Afrin ADDICTION?!?

My husband's allergies were starting to act up now that it's becoming Spring.  So, I bought him a bottle of Afrin nasal spray.  It really helped, so when he ran out, I bought him a few bottles of Equate's equivalent to Afrin - same active ingredient, same dose, just cheaper.  The first bottles lasted three days.  The second lasted about a day and a half.  Six bottles later, he blew through two in twenty-four hours.  And now he's out and his nose is barricaded shut.  So, he had me google ways to clear his stuffed up nose.  Well, as I'm reading about home remedies for stuffy noses, every other website is saying...
                "Don't Use Afrin."
              "Avoid OTC nasal sprays."
        "Don't fall into ADDICTION from the rebound effect."

So, I get to reading.  Apparently, Afrin and its off-brand equivalents are addictive.  You use Afrin for sinus relief.  An hour later, when you are stuffed up again, you use it again.  Then you need it forty-five minutes later and so on until your nose can no longer function properly without it.  Some people have been using it multiple times daily for 20+ years because they simply can no longer breathe without it.  It's expensive.  It's inconvenient.  And it's dangerous.  Apparently, it can lead to chronic nose bleeds, atrophic rhinitis, and many other permanent conditions that require surgery to repair. 

The label on the equate OTC Afrin-equivalent nasal spray reads:

"Do not use for more than 3 days.  Frequent or prolonged use may cause nasal congestion to come back or get worse."

In what way is that an accurate warning that can be interpreted as, "Using this product for more than three days can lead to a life-long addiction and permanent breathing problems that will likely require expensive, painful surgery, after which you will still probably never breathe correctly again." ???