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Misc Really Bad Diphenhydramine Withdrawals…

P

Pat84

Bluelighter
Joined
Jan 28, 2021
Messages
25
Kind of having a rough time with this. Was taking a couple Benadryl tablets every evening for almost two years. Started to notice it was affecting my stomach and digestive system in a way that it had not done up until that point. I stopped taking it, then noticed all sorts of episodes of horrible, horrible bloating. It is to the point that it seems to be pushing so hard on my diaphragm that I can’t really take full, deep breaths, especially whilst standing up. Seems it’s giving me a lot of acid and extreme discomfort when I do it now, but it is even worse when I don’t do it at all and try to stop. But doesn’t seem to act like other drugs, in the sense that I can’t seem to find a comfortable dose to start tapering down from.

I was starting to feel a little bit of relief and lessening of the tightness and bloating (though, still some) yesterday after taking a couple spaced out, over the course of a day. But, today, I went the whole day without taking any, then as soon as I got home I just took two and suddenly now I am blowing up like crazy with really intense bloating and cramps. It literally looks like I am severely distended.

The absolute worst, most persistent part of this is the fact that my stomach and guts are so bloated and distended that I feel like I can’t take deep breaths, especially when standing up. It’s like I have to pass wind but it won’t come out. And even when I do, it just goes back to being bloated and distended.

Has anybody had any experience with this? Does this make any sense? What do I do?
 
ChemicallyEnhanced said:
I was unaware you COULD withdrawal from anti-histamines.
Are you sure this is definitely related and not a coincidence?
Click to expand...
I did not think you could, either, but with long term use you absolutely can. Benadryl is the only anti-histamine that has withdrawals like that, by the way. Because it is of a much older class of drugs. Look it up, you might be surprised. The withdrawals are absolutely horrible the higher your dosage and the longer you have been using them. I am also definitely, definitely positive it is
Al
 
Pat84 said:
I did not think you could, either, but with long term use you absolutely can. Benadryl is the only anti-histamine that has withdrawals like that, by the way. Because it is of a much older class of drugs. Look it up, you might be surprised. The withdrawals are absolutely horrible the higher your dosage and the longer you have been using them. I am also definitely, definitely positive it is
Al
Click to expand...

Diphenhydramine isn't the only one, if it does cause withdrawals, all of the first generation ones would, too.
I take a high dose of Cyclizine (same type of antihistamine as diphenhydramine but prescription-only), never noticed wds when I run out, but maybe because I regularly run out early so I never get dependant on it.

What are the withdrawal symptoms?
 
ChemicallyEnhanced said:
Diphenhydramine isn't the only one, if it does cause withdrawals, all of the first generation ones would, too.
I take a high dose of Cyclizine (same type of antihistamine as diphenhydramine but prescription-only), never noticed wds when I run out, but maybe because I regularly run out early so I never get dependant on it.

What are the withdrawal symptoms?
Click to expand...
HORRIFIC abdominal bloating, to the point of where it is so distended it’s putting all this pressure on my diaphragm, so that it feels like it is hard to get deep breaths in, especially whilst standing up. Feels like inflamed stomach or inflamed intestines, not really sure. There’s like this heavy weight in my stomach, it feels like I am extremely bloated. It is very uncomfortable and very, very miserable. And I already take a strong PPI every day (dexilant) because I already have stomach problems, so i cannot imagine how it would feel without that. I also just a few days ago stopped drinking my cold brew coffee, because I figured it was adding to it, but I have a really strange feeling that that might be actually adding to it?? I can tell you with full confidence though that the Benadryl is definitely a factor. I just don’t know how to handle this now or what to do. If I take some, it just gives me the same symptoms as the withdrawal now, only slightly less, but still significant. But if I just stop cold Turkey, it’s amplified by a lot. It didn’t start giving me problems until a couple weeks ago.

I can tell you that around three years ago or so I also had a much smaller Benadryl habit, only one 25 mg pill every night, on occasion I would take two, but that was very rare. Did that for about a year and started noticing that suddenly I was getting a little heartburn. So, I stopped. And then, after going cold Turkey, the heartburn was even worse. It took me a little bit to figure out that it was the Benadryl, because I was a little confused. I just stayed away from it for about a week and then after maybe another week or so, it finally subsided.

Is the withdrawal possibly worse now because my body remembers the first round I had with it a couple years ago? I just do not understand this substance, it doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense. Any advice on how to minimise or how to taper? I have heard and read in a few places that if you have a bigger habit like I do now, it can be possibly dangerous to just go cold turkey. Is there any truth to that?
 
Pat84 said:
HORRIFIC abdominal bloating, to the point of where it is so distended it’s putting all this pressure on my diaphragm, so that it feels like it is hard to get deep breaths in, especially whilst standing up. Feels like inflamed stomach or inflamed intestines, not really sure. There’s like this heavy weight in my stomach, it feels like I am extremely bloated. It is very uncomfortable and very, very miserable. And I already take a strong PPI every day (dexilant) because I already have stomach problems, so i cannot imagine how it would feel without that. I also just a few days ago stopped drinking my cold brew coffee, because I figured it was adding to it, but I have a really strange feeling that that might be actually adding to it?? I can tell you with full confidence though that the Benadryl is definitely a factor. I just don’t know how to handle this now or what to do. If I take some, it just gives me the same symptoms as the withdrawal now, only slightly less, but still significant. But if I just stop cold Turkey, it’s amplified by a lot. It didn’t start giving me problems until a couple weeks ago.

I can tell you that around three years ago or so I also had a much smaller Benadryl habit, only one 25 mg pill every night, on occasion I would take two, but that was very rare. Did that for about a year and started noticing that suddenly I was getting a little heartburn. So, I stopped. And then, after going cold Turkey, the heartburn was even worse. It took me a little bit to figure out that it was the Benadryl, because I was a little confused. I just stayed away from it for about a week and then after maybe another week or so, it finally subsided.

Is the withdrawal possibly worse now because my body remembers the first round I had with it a couple years ago? I just do not understand this substance, it doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense. Any advice on how to minimise or how to taper? I have heard and read in a few places that if you have a bigger habit like I do now, it can be possibly dangerous to just go cold turkey. Is there any truth to that?
Click to expand...

Oh, yes. There's a phenomenon called "Kindling" where every time you withdraw from a substance it gets worse like your body/brain remembers.
 
There's an entire subculture based around people who take Benedryl in amounts high enough to cause them to have full-blown hallucinations where they interact with shadow people. They worship the ''hat man.'' Reading about the horror stories and deaths that have resulted from diphenhydramine abuse is alarming because back when I was addicted to Oxycontin 80mg, I figured out I could eat a bunch of Benny's about 30 minutes before dosing and it would get me WACKED. This evolved to the point where I was stealing industrial-size bottles of Benny's and sometimes eating 35 or 40 of them at one time. When I finally did stop, I got incredibly sick. https://www.drugs.com/medical-answers/benadryl-hat-man-3573469/
 
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