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In San Diego, health experts at Rady Children’s Hospital are raising concerns over the resurgence of a dangerous viral phenomenon known as the “Benadryl Challenge.” This alarming trend has resulted in at least five children being treated in the hospital’s emergency department in the past week.
The “Benadryl Challenge,” which has been circulating on social media platforms, encourages young individuals to consume excessive amounts of diphenhydramine, the active ingredient in the popular over-the-counter medication Benadryl, according to the Partnership to End Addiction.
Participants of the challenge are urged to ingest up to 12 tablets at once to allegedly experience hallucinations. However, the recommended maximum dosage for children aged 6-12 is six tablets within a 24-hour period, while those over 12 should not exceed 12 tablets in the same timeframe.
In 2020, the FDA issued a warning about this perilous trend, emphasizing that taking doses higher than recommended can lead to severe consequences, including death.
This warning comes in light of tragic incidents, such as the death of a 15-year-old girl from Oklahoma in August 2020, suspected to be linked to the “Benadryl Challenge.” Similarly, the parents of a 13-year-old boy from Ohio reported that he passed away after a Benadryl overdose.
Scott Schaeffer, director of the Oklahoma Center for Poison and Drug Information, explained that “the dose that can cause a hallucination is very close to the dose that can cause something potentially life-threatening.”
“When you’re taking it in large quantities, it can have an effect on various systems of the body. It can cause agitation, hallucinations, a very fast heart rate that could lead to cardiac arrest. Seizures, we see often with the Benadryl ingestion as well,” said Shahfar Khan, M.D., a board certified pediatrician at Rady Children’s Hospital.
According to Rady’s, none of the children that sought emergency care had to be admitted to the San Diego hospital, but it was still very serious for some.
Khan said they’ve seen cases among “a lot of 16 to 18 year olds” and among young adults between 20 and 22 years old.
Fort Worth Children’s Hospital in Texas reported in April that more than 100 patients visited its emergency department over the last six months due to Benadryl overdoses, and one of those patients reportedly died.
Signs of a possible Benadryl overdose include drowsiness, agitation, and looking flushed. Experts recommended seeking emergency care or calling a poison control center if you believe your child has taken too much medication, cannot be awoken, had or is possibly having a seizure, is having trouble breathing, or has collapsed.
Benadryl maker Johnson & Johnson has issued a warning about the challenge and is working with social media platforms to remove harmful content. In 2020, TikTok disabled hashtags related to the challenge.