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Playing devil's advocate but there can be dependence with Benadryl. You mentioned your child waking after a while. And people can build a tolerance. Just because it's over the counter doesn't mean it has no side effects.
WHAT? Basically what you said is you wouldn't use it for it's intended purpose which is to help with sickness and allergies BUT you would use it for a sleep aid, which despite what you say is NOT it's purpose.
Many drugs are used for alternate purposes. My son takes guanfacine for hyperactivity; its original use was to lower blood pressure.
Many drugs are used for alternate purposes. My son takes guanfacine for hyperactivity; its original use was to lower blood pressure.
Yes, and bimatoprost, a glaucoma drug, was found to grow eyelashes so now Brooke Shields markets it as Latisse.
This is not about the drugs; it's about the reason behind the decision to give them.
If a child has a medical reason that they can't sleep, medicine can and probably should be used. But if a parent just doesn't want to deal with figuring all that out and wants the kid to sleep, drugs should not be used to achieve that end.
So apparently this is quite common, I didn't know that till recently. I guess it's an easy way for kids to be quiet and fall asleep, so it may seem like an easy parenting hack.
But these drugs are WEIRD. I read that the ratio for dosage is about 1 mg per kg. So giving a small kid 25 or 50 mgs of benedryll would be like giving yourself 300 mgs of benedryll.
Go try taking 300 mgs of benedryll. It's a deleriant. I've done 300 mgs out of curiosity, and it was most definitely weirder than any experience I've had on pot or alcohol. That's why it struck me as so odd that parents give these to their kids so regularly. Most parents wouldn't give their kid a pot brownie or a drop of acid, but apparently giving them benedryll is socially acceptable???
Now some kids do have big allergy problems, so antihistamines are necessary, and I'm not condemning for that. But it's just something to be careful about as they do carry big side effects, and it may be better to go with other, newer antihistamines. I don't think that they are harmful physically in reasonable doses, they're just weird.
The ONLY purpose of this post is to be obnoxious and get everyone riled up. 25 mgs of is what is in the pink pill that adults take. No one is giving their kids 50 or 300 (yeah, right!!!)mgs of benadryl to get their kids to sleep.
And yes, pharmacists and doctors DO recommend using it as a sleep aid. People on here screaming about DRUGGING THE CHILDREN!!!! - any medicine you give your child is a drug. Keep it together, folks.
Originally Posted by djmaxwell Not advocating its usage for getting children to sleep, but I would like to point out that the medicine in benadryl is the same as what the sedative component is in products such as Advil P.M. and Nytol. It does have its use as a sleep aid.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life
Its inadvertent use.
It also has ingredients those medications DON'T have.
You have all your facts wrong.
Benadryl was not "created for use to alleviate allergies" and drowsiness is just a "side effect". That's not how medicine works.
Benadryl is a substance found to have common effects on people. One of the effects is alleviating allergies. One of the effects is alleviating symptoms of a cold and cough. One of the effects is alleviating symptoms of nausea. One of the effects is making some people drowsy and able to sleep.
These are all effects. None of them are "the intended" effect, none of them are "only side effects".
Now. When the FDA does studies on medicines to approve them for specific uses and look at their safety, they "Approve" them for specific uses, and then list their other effects as "side effects", so that the person taking the medicine knows all of the effects it will have.
Benadryl has been approved by the FDA (in adults) to be used for allergies, cold and cough, nausea, and YES AIDING SLEEP. It's not an "inadvertent use". It's an actual effect of the medication. The concern is that the FDA has not approved the safety of Benadryl for long term use by children as a sleep aid. That much is true. But doctors have been recommending it for children for short term use as a sleep aid in extenuating circumstances for quite a while. And I have never seen any medical evidence that short term use in extenuating circumstances as a sleep aid for a child, when properly dosed by weight, has ever given anyone any problem whatsoever. So chill.
And dude. Children's Benadryl has diphenhydramine HCL and some cherry flavoring and that's pretty much IT. There is nothing in Children's Benadryl that is not in Advil PM. There's something in Advil PM that is not in Children's Benadryl, namely ADVIL (ibuprofen). But there's not some list of crazy sleeping pill ingredients in Children's Benadryl that's going to kill them.
If you want to give advice to parents, then do your homework first and know the facts. Don't shoot from the hip. You're going to hurt someone.
Who'd have imagined we have so many doctors on CD?!?
and pharmacist and others in the healthcare field who also happen to be parents maybe?
I forgot about the use for migraines, the hospital used benadryl as part of the treatment for a severe migraine my daughter had several months ago.
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