Allergy Meds in Street Opioids Make Overdoses More Deadly
By Ernie Mundell
13 October 2022
HealthDay Reporter
Excerpts
By Ernie Mundell
13 October 2022
HealthDay Reporter
Excerpts
A new study is sounding the alarm about the addition of antihistamines to street forms of opioids — and how they might make a fatal overdose more likely.
The prime drug in question is diphenhydramine, found commonly in over-the-counter allergy meds such as Benadryl.
Because opioid use can spur itchy skin in people who misuse the drugs, diphenhydramine is often mixed into street formulations to curb that symptom.
In fact, “nearly 15% of overdose deaths during 2019-2020 were antihistamine-positive,” said researchers led by Amanda Dinwiddie. She's with the CDC’s Division of Overdose Prevention at the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.
Diphenhydramine is very sedating. So when a person overdoses on an opioid, the addition of diphenhydramine makes the “rescue” drug naloxone less effective.