DOSE:

oral

Diphenhydramine

(pill / tablet)

BODY WEIGHT:

240 lb

I have been using diphenhydrmaine for over thirty years. I started out in junior high using it to help my terrible allergies. But I always was sluggish and tired-feeling 50-300 minutes after. No question it worked, but .. ugh.

Twenty years later, after we watched e veterinarian force 200mg of diphenhydramine down a golden retriever's through, after it had been attacked a beehive and was stung countylessly,

I discussed with the the vet and thierstatement was that DPH is "very safe" and "very effective" as long. So I looked into it, since I'd life long insomnia. I'd tried it before for sleep, but didn't like it. It is the worst drug to take if one has a technical meeting at 7am and has been wide awake all night and desperation reaches a peak at 5am. I have to tell myself DO NOT TAKE DIPHENHYDRAMINE at that time. I will be in the full swing of the effects during my tech meeting. My rationality and ability reliably interact with people not on DPH goes WAY DOWN. Sluggish doesn't do it justice.

It's sluggish and underslept, sure, but it's also more clearly in a liminal (qv Dumpert J 1999) conscious state somewhere between "caffeine sober" and "datura-seed-tea delieriant', where dream life fully infects .

The clear effects of DPH become more apparent when trying to carefully and skillfully navigate the body on its two legs. Most of the systems seem fully engaged, but the sluggish responses between perception->estimation->snap-decision->central decision action results in a very complicated action stack.

Many / most of human actions happen without any central processing beforehand. The easiest to say for sure that there are delays and confusion relate to peripheral organs and motor control.

I don't enjoy those efffects, not sure why I would want that. But I continue to use DPH at 12.5-100mg per night (5x nightly) to get my brain to go to sleep. I take breaks 2-3 times per week because the tolerance is annoying for sleep purpose.


I've been taking diphhydramine at between 12 and 50mg per dose for over 40 years, ad libium, as an antihistamine for most of the uses and in the last few years (in my late 40s and early 50s), increasingly as a sleep drug.

I do not and have never used DPH "recreationally" (though I dislike that term, it can provide a clue). . I prefer to save it for extreme histamine reactions and the frequent need to get more sleep before the next alarm-clocked meeting.

I have only used diphenhydramine in tablet or capsule form over the counter. I have been given one DPH injection into my arm after a bee sting. But also any sane person has an IM cortisone or epinephrine shot available if necessary.

Allergies don't just change my mind, they change my life..

Exp Year: 2020	ExpID: 114900
Gender: Not Specified
Age at time of experience: 52
Published: Apr 10, 2021	Views: 702
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Diphenhydramine (109) : Retrospective / Summary (11), Hangover / Days After (46), Therapeutic Intent or Outcome (49), Not Applicable (38)