Are nasal sprays recommended for congestion due to WG? What type?
Topical sprays that you can buy over the counter, aside from salt water sprays, should not used. They do exactly the opposite: They work by constricting the blood vessels. The kinds of sprays your doctor can prescribe are most commonly topical steroids (prednisone-like drugs) and can be used by WG patients for inflammation of nasal tissue, with one provision: We do not know a lot about how steroids work. I don’t use topical steroids for people who are acutely ill, in the middle of a Wegener’s exacerbation, or in the middle of a sinus infection which I have not had the opportunity to treat. However, I do add these sprays if we are treating acute sinusitis or treating Wegener’s and the patient does not seem to be getting better. But I do not use them first because of the potential side effects.
