Common questions about mometasone nasal spray - Brand names: Clarinaze, Nasonex

Mometasone is a steroid (corticosteroid) medicine.

The nasal spray reduces swelling, mucus, itching and irritation in your nose. It can take a little longer to work than antihistamine sprays but the effects last for longer.

If you're using it to treat nasal polyps, mometasone will reduce swelling and reduce the size of the polyps.

When you first use mometasone nasal spray, your symptoms will not get better straight away. It takes a few days for it to start working and can take several weeks for it to reach its full effect.

If you use the spray for hay fever, it's best to start using it at least a couple of weeks before the hay fever season starts. Many people notice they get symptoms at about the same time each year.

If you're using it for nasal polyps, it can take 1 to 2 months for your symptoms to improve.

Mometasone nasal spray is unlikely to have any lasting harmful effects if you follow the instructions that come with your medicine, or use it as recommended by your doctor.

However, children and teenagers need to have their height and weight monitored carefully if they're using high doses of a steroid nasal spray like mometasone for a long time. Taking mometasone for a long time can slow down their normal growth.

The nasal spray provides a small amount of steroid medicine exactly where you need it. This limits the amount of steroid reaching the rest of your body. It also keeps the risk of side effects as low as possible.

Red emergency steroid card

If you're using steroid medicines such as mometasone, your adrenal glands may not make as much of some of the hormones your body needs such as cortisol (known as the stress hormone). This is known as adrenal insufficiency.

It's more likely to happen if you take high doses for a long time (especially tablets and injections) or if you regularly use different kinds of steroids at the same time (such as a steroid nasal spray and a steroid inhaler).

Your doctor or pharmacist will check your risk of adrenal insufficiency based on the type and dose of steroids you're taking, and may recommend that you carry a red steroid emergency card. This card is the size of a credit card and fits in your wallet or purse. A similar card, called the adrenal insufficiency card, is available for children.

Blue steroid card

If you're on a very high dose of mometasone nasal spray, your doctor or pharmacist may also give you a blue steroid treatment card.

The card is the size of a credit card and fits in your wallet or purse. It tells you how you can reduce the risks of side effects. It also gives details of your doctor, how much mometasone you use, and how long the treatment will last for.

If you need any medical or dental treatment, show your blue steroid card to the doctor or dentist.

Mometasone does not affect any type of contraception, including the combined pill, progestogen-only pill or emergency contraception.

Although rare, eye pain or blurred vision can be a serious side effect of mometasone nasal spray. If this happens, do not drive or cycle, and contact your GP or call 111 straight away.

For most people, however, using mometasone nasal spray will not affect their ability to drive a car or cycle.

Yes, you can drink alcohol if you're using mometasone.

You can eat and drink normally while you're using mometasone.