demius said:

smoking/drinking or any sort of intoxicant make it worse, almost immediately.

---

Yup, same.  It doesn't even make sense to me.  Smoking.. yeah, I can see a link there.  I can see how the smoke could be irritating to the nasal passages... but, pods too?  Why?  It's very frustrating.  I'm not looking to be intoxicated all day every day or anything, but it is nice to wind down with the assistance of a substance.  I can't drink either because of a digestion issue.  The Gods mock me.

Jabbawaya said:

Have you been allergy tested? Seen a doctor? I used to have bad congestion because of allergies so I know how it sucks. It just cleared up over time, but if yours is really bad go see a doctor.

---

MOTH said:

Do you eat a lot of cheese and dairy, out of curiosity?

---

koraks said:

Exactly the same problem here. In my case, there definitely seems to be a relationship with my allergy for house dust mite. I only found out after 25 years of living in very dusty environments, of course. So I cleaned up my apartment and redecorated it in such a way that I can vacuum it easily. That helps a ton. I also use a fluticasone proprionate nasal spray, which seems to help a lot. Just to mention a couple of things that I experienced:

These things help, although often only temporarily:
- spicy foods (same remarks as two_rivers)
- being outside; I don't even need to exercise or anything, but as soon as I go inside again, stuff starts to clog up again
- the nasal spray mentioned above helps some, as well as the standard one which helps a lot, but I try not to use too much due to its negative long-term effects.
- humid or very cold air
- being (and remaining) in an upright position....
- neti pots and steam only work temporarily, or sometimes not at all. I think they are cumbersome and don't do shit in the long run

These things are catastrophic:
- lying down. which sucks, as I like sleeping
- house dust
- too dry air, esp. if it's warm

Hope this helps some. If you perchance find a definitive solution: let me know

---

I've tried that kind of spray a few years back.  It worked amazingly.  I used it for maybe 4 days in a row or something and then I ended up reading more about it, decided I didn't feel comfortable taking it anymore.  Then I experienced the rebound congestion mentioned on the wikipedia entry. 

This was when I was surfing and smoking pot all day every day.  The combination of southern California ocean water and pot stuffed me up so unbelievably bad.

My apartment is usually very clean.  I vacuum regulary (with a Dyson vacuum).  I have a RabbitAir air purifier (which doesn't produce ozone) running all day every day.  I don't really let dust collect anywhere.  My girlfriend and I are pretty on top of things when it comes to cleaning.  We don't use any harsh cleaning products with any kind of heavy perfume smell.  I don't wear cologne, she doesn't wear perfume.  I have around 20-30 plants in my one bedroom apartment, a lot of them chosen specifically because of their air purification capabilities.  I open the windows regularly to air the place out, I replace the heater/air conditioner filter regularly, etc.  Not sure what else I can do around my apartment really...

It's the opposite for me though, lying down I can breathe a lot better than when I'm sitting around.