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.

Benadryl is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.

I don't anyway: sometimes somnolence, sometimes huge paradoxical reaction - very very activating. the worst was as one person described - like a panic attack.

I will not take it if avoidable, and never for sleep. But from the times that i used it as an antihistamine, 25 mg were usually "safe", might or not make me groggy. With 50mg (most i have taken) more likely i become Jumpin' Jack Flash... and it ain't no gas!

But I'm really not sure... it seems like once i took 50 and it was a knockout. back to square 1. me+benadryl = ???????

fwiw i have had occasional paradoxical reactions with other antihistamines, including the one i usually use - Chlortrimeton. But nothing in the extremes of Benadryl. When I first saw ppl here given it for sleep here I was like...

I read that paradoxical reactions to antihistamines are quite common in children. Perhaps because kids are already in "high gear" and thus more predisposed?

~ waves ~

Thanks everyone. To answer your question, I took only 1 25 mg OTC pill of Benedryl. I had switched meds recently and unfortunately a side effect in the beginning is the itching. Now that the itching is gone, I am not taking it anymore.
I had been taking benedryl for quite a while in the past and this was the first time I needed it. I normally take Claritin for allergies.
Again, thanks everyone for your input. It helps me understand this confusing jungle.

I saw this post and thought I'd stop to say I cannot take Benedryl without feeling panicky or anxious. My son, as a child, could not tolerate it either...he'd become really wired and have night terrors. I think it is one of those that says "may cause drowsiness or hyperactivity"... it effects people differently. It also makes me sick to my stomach, and it did this too my husband recently as well.

Cara

I took benadryl for 2 years as a sleep aid...worked great!
then it stopped.
very sad day....
as has been stated above, some folks have the exact opposite effect from htis med.
Most people take some form of benadryl for the sedative effect as opposed to the antihistamine effect.
I wish it still worked for me...I took lunesta for a year then that stopped...and currently...hoping that the ambien cr 12mg works until they come up with another new sleeping pill.
I have heard that some people take this while trying to taper off of tranquilizers.
I wish you well.
bizi

benedryl knocks me out if I take more than 25 mg. I have to take it for hives sometimes.

I am glad you don't have to take it anymore.

befuddled2

I have taken benedryl in the past, it did help me sleep, and it also helped for a cold or my sinuses, I can't remember.

I didn't have any side effects though.

Hugs, Nikko