Long term Antihistamine use?

[nowitson]

Just looking for a little feedback. Aside from the obvious (dependence, sedation, tolerance, etc.) what are the long term effects of using antihistamines as sleep aids? Been using them nightly for about 2 years now. Switch between benedryll and dramamine. The thing is ever since i cleaned my act up rehab sent us all home with scripts for seroquel for sleep. I had to stop taking it due to the weight gain and other side effects. So now its just this over the counter garbage. Trying to do the work out thing to tire myself out. Any input?

 

[paranoid android]

I don't know anyone who has taken it that long as a sleep aid but i know one person who took huge amounts of diphenhydramine for allergies (hay fever and such) over a period of atleast 6 months. The result was tolerance to both the sedation and anti-histamine effects.

On one occasion this person needed to be hospitilized with a allergic reaction of unknown origin and the hydroxazine and diphenhydramine drips barely helped at all. It took huge amounts that would have made a normal person delerious to help.

I didnt notice any other negative long term side effects besides these.

 

[QuasiStoned]

^^^
I remember reading about someone who used bendadryl (I think, or one of the sedating antihistamines) for probably a couple of months and when he stopped using he had extra saliva and shit.

That's all I can think of.

 

[nowitson]

yeah all of this sounds about right. Does anyone know if weight gain is an issue? I know that among other things antipychotics such as seroquel and zyprexa hit the histamine receptor, though im not sure if this is responsible for weight gain. Its just getting to the point where its almost pointless to take them. The whole idea behind it was that i had a hard time without the seroquel to help me sleep. Im starting to wake up at least 1-2 times a night because tolerance i guess. Even pot doesnt help me sleep and pot used to always make me dead tired. quite bizarre i must say. maybe im just getting older

 

[j00sh]

I abuse benadryl semi-regularly as a deleriant, and sometimes during/after stim use as a sleep aid. Haven't noticed anything so far, except that the hangovers can last for like a week. And it enlarges with my tonsils, so it makes talking frustrating.

I think I've heard something about olney's lesions from long-term abuse? not sure

 

[cocacrazy]

long term use and over use of Benedryll can result in facial twitches and some other extremity twitches. Besides that I don't know of any other negative affects.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Working out doesn't make you physically tired in the sense that you need to sleep, it seems to have no correlation on sleep patterns at all.

Unless your lazy as fuck and lifting a finger induces the need to sleep, then that's different; you're just lazy.

 

[wungchow]

I would try switching to Melatonin for sleep. 1 mg is all you need, it works wonders for me.

 

[panda413]

I would try switching to Melatonin for sleep. 1 mg is all you need, it works wonders for me.

that is what i was going to say to try. it wont harm you, and is worth a shot even if it dont work. worst case you loose a few bucks for buying a cheap bottle. i take a 3mg pill and it lets me sleep. it even helps some when im in opiod wd's

i tried them otc sleep aids and they made me feel sorta sick when i was sleeping and couldnt get comfy lol

 

[haikod]

melatonin isnt a wonder drug, it causes depression whenever i use it for more than two weeks every day and it doesnt put you to sleep, it just makes falling asleep a little easier. i have pretty bad insomnia and the first thing i used regularly to fall asleep was benadryl. after a month my tolerance was getting ridiculous and after two months i was taking about 200 mgs a night, and i always felt like shit the next day....but i usually develop a tolerance fast to any drug (unfortunately). anyway, theres much better drugs out there to knock you out.

i take seroquel about 75 mgs a night and it works for me. i normally dont eat after i dose....and i dont really see why people gain weight if they use it just for insomnia. i mean, i've taken 3 and 4 hundred mgs before and pigged out before bed....but i knew i was taking too much. if you use the smallest effective dose then weight gain shouldnt really be a problem. also, ime, the next day grogginess disappeared relatively early on. i've been taking seroquel for 6 months? maybe more.

seroquel isnt the best medicine for insomnia though, and it shouldnt be passed out like fucking m&m's. sometimes ill get a racing heart, other times i get the horrible inner restlessness. but 75 percent of the time it works without any problem. and on that note im going to go pass out nwo.

 

[paranoid android]

Zopiclone is a pretty good sleep aid you could try that. I have not noticed any signs of WD even after long term use besides rebound insomnia. However i find that it stops working after 3 or 4 days and that really sucks. So you could rotate the anti-histamines with zopiclone.

 

[keygen]

rehabs always give u trazadone for sleep thats wierd... get a scrip for traz(easy) and mix it with sleepinal (big benadryls) like 100mgTRAZ/150mg diphen (taylor to ur tolerance) edit: i am all against that seroquil shit. ppl used to mix them with coolaid/coffee (foxys) in prison.... blech. that shit is awful

 

[theWorldWithin]

Man just go to a doctor who doesn't know you are a drug user and get some xanax, nothing is going to knock your ass out better than some benzos. I personally do not think it is very recreation but its a godsend for sleep issues.

 

[stringtheory]

Benzos never worked long term for me. All stopped working after a short time. What does keep working for me however (almost 2 years straight now) is low dose ambien combined with low dose melatonin. If I'm really reved up some nights and my normal dose doesn't work, which is seldom, I double the ambien dose but leave the melatonin dose alone (1.5 mg).

As long as it keeps working, I'll keep using it.

 

[Mr Blonde]

I think I've heard something about olney's lesions from long-term abuse? not sure

You are perhaps thinking of DXM, I haven't heard of this with anti-histamines. And there presence in humans due to DXM ingestion has been shown to be unlikely from what I have read.

 

[saveyour]

i've been occasionally using bendryl for sleep ( 200mg usually ) for over the last 2 years and other than a sluggish morning and slowly building a tolerance i havent had any bad effects. check out this article: The Last Psychiatrist: The Most Important Article On Psychiatry You Will Ever Read,

10mg Zyprexa = 500mg Seroquel = 3mg Risperdal= 120mg Geodon. (4)
This is the problem so many doctors have. “I tried him on Seroquel, it didn’t work.” Really? At what dose? Because higher doses aren’t stronger—they are completely different. The behavior of Seroquel at 100mg is completely different than the behavior and effects at 500mg. 500mg is an antipsychotic; 100mg is not an antipsychotic. I know it looks like it’s five times more, but it’s not—it’s the addition of a completely new level. It's like adding a new “drug.” Just because the FDA calls it an antipsychotic, and that word is printed on the box, doesn't mean it is.

 

[nowitson]

In response to theworldwithin's comments, my goal isnt to goto some doctor and get a script that i can get hooked on. I would just be substituting on pill for another and i hate xanax anyways. Im feelin my best bet is to find a sleep study in my area or goto a psychologist for some info.

 

[robcypher]

diph sucks. Long term abuse can cause a delusional disorder amongst other issues.

 

[lukw10]

I think unless absolutely necessary that using any medication to fall asleep isn't a very good option. Certainly some are put in a place where they don't have better ones but generally try to avoid this. I do take melatonin and 5HTP from time to time and they are effective [when i take too much adderall xr or take it late in the day]. At least the placebo effect is anyway.

 

[Nickatina]

If you are going to need something every night, DO NOT use melatonin. It's the hormone that your brain naturally produces during your sleep cycles to put you to sleep, and if you continuously use the supplement the brain will stop producing it on its own. If your brain stops producing it, your sleep troubles get a lot worse. Try the natural exercises that others have mentioned on previous posts. You should not need something to put you to sleep every single night.