Oscar (part 1): I have been addicted to nasal spray for at least 11 years. I recently found out when I looked at a photo from 2004 and saw a bottle of nasal spray on the table. To help others, I like to share my personal story about how I became addicted to nasal spray and what I have already tried to get rid of it. I will also tell you about my first experiences with Capsinol … pepper in your nose!
It must have been about 11 to 13 years ago that I suffered from a stuffy nose. I bought a nasal spray at a drugstore. Like many regular nasal sprays, this nasal spray also contained the ingredient xylometazoline (hydrochloride). I now know that word completely by heart. This nasal spray (based on that weird substance xylometazoline) started all my misery. That is why I call this nasal spray with xylometazoline a (k) nasal spray from now on. Then you immediately know what I’m talking about. Being addicted to nasal spray. A lot of people will look at you funny if you tell them that. Let’s be honest, it also sounds a bit idiotic and sad at the same time. Yet it is not something very strange, because it is estimated that many tens of thousands of Dutch people are addicted to nasal spray. But how come?
How do you get addicted to nasal spray?
How can you get addicted to nasal spray again? That’s right. A nasal spray makes the blood vessels in your nose shrink. At first your nose is closed, but after a pinch of nasal spray, it is completely open within seconds and you can breathe freely again. Literally a breath of fresh air! But… now it comes. The xylometazoline in the (k) nasal spray causes your nasal mucosa to swell after a while. As a result, your nose will close again and you will again not be able to breathe through your nose. The only way to get your nose open again is to use the nasal spray again.
After a while, habituation sets in and this process repeats itself faster and faster. Your nose is closed, you use the nasal spray, your nose opens for a moment, but within a few hours your nasal mucous membranes swell and your nose is closed again. You always need the nasal spray to get your nose open again and to be able to breathe, and before you know it you are addicted to nasal spray. You can’t go anywhere without your nasal spray. It goes everywhere with you: to school, work, family visits, shopping and so on. Of course, a few bottles are taken on holiday, and as standard you always have a few bottles in stock.
Spraying in public? You don’t, because you’re a bit ashamed of that strange addiction. For example, on a first date where you only go to the toilet so that you can secretly spray again.
How do you get over a nasal spray addiction?
At first I didn’t even realize I was an addict. I really liked my nasal spray, because it literally gave me “air”. I couldn’t breathe without the spray. After a few years I realized that it is really annoying to have to have a nasal spray at hand every time and to have to spray every few hours, simply to be able to keep breathing. So time for action! First go to my doctor. This one had a solution that would get me off my addiction in no time… at least that was the idea. The first time I got started with my new nasal spray (prescription at the pharmacy) was a complete disappointment. Despite the promising words of my doctor, nothing happened.
After a while I gave up and just kept using my nasal spray. However, a few years later I tried again with my GP and this time I was prescribed Nasonex, a nasal spray based on corticosteroids. This was supposed to be the solution to my problem. Indeed, this spray seemed to work a bit, but the effect was just too little to open my nose completely and also seemed to get less and less over time. Sometimes it even made my nose even tighter. Unfortunately, attempt failed.
In the years that followed, I tried many more things. By now I had read a few things on the internet and so I understood that my addiction was not healthy, that many people have the same problem and it would be very difficult to get rid of it. And so I went to try everything … (and yes, you can laugh about it) I hung over a pan and steamed herbs (chamomile), I rinsed my nose with saline, I tried nasal sprays based on sea salt, sprays with herbs and alcohol, I have tried many different natural nasal sprays, including Cinuforce (Forte) from A. Vogel, I have tried to simply stop with the (k) nasal spray, but you probably guessed it. Nothing helped. My nose sat and stayed closed. Only my nasal spray could open my nose and it would remain so for the rest of my life. That was the only possible conclusion and I just had to accept it.
Capsinol nasal spray
So a few weeks ago I saw that old photo from 2004 with a bottle of nasal spray on it. And so I decided to look again on the internet to see if there are any new developments to combat nasal spray addiction. And so I ended up on the Capsinol website. Because I’ve already tried so many things, I didn’t immediately have full confidence in it, but because I did read some positive reactions from others, and because the medical world also reacts positively to it, I decided to give it a chance anyway .
I had ordered a bottle via the website and the very next day it was neatly packaged in my letterbox. I was aware that it would be quite intense to spray this ‘pepper spray’ in my nose so I decided to wait with it until I went to sleep. And there he went… spraying Capsinol for the first time! It is indeed quite a spicy spray (but you get used to it quickly) and now we had to wait and see what would happen. While I was lying in bed, I soon noticed that my nose opened up a bit. A surprise! What was also a completely unexpected surprise (this may sound a bit distasteful, my apologies in advance) was that I noticed that mucus was coming loose inside my nose. A positive effect that I have never experienced with any other nasal spray (and believe me, I have tried a lot).
2 weeks later
Just a “fast forward”. We are now two weeks further and in this short time my nose is doing a lot better. An incredible result for me. Three weeks ago I used my nasal spray every 2 to 3 hours. Now, with the help of Capsinol, I have managed to avoid using a nasal spray at all for two days in a row. Sometimes when my nose is really stuffed up, I still need the nasal spray for a while, but then I can do without it for quite a while. In the meantime I use Capsinol. I spray a few times a day (much less than before with my (k)nose spray) and then I can take it again. Fortunately, capsinol is not addictive and you can always use it.
I don’t know if I will completely get rid of my (k)nasal spray addiction. But my first experience with Capsinol so far has been very positive. I’ve been out a few times without a nasal spray in my pocket… and with an open nose. A very big win for me.
Thank you Capsinol!
Oscar