Update:
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is alerting parents and doctors about the dangers of the Benadryl challenge that’s been making the rounds on TikTok. Specifically, the FDA is “warning that taking higher than recommended doses of the common over-the-counter (OTC) allergy medicine Benadryl (diphenhydramine) can lead to serious heart problems, seizures, coma, or even death,” the warning reads.
The FDA is also investigating recent reports of teenagers ending up in emergency rooms or dying after taking part in the Benadryl challenge. For now the agency recommends parents keep diphenhydramine and all other over-the-counter medications out of sight and reach of children, possibly even locking up medications to prevent teens from misusing or accidentally overdosing on the medications, “especially when they are home more often due to the COVID-19 pandemic and may be more likely to experiment,” the FDA says.
To learn more about the challenge and the dangers of taking too much diphenhydramine, continue to our original report below.
Original report (September 4, 2020):
Medical experts are warning about a Benadryl challenge circulating on TikTok in which people take extremely high doses of the drug in an effort to experience the hallucinogenic side effects. But at that dose the drug can also cause dangerous side effects in the heart and other parts of the body.
Back in May, Cook Children’s hospital in Texas warned that they treated three teenagers within a week who had all come in with symptoms of a diphenhydramine (brand name Benadryl) overdose after trying the challenge. Now the challenge has been linked to the death of a 15-year-old girl in Oklahoma, according to local news reports, however an official cause of death has not been released. TikTok has since taken many of the videos down.
Diphenhydramine is an antihistamine drug that’s commonly used to treat allergy symptoms and as a sleep aid. But, as SELF explained previously, it can come with side effects, which become more serious as the dose increases. And the dosage that can cause hallucinations is high enough to cause other serious issues, including potentially lethal effects on the heart.
“In low and therapeutic doses, diphenhydramine is a sedative,” Andrew Stolbach, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of emergency medicine and medical toxicologist at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, tells SELF. Many people who take the drug experience sleepiness and it can even leave you with a groggy feeling the next morning.
But, paradoxically, it can cause agitation, confusion, increased body temperature, hallucinations, and even seizures at higher doses, Dr. Stolbach says, noting that it would take upwards of a dozen pills to see these effects in an adult.
At these doses, diphenhydramine can also affect the heart, William Banner, M.D., M.P.H., past president of the American Association of Poison Control Centers board of directors and medical director of the Oklahoma Center for Poison & Drug Information, tells SELF. Specifically, it can alter your heart rate by interfering with the refractory period between beats, says Dr. Banner, who recently coauthored a large study looking at the potential for diphenhydramine to cause side effects in children, the most common of which were increased heart rate and hallucinations. In rare cases, this change in heart rate can be lethal.
Many of these adverse effects are due to the fact that diphenhydramine is not just an antihistamine, Dr. Stolbach explains. It also inhibits the effects of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is involved in regulating blood vessel dilation, muscle contractions, and your heart rate.
If someone overdoses on diphenhydramine, they might notice the classic sedation but also dry mouth, flushed skin, and a rapid heart rate before progressing to hallucinations and the other serious adverse effects, Dr. Stolbach says. In the event of a diphenhydramine overdose, there is really nothing you can do at home, Dr. Banner says. You can call the poison control center hotline for guidance (800-222-1222), but that person will need emergency medical attention.