Sign-in to Ask A Doctor - 24x7
OR
Sign in with Google
What Causes Severe Nasal Congestion In A Cocaine User?
Question: Hello I wanted know how stop nasal congestion after use of cocaine?
After a day of using, my nose get stuffed, very stuffed up but I can't breath from my nose . I constantly am sniffing thru my nose where I sound like I have the flu. I usually have runny nose during this time too I was prescribed Sudafed for that. I find myself constantly keep sniffing up the mucus because of irritation. Is there a way to get rid of this congestion? I've also used clartin that has not worked also.
After a day of using, my nose get stuffed, very stuffed up but I can't breath from my nose . I constantly am sniffing thru my nose where I sound like I have the flu. I usually have runny nose during this time too I was prescribed Sudafed for that. I find myself constantly keep sniffing up the mucus because of irritation. Is there a way to get rid of this congestion? I've also used clartin that has not worked also.
Brief Answer:
good luck!
Detailed Answer:
Ok, here's what NOT to do. DO NOT USE NASAL DECONGESTANTS. The nose gets used to stress hormones being there at enormous doses. The balance of the hormones gets re-jiggered to expect HUGE ENORMOUS AMOUNTS of stress hormones. When they aren't there... well... you know... Decongestant addiction is really really overlapping with cocaine withdrawal effects on the nose. They work the same for very similar reasons to the very same effect. It would be exactly like taking more cocaine except for it being over the counter and but not nearly as likely to kill you as the cocaine. Still, it's bad.
Steroids work both to prevent some of the changes that produce the withdrawal congestion and to lower inflammation. They do NOT operate through the same mechanisms as cocaine and / or decongestants. Nasal steroids are weakly effective and entirely safe in this context. IF it is due to inflammation, steroids are really strong anti-inflammatories but take a few days up to ONE week to be FULLY active but some effect is in 1-2 days. PROVIDED THERE IS NO INFECTION. A boil or a small infection will be both really sore and inflamed and EASILY AND RAPIDLY Treated. Examination by a doctor informed of the entire context will be able to immediately tell what is going on in terms of infection and how to treat it.
Basically it's going to take weeks (small number, not 'months' not 'years', but not 'days') for everything to slowly reset back to baseline. Being in a DRY area (Arizona) will help considerably. 2 weeks in the desert with nasal steroids is likely to (mostly) fix it.
good luck!
Detailed Answer:
Ok, here's what NOT to do. DO NOT USE NASAL DECONGESTANTS. The nose gets used to stress hormones being there at enormous doses. The balance of the hormones gets re-jiggered to expect HUGE ENORMOUS AMOUNTS of stress hormones. When they aren't there... well... you know... Decongestant addiction is really really overlapping with cocaine withdrawal effects on the nose. They work the same for very similar reasons to the very same effect. It would be exactly like taking more cocaine except for it being over the counter and but not nearly as likely to kill you as the cocaine. Still, it's bad.
Steroids work both to prevent some of the changes that produce the withdrawal congestion and to lower inflammation. They do NOT operate through the same mechanisms as cocaine and / or decongestants. Nasal steroids are weakly effective and entirely safe in this context. IF it is due to inflammation, steroids are really strong anti-inflammatories but take a few days up to ONE week to be FULLY active but some effect is in 1-2 days. PROVIDED THERE IS NO INFECTION. A boil or a small infection will be both really sore and inflamed and EASILY AND RAPIDLY Treated. Examination by a doctor informed of the entire context will be able to immediately tell what is going on in terms of infection and how to treat it.
Basically it's going to take weeks (small number, not 'months' not 'years', but not 'days') for everything to slowly reset back to baseline. Being in a DRY area (Arizona) will help considerably. 2 weeks in the desert with nasal steroids is likely to (mostly) fix it.
Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
Get personalised answers from verified doctor in minutes across 80+ specialties
