Quote:
Originally Posted by mrsD
Here is the Wiki on it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diphenhydramine
This effect on your pain may wear off, if tolerance occurs.
Histamine, is a neurotransmitter in the brain, and because Benadryl crosses the blood brain barrier easily (unlike Claritin and Allegra), it can block histamine's actions there. The most obvious sign of this is the drowsiness. But since histamine is responsible for triggering other neurotransmitter actions in a cascade fashion in the brain, Benadryl blocks that function.
The Wiki article mentions anesthetic actions. And serotonin effects too (this is a weak action). As people age and enter their late 50's and upwards tolerance to Benadryl becomes problematic. My doctor won't let me take it any more. I used to use 50mg at bedtime. I never noticed much PN effects, but it did help me sleep when I was going thru menopause and had sleeping problems.
Older males may develop urinary retention on this drug (do not use if you have prostate issues). And at 50mg /night doses there may be a significant hangover and dulling of reflexes. Also cannot use this if you have increased intraocular pressure, so consult your eye doctor before using.
But as a rule, if it works for you now and you have no major side effects, I'd say continue with it and see if this lasts.
I myself find that DM works better on my burning pain. But we are all different. (dextromethorphan). |
MrsD
I had a
horrible flare-up of my
EM symptoms last night all due (i think) to having several very wonderful pieces of beautiful dark chocolate. This is the first flare of this magnitude since I started taking Claritin.
Can you tell me what is in the chocolate that made me react so badly? I have had milk chocolate (not my favorite) with
no adverse side effects. I will not indulge again (with the dark) but do want to avoid whatever properties caused this so if it's in other things I would like to know what to avoid.
I have given up so many things that trigger flares that I guess one more won't matter.
My flares of hot burning pain have almost stopped for the most part once I started Claritin (actually i take the generic of Claritin because it's so much cheaper and works just fine). I think I will try benedryl as well to see if it works any better, thanks for the tip.
Thank you MrsD for any insight you might have for my current problem and please forgive me if you have already covered the "chocolate" trigger.