[robinduckett]

They have oxymetazoline but I think the problem with this class of decongestants is that it is ineffective and dependency is basically guaranteed if used for more than a couple of days

[deng]

Oxymetazoline is different from Xylometazoline, although it was derived from it. Xylometazoline is pretty harmless for adults when not used over extended periods (it is advised to not use it longer than 6 days, but that will cover your typical cold). It is true that if you take it regularly over extended periods, you will have a rebound effect and your nose will get congested when not taking it, so in that way, you develop a "physical dependency", but that's obviously much more harmless than other medication dependencies. Getting off a Xylometazoline dependence means that you'll have to deal with a congested nose for a few weeks...

[sph]

I don't see from your comment how the risk from congested nose for a few weeks deems it "harmless" for you. Two fully congested nostrils is hell for one night alone, imagine a few weeks of that. A few weeks of terrible sleep, if any. It's torture.

It can also cause permanently enlarged turbinates with chronic use.

[sph]

Worse, the symptoms gets worse after you stop using it, see rhinitis medicamentosa.

Many people have used decongestants so much they cannot quit them or will have to suffer weeks of nasal congestion. I risked going through that; later I swore I will never touch one ever again.

[Terr_]

> Worse, the symptoms gets worse after you stop using it,

Very tangentially, "iatrogenic" is a nice niche vocabulary word: Something unintentionally caused by a medical activity, usually undesirable.

[morsch]

Kind of funny to see a medication that's super common in Germany, widely recommended by doctors, given to children, etc. to be discussed in those terms.

[Eddy_Viscosity2]

I've been through this and sucked hard. Never will I use a decongestant nasal spray again.

If there was a way to somehow sum up all of the suffering caused by these sprays from dependency (which lasts weeks, months, years even) and compare that with the suffering alleviated from a cold (which lasts a fews days), my bet is these cause more harm than good.

[wruza]

Same. I’d rather start and quit smoking again than this.

[dreamcompiler]

Oxymetazoline is an extremely effective nasal decongestant. It works almost instantly and it lasts 24 hours.

It also creates dependency. A drug that is ineffective cannot cause dependency.

[admash]

Of course it can. You take drug A for 5 days to get rid of symptom X. The symptom X does not go away. It is ineffective! You stop taking drug A and immediately experience brutal migraines that go away when you start taking drug A again. Ergo, you have become dependent on drug A for normal functioning, even though it is ineffective at ridding you of symptom X.