Millions of people use this drug as an over-the-counter sleep aid.  No need for  a prescription, just pick up a pack from your local pharmacy or dollar store.  But there’s a problem for anyone over 65, and especially octogenarians.  The technical name for this antihistamine is diphenhydramine,  and it can  have serious side effects in the elderly.  Stop! Don’t take that Benadryl.

I wouldn’t have believed it could happen to me.  I’d taken Benadryl on and off all of my life, for times when I couldn’t get to sleep.  Worked pretty well.  Then, after retirement, I noticed it had some strange effects on my sleep patterns..  Actually awakened me  off and on, during the night.  I decided it wasn’t working for me anymore.  But I’m a saver.  Threw the Benadryl in the back of the medicine drawer in my bathroom vanity. Forgot about it.

Then came a health crisis.  My husband was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia and other problems.  At night, I tossed and turned, worrying about what was going to happen.  The prescription sleep aid, Ambien,  worked pretty well, but I knew it could be addictive, so tried to limit it’s use.  What to do as his hospital stay wore on?  Looked in the drawer, saw the old pack of Benadryl. Forgot why I quit using it in the first place.  Surely, a common, non prescription drug would not be addictive and might help get me through the night.  Popped one in my mouth before bedtime, and actually slept through the night.

Just one problem. I awakened disoriented, dizzy, and feeling a bit  shaky.  Drove to get my car oil changed, thinking the grogginess would soon fade..  An hour later, stopped to see my husband. The pulsing  of the oxygen machine in his room pounded my head like a hammer.  I had to get out of there fast.  Barely made it home.  By now, I was feeling nauseous and weak.

Then I got hit with the big scare.  Had I caught the covid-19 virus?  Masks were required, in the hospital.   But maybe I’d  gotten it while out shopping. After a sleepless night,  I was literally shaking as I opened a test kit.  What if I had the virus, and  exposed my husband ?   Test was negative. The next day I felt slightly better, but still nauseous. Another test the next morning before going to the hospital..  There are no words to describe the anxiety I felt as I swabbed my nose and waited for  the  results. Once again: Negative.

The nausea and dizziness  ebbed away as  my anxiety subsided. Looked on the internet to see the side effects of Benadryl. The first thing I saw was a headline saying that no one should take  diphenhydramine if over the age of  sixty five.  It explained that the elderly are especially sensitive to the drug, and can experience some serious reactions ..  Stop! Don’t take that Benadryl if you’re an octogenarian.  And throw out those old pills in your medicine cabinet.