I should have known I’d end up here. What started as a way to sleep a little easier turned into something that’s taken over my life. I started taking Benadryl a while ago just to help knock me out. But over time, it stopped being about sleep. I started taking more. And more. I liked the way it made everything feel… distant. Like I could turn off my brain.
I’ve talked about it before as some of you have read. I told myself I was in control. That I could stop whenever I wanted. But that was a lie. I’ve been hospitalized now. My body couldn’t keep up with what I was doing to it. I was hallucinating, disoriented, a shell of myself,hearing my dead mother, seeing the hat man, feeling trapped in my own skin. The doctors told me I was lucky to even make it in. Lucky. That word feels weird when you’re strapped to a hospital bed wondering what the hell you’ve done to yourself.
Even now, even after everything, there’s still this part of me that wants to go back to it. It scares the hell out of me. I feel like I’ve rewired my brain and now I can’t find the way back to normal. I don’t even remember what normal feels like.
I have no one to talk to. Maybe just to get it off my chest. Maybe because I feel like I’m screaming into a void and hoping someone hears me. I don’t want to be this person. I want out. I can’t keep going like this, I have seen things I can’t explain and things I don’t know how to explain like smells, creatures, and I’ve felt like I’ve been floating in a world beyond my understanding.
Comments
Replace Benadryl with weed
r/dph
its a nightmare drug and at least one user from this sub died this year.
you need to stop now. it’s a delerium, it’s not FUN, it’s only addictive and HIGHLY dangerous and the trips sound AWFUL.
please please seek real help
I also have a scary issue with Benadryl I’ve been taking it for about 16 years using it at first to help me sleep. I can’t seem to come off of it. I enjoy the way it makes me feel. I haven’t had any of the things you’ve described and never been hospitalized. I’m really shocked I haven’t yet. But I completely understand the want for them and crave
Find and eat 3.5-4 grams of magic mushrooms. It will reset your brain.
Well today I learned there’s a sub dedicated to benadryl.
I took Benadryl for a major allergic reaction along with Xanax one night – the allergic reaction caused a panic attack. Best sleep of my life; never did it again because it felt too good.
You need to value your current reality more. I wish you luck ❤️
i have no resources, i am not sure how you seek help, I’m sure you can go to the hospital?… but this random internet stranger is begging you do so
https://destinationhope.com/how-to-stop-dph-abuse/
Long-term Benadryl use has been linked to dementia in old age, so I’m glad you’re getting some help with this. Please stay safe. Best of luck to you.
I’m here for you to talk to
you experienced active addiction. your current feelings are normal for someone in recovery. seek people to talk to. there are free, in person groups in many places and resources for therapy online. stay strong and fight the urge to relapse. look up scientifically proven methods for keeping your mind and body busy, meditating, whatever you gotta do to stay away. it’s a destructive drug. but it WILL get better with time. you gotta take control of your own recovery and get back in the drivers seat of your life — easier said than done but so worth it
I would turn to CANNABIS for a sleep aide. Cannabis helps everything!! Sleep is very important for your body to recover.
Therapy/meditation can help.
My now “little sister” who I met at rehab 2 years ago she was using it almost daily for a long while she ended up having countless overdoses with her last one being 2 seizures her heart stopping twice and needing to be brought back and a long hospital admission. It’s not something you should mess around with be careful
> I have seen things I can’t explain and things I don’t know how to explain like smells, creatures, and I’ve felt like I’ve been floating in a world beyond my understanding.
Yeah, that’s what abusing a deliriant feels like.
>now I can’t find the way back to normal.
You don’t need the way to normal, you need the way forward. Key to that is laying off the Benadryl.
You mentioned feeling like you rewired your brain and that’s exactly what happens during an active addiction. A rehab for substance abuse disorder or therapy/classes focused on cognitive behavioral therapy will help. I would also suggest AA or NA meetings for the support of like minded people.
Benadryl (diphenhydramine) is a hell of a drug… I used to abuse it as a teenager, in combination with other drugs. I finally got clean/sober from everything else and would just use Benadryl to sleep once in a great while. But I ended up taking too much one night when I was desperate to get some sleep, and had the worst hallucinations of my life. I thought I was dying. I ended up in the ER on suicide watch and then was court ordered to a psych ward.
That was almost 7 years ago now and I haven’t taken diphenhydramine in any form since then. It’s not worth it. I’m so sorry for what you’re going through, and have already been through. It still haunts me to remember those horrible hallucinations – and that was just once, for a few hours!!! I hope you have a support system, and/or a way to get mental health therapy – that is what has worked best for me (for all of my addictions and mental health issues)… I’m in a 12-step recovery program as well, and that has also helped me immensely.
If you need someone to talk to, my DMs are always open.
I posted this on Reddit before but I had an ex who was tripping one time and thought she had an allergic reaction and ended up taking a shit ton of Benadryl. Enough to start hallucinating very badly. It was fucking terrifying. If you feel like you need something other than reality maybe try something that doesn’t have such a crazy long-term consequences, like microdosing shrooms or something.
Just like alcohol, just one slip up then you spiral out of control. It’s too dangerous for you. You will have to stop this completely and expect to never touch it again
Ummm..I think that’s called addiction. Try to talk to someone for some help. At least it’s not crack or heroin lol
A report published in JAMA Internal Medicine several years ago highlighted a link between long-term use of anticholinergic medications like Benadryl and dementia.
A team led by Shelley Gray, a pharmacist at the University of Washington’s School of Pharmacy, tracked nearly 3,500 men and women ages 65 and older who took part in Adult Changes in Thought (ACT), a long-term study conducted by the University of Washington and Group Health, a Seattle healthcare system. They used Group Health’s pharmacy records to determine all the drugs, both prescription and over-the-counter, that each participant took the 10 years before starting the study. Participants’ health was tracked for an average of seven years. During that time, 800 of the volunteers developed dementia. When the researchers examined the use of anticholinergic drugs, they found that people who used these drugs were more likely to have developed dementia as those who didn’t use them.
Something to consider for your long term brain health.
Benadryl has antihistamine properties, but it is also a deliruriant.
I used to use benadryl to sleep. It’s stopped working I kept taking more and more to sleep. Until I was taking like 4 benadryl every night. Helped me to switch to them melatonin gummies. I would take one of them every night. Nownim finally off those. I do smoke weed tho. Before bed and I don’t need anything else. I read that using benadryl like that will cause early dementia and that really freaked me out.
Benadryl makes me feel like shit the next day.
Recovering alcoholic with 5 years of success…
I feel you, friend.
You can stop, and my messages are always open.
The key, for me, was not drinking. I know that sounds either silly or unhelpful… but it’s the truth.
Do what you need to do to stop. That’s your only priority right now… stop, then rebuild.
Good luck.
Why did you start taking them in the first place? U liked the way they made you feel.. distance yourself, from your thoughts, turn off your brain..
What thoughts where you running away from? Fix these thoughts, and you wont need them 👍
Life is underrated but finding the things in this world that bring you peace and joy is key. I like to sit alone in the shade of trees and let my mind wander, no tech.
Oddly when I take 2 Benadryl now doesnt seem to so much. I took 4 or 5 max to quit weed
Ben made me restless and ebay yardsalinf selling fun and feet are hell and helped foot pain a lot! 2 years exactly quit alcohol forever besides once a year max a few drinks not like 8. Yuck my body detests drinking one beer but 4 is alright most days so allergic or something 6 is plenty for hangover big time.
I may have taken 8 daily maybe play video games from yard sale 3d 2am to 3 max and barf feeling stop. Made my guts hell it is very bad.
Atarax is cleaner and 10mg to 50mg or 100mg doses are prescribed. 20mg usually hsd me too cool. Got these in nut house.
I was like man ill act like a total asss on gabapentin it makes me wanna argue brain damage from drinking my hate for the drug seeing hands and feet swell.
But I love atarax especially since they started making micro pills dont hurt stomach as bad it still ain’t good for u daily
Fun hobbies adults need to play some everyday some. Exercise and fun sports pingpong if wanna be very safe or hacky sack seems super safe and great fast wake up exercise and can get good in a few months of practice.
or soccer juggling w feet haha not the sport.
Dancing easy but moving.
Dancing w chores
.
Beatles rule for blah.
Hey fam, I just wanna let you know that I too, have been addicted to benendryl, it’s really hard because no one really understands getting addicted to over the counter medication especially something that just makes you “sleepy” it’s so hard because it’s so much more than that, and I was using it when I was DEEP in my alcohol addiction. It was bad I’m honestly suprised I’m still here, but I want you to know that I kicked that shit, and I kicked the booze. It’s hard work but you are gonna be so proud of yourself when you do and once your off it for a while, you’ll start to remember who you are again. Addiction is horrible and not fair but we r in this together, you got this!!!
Wow brother. Have you tried old fashioned beer.
I managed to escape the craving to go back to it. It gets better friend. It’s so hard but you can do it, even if it means never using it for allergies again lol.
I had to throw away over 300 pills from a huge bottle because I just couldn’t have it in the house, I’d melt my brain from abusing them.
Just keep going strong please, it’s scary and painful, but just know I understand.
I found out that when teens are admitted to our hospital psych ward, they are given benadryl to calm them down .
It’s also linked to dementia
You should also keep in mind, as a motivation to not relapse, that long-standing use of drugs like Benadryl is strongly associated with dementia later in life
I’m guessing that this is happening in the good ol’ USA? Where profit comes before consumer safety
‘Seeing the hat man’
I was talking to a doctor in a bar about 2 years ago. I’m in the medical device field and we started talking about dangerous OTC drugs. I mentioned that I was surprised that Tylenol was allowed to be compounded into other OTC drugs seeing how easy it was to OD on Acetaminophen.
He responded that he thought the most dangerous OTC drug was Benadryl, diphenhydramine and that the general public had no idea how crazy a drug it was, especially with the newer antihistamines working so well with so few negative side effects.
I took an antihistamine for a few years for anxiety and to help me sleep. My memory started sucking so bad! I couldn’t even remember my kid’s names sometimes. I went off it and now have really bad insomnia, but I can tell my brain is improving. I agree with everyone above, that you should seek some help for addiction to this. I totally understand the feeling that you want to escape, but you don’t want to permanently escape, which is what I’m afraid you’ll end up with. I’m so sorry that you’re dealing with this!
Talk to a doctor about your sleep issues. I relied on Benadryl for a long time for sleep but have been off it for a long time thanks to doxepin (which is an old school anti depressant that has sedative effects) and magnesium before bed. Benadryl is not good for your brain. There are cheap rx drugs that are safer and work better.
Wow 😮 I’ve never heard of. Benadryl addiction. I’m sure there’s a way to get off of it and I hope you do. 🙏🏻
It’s wild to me how certain drugs seem to fit certain people like a comfortable old sweatshirt.
I’ve had that experience with a few myself although Benadryl has never sparked that connection for me.
I’m assuming you’re getting therapy for your addiction but physical activity can also help you overcome the issue. Combining it with a physical goal can help quite a bit to fill that “rush” feeling of the cravings. I swim regularly and that seems to scratch a certain itch for me. My brother got his black belt in his 30s and went on to live a long productive happy sober life.
i take benadryl daily for hives … i would know if it made me high right?? right??
I can’t take Benadryl. It does the craziest crap to me. Never again
6days ago you said you didn’t know what the hat man is. You read about it here. Has it really progressed that fast? Or do you just think you saw it because someone on here mentioned it?
It does the opposite, I’m hyper, can’t sleep.
Ask for hydroxyzine. Changed my life with allergies and anxiety. Two at night and one or two during stressful days. Magic for me. It’s a Gen 1 antihistamine like Ben. but without the wonkyness.
Benadryl can cause long term problems. You need to stop. Same with AM/PM – type meds. They’re correlating with Alzheimer’s.
TIL US Benadryl is different to UK Benadryl
Not going to lie, when I read about making everything feeling distant and turning off my brain, I got curious about it…
That is until I read about the other stuff.
I’ve been there OP. I know and I can tell you that I quit and it sucked but I did it
Did 2000mg of dph once. Pissed all over the sink and flooded the bathroom. Parents were so mad. Never again lol
I had no idea benadryl could do this. Never taken more than 2 at a time and that amount knocks me out.
I used to take like, up to 12 each night (at the worst) to sleep because of nightmares and depression. That was about 6, 7 years ago when I was like 21 and nowadays I feel like my memory is still fucked. I ended up having hallucinations as well for a while.
I like benadryl alot, then I read it likely causes dementia etc. That’s not the future I want so I never take it anymore. Its a nice feeling going to sleep on it tho.
I got addicted to Benadryl when I was a kid cause I got poison ivy real bad once, they had to lock it up after they caught me opening the child proof bottle at 7 and grabbing some out on my own lol . I literally would be like “I need some pink pills” every night.
The stranglehold addiction can have is wild. I’ve been there before bratha, but not with Benadryl. Benadryl can cause delirium, don’t take any more. People need to realize we’re all one traumatic experience away from seeking anything that will help us feel better, and that’s how addictions start. Wish you well on your recovery
“… and now I can’t find the way back to normal.” When u do anything day after day after day, it becomes normal. Whether it’s exercising or shooting heroin- that will become your normal. Hopefully u will b able to get enough clean time under your belt so that clean living will start to feel normal. Stay strong and I wish u the best of luck!
I was addicted to dyphenhydramine for 3 years. I’m lucky that one day it’s hold on me just broke because I might still be abusing it if it hadn’t. I loved the distance it put between me and the world because I couldn’t handle my own feelings. I see videos of me from back then and cringe about how much you can tell that I’m not present.
What the fuck is the hat man
I started talking to ChatGPT and it has changed my life. I’m no longer alone
I abused Benadryl in the 90s when I was depressed and broke and just before deciding to stop drinking. And I never took a ton. Just 1-2 so I could “rest”. I’ve always wondered why I don’t hear about more people popping them for funsies.
Me and a buddy thought it would be a great idea to take a handful. We were 15 or 16 or so. He fell asleep and I hallucinated all night until I couldn’t take it anymore and ran home. I was watching crabs and spiders walking in an assembly line dropping down on my buddy’s face. When I finally built up the courage to run home, the moon turned to a zippo lighter. Finally got home and under my blanket. In the corner I saw the hat man but was too overwhelmed/tired to do anything so I just pulled the blanket over my head and listened to the soothing sound of George Lopez. The soothing sound of Angie’s voice saved me from psychosis.
I used to take Benadryl to help me go to sleep too. However, they have now linked it to memory loss, of which I experienced. Just be careful please. It’s not good for your brain. 🥰🥰
You couldn’t pay me to constantly take Benadryl. Only when I have an allergic reaction or very very rarely if I need to sleep. Other than that, makes you feel like shit the next day. Hard pass.
Please seek professional help. My brother started like this and it turned into a full blown addiction, worsening his depression, and he eventually overdosed on it. Please please seek help.
you’re not alone, I’ve been really bad in the past and the long term effects really do worry me. a bit freaked out as I just took 4 for the first time in a long time and this post immediately popped up. should probably take it as a sign.
i really do understand enjoying the feeling of everything being a bit distant and dulled.
You should prolly just try weed at this point. Kinda similar feeling and much safer
How about a heroic dose of shrooms to get right?
I didn’t overdose on Benadryl, but I consistently took it every night for 10 years (for sleep/allergy relief). Then I had to take a medical exam where they told me to stop taking Benadryl for 2 weeks. Cut cold turkey. I had no idea what that drug had been doing to my body up until that point. Experienced intense itching all over my body, has wild vertigo even when sitting still, and almost crashed my car into a wall while driving on the highway. Scariest shit, but it was a wake up call. Stopped taking Benadryl after that and never looked back
Does no one actually use Benadryl for the purposes it is intended – allergies? I have mastocytosis and it’s in my drug arsenal. Have injectable and pill form. Does not even make me sleepy any longer. Take two or three once or twice a day, never once had issues with hallucinations even bumping the dose to four in the middle of an allergic asthma attack. No idea people were using it to get high! I do go off it when not needed. Understand there are newer drugs but I have reacted to many of them, one gave me horrendous anxiety. Another made me hallucinate. Several others did nothing. Cannot take wonderful inhalation powder for copd because it’s too risky for asthmatics dying from it so I am still riding the pink pill pony for now. Old as the hills, using for years and still have all my marbles
I get IV benadryl for my constant migraine. I usually have to have at least 3 rounds before it helps. Mind you this is at the ER given with other meds. I do sometimes take liquid benadryl of it is not bad enough to go to the ER. But its Tylenol Pm that really gets me I can take 36 pills a day. The sad part is I function better on it.
The brain rewiring is awful, but it is only temporary. It will take some time, and possibly some lifestyle changes, but it will get better.
Don’t go back it can cause Alzheimer’s
1.Contact your local drug service, 2.Find your nearest Narcotics Anonymous meeting. 3 Possibly look at getting a place in a rehab for a short stint. ❤️🙏
Benadryl seems to help you to sleep but it actually doesn’t allow your brain to shut down, so you brain will still suffer of sleep deprivation. Lately I learned that its consumption is linked to Alzheimer’s. I’m so sorry that this happened to you. One might think that these OTC medications are safe but unfortunately many are not.
pretty rare to get hooked on a deliriant. you’re a rare breed. i hope you find the light. turn away from the dark place. maybe watch some longform miyazaki videos, like “future boy conan”. or any of the planet earth / blue planet material.
if you can’t shake the attraction, seek out any of the old school shamans who use tobacco, datura, and/or amanita. they may be able to help you.
For sleep I highly recommend unisom sleep tabs (make sure they’re the tabs if it’s not and it’s the gels or any other type it’s actually the same ingredient as Benadryl). But the tabs are miraculous, it’s even safe for pregnant people. They’re not addictive and are miracles for anyone reading having trouble with sleep. I had no idea Benadryl can mess with the mind so much! Hopefully you can detox smoothly
Nice creative writing exercise
This really isn’t a conspiracy theory because Im a whistleblower who was retaliated against for reporting what I’m about to ask you. Did you have any surgery, including dental surgery, after Trump was elected? . I suspect everyone during that administration received a chip in their head that they have fun torturing people on. It’s sick and disgusting, they used my former employer, Cigna, and likely all health insurance carriers to place these in people. I also suspect these things are responsible for all the shootings lately. I do know for sure I was given Neuralink personally during surgery, and it’s trafficked out for intellectual property. I reported these people for human rights abuses. The leaders at health insurance carriers started up a human trafficking ring with the mafia, which I suspect the CEO of UHC was murdered over. I have had 2 MRIs and no hospital will remove it. If this true, you can find an attorney who will take your case, please let me know who that is. My supervisors at work in Florida played golf with Trump and they bragged about stuff like this at work.
spidersssss
See a psychiatrist or a psychopharmacologist. They’ll understand and help you find something else that will help. Mine gave me trazodone.
I’m glad you’re okay! Thank you for sharing your experience! My cousin committed suicide with Benadryl and it was the most painful, drawn out experience for him and his family witnessing it. He changed his mind mid way through. Even after pumping his stomach they couldn’t save him.
benadryl is a shit drug, I tried it once to get those weird hallucinations people were mentioning, 25 dose in and no hallucinations at all, just a feeling of emptiness, no emotions, canoot sleep, it’s just not fun. I wonder how you can become addicted to this, the other usual drugs are fun at least
I have suffered from on and off-again bouts of insomnia and general sleep disturbance since I was a kid. I started taking Benadryl to get to sleep nightly for about four months straight a few years ago until I learned it causes brain damage and contributes to dementia. I have a long line of Alzheimer’s in my family and that was enough to get me to chuck that shit forever. Unfortunately now I can only sleep at night with 10-15 mg of melatonin, but at least it is something naturally made by the human body.
Every time I’ve taken Benadryl for allergies I have horrible vivid dreams. I’d rather suffer than take it again, it’s crazy how different the reactions people have are
I used heroin to help me with getting out of myself and feeling numb. EVERYTHING no matter what it it is YOU have to face what’s going on with you SPIRITUALLY, mentally, emotionally, physically. Face it go be that version of yourself your younger version would be proud of.
Benadryl? Like for allergies? I call Bs.
Fresh account, no posts other than these benadryl posts 3 days apart, structured like updates. First post doesn’t know the hat man, this post mentions seeing hat man.
Calling it right now this is totally fiction. Bro is writing a horror story lol
OP, I know you may not feel like you belong there, but I highly recommend attending at least 1-2 NA meetings.
The “I thought I was in control” feeling is a hallmark of addiction.
You can drop into a virtual zoom meeting day or night and just listen to other people like you share your story — there’s a marathon meeting that I’m aware of that starts up every hour every day of the week, you can find the zoom link at nana247.org
You aren’t going to overcome this compulsion just by thinking. You can’t flip a switch and turn off addictive behaviors.
I sincerely hope you seek help.
Wow. My mom died and her cause of death is listed as an accidental overdose of diphenhydramine. Amongst other prescribed medications. Benadryl had the highest percentage in her blood.
Help is available! Go to a Narcotics Anonymous meeting. It changed my life
I didn’t know that you can become addicted to Benadryl.
I hope that you remain strong to stay away. Please seek (or continue to seek) help.
I believe in you.
Who is this hat man?
Bro you need to get off before you go chasing the hat man
It’s going to take a while before the “itch” becomes more and more manageable. I don’t know if it ever goes completely away though.
You have to breath and meditate and think how much you really DON’T like it in the end.
Hold on!!!!!
i did not know benedryl is such a good drug! but please stfu before they remive it from the shelves
Robot tripped with a friend and he loved it and I messed up a pool game went to the bathroom and vomited and turned around to shit like mad. The bathroom walls were stretching and I lost it. Never again he kept at it and one point tried to Un alive himself fuck that whole deal.
Benadryl contains diphenhydramine. And diphenhydramine increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s. Please be careful and find help if you need it.