So Christmas 2018 and i have a stinking cold,
I’m a utter baby when i feel i can’t breathe properly and congestion is really blocking my nose, I can’t sleep several nights in a row and start to understand why sleep deprivation is used effectively as a form of torture !
My wife goes to the chemist and returns with a bag full of every cold and flu remedy they sell, amongst it a decongestant nasal spray (DNS)
This spray is AMAZING - suddenly i can breathe and therefore sleep ! slowly the cold eases with the help of several shots of DNS each day I feel much better
BUT despite the worst of the symptoms going I find that at night when I lie down I become congested and can’t breathe properly, a shot of NDS sorts it though and i can sleep
I should have realised what was going on when in the summer 2019 I did a triathlon, before the start I “needed” a shot of NSD as I knew it would help me breathe better so therefore perform better
On holiday the same year I hadn’t taken any NDS with me and recall almost shouting at the concierge to get me some ! these things should have been big clues but as far as i was concerned I still have a “niggling” cold so I needed this stuff so i could sleep well, I didn’t “want” to use it but I “needed” to it seemed
Anyway - February 2021 and i’m speaking to someone about the “cold” I’ve had for “ages” now that won’t quite go away. They point out that if there is no snot being produced it’s unlikely to be a cold and probably an allergy or intolerance which gets me thinking
next month or 2 followed investigation into washing powders, various food etc, lots of suspects but couldn’t find anything that fixed things
Start looking online and “over the counter drug addiction” (OTC) keeps coming up with NDS being a very common problem
Read deeper and it seems using this stuff for more than a week can cause a physical addiction............. I had now been using it daily for over 24 months !
I call NHS direct who make me a doctor appointment, who confirms this is the problem, the NDS works by reducing blood flow to the nose, more you use it the more you need it to keep your airways open, more you use it the more you need to achieve the same effect, eventually it stops working and in a worst case your nose can be permanently damaged in the same way as a cocaine habit would !
Only cure is cold turkey, not pleasant, no proper sleep for a week, used whiskey and paracetamol etc (even some “left over” tramadol I had one night !) to help but it really was not a fun week and you would not have wanted to be around me !
I now really understand why smokers and drug addicts cant “just stop”. its not a mental addiction, your body is telling you that you need this drug
Now free of it I feel fitter and better than I have for ages, According to my watch data i’m getting at least an extra hour (deeper) sleep a night and o2 sat is a couple % higher on average
anyway ........ moral is read the label and just because its over the counter from the chemists it doesnt mean it cant do harm !
I’m a utter baby when i feel i can’t breathe properly and congestion is really blocking my nose, I can’t sleep several nights in a row and start to understand why sleep deprivation is used effectively as a form of torture !
My wife goes to the chemist and returns with a bag full of every cold and flu remedy they sell, amongst it a decongestant nasal spray (DNS)
This spray is AMAZING - suddenly i can breathe and therefore sleep ! slowly the cold eases with the help of several shots of DNS each day I feel much better
BUT despite the worst of the symptoms going I find that at night when I lie down I become congested and can’t breathe properly, a shot of NDS sorts it though and i can sleep
I should have realised what was going on when in the summer 2019 I did a triathlon, before the start I “needed” a shot of NSD as I knew it would help me breathe better so therefore perform better
On holiday the same year I hadn’t taken any NDS with me and recall almost shouting at the concierge to get me some ! these things should have been big clues but as far as i was concerned I still have a “niggling” cold so I needed this stuff so i could sleep well, I didn’t “want” to use it but I “needed” to it seemed
Anyway - February 2021 and i’m speaking to someone about the “cold” I’ve had for “ages” now that won’t quite go away. They point out that if there is no snot being produced it’s unlikely to be a cold and probably an allergy or intolerance which gets me thinking
next month or 2 followed investigation into washing powders, various food etc, lots of suspects but couldn’t find anything that fixed things
Start looking online and “over the counter drug addiction” (OTC) keeps coming up with NDS being a very common problem
Read deeper and it seems using this stuff for more than a week can cause a physical addiction............. I had now been using it daily for over 24 months !
I call NHS direct who make me a doctor appointment, who confirms this is the problem, the NDS works by reducing blood flow to the nose, more you use it the more you need it to keep your airways open, more you use it the more you need to achieve the same effect, eventually it stops working and in a worst case your nose can be permanently damaged in the same way as a cocaine habit would !
Only cure is cold turkey, not pleasant, no proper sleep for a week, used whiskey and paracetamol etc (even some “left over” tramadol I had one night !) to help but it really was not a fun week and you would not have wanted to be around me !
I now really understand why smokers and drug addicts cant “just stop”. its not a mental addiction, your body is telling you that you need this drug
Now free of it I feel fitter and better than I have for ages, According to my watch data i’m getting at least an extra hour (deeper) sleep a night and o2 sat is a couple % higher on average
anyway ........ moral is read the label and just because its over the counter from the chemists it doesnt mean it cant do harm !
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