Diphenhydramine withdrawal on 50 mg a night for 4 years

[V82]

I've been taking Diphenhydramine pretty regularly since 2009 for sleep. I take no more than 50 mg a night. The only nights I don't take it is when I've been drinking which is usually 1 sometimes 2 nights a week.

I want to stop taking it now because it's making me very dehydrated and I'm sick of the morning grogginess and it isn't giving me a good nights sleep like before.

I've read stories online about people going through withdrawal from Diphenhydramine.

Should I taper down my usage to 25 mg before stopping?

Just worried about going through withdrawal. 8(

 

[pasha]

Usually anti-histamines don't carry the risk of withdrawal with the exceptions being cetirizine (zyrtec) and hydroxyzine (atarax). People experience symptoms of rashes, itchiness, and sometimes anxiety which are probably related to a histamine rebound effect.

Perform the taper you planned anyways to avoid any possibility, even if it is low.

 

[sonicwhite]

I have been on atleast 100 to 250 mg's of that and when I stop I have never experienced withdrawals...and I have been on them the same time as you have....

 

[Snake_Eyes]

I took 50mg a night for 10 years and only noticed that I couldn't sleep without it, I didn't notice anything else but I never tried to go more than 2 days without. After 10 years mirtazapine replaced it.

 

[sonicwhite]

I took 50mg a night for 10 years and only noticed that I couldn't sleep without it, I didn't notice anything else but I never tried to go more than 2 days without. After 10 years mirtazapine replaced it.

Same here....no sleep. and I use remron too..... love that stuff.

 

[laCster]

wtf? i have taken sedating anti-histamines almost daily for the past 2 years and i never have withdrawal when i dont take my hydroxyzine, promethazine, amiltriptyline, and DPH. if you think anti-histamine WD is bad, then you have never been through opiate or benzo/alcohol/barbs WD.

 

[AlphaMethylPhenyl]

Any drug which is even mildly psychoactive will almost definitely produce some kind of withdrawal if taken for years at a time. Diphenhydramine also has minor SSRI capacities, so you might be experiencing something along those lines too.

 

[hatrix]

Any drug which is even mildly psychoactive will almost definitely produce some kind of withdrawal if taken for years at a time. Diphenhydramine also has minor SSRI capacities, so you might be experiencing something along those lines too.

I doubt it, it's SERT activity is incredibly minimal. Even if it is years we are talking about.

 

[Chocolate-Salad]

I took benadryl daily for a little bit less than a year and when coming off it my sleep schedule became all sorts of whacked. I have both insomnia and constant allergies and was using it multiple times daily. Thank god for Walmarts cheap 100 unit bottles of benadryl.
Besides the rebound insomnia nothing was too bad. It was nice to have that groggy feeling gone even though it just became a way of life at that point.

 

[pasha]

Any drug which is even mildly psychoactive will almost definitely produce some kind of withdrawal if taken for years at a time.

This. Anything that alters brain chemistry is better off being tapered, even if it's just for laughs. Also diphenhydramine has a wide method-of-action, it modulates dopamine and is also a mild sodium-channel-blocker amongst other things.

Zyrtec Withdrawal
Qutting Zyrtec
Zyrtec - My Personal Experience

Are these a piece of a cake in comparison to other withdrawals, I suppose so. Not every individual has the luxury of going through opioid withdrawal in order to expand their threshold of what are considered 'real' withdrawals. They are what they are.

It seems like the OP got what he was looking for. Closed.