Too much Benedryl can make you want to jump out of your skin. Can't sit still...

My mother used to give it to me and my brother like it was candy. This was back in the early 70's and it came as a liquid which the pediatrician prescribed freely. She gave it to us as a sleeping aid. A nice early exposure to a dependency on drugs.

Too much Benedryl (diphenhydramine) has made me feel like jumping out of my skin. But that was after a pretty big dose given IV in the ER as a rememdy for the side effects (dystonic reaction) of yet a different drug (which I wasn't supposed to be taking).

Smaller dosages (50mg) work really well as an antihistamine and sleep aid on a short term basis. When my 'real' meds aren't quite working sometimes I'll add a little Benedryl and it often does the trick to settle me down.