Nytol...dangerous? Please answer.?

Question

Last night i couldn't sleep at all. I was absolutely shattered and couldn't stay asleep more more than a couple of minutes so i took some nytol. I usually take it to help me get to sleep but it wasn't working so i just took more and more. (This was at 3am and i'd been trying to sleep for hours).

Anyway, i took the 'One-A-night' calpets and had about 13 of them i think. I got a bit dizy and was wabbly when i walked to the toilet. About an hour later i was asleep though.

Tonight i was feeling really sick though and had a sore head. I almost was sick at one point. I get tonsillitus a lot which makes me pretty ill so i could just be getting that... or could this be related to the nytol?

The main ingredient was Diphenhydramine Hydrochloride BP and it also contains Anhydrous Lactose, Microcrystalline Cellulose, Maize Starch, Stearic Acid and Silicon Dioxide.

I have no idea what any of those are...anything that could be making me feel sick tonight?

Answer 1

They put warning labels on those things for a reason, please read them.  You could have seriously injured your liver and kidneys, and possibly could have killed yourself.

NEVER take medication beyond the limits specified in the instructions without a doctors permission.

Answer 2

The Diphenhydramine Hydrochloride is the only active ingredient and the one you need to worry about the most.  If you took 13 pills you took WAY too much, and if you are writing this the next day then you are over the worst of it.

It is used for sleep and fairly effective, but it's primary use is as a decongestant so there is no wonder your throat was sore.  The other person reported hallucinations and that could have come from the antipsycohotic properties.  If she wasn't psychotic and mentally balanced then unbalancing that would be a rash thing to do.

The Benadryl dried out your head and the overdose made you dizzy and ill, so it is not surprising that you feel bad.  Consider that an intelligent warning from your brain that you shouldn't do that ever again.

Overdoses aren't always fatal, but they can create long term problems, you got off lucky.

The next time you have problems with your sleep please check what I wrote for this answer:  http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...  I am a long term sufferer of insomnia and have some experience in the area.

According to Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diphenhydra...

"Diphenhydramine hydrochloride (trade name Benadryl as produced by 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. It became the first FDA-approved prescription antihistamine in 1946.

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."

Here is some more advice on your overdose:  http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 3

Diphenhydramine is incredibly dangerous to take in the kind of dose you did. As a first generation antihistamine, it can cross the blood-brain barrier and have psychoactive properties. This can result in crazy time dilation effects, hallucinations, etc. People take is as a recreational drug - in the UK they restricted it to being sold over the counter at pharmacies only because people died from drinking cough syrup containing it to get the psychoactive effects.

You should see a doctor as soon as possible. There's a reason people take sleeping pills to kill themselves. You're probably lucky to be alive.  

Answer 4

I think you will be okay. Alot of kids/adults take the whole box at once to get that effect. It's the same concept as robofrying. I don't know if you've heard of it. But the same thing will happen if you drink an entire bottle of roboteson. I've only done it once intensionally. And I don't recall having that response. Though, I was also drinking alcohol at the same time. So maybe that's why. My brother's girlfriend was doing it for about a year on a daily basis. She ended up having to go to a specialist in another state because the meds had eaten at her stomache. I guess it was, and still is very painful. Your stomache will heal itself eventially. But she states that it wasn't worth it. I suggest that if you are having trouble sleeping, you see your physician. He/she can give you a script for something safer and stronger. Most likely you will be prescribed trazadone. Which is pretty effective usually. There are many others tho. If I were you, I would do that anyways, so that you have it next time you are having a hard time.

Answer 5

Hmm well I have a similar experience about wednesday I had 14 tablets of a medicine that only had diphenhydramine. I went home and was hallucinating, felt slightly sick, and felt like things were crawling on me. Besides the weird side effects, I was fine when i woke up in the morning....but I felt slightly not well. If those are one a night caplets im not sure though. It is normal to feel sick after having lots of that kindof medicine. If you are taking way to much of any medicine be prepared to feel terrible the next day.

By the way all medicine in large quantities can be dangerous.

Answer 6

Diphenhydramine is a deliriant. It will make you hallucinate in large doses, but not in the good way that psychedelics do.

Answer 7

Diphenhydramine is pretty safe, but 13????

If you're having trouble sleeping, try the recommended dosage of Nytol and some melatonin. You can find it at any health food store and most drug stores. Taking more than one melatonin tablet doesn't really help much, and high doses of it have been linked to vivid (sometimes frightening) dreams.

If that doesn't work, you really should see a doctor, don't suffer with this. There are some very safe, very effective treatments available.

Good Luck!