Diphenhydramine and it's side effects

[joutlaw]

I've been having a terrible time sleeping since at least February and was taking some OTC non habit forming sleeping aid from Target. I'm not sure what the active ingredient is, but I ran out of it a few weeks ago.

My wife went to Walmart and got some equate brand sleep aid with the active ingredient of Diphenhydramine. These sleeping pills absolutely knocked me out, but also left me feeling really groggy during the day.

One morning last week I was woken up to a surprise early "session" before work and I had some problems performing and staying full aroused. I'm 28 and have never had this issue other than drinking entirely too much... but most of the time it'd be that I would just go forever and never finish but still be rock hard.

So Saturday afternoon we were fooling around before my in-laws came in town and I noticed it wasn't as bad as the other morning, but it felt like I was only 75%.

Something seemed wrong so I did some research on the only thing I could tell that changed in the past weeks... those sleeping pills with Diphenhydramine. It seems that Diphenhydramine can cause ED.

I'm going to check with the doctor at the clinic where I work and see what else I need to do. I exercise regularly but I am overweight... 6'3" 230lbs. I know the root of my problem is sleep and that can cause ED issues, but everything was ok until I started taking the equate sleeping pills with Diphenhydramine.

Has anyone ever heard of this active ingredient and if it has caused issues like this for you?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

To try to fix your sleep problem without medicine, there are some things you can do. You should relax for at least 15-20 minutes leading up to bed, doing something low-key (reading, having a nice chat with your wife, etc). The best thing you can probably do it go to sleep and wake up at the same time each and every day. That gives your body a constant rhythm to work with and it is way more receptive to sleep that way. On top of that, you can try to get some exposure to bright sunlight early in your morning. That will reset your circadian rhythm and will let you sleep better when you're meant to sleep.

But yeah, Diphenhydramine has been shown to have some pretty nasty side effects. The quote from wikipedia says: "Like many other first-generation antihistamines, diphenhydramine is a potent anticholinergic agent. This leads to profound drowsiness as a very common side-effect, along with the possibilities of motor impairment (ataxia), dry mouth and throat, flushed skin, rapid or irregular heartbeat (tachycardia), blurred vision at nearpoint owing to lack of accommodation (cycloplegia), abnormal sensitivity to bright light (photophobia), pupil dilation (mydriasis), urinary retention, constipation, difficulty concentrating, short-term memory loss, visual disturbances, hallucinations, irregular breathing, irritability, itchy skin, confusion, decreased body temperature (generally in the hands and/or feet), erectile dysfunction, excitability, and delirium[8]. Some side effects such as twitching may be delayed until the drowsiness begins to cease and the person is in more of an awakening mode. Diphenhydramine also has local anesthetic properties, and has been used for patients allergic to common local anesthetics like lidocaine.[9]"

Also it says you can gain a tolerance very, very quickly. I'd cut it out and try to go the natural way. Also, ED can be effected by overall health and body composition. Perhaps it's time to lose a bit of weight as well.

 

[joutlaw]

We're pretty regular sleepers. We head to our bedroom around 9:30 and are usually asleep by 10:00 - 10:15. My wife reads in bed, but I can't concentrate long enough to read books... it has always been this way. I have to be at work at 7:30, so I'm consistently up at 6:30... I can't even shake it on the weekends unless I was up way to late the night before ... 3-4AM.

It seems that what my main sleeping problem is my brain doesn't shut off. I'm constantly thinking about work or other things... oddly enough sometimes I even get some song I listened to earlier in the day stuck in my head and it repeats over and over. The only way lately to get past this is to take a sleep aid... otherwise I may fall asleep at 10 or so, but be up at 12:30 wide awake tossing and turning until 6:15

 

[Blackjack200]

Diphenhydramine is Benadryl, one of the most powerful antihistamines you can buy. I've always had really terrible allergies and used to use Allegra and Claritin, but I would keep Benadryl in reserve in case things got really bad.

I'm very tolerant of drugs, but Benadryl knocks me the fuck out. One time I had to take it at work because by allergies got so bad I was just about chain-sneezing. 20 minutes later my allergies were gone but I was so stoned out at my desk that my boss sent me home. I've thought about using it as a sleep aid before, but after reading your post I don't think I will.

BTW, I solved my allergy problem about 4 months ago with Flonase. I just spray two shots up each nostril every morning and all the congestion, sinus pressure, sneezing etc. etc. etc. are all gone. It's incredible.

 

[Megatomic]

Edited out the OT comments. Sorry for that, this is not OT.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: joutlaw
We're pretty regular sleepers. We head to our bedroom around 9:30 and are usually asleep by 10:00 - 10:15. My wife reads in bed, but I can't concentrate long enough to read books... it has always been this way. I have to be at work at 7:30, so I'm consistently up at 6:30... I can't even shake it on the weekends unless I was up way to late the night before ... 3-4AM.

It seems that what my main sleeping problem is my brain doesn't shut off. I'm constantly thinking about work or other things... oddly enough sometimes I even get some song I listened to earlier in the day stuck in my head and it repeats over and over. The only way lately to get past this is to take a sleep aid... otherwise I may fall asleep at 10 or so, but be up at 12:30 wide awake tossing and turning until 6:15

Something my doctor suggested for my insomnia: write down the things you have to do the next day before you go to bed. Leave them on the notepad. Forget them. They will be there on the paper when you wake up. You need to change the way you think about things. Work on relieving your stress - perhaps belly breathing would help. You can control what you think about so try to relax.

 

[Sust]

In the future, you should ask doc to prescribe a sleep aid that's more specific to the histamine receptors(e.g. low dose trazodone or doxepin) rather than going out to buy OTC benadryl for all of the reasons that people have already stated and you have already figured out. I believe that both meds are on the walmart 4 dollar list.

Also, your sleep problem will only be masked by these sleep aids and it's not entirely certain that you will continue to respond to the sleep aids so it is in your best interest to try and figure out why you've got insomnia in the first place. Start with the sleep hygiene stuff and there were other great suggestions made by previous posters.

If you're still having trouble sleeping then this will be most helpful for you in that it will either put you to sleep or you will know a hell of a lot more about sleep than your average doctor.

Good luck.

 

[CKent]

Try cannabis, seriously. Don't overdo it, just a puff before bed will ease you into sleep. And it's a phenomenal aphrodesiac.

 

[soccerballtux]

You could try melatonin, that's the natural sleep medication your brain secretes. It's also a powerful anti-oxidant. Take 30m-1h before going to bed to get a jump on the melatonin schedule your body is in; it's pretty helpful to get back onto a normal sleep schedule.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: soccerballtux
You could try melatonin, that's the natural sleep medication your brain secretes. It's also a powerful anti-oxidant. Take 30m-1h before going to bed to get a jump on the melatonin schedule your body is in; it's pretty helpful to get back onto a normal sleep schedule.

In theory, if we could get melatonin into the body in a similar manner to the way it's secreted, it would be great. However, in pill form, different people have vastly different results. If you get the timing wrong, it doesn't really help and timing differs from person to person depending on their digestive systems, etc. If sleep was that bad, I wouldn't hesitate to at least try it, but I wouldn't expect certain results.

 

[joutlaw]

Originally posted by: CKent
Try cannabis, seriously. Don't overdo it, just a puff before bed will ease you into sleep. And it's a phenomenal aphrodesiac.

Not an option anymore... I used to smoke quite frequently and every night before I went to sleep... this has been 4 years ago or so. I'm subject to drug tests now at work and they are saliva based so I don't take any chances. I was tested when I was hired, but too many what ifs if I could be tested again.

As far as melatonin... I tried it a few months... initially I'd fall asleep hard and fast, but have crazy dreams and wake up in the middle of night wide awake.

It seems the ED side affect is gone and I'm still taking the sleep aid. It may have been just stress causing it... I'm about to start graduate school and working 40+ hours a week.

 

[DougoMan]

If you take a lot of it you hallucinate..