was prescribed Imitrex, which helped for a while, but more recently has done very little. I was then prescribed daily propranolol and told to keep with the Imitrex. The propranolol hasn't done anything of note for me.
At the last few urgent care appointments I've had, I've been given a shot of toradol and sent on my way. That definitely got rid of the migraine, but this last month, after a shot, the headache came back after a few hours. That Dr also told me he had doubts the headaches were actually migraines, but more allergy-related, and had me start an allergy med daily as well as a nasal spray, and to take 800mg of ibuprofen as well. The allergy stuff didn't seem to fix the issue, as I was just at urgent care today for a headache lasting 5 days.
She said she couldn't give me toradol as I'd already taken too much ibuprofen, and couldn't understand why the last Dr said to take 800mg, as no studies have shown that dose to be more effective.
She said I needed to see a neurologist, wondered why I hadn't already been referred to one, and sent a referral.
I guess I just never figured a neurologist could do much to help since my migraines aren't absolutely debilitating, I just get an intense headache that doesn't go away for 3+ days once or twice a month and causes nausea and fatigue; I figured a neurologist would just say I'm fine and send me on my way.
I've never been so absolutely laid out by a headache that I've had to be in a completely dark room just laying down or whatever, I can still function, it's just incredibly unpleasant to do so and definitely affects my work (I'm on my feet 10 hours a day).
Does anybody else deal with anything similar who has seen a neurologist? Was it actually helpful?

Hi! I finally went to ENT today. Apparently I have nasal polyps. I was prescribed azithromycin, a spray, and prednisone. Any advice?

Just sat down on a train from my place of work to my place of Home. Want to do a quick and nasty Enchantment while I trundle. After a short rummage through my backpack I've decided to enchant my bottle of Hayfever nasal spray. We've got about half an hour until I have to get off the train, so about 10 mins for ideas. I'd like to keep it positive, and joyful. I know my statement of intent, so hit me with the joy. Music, images, etc. Let's make this little bottle of chemicals do more than depress my immune system.
Please come from a place of joy, ecstasy, good vibes, etc. I'll report back with my findings in a week. Happy to use darker energies for the greater good.

Long covid and avid masker here.
I was infected by my family member I had to live with during lockdown in 2020 and have never been the same.
I fully believe in the Swiss cheese approach and use an N95, air purifier, rapid testing, nasal spray, and isolating from the plague rats.
However I saw online that vaccine immunity might wane every 6 months. I last got my booster in December 2023 and was wondering if I should get another update come June.
Thoughts?

I’ve been getting a vaccine yearly since 2020. I last got my updated one in December 2023 with Novavax.
I have read online that vaccine immunity starts to wane around 6 months. I’m taking a trip for the first time since 2020 and I’m really nervous because my POTS and MCTD from long covid are already a lot to manage.
I’ve got my n95, air purifier, rapid tests, and nasal sprays ready but I’m wondering if I should get an updated booster.
Thoughts?

I got a septo in ‘22 after 2 decades of people telling me my septum was deviated- I thought there was something wrong with me. I got a consult for a septo and declined a nasal valve collapse repair that the surgeon recommended so that my appearance wouldn’t change… but she performed it anyway.
I’m very unhappy about this. But the thing I cannot get over for the life of me is the crural footplate removal on one side (the very open side). This has created so much more asymmetry and some discomfort as the tip drop resulted in cartilage now touching eachother that didn’t used to. I just cannot wrap my mind around removing the footplate from the side that was already more open to begin with. I explain it to people like it’s an A-frame tent and someone just decided to rip one leg out without replacing it with anything… like what’s going to happen to my nose as I age?? Plus I just miss angles of my face that no longer exist with the absence of the footplate.
The surgeons I’ve seen since are recommending major reconstructive surgery to straighten my entire nose and add even more cartilage to the outside to keep it open. I still don’t know if I can handle any major change to my appearance as these small changes are already sending me.. I know I had tiny slits for nostrils before but I was really only bothered when exercising or allergy season (possibly while sleeping, but I’m asleep 🤷🏼‍♀️) I wish she would have jus sent me home with nose spray that day.
I know my nose was not perfect to begin with, but I liked it and now it’s just so much worse. Please help me. 😓

You know what’s awesome about getting older? Your body just decides to do all kinds of awesome tricks. For example, I turned 24 this year and my body suddenly became allergic to pollen, even though I’ve never had springtime allergies in my life!! For the past month, I’ve been waking up throughout the night to blow my nose, or cough from post nasal drip. I rinse my nose with saline multiple times a day, I’ve tried Allegra, Zyrtec, Flonase, and asterpro, and so far the only thing that genuinely makes a difference is wearing an N95 mask outdoors. I think I go through about 200 tissues a week. I have a nasty barking cough that makes my head throb from the muscle strain. The cherry on top? I work with children, and spend at least two hours outside daily underneath the same trees that trigger my allergies. So, I get to choose everyday whether I want to be light-headed from running around in the heat with a mask, or go mask less and blow my nose every thirty seconds. To the people who’ve had allergies their whole lives, I salute you, because this shit is actually going to drive me crazy.

Stopped taking Otrivin nasal spray about 4 days ago after using it on and off for a couple of years and it seems like my rebound congestion is not getting better at all. It's not my first time having rebound congestion and before it has usually gotten better within like 2-3 days. Now, however, I've been dealing with rebound congestion in alternating nostrils, which lasts up to 24h before switching to the other nostril and making it swell and clearing the other. I've also been using a mometasone steroid nasal spray together with antihistamines but they don't seem to give me relief at all. Trying to sleep at night is really difficult and I feel so miserable. Is it normal for rebound congestion to last this long and not feel like it has gotten better? Could this be something else other than rebound congestion? I don't think I have a deviated septum or anything.

I’m currently 17 weeks and the past three weeks my sinus have been SO swollen that I can’t breathe at night and can’t taste or smell at all.
I’ve been using nasal saline and breathe right strips at night but I wake up every morning with my mouth so so dry I nearly choke and my mouth feels somewhat raw.
It’s not mucus and I can’t blow my nose to clear it. I’ve tried taking some allergy meds too and it just dries me out even more. I would get the steroid nasal spray but can only use it a few days based on the instruction. Does anyone have a solution for this or will I just have to suffer the next 5 months 😫.

I was diagnosed with a dust mite allergy in 2018. I never really took this diagnosis seriously because I also had a deviated septum and thought that was the root of my breathing problems.
In 2022, I had a septorhinoplasty, and have unfortunately been experiencing nasal congestion on just one side. I’ve seen 2 ENTs, both had conflicting opinions. One ENT says the issue is related to my surgery. The ENT who diagnosed the dust mite allergy thinks it’s my allergies causing the problem.
I’m not fully convinced that my nasal obstruction is related to allergies. I can breathe out of my left side perfectly, but my right side is constantly blocked. The only time I have any relief is during exercise or using Afrin. OTC allergy meds/sprays do not help.
Has anyone else experience only one-sided turbinate hypertrophy?

I had a wax impacted ear drum. A GP got most of it out but coincidentally my neck surgeon mentioned his wife is an ENT when I was telling him about it this AM. She was direct across the hallway so I went to see her. She cleaned out the remaining wax (which she blamed on me being caucasian in Singapore - weird) but whenever I mentioned tinnitus she basically ignored me. It seems I have a lot of fluid behind my ear drums that she can see through the drum (it is opaque due to the congestion) so she has me on some nasal sprays, anti histamines and antibiotics to clear it up and then she wants to do a nasal probe next Monday. I'll see if she is word blind again to "tinnitus" then as she wants to do a base line hearing test if my congestion has cleared up.

Anyone know if first aid has nasal decongestant like Afrin? Allergies got me and I can’t breath 😭

When I was 9 years old, I came down with a bad cold during a ski trip, and after recovering, I was left with chronic sinusitis. For the second half of elementary school I was clearing my throat and blowing my nose excessively every day. I also used to get severe spikes in post-nasal drip that may or may not have been caused by infections.
Then when I was 14 I got an adenoidectomy, a turbinate reduction, and clarifix, which basically eliminated my post-nasal drip, congestion, and excess mucus that caused me to blow my nose 20+ a day. Then after a year, the clarifix stopped working (it only works for around a year), and my congestion and excess mucus would slowly creep up again, although no where near as bad pre-surgery. Post-nasal drip has been mild to none ever since.
The surgeon also told me that I had acid-reflux that trigged my sinuses and recommended a diet change as well as these acid-reflux pills to take before every meal. My then 15 year old self didn't have the discipline to follow his suggestions and my sinus problems were only 50% eliminated because of it.
I'm currently 18, and following a recent cold that really spiked my congestion, I've been motivated into taking action again to resolve my sinus issues. After having changed my diet (cutting out everything sweet, spicy, sticky, oily, sour, and acidic, and I mean EVERYTHING), as well as eating no later than 4 hours before bed, and at least 8 hours of sleep, I would say that all of my mucus-related problems are now about 75% less than before my surgery, but the congestion is still there. Everything counts. And nothing alleviates/aggravates your symptoms more than your diet. My diet entirely revolves around soups, rice, veggies, and clean meats.
I've also met with an ENT during my recent sinusitis spike following the cold, and after taking a look in my sinuses, she found that everything was structurally fine with no abnormalities, except that my sinus passages were smaller than average. A balloon sinuplasty to enlarge them is on my mind.
I've also began meeting with a Chinese acupuncturist. I used to meet with her several years back, before my surgery, and although she could somewhat alleviate my symptoms, it was never significant. She had also never met with a patient with chronic sinusitis. She told my mother after my latest appointment (5/14/2024) that after dealing with my symptoms, she began looking into more acupuncture points for the sinuses. After her research, she says she began to use this point on a lot of other patients (I had stopped meeting with her at this point), which she says has revealed a ton of positive results. She does this one spot, on the upper left and right sides of my nose, and she inserts the needle from above and into the area of congestion. Apparently it also activates the tear gland connected to the sinuses or something like that. Hurt like hell the first time, but in acupuncture, if a pressure point hurts a lot, that means the part of the body it's connected to is not functioning properly. That's why they insert needles into the pressure points that hurt you, specifically, the most. In the past 5 days, my mucus-related problems have been 95% - 100% resolved. Congestion is still there, but I am hopeful that further treatments will help, as I've only had 2 appointments since the 5 or so year-ish break. If not, I'll see an ENT for a balloon sinuplasty. The acupuncture has also significantly helped with my sleep quality and energy levels, which I believe have been severely negatively affected because of my chronic sinusitis.
Basically, the acupuncture only REALLY works after you've resolved the structural sinus issues. Also acupuncture may take 2+ sessions for results to kick in. Results will become permanent over time as your body adjusts to the temporary post-treatment improvements.
oh and lower your body-fat levels because that will reduce your overall inflammation, which is what sinusitis is: the inflammation of sinus tissues. Exercise regularly and incorperate cardio. A little cardio goes a long way, and better cardiovascular health means increased blood flow and reduced sinus irritation. If you can jog outside in an open, naturely place, do that. It'll ease your mind, further improve your health, and breathing fresh air is always refreshing.
My treatment to runny nose: NeilMed Sinus Rinse. My treatment to congestion: push-ups and cardio. Take afrin if the congestion is unbreathable. Drink warm liquids for post-nasal drip. Take tylenol/ibuprofen for sinus headaches. Relief is part of recovery. Less stress and more oxygen means less inflammation.
TLDR : Fix your diet & sleep, meet with an ENT to fix structural issues, and meet with an experienced acupuncturist (preferably highly-rated and Chinese) if you think your issues are immune-system related.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask in comments or dms.