Misc Long term effects of Diphenhydramine

[Doc Hydramine]

Up until recently, I was a heavy abuser of Diphenhydramine (benadryl, nytol etc.) Without a doubt I was/am psycologically addicted to the high it gives you. My question is: what can be some of the long term negative side effects of diphenhydramine use (at doses between 750mg-2500mg). After my most recent use, I became so ill I lost nearly 15lbs in 10 days, with other strange effects such as crazy nightmares and hearing static (white noise) in my ears. The effects faded away over the next two weeks, but it scared me a fair bit, as I never experience that before.

Thanks,

Chris

 

[Some_Dude27]

I personally dont know what the long term effects of doses that high are. I have taken large(200mg+) amounts of the stuff. a reccomended dose is 25- 50 mgs. At that level, it can produce EXTREME confusion (No one should take 200 mg or more and remember anything of what happened) After taking 3-5 25mg tabs, I often wake up unaware of what day it is. I also have been COMPLETELY unaware of my surroundings (sounds fun, but after a large amount of this stuff, and many other substances, i wound up in the ER, and when they asked me where i was I did not know. I think I told them i was in France.) This is not fun. No doubt i am somewhat addicted to this, I have difficulty sleeping, and since I have no Heath insurance, I'm not going to the doctor. Any one else have confusion/blackouts from 100mg+ doses? Cause I do.

 

[Mr Blonde]

For long term effects I would be worried about Restless Leg Syndrome, cardiac dysrhythmias, maybe eye problems especially if you have had glaucoma.

 

[CounTerOrdeR]

Everytime i dose(for sleep) its always 100 or 125mg, i have 50mg pills. I notice nothing really except the next morning i realize i fell asleep about an hour - two hours after dosing, feeling like if i hadnt i wouldnt have fallen asleep. Idk if the shit helps though, would it take that long to help a person get to sleep? I would think if it did anything it would happen sooner but w/e i get no effect from that dose really and have no intentions of ever bothering with more than 125mg.

 

[Mr Blonde]

^ How often do you use it for sleeping? Tolerance builds quickly to the sedative effects.

 

[Doc Hydramine]

^^ This is true; tolerance build extremely fast for sedative or recreational uses

 

[CaseFace]

Considering dipenhydramine systematically shuts down your brain section by section when taken at those doses, i would say nothing less than permanent debilitating brain damage. Just because you don't notice it doesn't mean its not there, it just means your brain is so fucked you don't realize it, although i wouldn't be surprised if you really thought about it hard if you noticed something really fucked up about the way you think now compared to the way you used to. Seriously, taking those doses of benadryl will do nothing more than show you what its like to be brain dead at certain levels of severity.

 

[leiphos]

wow

 

[CaseFace]

^^ Yeah basically.

 

[FlawedByDesign]

damn man, i used to eat this shit by the handfuls in 8th grade. live and learn i guess

 

[eblake00]

eye problems

For long term effects I would be worried about Restless Leg Syndrome, cardiac dysrhythmias, maybe eye problems especially if you have had glaucoma.

I have been a diphenhydramine addict for about a year now and it is totally NOT worth it. One of the side effects is that it can cause blurry vision. Well recently the blurry vision did not subside as the drugs left my system and now have permanent blurry vision in my right eye. To everyone out there who does diphenhydramine overdoses... I would suggest finding a therapist (as have I) and seek treatment for your addiction. I am not one to talk as I am guilty of it myself, but I really just want to warn everyone here of what can happen long term with this drug.

 

[CaseFace]

Exactly. Its all fun and games until you realize you have caused permanent, noticeable damage to your brain. I have a friend who binged on the stuff for almost 2 weeks strait, taking over 1000mgs at a time by the end of it. A few weeks later he was still seeing shit that wasn't real, and confided in me about serious problems he think he caused himself.


Its not fucking worth it. Im almost 100% certain that hes is a bipolar psychopath, as he has admitted to his inability to feel empathetic, and he would just do shit sometimes to his best friends including myself that just made us speechless, like wait, wtf? you seriously just stole shit from my dads room, then tried to make it look like i was trying to frame him for it after i figured out it was him? yeah. He did that among other things. He would WAY over do every drug he ever took (like bipolar people do) and seriously fuck himself up, he would sometimes take 900+mgs of diphen WHILE 4th plateau robo tripping. He was one of my better friends through most of High School, but he REALLY fucked himself up. Im not going into detail to explain but he legitimately has psychopathy(inability to feel empathy, no, not a sociopath (i fucking hope), those are the ones who also have urges to kill), hes not just an asshole, hes just legitimately fucked up now. He would be the chillest guy most of the time and just fucking snap randomly, and when he snapped it was fucked up.

I firmly believe his psychological issues are do to being prescribed adderall at 5 years old, and abusing it chronically for years once he was old enough to realize you could get really fuckin high off it. Never fucking put our kid on adderall, ever, for ANY reason, and never abuse diphenhydramine or DXM. Its just fucking retarded.

He has since moved to Chicago, after which we all found out he was also addicted to benzos AND alcohol, he had a couple siezures, was hospitalized, and tried to kill himself a couple times. Trust me when i say you don't want to turn out like he did. As far as i know he has been clean and going to regular AA meetings for the past few months, but its only a matter of time before the switch in his brain flicks again and he snaps..

 

[Doc Hydramine]

Damn ^^

The moodswings/freakin out seem to follow me a few days after a binge. I've head somewhere that dph can cause bleeding in the brain.

 

[chainsawr]

Considering dipenhydramine systematically shuts down your brain section by section when taken at those doses, i would say nothing less than permanent debilitating brain damage. Just because you don't notice it doesn't mean its not there, it just means your brain is so fucked you don't realize it, although i wouldn't be surprised if you really thought about it hard if you noticed something really fucked up about the way you think now compared to the way you used to. Seriously, taking those doses of benadryl will do nothing more than show you what its like to be brain dead at certain levels of severity.

[citation needed]

 

[Bojangles69]

[citation needed]

Thats what I'm saying is this based on anecdotal evidence or actual medical science?

 

[nabollocks]

Im almost 100% certain that hes is a bipolar psychopath, as he has admitted to his inability to feel empathetic...

You do realize that diphenhydramine is the original antidepressant? And a great mood stabiliser at that...

From Wiki:

In the 1960s it was found that diphenhydramine inhibits reuptake of the neurotransmitter serotonin. This discovery led to a search for viable antidepressants with similar structures and fewer side effects, culminating in the invention of fluoxetine (Prozac), a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). A similar search had previously led to the synthesis of the first SSRI zimelidine from brompheniramine, also an antihistamine.
Diphenhydramine also acts as a sodium channel blocker, which is responsible for its actions as a local anaesthetic.

Your buddy is just self medicating.

Get him to a doctor and get some proper help for the poor fellow.

 

[Mr Blonde]

^ Can you provide a link to information on it as a mood stabilizer as I have never read that before?

Also, serotonin re-uptake inhibitors are contraindicated in bipolar due to causing mania, though I'm not sure if caseface's friend is actually bipolar or if that's just caseface's opinion.

 

[Doc Hydramine]

Update: I have been through another round of binging, doing upwards of 60-70pills (25mg diph each). I am fairly sure i Have caused some amount of damage to my brain, seeing as i stared at this chatbox for a good 20 minutes, trying to figure out why i got out of bed, logged on my comp and came to post here. Add an additional 2 minutes to remember my comp pass. My short term memory is a joke, and (with interactions from perscriptions i take) have persistant auditory hallucinations at night (3 minutes to remember the main point of my post). While diph can be interesting at first, it rapes your brain. Word of advice from a 17 year old with swiss cheese for a brain, DONT FUCK WITH DIPHENHYDRAMINE. I did my dance with the devil, and it may last me forever. I'm off the stuff for good. I do not want to be a vegetable wasting away in some psych ward. Deliriants are DESTRUCTIVE in terms of your brain. (3 minutes) I'm proof. Honestly, i can't remember it I was gonna type more. So thats if for now.

 

[Doc Hydramine]

well, the feeling of being super heavy is due to your brains signal to your muscles getting shut off.

 

[cyberius]

Of course antihistamines are going to make you feel stupid, they're anticholinergics.

Caseface what's your source for the statement that diphenhydramine "systematically shuts your brain down"?

What do you think it does to your brain? Taking Diphenhydramine makes you see very realistic hallucinations for a reason. You're having a lucid dream every time you dose, but to a much more extreme extent. Why do you think you get so heavy when you take it? It's your body trying to put you to sleep when you can't with sleep paralysis, you're somewhere in between being asleep and awake and that can not be healthy in any way at all.