Story Do NOT OD on Benadryl/diphenhydramine

[dylankleboldlover]

Hello, I don't know if anyone is going to read this, but I just wanted to share my experience abusing and overdosing on Benadryl (wasn't an attempt).

I started using Benadryl last July. I only used it a few times, because I didn't do it right, and it caused me to get kicked out of the place I was staying at. I thought it didn't work, so I put it down and didn't pick it back up until this February.

2/16/2025- was dogsitting at someones house. Saw Benadryl at dollar general and bought it to sleep. Saw a shitpost on twitter that night about getting high on Benadryl, and I took it as a sign. Since I failed to abuse Benadryl last time, I decided to try again. I took 16 25mg of Benadryl and watched tiktok. I fell asleep around midnight. I ended up waking up around 2 am, and when I picked up my phone and turned it on, there was a huge tarantula spinning a web in front of my phone. I screamed and swatted it away, and saw that it dissolved. I then remembered that I took Benadryl and got really excited; it actually worked, Ånd this was my first time hallucinating. I turned on the flashlight on my phone and turned it around, and I saw hundreds of clear and orange tiny spiders in the air, all stacked on top of each other, building webs. There was also this weird, red web all across the air. I looked out the window and saw shadow figures against the trees.

The next day, I was excited to do Benadryl and trip again. I was waiting for night to come and it couldn't come fast enough. Finally, it was time. I took 16 pills again and got in bed, waiting for my high. Nothing happened except for rapid heartbeat and getting really tired. Later on I learned that your tolerance builds QUICK with Benadryl. I ended up stopping after that night because I was too scared to go higher than 16.

Skipping to April.

I started taking Benadryl every night towards the end of March, and had taken up to 30 25mg pills. When 30 started becoming ineffective , i told myself i would stop. I had promised myself not to go higher than 30, and that promise to myself had meant a lot to me.

I would see spiders crawl on my walls. My vision would get blurry. I would hear voices and sounds, and it got to where I couldn't pee. I couldn't pee for three days. It also gave me really bad tinnitus, and the sound I would hear wasn't ringing- it was cicadas. Tinnitus made me hear cicadas and I couldn't tell if it was real or not.

Well, Å few nights ago, i was feeling really stupid and bored, and wanted to get high, so I took 50 25mg. This is over a gram of diphenhydramine. I was actually genuinely upset with myself for breaking my own promise, but that doesn't matter rn, let's talk about the trip.

That trip was the worst thing I have ever experienced. And it's even worse because I ended up taking the same amount for the next two nights. So I took over a gram of diphenhydramine for 3 days in a row.

Heres what I saw:
- i saw the usual spiders. But this time, they were HUGE. And they were on the walls, on the floor, on the ceiling, in my blanket.
- SNAKES. I have heard other people say they saw snakes, but i never believed it because *i* hadn't seen them, Ånd I was a "Benadryl pro". Well, that night I fucking saw them. WORST THING EVER. In the corners of my room, where the walls met each other, snakes would slither down that indent of the corner. And it was so real and so vivid, when they made their way onto the ground, the hallucination wouldnt stop. They would keep slithering on the floor, towards me. FUCK NO.
- I saw the Hat Man. I had wanted to see the hat man for so long, i was starting to think he wasn't real. Well, I did see him, and my Hat Man wasn't a shadow. He was more transparent and kept walking around my walls. The third night, when I almost died (I'll get into that) he kept jumping out of the walls, and it seemed very real, i was hiding under my blanket.
- I heard things. Knocking, people laughing, laugh tracks, my name being called, my deceased mother, my boyfriend, Å little girl saying "I knew it". , Ånd other weird things
-My body would flush and my veins would turn dark blue.
- I would go to grab something and it would back up as if it was trying to get away from me, or I would grab it and my hand would go through it.
- things would start to move. Bouncing up and down, moving back and forth, etc.
Not to mention my EXTREME paranoia. And I couldnt Pee. I got really bad urinary retention. I couldn't remember anything. I would think of something, or see something on my phone, And immediately forget what I was looking at, what I needed to look for, etc.

The third night i took over 1 gram was the worst. My skin turned violently red like normal, my veins blue, and I could not pee at all. Everything was going normal. I was watching tiktok on my phone and then realized that I couldn't breathe. I sat up in bed, put my hand on my heart. My heart wasn't beating. I started to freak out and put my hand on my neck. Nothing for a few seconds. And then I received a pulse. I felt relieved and put my hand back on my heart. It started beating violently, to where it hurt. I took my hand Off my heart (bc the rapid beating felt weird to me) and put it back on. My heart was stopped again. This went back and forth for a few minutes, and I was contemplating going to the ER. When I put my hand on my heart one last time, it Was stopped again. I then put my hand on my neck, and there was no pulse on there. My body turned from red to Å deep red, my veins turned so blue that they looked black, and i couldnt breathe. I thought I was about to die, so I texted my boyfriend, and then lay back down, expecting to die.

My heart started a few seconds later lol. And the next day I was completely fine. Also, need I mention, Benadryl has given me so much seizures, urinary retention (which was SO unpleasant), visual snow syndrome, and im pretty sure im back in psychosis, because nothing feels real and im convinced nothing has consequences and it feels like im in Å dream of my own making. I have been clean for about a week and still see spiders.

I'm probably going to take it again one last time tonight before I CTB.

Moral of the story: DO NOT USE BENADRYL TO TRY AND KILL YOU. THE WORST THAT WILL HAPPEN IS YOU WILL SEE WEIRD FUCKED UP SHIT, AND MAYBE HAVE A FEW SEIZURES. FUCK DIPHENHYDRAMINE/BENADRYL

Ok thanks bye

 

[dontwakemeup]

I read everything you wrote and I'm shocked! I abuse benadryl to sleep but I only take 3 tabs with my other medicine. I never had any bad experiences but I would never take more than 4 at a time. Back to your experiences. So you wasn't trying to ctb, we're you just trying to get high? I've never heard of stories like these because I never thought people took such high doses. The spiders and snakes would have made me run out my house banging on my neighbors door for help lol. I once took 4 gummies (I didn't know any better) and it turned into 2 gummies, nothing happened, 3 gummies and then 4 gummies because the pack had 4 total. I ended up hallucinating really bad but I kept thinking I'm high, this will pass. I couldn't take it anymore so I hid under my sheets and attempted to call 911. It was fun or pleasant, I was terrified and wanted it to stop! Luckily, because I was under my sheets my phone couldn't detect my face and I couldn't remember my pin so I kept getting locked out, it was horrible! I actually grabbed benadryl because I figured it would make me sleep and stop my horrible hallucinations! It worked and eventually I fell asleep, I'll never do that again.
What they don't tell you about these OTC's is they can be very dangerous in high doses. I'm so glad you made this post because I would have eventually used my dose to 4 pills because they really aren't working anymore.
So do you have any long-term side effects because of the abuse from them? Do you still have tinnitus and see spiders?

 

[dylankleboldlover]

I read everything you wrote and I'm shocked! I abuse benadryl to sleep but I only take 3 tabs with my other medicine. I never had any bad experiences but I would never take more than 4 at a time. Back to your experiences. So you wasn't trying to ctb, we're you just trying to get high? I've never heard of stories like these because I never thought people took such high doses. The spiders and snakes would have made me run out my house banging on my neighbors door for help lol. I once took 4 gummies (I didn't know any better) and it turned into 2 gummies, nothing happened, 3 gummies and then 4 gummies because the pack had 4 total. I ended up hallucinating really bad but I kept thinking I'm high, this will pass. I couldn't take it anymore so I hid under my sheets and attempted to call 911. It was fun or pleasant, I was terrified and wanted it to stop! Luckily, because I was under my sheets my phone couldn't detect my face and I couldn't remember my pin so I kept getting locked out, it was horrible! I actually grabbed benadryl because I figured it would make me sleep and stop my horrible hallucinations! It worked and eventually I fell asleep, I'll never do that again.
What they don't tell you about these OTC's is they can be very dangerous in high doses. I'm so glad you made this post because I would have eventually used my dose to 4 pills because they really aren't working anymore.
So do you have any long-term side effects because of the abuse from them? Do you still have tinnitus and see spiders?

I'm so sorry you had that experience man :/ 4 25mg (100mg) Benadryl should be totally fine. You typically don't hallucinate unless it's 300mg+. I wasn't trying to CTB while on Benadryl, it was purely just to get high!!!

Yës, I have long-term side effects unfortunately. I have HPPD and my vision is static and warped. I still have the tinnitus and it sounds like literal cicadas chirping in my ears, I still see spiders, an occasional one on my wall or on the floor, and im now scared of the dark / scared to walk by myself because while I was on high amounts of Benadryl, I would see shadows and spiders in the dark, and it scared me. My urin retention lasted for about Å week and this was probably the worst thing I have ever experienced, but LUCKILY it left on its own

 

[wiggy]

Do you get a high from it? None of these experiences sound pleasant from what you described.

 

[dylankleboldlover]

Yes

Do you get a high from it? None of these experiences sound pleasant from what you described.

Yes. The high is kind of just delirium with hallucinations- if you take smaller doses, the "high" is nice; amplifys music experience, calm and heavy…. For me though, I liked the hallucinations. Honestly, it was never a good experience until it was over

 

[NaturalBornNEET]

I attempted CTB with it a month back. First time ever having benadryl and I took over 1.7g, stopped counting after the 70th pill (I'm also very lightweight like around 115lbs). All I can remember is waiting for it to kick in and then suddenly cutting to waking up in the hospital the following night covered in bruises and with a tube in my dick and IV drips in my arms.

I can vaguely recall some of the hallucinations I had when coming out of my trip: someone I knew came into the hospital and slapped me and then left, I really thought it happened and I kept asking after her to my family and the hospital staff lol, also saw a decapitated head floating about in the corner of the room.

 

[http-410]

I can't recommend it either.

When I was younger, I OD'd on diphenhydramine a couple of times. Not because I wanted to die, but because someone told me about the hallucinogenic effects and I was stupid and curious. The second time, I changed my mind after taking it and wanted to throw it up, but it was too late. Just like you, I saw spiders everywhere - seems to be common, also from the trip reports I read back then. A big bush I saw from my window turned into a spider. The walls and everywhere else I looked seemed to be crawling, like a bunch of maggots or tiny bugs. Visual snow maybe, but 100 times worse. I saw flashes of light and objects like my speakers seemed to come alive and develop their own personality. My limbs felt incredibly heavy, something I had never experienced before or since. Overall, the "trips" had a dark and threatening quality. It wasn't pleasant in the slightest.

Why do you want to take it again before CTB?

 

[dylankleboldlover]

I can't recommend it either.

When I was younger, I OD'd on diphenhydramine a couple of times. Not because I wanted to die, but because someone told me about the hallucinogenic effects and I was stupid and curious. The second time, I changed my mind after taking it and wanted to throw it up, but it was too late. Just like you, I saw spiders everywhere - seems to be common, also from the trip reports I read back then. A big bush I saw from my window turned into a spider. The walls and everywhere else I looked seemed to be crawling, like a bunch of maggots or tiny bugs. Visual snow maybe, but 100 times worse. I saw flashes of light and objects like my speakers seemed to come alive and develop their own personality. My limbs felt incredibly heavy, something I had never experienced before or since. Overall, the "trips" had a dark and threatening quality. It wasn't pleasant in the slightest.

Why do you want to take it again before CTB?

I saw flashes of light too!!! I also texted people complete nonsense on instagram, discord, and iMessage- and most of the people I texted, I thought they texted me first or replied to my Instagram notes. Woke up the next day. I texted all of them first.

I want to overdose on it again Before I CTB just so I can experience the hallucinations and experience one more time. Since im dying anyways, why worry about long term side effects?

Also visual snow is literally the worst. It is so annoying

I attempted CTB with it a month back. First time ever having benadryl and I took over 1.7g, stopped counting after the 70th pill (I'm also very lightweight like around 115lbs). All I can remember is waiting for it to kick in and then suddenly cutting to waking up in the hospital the following night covered in bruises and with a tube in my dick and IV drips in my arms.

I can vaguely recall some of the hallucinations I had when coming out of my trip: someone I knew came into the hospital and slapped me and then left, I really thought it happened and I kept asking after her to my family and the hospital staff lol, also saw a decapitated head floating about in the corner of the room.

I'm so sorry you had that experience it must have felt TERRIBLE. So glad you're still here, not pro-life at all but im glad you didn't suffer too much from that method- Benadryl OD is the worst esp if you took a LOT to try and CTB

 

[http-410]

I saw flashes of light too!!! I also texted people complete nonsense on instagram, discord, and iMessage- and most of the people I texted, I thought they texted me first or replied to my Instagram notes. Woke up the next day. I texted all of them first.

I want to overdose on it again Before I CTB just so I can experience the hallucinations and experience one more time. Since im dying anyways, why worry about long term side effects?

Also visual snow is literally the worst. It is so annoying

Oh, I see. I had visual snow for a while regardless of diphenhydramine. It sucked big time and I still have no idea where it came from. But at some point it got better on its own.

 

[NaturalBornNEET]

I'm so sorry you had that experience it must have felt TERRIBLE. So glad you're still here, not pro-life at all but im glad you didn't suffer too much from that method- Benadryl OD is the worst esp if you took a LOT to try and CTB

Thanking you, probably for the best but the whole 24+ hour period I was tripping for is completely blank in my mind, can't recall a thing. The only lingering effects I had was vertigo for a few days and seeing occasional movements and floaters in my periphery.

 

[dontwakemeup]

I'm so sorry you had that experience man :/ 4 25mg (100mg) Benadryl should be totally fine. You typically don't hallucinate unless it's 300mg+. I wasn't trying to CTB while on Benadryl, it was purely just to get high!!!

Yës, I have long-term side effects unfortunately. I have HPPD and my vision is static and warped. I still have the tinnitus and it sounds like literal cicadas chirping in my ears, I still see spiders, an occasional one on my wall or on the floor, and im now scared of the dark / scared to walk by myself because while I was on high amounts of Benadryl, I would see shadows and spiders in the dark, and it scared me. My urin retention lasted for about Å week and this was probably the worst thing I have ever experienced, but LUCKILY it left on its own

Omg that's horrible and I'm sorry. Do the doctors think your side effects will go away in time or will this be forever? I'm terrified of bugs and can't imagine dealing with those side effects! I think we all have been curious to how it feels to be high as I did. I'm so thankful for my experience a d learned quickly weed was not a drug I needed. I hope all your side effects go away soon.

I attempted CTB with it a month back. First time ever having benadryl and I took over 1.7g, stopped counting after the 70th pill (I'm also very lightweight like around 115lbs). All I can remember is waiting for it to kick in and then suddenly cutting to waking up in the hospital the following night covered in bruises and with a tube in my dick and IV drips in my arms.

I can vaguely recall some of the hallucinations I had when coming out of my trip: someone I knew came into the hospital and slapped me and then left, I really thought it happened and I kept asking after her to my family and the hospital staff lol, also saw a decapitated head floating about in the corner of the room.

That's horrible! I can't imagine you telling the hospital staff these stories! Hallucinating is never fun or exciting to me, as it seems so real in that moment. No matter what you tell your brain, it won't stop. You just have to wait it out. The floating decapitated head would have drove me crazy lol. I think I would have begged the doctor to sedate me as I couldn't take it anymore!

 

[maniac116]

I know a guy who overused benadryl & now wears a colostomy bag on his waist. (Thats a bag of his shit!)
Benadryl can severely dehydrate the body to the point of organ damage.
You're truly lucky!!

 

[aiyuxhan]

I used to take Benadryl when I was younger so I can sleep because of PTSD panic attacks and flashbacks. Hard for me to sleep.

One night I woke up hallucinating like I was underwater. And my tapestries were moving. I was hallucinating little fairies and swirls flying around me. I was taken to the ER and was told I was overdosing on Benadryl. At the hospital, I saw my room curtain pattern was moving.

I continued to take Benadryl after that but in lower dosages. O: I eventually stopped but I had to taper myself off of it over months