Johnson & Johnson called the TikTok challenge 'extremely concerning' and 'dangerous' in a statement to TooFab earlier this week. The challenge involves taking enough Benadryl pills to hallucinate. Its a very fine line between being a bit sleepy and having significant problems like heart problems and seizures, which can be fatal,” said Juurlink. Benadryl is a common over-the-counter antihistamine meant to help relieve allergy symptoms. “Do not underestimate how dangerous Benadryl is just because its available without a prescription, it doesn't mean it cant kill you if you take enough of it. So what is important for TikTok teens, or even their parents who are aware of this challenge, to know about the drug? But if someone is taking 10, 20, 30 tablets they can get very sick,” said Juurlink. It is pretty safe at standard doses, although it does often make people drowsy. “It is in many medicine cabinets, you can get hundreds of tablets without talking to a pharmacist or interacting with a healthcare provider, there’s a natural tendacy to assume its safe. Some experts have suggested that because the drug is available over the counter, many might perceive it to be less harmful than it actually is. According to the sheriff’s office, the latest challenge encourages people of all ages, but specifically teenagers, to take Benadryl to the point of hallucination and then share the effects on. We've been keeping an eye on this topic since and removing any new content – which again has been in extremely small numbers – to prevent any spread on our platform,” read the statement from a company spokesperson. People who have hallucinated on Benadryl. Use only as directed While the challenge originally went viral to. This would be bad enough on its own because of how dangerous it is, but we sill havent covered the hallucinations. “We first learned of this 'challenge' in May and quickly removed the very small amount of content that we found. Youll get crazy thirsty and have bizzarre hallucinations that you wont realize are. The company sent the following statement when contacted for comment specifically about the Benadryl challenge: In the TikTok community guidelines, the company states that they do not allow content that encourages, promotes or glorifies dangerous challenges that might lead to injury. “At very high doses it affects the heart, people in theory can die from seizures, but they normally die from cardiac problems,” said Juurlink. On 3 September, Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas, said it had treated three teens after they had “ingested excessive amounts of the over-the-counter allergy medication”.Īccording to the hospital, “each of these patients said they got the idea from videos on TikTok that claimed users could get high and hallucinate if they took a dozen or more of the allergy pills.And as for those people who die after overdosing on the drug? It's safe and effective when used as recommended, the FDA said. The agency said it recommends locking up medicines to “prevent accidental poisonings by children and misuse by teens, especially when they are home more often due to the Covid-19 pandemic and may be more likely to experiment.”ĭiphenhydramine, which is marketed under the brand-name Benadryl, store brands, and generics, is an antihistamine used to treat symptoms such as a runny nose or sneezing from upper respiratory allergies, hay fever or the common cold. The FDA also encouraged consumers, parents, and caregivers to store Benadryl and other prescription and over-the-counter medicines “up and away”.