I've been using Diphenhydramine as a sleep aid since 2003. On any given night (most nights in sequence) I take between 10 and 20 of the 25mg pills to knock me out. Diphenhydramine are the only pills I can afford and take regularly that still work for me after two years (I've been on most script sleep-aids (Ambien, Lunesta, etc.) and all stop working for me after a week or two). I have chronic insomnia and so I started 'Extradosing' on Diphenhydramine after I accidentally took too many Benadryl one day and slept wonderfully.
I never experienced hallucinations on the pills until after having taken them for over a month. I wasn't even sure what was happening the first time. I had taken 20 pills one night (well, actually, at 4am-my bedtime) and woke up at 7am to be very confused when my ceiling and walls appeared to be moving. I looked closer and saw what appeared to be thousands of clear baby spiders crawling everywhere. I don't know if this particular hallucination is specific to the drug, or if this is a coincidence.
I woke up my boyfriend and of course he saw nothing. Still being really freaked out and feeling heavy from the pills, I decided to walk around the building. I saw spiders everywhere...clear, baby ones and bigger, spindly ones crawling over each other and fighting. I finally ended up sitting outside my apartment building on the curb and using my cell phone to call the janitorial staff about a spider infestation. They didn't come for nearly 6 hours and I stayed outside until they did because everytime I would go inside, I would see the spiders. I continued to see spiders on random nights for the continuation of that year but learned to ignore them once my boyfriend and friends convinced me that they really weren't there. I didn't make the connection with the pills until nearly a month later (I've never used drugs before to 'trip').
I still use the pills and still see the spiders...sometimes on nights and during days when I haven't even taken the pills. I really believe I am addicted to them, because if I don't take Diphenhydramine now (even if I try another script sleep-aid), I don't sleep. I buy a bottle of 100, 25mg pills every week, and every week, I finish it off and need to buy another. I've noticed that nobody else has posted experiences with long-term effects...and so I wanted to.
I've had a mixed experience with this drug.
