Yes, drowning is too strong a term, I was just remembering a time when i woke up with that feeling, and glad you haven't had that experience.
Often when a person gets a sinus infection, a mass of infected mucus forms in the sinuses, and the body's white blood cells can't penetrate the mass, and antibiotics, which travel by bloodstream, can't get inside either. So the toxins from the infected mucus irritate the membranes lining the sinuses, often to the point that they bleed. The membranes also swell up, and cause congestion.
The Nasonex brought down the swelling, but the infected mucus is most likely still there. The best way to get rid of it is with saline. If the infection is in the lower sinuses, a Neilmed Sinus Rinse works well, and is available in most drugstores now. However, if the infection is in the upper sinuses, about the only thing that will reach it is a Sinus Flush, because of gravity.
http://www.medhelp.org/user_journals/show/2322
The Flip-Turn Sinus Flush is mildly risky, because you have to bend over to do it, preferably in a shower, but you can also do it outside on soft ground, or you can kneel down and lean over a bathtub, or perhaps a plastic basin or tub, with the shower running for steam.
Saline is also the best treatment for bleeding membranes. If you don't see a mass of infected mucus coming out after 3 or 4 days of flushing, then stop, and wait until you can finally see a doctor.