I was addicted to Afrin and Vicks Spray which worked even better for me for about 5 years. I used it probly 12 or more times a day. I would even wakeup at night with horrible congestion, use it and go back to sleep. Then I got the flu and vicks and afrin stopped working. I would use like 5 sprays in each nostril of each and they would open and close completely after 10 minutes. It gave me horrible panic attacks. My nasal passages swelled shut to the point where it felt like I was suffocating. Luckily you won\'t suffocate, I breathe wonderfully now and its been two years since I quit and I\'ve never used OTC nasal sprays since. I am on nasacort now and was put on that the day after I quit afrin. You go through about 5 days of swelling where you can\'t breathe. It is really bad at first and really hard to sleep with your mouth open and if you swallow you choke a bit and wakeup. You will eventually fall asleep. Use benadryl to combat rebound discharge as well. If you are already on nasacort ask if you can up you dose to 800mg a day temporarily. You will get used to the swelling after about a day. DO NOT GO BACK TO AFRIN its bad for your heart and its a horrible addiction! I am so much better off now. . It is possible and you will get used to the rebound and by the time it goes away you will think its no big deal. Its like getting a nose job its possible. After 2 or 3 days your passages will open a little more and it\'ll feel great!

I am not sure.  I would suggest that you look it up on the internet for the side effects and effects of long term use.  A lot of drugs and medications have long term effects no matter what the medication or drug is.  Some of them are unknown because they have not been studied into enough.  I would ask your doctor for some thing that you may try.  They have so many other things out there these days that may help.  Also, the pharmacist can tell you more of the side effects and you can call and don't have to tell him who you are.  If you need help getting off of afrin, I suggest either stopping cold turkey or replacing it with something else that may work if it is healthy.  Or winging yourself off of it.  You may even want to look into herbal remedies.  There is a website called butterflyexpress.org or com they can help give you some suggestions too.  Good luck.  There is something out there that can help.