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Toxic Scary Danger
Benedryl
Citation:   czekmayte. "Toxic Scary Danger: An Experience with Benedryl (exp27126)". Erowid.org. Apr 27, 2006. erowid.org/exp/27126

 
DOSE:
T+ 0:00
6 tablets oral Diphenhydramine (pill / tablet)
  T+ 0:30 4 tablets oral Diphenhydramine (pill / tablet)
  T+ 1:00 3 tablets oral Diphenhydramine (pill / tablet)
  T+ 2:00 3 tablets oral Diphenhydramine (pill / tablet)
  T+ 4:00 3 bowls smoked Cannabis (plant material)
BODY WEIGHT: 145 lb
Three days ago, I did one of the most stupidest things I have ever done in my life. Even after reading several experience reports on taking Benedryl recreationally and how bad of an idea it was, I decided to give it a try. Over a period of four hours, I ingested sixteen pills. I started with six, took four more an hour later, then three each hours afterwards. I didn't know what time it was during any of the 'trip', but I do remember quite a few things that happened during it. I'll list and explain the things as well as I can.

Six of the 25mg pills did nothing but make me extremely heavy and tired. A half hour after taking another four, I started to feel a weird euphoric sensation in my back that eventually went up my back and into my head. After getting the 'head' feeling (if anything, it felt like electricity going through my back and then exploding through my head), the trip started. I noticed something definately strange about my vision, so I went to the bathroom to see what was up and everything. My pupils were the largest I have ever seen them.. I've taken many other hallucinogens (I do not consider Benedryl [diphenhydramine] to be a hallucinogen) that have dilated my pupils, but never to this extent. I could hardly see a ring of color at all. A friend of mine who was spending the night said that I looked half-dead. I should've stopped there at ten pills, but I took another three and then another three an hour later.

There's a very toxic component to the trip, this I know because I felt poisoned. I felt like I had eaten some jimson weed or any other dangerous delirient. The visuals that I got were nothing like visuals on tryptamines or phenethylamines; there were actual objects appearing around me that were not actually there. The hardwood floor was shifting and swirling; it was hard to walk on it, not because I had difficulty keeping my balance, but because it felt like the ground was constantly moving around. When I sat still and tried focusing on something, it wouldn't work. My eyes would focus on things very far away, then very close.. Sometimes my eyes would strain and it would hurt really bad because it was so hard to focus on anything.

I eventually couldn't take being inside the house anymore (I had a bad feeling, it was hard to explain; somewhat like impending doom.. I thought something bad was going to happen to me or my surroundings at any seconds, and this lasted the entire trip). I sat on my front porch and looked all around. At this point, the visuals were actually somewhat enjoyable. Light posts were swaying back and forth vigorously, trees were appearing in my yard, changing positions, etc. Grass and plants seemed to shrink and then grow larger than before, then start bubbling like boiling water. I would see moving objects (I would constantly think it was a person or an animal) in my peripheral vision, and it was very hard to keep from becoming paranoid.

The trip seemed to plateau.. I wasn't feeling a 'coming up' at all anymore, just a strange feeling of being poisoned. I was delirious at this point, I hardly knew what I was doing, but I wasn't acting a complete fool. My friend had to go home and my parents were asleep, so I stayed in my room frightened. Something made me think that there were intruders in the house and at times I would get a blanket and throw it over myself in the corner of the room, just to get up a few seconds later wondering what I was doing. As the paranoia seemed to subside, I listened to music on my computer and tried to talk to a few people online.. Text was illegable, it looked like a foreign language. I wrote down 'never again' on a piece of paper and the next day, I looked at it and it was just jibberish.

Sitting at my desk, I would occasionally say something to a friend.. And get a response. He was sitting behind me, on my bed.. Or so I thought. I would go on into deep conversation at times, just to turn around and see no one in my room. This gave me intense chills a few times and I must admit that I was very scared. I started hearing phones ringing, people yelling, conversations going on in other rooms, radios playing, and all sorts of stuff that just wasn't really happening. I could not distinguish the trip from reality anymore. I was completely freaked out and the visuals would not stop. I ran into the bathroom and looked into the mirrors.. I don't know why or how it happened, but the mirrors were completely black. All parts of the mirrors. It was as though someone but a sheet of black marble over all of the mirrors. I started touching my face and my hair, everything felt alien to me. I looked into the toilet and the water was boiling. The shower curtains were swaying all over the place, crinkling and then straightening out, some of the oddest visuals I have ever had in my life.

A friend called me.. I was talking to him on the phone. I was talking alright and I could understand him. I told him what had happened and he was asking if I was sure everything would be okay. I talked to him for about twenty minutes in all, but at about every five minutes that went by, I'd zone out and start talking about something that had nothing to do with the conversation at hand. I remember saying, 'yeah, we should still have them if my mom isn't going to use it to make dinner' and my friend asking me what the bloody hell I was talking about.

I finally got the guts to smoke some weed, so I broke up three bowls worth and sucked them down pretty fast. This helped the trip significantly.. I didn't feel as confused and 'fucked' as I did before, and I actually started to feel tired again and I decided that it'd be best to try to sleep. Turned the lights out (terrible idea) and layed down.. The bed shook and bounced wildly, almost to the point of making me feel like I had to vomit. I dealt with this for about forty five minutes and end up falling asleep for a meer two hours. I woke up still tripping, smoked some more, and went back to bed. I ended up doing this five times in all before morning. My weed stash was completely gone, my rooms was messed up, and my bed was pulled out from the wall into the middle of the room (I remember putting on some music and then pushing the bed after the third time I woke up). Even in the morning, I was still tripping. I could read, but everything was dangerously blurry. Outside, sometimes I'd trip over stuff because I didn't see it there.. Funny, the night before I was seeing things that weren't there, now I'm not seeing things that are there. I almost got hit by a car that I didn't see or hear. I still had feelings of people being around me at times, and I'd say something and look back at them and they were not there. The whole next day, I was still tripping to a certain extent.

Diphenhydramine isn't something to play around with. I imagine that it's very toxic at recreational dosages and it's really easy to do something stupid to myself or other people while intoxicated on it. The likenesses between diphenhydramine and the jimson weed alkaloids are remarkable.. At some times during the trip, I felt the same way as I did when I tried jimson weed.. Just completely delirious and freaked out of my mind. It's been three days since I did that, and I gotta admit.. I still don't feel back to normal. I keep getting sharp stomach/chest pains, I get confused easily, my appetite has changed, my throat hurts really bad on the right side, and I.. guess I just have a hard time realizing what's going on. At some times I feel like I have done permanent damage to myself, but I'm still going to wait a few more days for this stuff to get out of my body. There's already enough experience reports telling you not to do this.. I'm not going to tell you not to do it, just read what happened to me and if that really intrigues you, go ahead and do it. I personally don't believe that anyone would be seeking the effects that recreational doses of diphenhydramine can give. It's too toxic, too scary, and too dangerous.

Exp Year: 2003ExpID: 27126
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Apr 27, 2006Views: 92,485
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Diphenhydramine (109) : Alone (16), HPPD / Lasting Visuals (40), Post Trip Problems (8), Hangover / Days After (46), Bad Trips (6), Difficult Experiences (5)

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