Not so fun fact: Benadryl™ and similar drugs have been linked to dementia in older patients. I found this out when my doc told me to quit taking it as a sleep aid.
this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2023
514 points (100.0% liked)
196
16732 readers
1730 users here now
Be sure to follow the rule before you head out.
Rule: You must post before you leave.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Yeah a lot of the Benadryl memes out there are about dementia.
Jesus christ I don't think I've ever had a meme make me more uncomfortable than this one
There's a bunch of them in the wild
Really? Okay, have some more
No, Benadryl has not been (directly) linked to dementia, but it is classified as an anticholinergic drug, and those HAVE been linked to dementia. So not Benadryl, but the group it is classified under. That group of drugs also includes some extremely powerful antipsychotic medications (EDIT: sorry, anticholinergic drugs are often prescribed along side antipsychotic medications), so it's kinda like lumping a Nerf gun in with assault rifles. As well, sleep deprivation has also been linked to dementia and people will take Benadryl as a sleep aid (as you know), so any connection there might be ancillary. Your doctor's advice sounds like it is just precautionary, which is good, but may turn out to be unfounded. Bottom line is that it needs to be studied more as there currently isn't enough solid data about the subject.
It's crazy because zzzquil uses diphenhydramine as its active ingredient and you wouldn't know it unless you read the bottle; in that case, you could just get a bottle of generic diphenhydramine tablets and use those, but as you said it's linked to dementia and is not good to use frequently (which also isn't stated on any of these sleep aid packages). It just feels like they're trying to subtly hide that fact
Maybe I’m a minority here, but do people typically buy medicines and not read the ingredients?
That does seem to be the case.
I was trained early since reading medicine labels is a good way to find a nearby generic that's cheaper... but most of my partners have looked at me funny for doing so.
This dude must be colorblind. I've never seen pink Melatonin!
personally I've never had 'spider nightmares' from taking Benadryl, either...
And I didn't need Benadryl to have spider nightmares
I never needed sleep to have spiders.
personally I've never had 'spider nightmares' from taking Benadryl, either...
Oddly enough, too much melatonin gives me intense nightmares. 3mg or less for me or it's a guaranteed bad time.
I’ve heard of that! From what I understand, melatonin actually works better in smaller doses, like even less than 1 mg. But for some reason it started being sold in higher and higher dosages.
But for some reason it started being sold in higher and higher dosages.
I'm not saying this to be elitist or an asshole, or trying to be "better than"/superior or whatever, but for the most part, people really just aren't that smart and don't care to improve that situation. Think of the dumbest person that you know; statistically, half of all people are dumber than that.
"MORE MG MORE BETTER!"
people in general don't really research drugs or medications very carefully. Myself, I'd ascribe a lot of the blame to manufacturers, who should know better.
I take 3 mg and melatonin actually induces nightmare !
You will if you take like 800mg. You won't even need to go to sleep to have the nightmares, through the magic of deliriant psychosis
That’s a huge amount considering the typical pills are 25-50mg. So, okay, if I took an entire package…
Oh no you will: https://m.psychonautwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Diphenhydramine&_=
Just not from only 3
My regular brand sells melatonin in pink so idk !!
So this one time I bought a box of something at a store. Didn't look at it, bought it and took it home. Once I got home, I opened it without looking at it, didn't read the directions or dosage and took 3 of them and then went to sleep. I continued this practice every night for 2 months.
I'm gonna go ahead and press X for doubt on this one.
And unless you bought the 180 count pack of Benadryl, you went back to the store several times in those two months.
Only 3 bennys are not giving anyone the spider-mares
I call bullshit. Melatonin comes in a bottle, Benadryl comes in those foil snap packs.
Also, in Canada at least, 100 melatonin = $10; 100 Benadryl = ~$40
Benadryl can come in a bottle. The generic can be bought 35 capsules for $1... what I call bs is 3 = spider nightmares... most are 25mg which means they were only taking 75mg. That's hardly anything. Itll knock you out for newbies, but def won't give the hallucinations the op is talking about.
I'm thinking the OP is talking about Unisom, aka doxylamine. Unisom is a sleep aid brand with two different forms, DPH (Benedryl) or Doxylamine. The packaging does make it seem like it's melatonin sometimes. Doxy is like the heroin of recreational Benedryl use, not as uncomfortable and takes a very low dose to cause the visuals. 1st gen anti-histamines are just colloquially referred to as Benedryl so it's makes sense to me. Even when I was taking Doxy often, 3 pills could get me started on a trip
It does come in a bottle. Had an amoxicillin reaction. That bottle was a lifesaver every four hours of the day, or night. But I also think this is BS. Benadryl will plug you up like nothing else.
Calling bullshit because you don't know things... What's more classic?
Benedryl comes in bottles if you generic. My 50 count bottle of benedryl is $1.25 from dollar tree, 100 count is $3 at Aldi. Plus, Benedryl is often sold as a sleep aid under different brands like Unisom, Diphenhydramine is just colloquially called Benedryl.
Brad from Lisa the painful