Techniques for managing resources on a wireless device are described. In an aspect, congestion of resources on the wireless device may be detected. If any resources are deemed to be congested, then congestion of the congested resources may be relieved by controlling utilization of the congested resources by at least one client. In one design, flow control may be performed for at least one data flow to relieve congestion of the congested resources. A pattern indicative of when to send messages enabling data transmission and when to send messages disabling data transmission may be selected. Messages may then be sent in accordance with the pattern to control transmission of data for the at least one data flow. Another pattern with a higher ON fraction or a lower ON fraction may be selected based on usage of the congested resources.