Health - Urgent Benadryl Warning - Uk

[darkglobe]

READ YOUR BENADRYL BOX BEFORE EVEN THINKING ABOUT TAKING ANY.

Benadryl in the UK usually does not contain Diphenhydramine. ESPECIALLY IF SWIY HAS BEEN PRESCRIBED IT BY SWIY'S DOCTOR.

SWIM wanted to inform UK users of Drugs-Forum because a friend of his (seriously now) ingested 10 Benadryl caplets, all containing Acrivastine.

SWIM's friend was EXTREMELY ILL and she is now lying in a bed down at the intensive care unit.

SWIM hopes this serves as a reminder: FUCK ALL IS SAFE.... but even less is safe if SWIY doesn't read the box.

SWIm doesn't mean to preach (he really doesn't) but check SWIY's drug ingredients. Diphenhydramine (unless SWIY is unknowingly allergic to it - ironically possible!) probably won't kill SWIY (at normal recreational doses) but Acrivastine seems to be a lot more dangerous.

Also, before people go off and munch shitloads of Benadryl.... ACRIVASTINE HAS NO RECREATIONAL QUALITIES. SWIY won't feel anything.

Lecture Over.

Enjoy SWIY's drugs

Reputation Comments on this post:

	A great warning to others, its never stupid if can save someones life. great point ;P
	Posts like this are the reason you are still here boyo - more of it mate! Welcome back from the wilderness, & keep ...
	Good information
	Hopefully this guy saved a life or two!
	Good and sensible advice.
	Great post. May have saved lives
	Good idea

[darkglobe]

PS: Sorry If I'm stating the obvious but you never know... some people really ARE that stupid.

[Alicia]

Originally Posted by dark_globe

PS: Sorry If I'm stating the obvious but you never know... some people really ARE that stupid.

Its never a stupid warning if it saves someone's life.

[CountChristoph]

Originally Posted by Alicia

Its never a stupid warning if it saves someone's life.

I agree.

Although even though SWIM knows in the benadryl he buys here in Canada contains Diphenhydramine. He always checks to make sure.

[enquirewithin]

SWIM does occasionally take benadryl for allergies, but never 10! Now he knows why!

[Micklemouse]

Originally Posted by Alicia

Its never a stupid warning if it saves someone's life.

And for that reason it gets sticky. So to speak...

[AntiAimer]

It's like there doing experiments to see the effects it has on the people. Selling different chemicals in different places excludeing the groups from one another. Ha ja ja it's a conspiracy.

[Orchid_Suspiria]

Originally Posted by AntiAimer

It's like there doing experiments to see the effects it has on the people. Selling different chemicals in different places excludeing the groups from one another. Ha ja ja it's a conspiracy.

Wow that makes perfect sense now that swim thinks about it!Get it so American drug users enjoy using a product that contains dxm or diphenhydramine and then sell the same product in the UK with different ingredients and little warning just to both experiment and kill recreational drug users.Its absolutely evil and it makes perfect sense!LOL well maybe not but its something to think about.

[darkglobe]

LOL!

Personally I'd say it's no conspiracy - maybe it's something related to licensing? I honestly don't know. Just be careful.

Another example, altho it belongs elsewhere, but you already mentioned it.. DXM in the UK (as far as I know) comes in max. strength of 10mg per 5ml of syrup. But the Robo brands in America-land are totally different to the UK. It's a little disconcerting at times when you look to the interwebthingy for info, but the majority of info is aimed at the American audience.

By the way, the majority of UK travel sickness pills do not contain Dimenhydrinate, either. Apparently most US brands do (e.g. dramamine - am I correct?). I can't for the life of me think of what was in the ones I bought, but it began with the letter "h".
Incidentally, they are also sedating, but I'm pretty sure they're not part of the old generation 1 antihistamines. Also, they did a bloody good job of sorting out my seasickness!

[darkglobe]

OMG - SWIM walked into his local "big chain superstore beginning with a T" and they've taken all OTC sleep-aids off the shelves due to health fears/misuse!

SWIM lives in a UK town famous for the massive surge in suicide recently, and it's been noted that OTC sleep aids are being used alongside Paracetamol in suicide attempts.

Wish I had some sort of evidence for that but I can find none online.

[davestate]

Originally Posted by darkglobe

OMG - SWIM walked into his local "big chain superstore beginning with a T" and they've taken all OTC sleep-aids off the shelves due to health fears/misuse!

SWIM lives in a UK town famous for the massive surge in suicide recently, and it's been noted that OTC sleep aids are being used alongside Paracetamol in suicide attempts.

Wish I had some sort of evidence for that but I can find none online.

SWIM thought sleep aids where Pharmacy only meds anyway, never been able to find them in supermarkets

[elcoop]

how many does siwy take to feel good?

[kareena]

Originally Posted by elcoop

how many does siwy take to feel good?

Please check this subforum! As with all drugs 'good' is a very subjective term for each swim, diphenhydramine can produce a distinctly unpleasant trip for many.

Originally Posted by darkglobe

LOL!

Personally I'd say it's no conspiracy

I'd agree, any swiy can buy more than enough diphenhydramine to play with if they so wish OTC in pharmacies. Easy to pick up 20 50mg pills if thats your game.

[porchy]

well, i havnt much to say on this specific subject, other than you live in the same town as me then :P

Originally Posted by darkglobe

OMG - SWIM walked into his local "big chain superstore beginning with a T" and they've taken all OTC sleep-aids off the shelves due to health fears/misuse!

SWIM lives in a UK town famous for the massive surge in suicide recently, and it's been noted that OTC sleep aids are being used alongside Paracetamol in suicide attempts.

Wish I had some sort of evidence for that but I can find none online.

[acepembs]

If SWIY wants the US 'Benadryl' in the UK, they would have to buy 'Nytol', which contains 25mg Diphenhydramine Hydrocholride. It's OTC at any half decent pharmacy.

[Psych0naut]

Brittish pharmacies sell a large abundance of different antihistamines, from diphenhydramine to cetirizine, and from chlorpheniramine to even promethazine if I'm not mistaken. Nytol is sold as OTC sleep-aid, and there are other OTC products sold as sleep aids as well in the UK. Travel sickness pills in the UK also always contain antihistamines, most often it's cetirizine or loratidine.

In the Netherlands, we have a whole plethora of different antihistamines which are available OTC as well, but for as far as I know, none of them are sold as OTC sleep aids, all are sold as traveling sickness pills, anti-nausea and anti-vomiting pills and against allergies due to insect bites

[Lukeluck8]

My lover has taken 10 benadryl plus (UK version with Acrivastine) over the course of the night plus at least a gm and a 1/2 amphetamine by mouth. Last time they took anything was the benadryl at 2am (not current time). The person who started this thread said their mate ended up in Accident and emergency.... Yet when I google 'Acrivastine' it says its harmless. Can someone help put the record straight.
Thanks in advance ^^

[KomodoMK]

Originally Posted by Lukeluck8

My lover has taken 10 benadryl plus (UK version with Acrivastine) over the course of the night plus at least a gm and a 1/2 amphetamine by mouth. Last time they took anything was the benadryl at 2am (not current time). The person who started this thread said their mate ended up in Accident and emergency.... Yet when I google 'Acrivastine' it says its harmless. Can someone help put the record straight.
Thanks in advance ^^

Not everyone reacts to a chemical in the same way. There is also a difference between taking 10 at once and 10 over the course of a night. Doses of some chemicals that are strong for one person may have little to no effect on another. The entire point of this thread is a warning, it's a stark reminder for those who don't have the common sense to read the label/leaflet and educate themselves about what they are ingesting.

[Lukeluck8]

I can't find much information on why acrivastine is very very bad for you on the internet. My friend took 5 capsules twice over the night. They are thankfully OK. Thank God.

[KomodoMK]

Just because there is not much information on the internet does not mean it is safe. Did you not read the reasons I listed above? Also, what about combinations? Did the person who took 10 also use Alcohol around the same time? Who knows?

At the end of the day it is best to assume nothing is safe. The reason your friend was okay or why the person the original poster referred to was affected is and will always be a mystery. There is so many factors and variables involved that it is impossible to answer the question.

This forum is about harm reduction, you can't stop people harming themselves because so many out there lack common sense. The entire point of this thread is a warning to the possible outcomes of what ingesting substances without researching can do.

You could rant on about this stuff forever, but some people just don't get it. At the end of the day everyone is different, and thus reacts different. You should not play around with drugs unless you have the common sense to research and understand what you are taking. Simple as that.

[RadioHead]

What about benadryl in Australia? What will it contain?

[ex-junkie]

Originally Posted by RadioHead

What about benadryl in Australia? What will it contain?

LOL swim was just thinking that. swim really shouldnt wander around the different forums, because she starts to get silly ideas. b2b

[ConcertaXL]

10 Benadryl PLUS contains 600mg of Pseudoephedrine which is not recommended due to heart problems... Especially with another strong stimulant like speed. The 2g of Acrivastine is not the biggest problem here. And 1)The best source for Diphenhydramine in the UK is "Nytol 1 a Night" (or cheaper generic alternative)... Behind the counter. 50mg of D in each tab, 800mg in a box of 16. 2)Promethazine is indeed sold in the UK in pharmacies without prescription... The most common brand by far is Sominex (expensive) but if you can get either Avomine or Phenergan you will pay far less per milligram. 3)Travel sickness pills in the UK DO NOT CONTAIN CETIRIZINE OR LORATADINE. These are found in anti-hayfever/allergy medications such as Piriton, Piriteze and Clarityn. Travel Sickness meds include Kwells, Stugeron 15, Traveleeze and Sea-legs and contain Cinnarizine, Meclozine or Hyoscine Hydrobromide aka Scopolamine.

[Hover]

Originally Posted by darkglobe

By the way, the majority of UK travel sickness pills do not contain Dimenhydrinate, either. Apparently most US brands do (e.g. dramamine - am I correct?)

Correct, travel sickness tablets in both the US and Canada (Gravol) contain dimenhydrinate only, usually 50mg which is equivalent to 25mg diphenhydramine, which incidentally is the ingredient in the North American version of Benadryl.

Dramamine and Gravol used to be sold practically everywhere from gas stations to pharmacies in both Canada and the US but many states and most if not all Canadian provinces have bowed to pressures from pharmacist associations who wanted the drug confined to pharamacy shelves under the pretense that it should be sold under a pharmacist's supervision. However those drugs were put on the shelves not behind the counter so the "supervision" was nonexistent, but the sales monopoly was very real and prices climbed accordingly. That said, Dramamine is still sold anywhere in a few states.

In Canada some pharmacies have finally put Gravol behind the counter after the media "revealed" that the drug was being used recreationally by teens. This happened even in Quebec where drug regulations tend to be more liberal than in other provinces so dimenhydrinate craving kids there simply switched to the much more potent 50mg diphenhydramine found in sleep aids because in Quebec those are not behind the counter in most pharmacies but right on the shelves for anyone to grab. Doesn't make a whole lotta sense to me but media-driven drug policies rarely do.

[darkglobe]

I can confidently predict that delirient antihistamines will never be a major problem worldwide. The pros are outweighed by the cons to such an extent that drug-hungry teens would probably not recommend these badboys to any of their friends!

I recently noticed something rather strange which I cannot find an explanation for. Loratadine and Cetirizine (and indeed other antihistamines) are available on the shelves at SWIM's local Tesco superstore, yet Diphenhydramine and Dimenhydrinate are behind-the-counter (POM: Pharmacy Only Medicine) products.

Would this be due to misuse? Or are the pharmacists concerned about dependancy or drug interactions? SWIM gets questioned by the lovely old lady behind the counter everytime he trys to buy his Nytol ("Are you taking any other medication?" "Have you used this before?" and probably the best one: "Are you aware this may cause drowsiness?") but can freely take a box (or worryingly, ten boxes) of Loratadine pills and purchase them without ever talking to a human being (using the self checkout)....