Misc Diphenhydramine, advice would be awesome

[Znegative]

So here's the situation. About a month and a half ago I started getting this real bad rash that would itch all over my body, and it's still honestly just as bad, and I'm scheduling a doctors appointment. I initially though started taking 25mg of Benadryl to combat the itch and to help me sleep at night.

The problem is, that I've been taking more and more diphenhydramine in order to fall asleep, and it's gotten to the point where I take about 175-200mg a night. I'm now starting to experience some slight effects from my dosage, nothing too bad, but things like discordination and mild visuals, like breathing/moving patterns on my walls or floors. I also find that I get a hangover from it in the morning, and feel kind of depressed throughout the morning.

Quite honestly I feel pretty embarrassed about this situation, I've never been the type of person who would want to try and get high off diphenhydramine, though in the past I would use it intravenously to potentiate IV bupe, and that turned into a similar, but much uglier mess. The only way I broke this rediculous habit last time, was by using Xanax, which is not something that I want to do again, as I've had issues with that drug numerous times in my life.

Now fortunately im lucky enough that my suboxone doctor would probably prescribe me ambien or lunesta for sleep (she has in the past) but what I want to know, is, would that really be enough, now that I'm taking rather large, IMO dosages of Benadryl for insomnia? And does anyone know of any other drug, preferably not that addictive, that could help me with this, if I can't get ambien?

I would also like o add that I have tried now going to bed without the Benadryl and it was impossible, and ended up taking it. I can't believe that I feel addicted to such a stupid, stupid drug.

 

[allegator]

Diphenhydramine is a in a class of drug called antihistamines. It is the most potent, however though it is often used for sleep, the tolerance issue means it can't be used in the long term as you have experienced, and it's main strength is fighting histamine reactions such as itching or allergies.

Doxylamine, another antihistamine, is not quite as potent as diphenhydramine in the itching department, but it is the most hypnotic (causes sleep) of the antihistamine drugs. It is avaible OTC in the states and somes studies have shown it can in fact be stronger than some prescription sleeping aids such as the z-drugs. It will also be less likely to cause side effects such as dry-eyes in the morning. As it acts very similar to diphydramine you could use a lower dose to sleep and hopefully not get the intoxicant effects.

Unfortunatly you will build tolerance to all sleep drugs and they will make it much more difficult to fall asleep off of them. Still it might be easier to wean down off of doxylamine, perhaps with the assistance of some melatonin (though it too won't last forever).

What you should really be looking into is the non-narcotic long-term sleep plans. Setting up a steady sleep schedule, cleaning up your sleep enviroment, avoiding bright lighting before retiring (blue light cancelling amber tinted glasses can help), and of course the biggest one of all is exercise. There is a lot of information on this over in Healthy Living.

What it all comes down to though is there are going to be some difficult nights as you get off the drug assisted method. :S

Best of luck!

 

[strigoi]

I would have an honest conversation with your doctor about what's going on. You may ask them about a low dose of Seroquel, Trazadone or something similar. More importantly, you need to address this now and find a solution, you don't want you tolerance to keep increasing

 

[OpanRanger30]

Benadryl addiction... interesting

It sounds rough but I bet if you tough it out for a night or two you will break the cycle...

 

[Znegative]

Yeah thanks a lot guys. I know it seems really rediculous, I've quit heroin and cocaine, and now I've got this stupid issue with Benadryl. I'm definately going to take to my doctor about it and look into doxylamine. I do appreciate this, I was sure I'd be flamed lol

 

[Arsenic_X]

I can say that i was once addicted to benadryl, but that was because i was young and had no other drugs around, never had tried any other drugs, so i didnt know better.

 

[NeighborhoodThreat]

I agree with the other posters that speaking with your doctor is the best bet. It's not unheard of for people to become dependent on antihistamines, and the body does develop a tolerance somewhat quickly.

 

[sekio]

What you should really be looking into is the non-narcotic long-term sleep plans. Setting up a steady sleep schedule, cleaning up your sleep enviroment, avoiding bright lighting before retiring (blue light cancelling amber tinted glasses can help), and of course the biggest one of all is exercise. There is a lot of information on this over in Healthy Living.

This, 100x. If you switch to the more "heavy duty" sleep meds like the GABAergics/Z-drugs/benzos then you'll likely just become dependent pon those, too. And w/d from those is not a cakewalk like w/d from benadryl.

 

[Znegative]

Yeah believe me I know, I've had my dealings with Xanax. Plus im not looking to get truly addicted at all. I've made an appointment and I'm going to enquire about doxylamine. Oh btw, just to save some face here, my goal was not to achieve a high at all, just to get to sleep, I just have been taking it too far. Thanks again for the advise

 

[sekio]

Doxylamine is pretty much the gold standard non-narcotic sleep medicine. It's apparently more potent for inducing sleep than some barbiturates.
Combined with a healthy sleep schedule you should be golden.

 

[Oxide]

Glad someone suggested doxylamine. It's incredibly effective even at a low dosage (>25mg) which will be nice since you'll (obviously) want to keep the dosage as low as possible.

You can also combine it with low-dose melatonin for even better results.

EDIT:

Doxylamine, another antihistamine, is not quite as potent as diphenhydramine in the itching department, but it is the most hypnotic (causes sleep) of the antihistamine drugs. It is avaible OTC in the states and somes studies have shown it can in fact be stronger than some prescription sleeping aids such as the z-drugs. It will also be less likely to cause side effects such as dry-eyes in the morning. As it acts very similar to diphydramine you could use a lower dose to sleep and hopefully not get the intoxicant effects.

Unfortunatly you will build tolerance to all sleep drugs and they will make it much more difficult to fall asleep off of them. Still it might be easier to wean down off of doxylamine, perhaps with the assistance of some melatonin (though it too won't last forever).

Doxylamine is pretty much the gold standard non-narcotic sleep medicine. It's apparently more potent for inducing sleep than some barbiturates.
Combined with a healthy sleep schedule you should be golden.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[etnies]

This used to be me...for 5 years I took diphen every night to fall asleep....now I have etizolam so fuck it.

 

[vicapro]

Yea I would taper and then maybe switch to valerian and melatonin. There are plenty of OTC sleep meds other than the anti-histamines (which have the nastiest side effects IMO, especially if used for a while). Valerian has helped me get sleep many times and is safe even at high doses. It is also way less addicting than z-drugs or benzos. I would definately use those as a last resort.

 

[Starshowers]

200mg of diphenhydramine isn't a big deal. If you keep looking at it like it's some big issue, you may have a harder time getting rid of the habit because of placebo issues (believing that it's a big problem will make your body react).

Some people get visuals at 50mg by the way. No big deal, I've went through long bouts of using 100-200mg for sleep and stopping was never a problem for me, and I have pre-existing serious sleep/anxiety issues.

I second that doxylamine is better.

 

[RobotRipping]

i use diphenhydramine regularly. I only need 50-75mg for sleep/allergy relief. I never have issues quitting. If i take too much, say 200mg, then it won't make me sleep, it will keep me awake and anxious but at lower doses if i am tired out then 50mg is usually enough to do the job. I also agree that doxylamine is better. If you end up using diphenhydramine again try a lower dose and take it about an hour before you plan to sleep.

 

[Snake_Eyes]

I used diphen at 50mg with the rare 75mg every night for the better part of 10 years. It got to the point that I would have to take it at 11pm with the hopes that it would put me to sleep by 2am. Sometimes it worked other times it wouldn't. A friend turned me onto weed for sleep but I found that I still needed the diphen to get to sleep however this combo together always knocked me out at about the 2 hour mark.

After over a year and a half of this I tried to get off the weed for a while I had the worst rebound insomnia for about a week. I went to the doctor and got put on ambien which knocked me out but didn't have the legs to keep me asleep so I found myself taking the ambien and the diphen. I'm now on mirtazapine as my main with ambien on an as needed basis which is usually 2-3 times a week. I have taken mirtazapine and diphenhydramine together a few times with success but I don't know how safe it is to combine antihistimines. I also just got prescribed ativan for break through anxiety so I'm sure this would be good as well to use once a week for sleep just to keep things on rotation.

I found doxylamine worthless, for me it was no better than melatonin.

 

[Znegative]

200mg of diphenhydramine isn't a big deal. If you keep looking at it like it's some big issue, you may have a harder time getting rid of the habit because of placebo issues (believing that it's a big problem will make your body react).

Some people get visuals at 50mg by the way. No big deal, I've went through long bouts of using 100-200mg for sleep and stopping was never a problem for me, and I have pre-existing serious sleep/anxiety issues.

I second that doxylamine is better.

Yeah I think this is spot on, I've just been worried to even attempt falling asleep without it. I'll be seeing my doctor real soon, and I'll go over it with her. I do take 6mg of melatonin at night, and was sing a lot of valerian root till I ran out of it. That stuff worked pretty well in my oppinion