this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2023
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Benadrule (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
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[–] GonzoVeritas 57 points 2 years ago (3 children)

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.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/common-anticholinergic-drugs-like-benadryl-linked-increased-dementia-risk-201501287667

[–] [email protected] 51 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Yeah a lot of the Benadryl memes out there are about dementia.

[–] camr_on 16 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Jesus christ I don't think I've ever had a meme make me more uncomfortable than this one

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 years ago

There's a bunch of them in the wild

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

Really? Okay, have some more

[–] charliespider 18 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

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.

[–] Hotdogman 31 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

And unless you bought the 180 count pack of Benadryl, you went back to the store several times in those two months.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 2 years ago (3 children)

This dude must be colorblind. I've never seen pink Melatonin!

[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 years ago (3 children)

personally I've never had 'spider nightmares' from taking Benadryl, either...

[–] SwallowsDick 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

And I didn't need Benadryl to have spider nightmares

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I never needed sleep to have spiders.

[–] Droggelbecher 1 points 2 years ago

I don't even need to sleep to live in a nightmare

[–] idunnololz 1 points 2 years ago

I will eat those spiders!

[–] tool 3 points 2 years ago (2 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

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.

[–] tool 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

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!"

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

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.

[–] jungekatz -3 points 2 years ago

I take 3 mg and melatonin actually induces nightmare !

[–] spicysoup 4 points 2 years ago

lol I actually have some pink colored quick dissolve melatonin right now. That said, they look nothing like Benadryl and this tweet is obviously a lie for lolz

[–] jungekatz 0 points 2 years ago

My regular brand sells melatonin in pink so idk !!

[–] Cornpop 11 points 2 years ago

Only 3 bennys are not giving anyone the spider-mares

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago (3 children)

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

[–] Choko 10 points 2 years ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

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

[–] Liv2themax 6 points 2 years ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

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.

[–] supanovadova 6 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Can you buy a bottle of benadryl? Everything around me has each pill in a sealed pack. Not like I can just chomp 3 down without working for it.

[–] stankmut 6 points 2 years ago

Yes, in the US at least. You can buy them in 300+ count bottles for less than $10.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I'm not too sure.

Kind of unrelated but here's a neat New Yorks Times article about how blister packs reduced suicides

[–] Someboynumber5reborn 4 points 2 years ago

Brad from Lisa the painful