Important Information & Warning!
What is the “Benadryl challenge?”
A new, and very alarming trend on TikTok is prompting and encouraging teens and pre-teens to take dangerously high amounts of Benadryl - which could absolutely be fatal. In May, three teens in one Texas county were hospitalized in one week’s time, medical officials had to issue a statement warning about the danger of this challenge. In August, the death of a 15-year-old Oklahoma resident is possibly connected to this challenge, her online video encouraged viewers to take excessive doses of Benadryl to induce hallucinations. None of these teens were trying to harm themselves; they all said they saw videos on TikTok and were curious to try it. Imagine having to worry about locking up your allergy medicine.
One of the Texas teens took 14 Benadryl pills this past Memorial Day. She had fractured sentences, hallucinations, her resting heart rate was 199.
On their website, Benadryl writes that the drug (known officially as diphenhydramine) temporarily relieves symptoms due to hay fever or other upper respiratory allergies, including runny nose, sneezing, watery eyes and itchy throat. The drug maker recommends a dose of one to two 25 mg tablets every four to six hours, and no more than 6 doses in 24 hours.
The recommended dose of one to two 25 mg tablets every for to six hours is intended for adults. Teens and younger children may require lower dosing limits depending on their weight and/or even other medications they are taking at the time. But even for adults taking the recommended dose, Benadryl can have adverse side-effects including sedation, dry mouth, dizziness, loss of coordination, slurred speech, dilated pupils, flushing, delirium, hallucinations, confusion … higher doses may turn fatal, causing seizures and abnormal cardiac rhythms.
While some of these challenge videos appear to make light of the reactions, there are more and more new videos popping up of others warning against trying the challenge. Teens report that your walls look like static, you feel like bugs are crawling all over you, you sweat, you feel like death… These teens are essentially posting a Public Service Announcement that they made the horrible choice to purposely take too much Benadryl, and are begging for no one else to try it - it is NOT worth the risks.
The “Benadryl challenge,” is just the latest in a string of dangerous TikTok trends, please take the time to also research the “nutmeg challenge” and the “cinnamon challenge. Parents need to know this challenge is very real, and that monitoring their teens’ social media habits is less about limiting their privacy and more about saving their lives.
