Benadryl for anxiety?

[BrookeLynnnn]

Anyone try this? How did it work for you? I wanna try it but I'm afraid it'll cause more anxiety. Being pregnant, there's not much I can do.

[gypsylee]

Dunno if it's the same as here in the US.. It's cough medicine here. Drink too much of it and you hallucinate!

[BrookeLynnnn]

Dunno if it's the same as here in the US.. It's cough medicine here. Drink too much of it and you hallucinate!

Well that's scary.. Lol

It's a pill here for allergies. But I've heard other pregnant women say it's helped

[BrookeLynnnn]

Wait, I'm in the U.S. too lol

[Dahila]

it is allergy medication and make you drowsy due the antihistamines. when you pregnant you must avoid it , it is serious to take any medication in pregnancy. Cause Benadryl is over the counter it does not mean it is safe.
I am allergic all my life and I had to manage without any meds except my inhalers through two pregnancies. Woman are just to naive to believe it does not harm the baby. Antihistamines cause high heartbeat for me and signs of panic attack

[BrookeLynnnn]

it is allergy medication and make you drowsy due the antihistamines. when you pregnant you must avoid it , it is serious to take any medication in pregnancy. Cause Benadryl is over the counter it does not mean it is safe.
I am allergic all my life and I had to manage without any meds except my inhalers through two pregnancies. Woman are just to naive to believe it does not harm the baby. Antihistamines cause high heartbeat for me and signs of panic attack


It's category B for pregnancy & my OB gave me the ok. Figured one Benadryl would be better than a Xanax lol

[gypsylee]

Wait, I'm in the U.S. too lol

Oh I meant the same in the US as Australia :)

I don't think it's sold here as an antihistamine, just cough syrup.

[willheal]

Anyone try this? How did it work for you? I wanna try it but I'm afraid it'll cause more anxiety. Being pregnant, there's not much I can do.

I'm not a woman so I can't really speak to the whole subject here. I will say Benedryl does kinda slow me down but it's really not so consistent for helping my anxiety. It's best for helping me go to sleep but if I'm cranked up from anxiety the worst thing is for me is to be really tired + anxious.

Here's some other things:

Green tea (has low or no caffeine in decaf, but has theanine in it which is supposed to have a calming effect by supplying the building blocks for GABA agonists)
Neuro BLISS -- Kinda expensive, $2.30+ a bottle, but has theanine in it (without the caffeine), too.
Gapapentin -- Is a mood stabilizer, prescribed off label for anxiety. Takes a while to kick in but doesn't work like an SSRI. It's class C (risk can't be ruled out) but I know some people are still prescribed this during their pregnancy because benefit outweighs risk for them. Not an SSRI, and one of the few psych meds I've tried where I can genuinely say I've had no side effects from it. You can start out at a super low dosage.

There are some other drugs that might be more appropriate for you.

Of course the whole meditation, exercise and whatnot can help your anxiety speech, you probably heard that already. I'm assuming you didn't come here for that. It does help though especially if your anxiety symptoms are very physical.

[gypsylee]

Ok so I had to google this because I'm always interested in drugs (should've been a pharmacist or something!)

Turns out Benadryl in the US/Canada IS different to Australia:

"In the United States and Canada, Benadryl products contain the first-generation antihistamine diphenhydramine. In the United Kingdom, Benadryl products contain either the second-generation non-sedating antihistamine acrivastine (marketed as Benadryl Allergy Relief, with a suggested efficacy duration of eight hours) or the long acting antihistamine cetirizine (marketed as Benadryl One a Day Relief). Benadryl products are marketed in Australia and New Zealand by Johnson & Johnson Pacific. They are marketed as cough medicines and do not contain any antihistamine. Each 5 mL of Benadryl Chesty Cough & Nasal Congestion contains 100 mg of Guaifenesin (an expectorant) and 30 mg of pseudoephedrine hydrochloride as the active ingredients. [4]" (Wikipedia)

So you shouldn't hallucinate on the tablets lol. If your doctor says it's ok to take then it should be fine.

[jessed03]

The American one must be made out of a different formula. I've taken Bendaryl several times for allergies, but have never found it relaxed me or made me tired.

[Chiliphil1]

I had a nurse tell me once to take it. The doctors won't give you the benzos you need for short term relief so they nurse says, well since he won't give you those pills just take benedryl, it has the same effect.. I have never tried it though.

[BrookeLynnnn]

Ok so I had to google this because I'm always interested in drugs (should've been a pharmacist or something!)

Turns out Benadryl in the US/Canada IS different to Australia:

"In the United States and Canada, Benadryl products contain the first-generation antihistamine diphenhydramine. In the United Kingdom, Benadryl products contain either the second-generation non-sedating antihistamine acrivastine (marketed as Benadryl Allergy Relief, with a suggested efficacy duration of eight hours) or the long acting antihistamine cetirizine (marketed as Benadryl One a Day Relief). Benadryl products are marketed in Australia and New Zealand by Johnson & Johnson Pacific. They are marketed as cough medicines and do not contain any antihistamine. Each 5 mL of Benadryl Chesty Cough & Nasal Congestion contains 100 mg of Guaifenesin (an expectorant) and 30 mg of pseudoephedrine hydrochloride as the active ingredients. [4]" (Wikipedia)

So you shouldn't hallucinate on the tablets lol. If your doctor says it's ok to take then it should be fine.

Haha okay good to know!! Lol thank you!

Our cough syrup here is called promethezine. Now that will make you hallucinate too lol