Top 10 Cool Things You Didn't Know But Should've About a Certain Over-the-Counter Medicine

NEXT POST SUPPOSED TO BE SUNDAY, BUT THIS IS A GRATUITOUS TOSS-IN...

Bill and I are major googlers of all things medical these days. Today, we found out some stuff that is so amazingly cool...

...ABOUT AN OVER-THE-COUNTER medicine...

...that we (a) couldn't believe we could be THIS old and not know about; and (b) couldn't resist the temptation to share with you--even though it's not directly related to cancer, unless one has insomnia (struggling to justify this post, in other words, thematically). tee hee.

The following over-the-counter medicines are what we're talking about:

Benadryl
Sominex
Tylenol PM
Advil PM
Nytol
Unisom

A. All the above have the exact same active ingredient: diphenhydramine HCL.

In fact, Benadryl and Sominex have nothing BUT diphenhydramine, and are the same product under different names. (Did you know THAT?) The tylenol and advil versions are, again, the same product, only with tylenol or advil added to them.

B. DIPHENHYDRAMINE is the coolest drug ever.

C. Top 10 things you should know about the WONDERFULNESS of diphenhydramine:

* * * * *

1. OVER THE COUNTER: It's all over-the counter. Except in Russia and the Republic of Zambia. If you show up there with Benadryl or those other meds listed above, you can face PRISON!

2. NON-ADDICTIVE: It's non-addictive. Some pages claim you build up tolerance fast. Others claim they never build up tolerance.

3. FIRST ANTI-DEPRESSANT: Did you know that diphenhydramine was the first anti-depressant? It is a serotonin reuptake inhibitor, also known as SSRI. You know how many people take SSRI anti-depressants these days? And here's this humble medicine over-the-counter since the 1930s. PROZAC is nothing but diphenhydramine with the sleepiness removed from it!

4. PAIN KILLER: Diphenhydramine is exactly as powerful as Lidocaine for killing pain when applied or injected.

5. ANTI-ANXIETY MEDICINE: Yes, it stops anxiety. Of course, if you're asleep, you don't know what you're worried about, so that's part of its charm. haha Also, it is sometimes used in surgery to cause skeletal muscles to relax.

6. SLEEP INDUCER: Makes you really sleepy, and you wake up calmed in the morning from its anti-anxiety qualities.

7. STOPS NAUSEA: Can you believe this drug?

8. STOPS ITCHING AND ALLERGIC REACTIONS: In fact, per Wikipedia, there is NO prescription anti-allergic that works as well as diphenhydramine--even in hospitals, it is the first choice for allergic reactions!

9. ENHANCES THE STRENGTH OF PAIN KILLERS: When taken with certain opiods, it makes the power of the pain killer much stronger and, claim many people, seems to help the pain killer "locate the pain."

10. DOSAGE: In the US, the FDA requires boxes to say that you shouldn't take more than 50 mg dose. But in every other country, the dosage is recommended at 50-100 mg.

DANGERS
Well, yeah, there are some things you shouldn't do with diphenhydramine. You shouldn't use it for trout bait because it won't work. You shouldn't give it to kids because it can make them hyper. It can also do this to the elderly. Don't take it if you're a nursing mother. And you shouldn't purposely take a major bunch of it to get high, because it creates delirium and hallucinations.

Oh, I know SOME of you will say, duh, Beth and Bill, we knew this since we were like kindergarteners. But if you didn't know this, aren't you glad you know it now?

Talk to you Sunday! God willin' and the creek don't rise...