Nighthawk8820

I am sober off alcohol for over 2 years now, and when I first quit drinking, I started taking simply sleep from wal-mart, which has diphenhydramine 25mg in each tablet. I slowly started moving up to 5 a night which I have been at for a year. I realized I might have a problem, so I stopped so many. Last night I took 4, and today when I tried to nap before work, I had bizarre dreams featuring Beyonce and a mad neighbor, I was shaking like a leaf, and I am nervous. I hate this, I got addicted to ANOTHER substance and didnt even notice. Now I have to wirthdrawl AGAIN. I have such a sensitive system and shake easily, so this should be a hoot. I have bad anxiety today after taking 5 each night over the weekend, and 3 in the afternoon to nap, equaling a total of 16 in a weekend. Sigh.

mlorenc7

NighHawk, I have learned that even though I put down the alcohol, the disease is still alive and well. I have to stay diligent or it will sneak up and attack in other forms like the Benadryl addiction. I highly recommend speaking to a dr about this. It took me a long time to seek help and I could have caused alot of damage to myself. Please let me know how you make out.

Slammy1

Me too. I think the DTs and cravings aren't so bad except no hunger and no sleep. I drink Boost for the former, started taking Benadryl for the later. I got a few hours in. I'm so tired now but I go to bed, lay down and am wide awake.

Thanks for the heads up, I won't be doing this for long. Dang it, trade one addiction for another. I was a month off cigs but have smoke 3/4 of a pack since I started on my DT (it does calm my stomach and really helped with the early cravings).

iPherian

Bit of a bump, but: To hellokitty, the one who's taking 15 benadryl a night and has terrible effects when she doesn't take them, firstly I'd say try to see a doctor, but if not I would say say first try not to worry about the problem: Accept that as of the current time you need to take *about* 15 a night. But then tomorrow take only 14 a night, and wait until you're completely used to that. And then start taking 13, etc

I'm gonna try to kick the Benadryl habit myself (not 15 but i'm pretty dependent on the amount I do take) - I get the side effect of heart palpitations sometimes, which is kind've scary

Onewithwings

Benadryl feels to me like a very slight, mildly awful high, lol. Like if ADD came in pill form. I can't focus on it but I have this weird buzz almost, and my eyelids get heavy but I'm not necessarily sleepy. It freaks me out. I was taking it for work (I clean houses) but I had to quit, it was making me feel gross.

Kris47

I've taken most all the sleep meds. They all worked for a time. They work for awhile and then don't. I was taking 4 trazadone a night and no sleep at all after I quit drinking last January 2014. Sleep doctor said go off the trazadone. I am now taking 2 melatonin and 2 Benadryl and sleep maybe 2-3 hours every 2nd night or so. Still struggling.

PhoenixHeadCraK

Okay my turn,

I joined this forum just now because I saw the OP post about Benadryl.

I have been taking Benadryl for sleep (to shut off) for more than 5 years now. I was sober 10 and am now sober over 5. I take a blood pressure pill and a light anti depressant (technically anti anxiety) and I take the Benadryl for sleep.

First and foremost I am here to share to help and to get help I am not here to argue or bicker about recovery issues and will not. I simply want to lay my issue out to be of service and obv to get help myself.

Here goes: Currently, I take 5-600 mg a night of Benadryl. Yep, that = 24 pills or so of the Diphenhydramine HCl 25 mg. Sometimes I take them in the 50mg gel tablets and thus take about half so 12 of them.

Of course I did not start out taking that much and did first go through the ringer with Ambien and Lunesta and I feel that I have much laymans exp with sleep issues and pills.

In a nutshell, I feel like the Benadryl is really hard to kick. I do take it for the sedation effect and I def do take it for the europhoria effect ( I mean i would be a liar if I said I did not)
The problem with Benadryl is that my doctor among other have down played it and acted like ... "take it or not .. no big deal' and as an addict and alcoholic that is just what my disease wants to hear to rationalize and justify my absolute Benydril addicition.

I feel it effects my teeth ( the dry mouth it gives me) and this would be a slow thing not a wake up one day and you have bad teeth but slow and subtle.

Like others have said if I do not have it for a couple days I def cannot sleep and so the fact that they now sell my drug of choice (how sorry is that lol) at any drug store, dollar store, conveient store, ad infinitum, Makes easy to sneak (from loved ones, family members) etc etc.

I will go ahead and post here and end my rambling etc but like I said I'm here to help (with this topic as I feel I have way to much exp with this Benadryl) and also and hopefully to be helped. Yin and Yang.

God Bless

Ariesagain

After years of taking it off and on for allergies and for sleep, I am convinced that after a few days it starts to have the opposite effect...I get wired from it...and so it's easy to think I need to up the dose...voila, vicious circle. Apparently it causes a "paradoxical reaction" in some people.

I don't take it at all anymore. I do have an rx for hydroxyzine, but I find the prescription strength too strong and often dump out half the capsule first. It works pretty well, though...

least

I used to take a lot of Benadryl for sleep but was taking too much and it had the opposite effect, it made me anxious. Now I only take the recommended dose for allergies.

Kris47

I am taking 2 Benadryl and a 5mg melatonin which worked fine for a few weeks. 6 months later I am still taking these and they work maybe every 4-5 day. Do not want to increase the dose only to be at the tolerant level again in a few weeks. Wondering if went off of it I would actually sleep at all though.

ramennoodles

Antihistamines like Benadryl are not side-effect free. If you take them on a regular basis, they can contribute to weight gain. Antihistamines are appetite stimulants. And for men they can also contribute to erectile dysfunction.

Histamine is a natural hormone your body needs. And antihistamines (as the name implies) prevent the production of these hormones.

Kris47

Understood. Thanks Ramen. My sleep doctor has me on this regimen til springtime. Then, I'm not sure. Except he did say once springtime comes, to go off the melatonin.

PhoenixHeadCraK

yea simply sleep ingredient is Benadryl

it effects the central nervous system. Best thing to do is natural and eat foods that promote sleep and exercise during day. I'm doing a real good job at that though lol

BoPuppy

I've also got a bad habit of 15 or more benadryls. I've tried to cold turkey it and I get extremely ill. I get sick and want to vomit. I can only see withdrawing from it gradually. If I'd known that it was going to make me so sick trying to get off of it I would have never started taking it. Anyway, let me know how it goes I am very interested in stop taking this.

sixtyfour

I'm another person psychologically addicted to benadryl/gravol. Been taking it for about 2 years now --- specifically the very expensive liquid "Zzz quil". I'm exhibiting the same behavor as I did when trying to give up alcohol: obsessive thoughts and regret after buying it. This is an embarrassing addiction because its over the counter medication! I thought it wasn't supposed to be habit forming! Anyway, I finished the last of it last night. About to attempt for the zillionth time to not go out and buy some more tonight or preferably ever again!

Kris47

You'll have to taper down just like with benzos I would expect. Good luck!

Kris47

Stay strong and if you have to, go see a doc.

bobgoatse

Registered on this forum just for this thread. I don't think anybody except those suffering from it now how bad diphenhydramine withdrawal is or even that there is such a thing. These forums are a Godsend because doctors simply don't know about this addiction. I even went to a rehab clinic to see if I could get in for a week because the withdrawal was so awful. They didn't even believe anyone could be addicted to it so they sent me away. I've taken 50mg or less/night for 5 years, that's way less than the 500mg+ doses I see and I still have withdrawal.

Just to list the symptoms after 36 hrs with no benadryl so others can see if they are having withdrawal

-Vomiting
-Confusion
-Anxiety
-Depression
-Extreme Insomnia
-Loss of Appetite
-Extreme Restlessness
-Severe Hive Breakout

Unlike a lot of withdrawal taking the drug again only stops the nausea and that's about it for me. Others may have different results. There is so little information about this topic out there it's really scary. On all these message boards there are people who say they kicked diphenhydramine but they never say how long it took. If anyone here has done it I'd love to know how long it took to kick and how you did it because I'm having a rough time and I've kicked harder drugs before with greater ease than this.

bobgoatse

Update: Went to the doctors looking for some relief from withdrawal and she said to taper using 25mg every 8 hrs for first day then 15mg the next. I complained about the massive anxiety and she gave me script for .25 mg Xanax.

This seems like an awful idea. I have withdrawal from benadryl and from what I've read from the threads here, the withdrawal from Xanax is the worst thing in the world. She said with the low dose I shouldn't have withdrawal because I'm only going to be taking it for a couple weeks. Is it a good idea to take Xanax even if it's only for a couple weeks? I feel awful but this seems counter productive.

(sorry about the link in the original post dee! Wasn't trying to spam, info on diphenydramine is really hard to find and I thought people here would find those stories helpful like I did)

Kris47

Hi Bobgoat,

I was prescribed 50 mg Benadryl/5 mg melatonin from a sleep specialist and went off trazadone that no longer worked anyway.

After 2 years I was told to just quit the melatonin come this summer ( more daylight) and then taper off the Benadryl from 50 to 25 for a week and then half that dose for another week. Although
I've not noticed any withdrawal so far, I still do not sleep but 3-4 hours now every 4 or so days.

If you trust this doctor I'd try the plan. Ask how to taper down from the Xanax.

Wishing you the best.