Dimenhydrinate as a local anaesthetic

[Jamshyd]

One day I got severe nausea. I don't remember what caused it, but that is beyond the point. I took a 50mg tablet of generic Dimenhydrinate and put it under my tongue, hoping for sublingual absorption for quick nausea relief. As it started to dissolve, the taste was repulsive, so I swallowed it.

So far so good (and btw, the nausea subsided 20 mins later).

Now, the curious thing is that, under my tongue, and the places in my mouth where the pill touched, went severely numb. I mean the feeling was exactly like what you get after anaesthesia in a dental operation.

I searched many databases for "Dimenhydrinate", "Diphenhydramine" or even "Theophylline" (which, when being Diphenhydramine salt, becomed Diphenhydrinate) along with "Topical" and/or "Local" and "Anaethesia" or "Anaesthetic" and I found absolutely nothing other than some reports of using these materials for relief of postoperative nausea.

And yet at another time I put another tablet and swirled it a bit in my mouth, and my mouth got very numb again.

I never timed how much the numbness lasts, but I would say 20 mins.

Any thoughts or ideas? Or for that matter, anyone know of published research on the isssue?.

 

[indelibleface]

I'm glad someone brought this up.

I was once sold Sominex (diphenhydramine) in place of ecstasy at a rave (yeah, cut the laughter). In the dark, I could not tell the difference, and I attempted to dissolve the tablet sublingually. One thing I noticed nearly immediately was a powerful numbing effect. My mouth was easily numb for over 30 minutes. There was definitely a marked anaesthesia on the mucous membranes of my mouth.

Very strange.

 

[BilZ0r]

Easy: Diphenhydramine is a known sodium channel blocker. ref.

 

[indelibleface]

^^Thanks BilZ0r.

 

[Jamshyd]

Yep, thanks for the tip Blilz0r, that explains it .

 

[Smyth]

i had this with amitriptyline. I was questioning whether or not to take a tablet so i ended up doing half. When I cut the 25mg tablet up it all crumbled 'n shit so I ended up just scooping the dust up with my finger and applying it to my tongue. Needless to say my entire mouth was numb but this was a severe reaction. It was almost scary but noone was around to bitch to so I just closed my eyes and went to sleep.