Has anybody ever heard of anyone using diphenhydramine recreationally?

Question

Has anybody ever tried getting high on diphenhydramine? How would it feel like? Is it (quite) safe?

No ''drugs-are-bad''s or ''don't-do-drugs''s please!

Answer 1

While the first answer gives you all the medical information you need, it does not answer your other questions, does it?  Yes, some people have tried to get high on it, which is why people who need to use it to control allergy symptoms now have difficulty obtaining it.  It's locked up at our local pharmacy and can only be purchased in small quantities.  It is NOT safe to do this, though, because you can damage your mucous membranes by taking more than the recommended dose.  If you take too much, you may feel "high" -- goofy and woozy -- and this might seem fun temporarily, but it could cause severe inflammation of your sinuses, like the worst sinus infection you ever had, with extreme pain around the eyes, dizzyness, nausea, possibly vomiting, your ears might become affected so that you'd have loud ringing in them (tinnitis), you might see spots before your eyes like you were going to pass out, your nasal passages, throat, and other mucous membranes would dry out, so you might have severe nose bleeds, you'd feel terribly thirsty, as if you had cotton in your mouth.  It's really quite nasty.  If this reaction were severe enough, the damage might cause your eardrum to burst -- very, very painful, and you'd have to have an operation to repair it.  Then you'd never hear properly out of that ear afterward.  I say this as a nurse who has seen it happen, dearie.

Answer 2

Diphenhydramine hydrochloride (trade name Benadryl as produced by McNeil-PPC a division of Johnson & Johnson, or Dimedrol outside the U.S. & Canada. Nytol as a sleeping pill) is an over-the-counter (OTC) antihistamine, antiemetic, sedative, and hypnotic. It may also be used for the treatment of extrapyramidal side effects of typical antipsychotics, such as the tremors that haloperidol can cause. It is a member of the ethanolamine class of antihistaminergic agents.

Diphenhydramine is an anticholinergic, possessing 58 per cent of the anti-muscarinic power of atropine and was discovered during the search for synthetic alternatives to scopolamine which would be easier to work with.

Diphenhydramine was one of the first known antihistamines, invented in 1943 by Dr. George Rieveschl.[1] It became the first FDA-approved prescription antihistamine in 1946.[2]

The brand Benadryl is currently trademarked in the United States by Pfizer; however, many drug store chains and retail outlets manufacture less-costly generic versions under their own store brands.

Answer 3

Diphenhydramine HCL [Benadryl] is an over the counter antihistamine that makes most people sleepy. In fact, diphenhydramine is the ingredient in many OTC sleep aids like Tylenol PM, Panadol PM and others. Of course I've heard of and known persons that use it recreationally. As long as you're not going to drive or operate any kind of potentially hazardous machinery, it's safe to use as long as you don't exceed the recommended dosage.

Answer 4

no, but i take it all the time and need to take more than the dose. it'll just put you to sleep, seriously. do a search on it.