Benadryl and Alcohol – Should we take them together?

Many of us have already heard about Benadryl and Alcohol, but some of us know what the combination of these two can do. Benadryl is something that everyone knows about who has had an allergy or someone close to them have had the allergy. Benadryl basically is the brand name of the syrup that contains few antihistamines. Antihistamines are the drug substances that stop the release of the histamines in the body. Histamines are released in the body when an antigen enters the body like some pollen or any allergic particle and this triggers the release of the histamine in the body.

This histamine then binds with the histamine receptors and this results into the allergic responses like the inflammation and increased secretion from the certain glands and this may also lead to excessive itching and this is the allergic response that results into the allergy. Now the site where the allergen enters is where the allergy will result into. Now antihistamines work in such a way that they inhibit the production of histamines and thus the allergic response does not occur and your allergy can be easily treated. Benadryl and alcohol combined use are what we are going to discuss further here.

Benadryl

Before going into detail about the Benadryl and alcohol you must know in detail about the Benadryl. As already been told the Benadryl is the medication that is used for the treatment of allergy because it contains the antihistamines. Benadryl basically consist of the antihistamine drug known as the diphenhydramine. The Benadryl is used in the treatment of an allergy-like runny nose, cold-like symptoms, skin rash, watery eyes, hives, itching and the other allergic symptoms that can result due to the allergic reactions.

Benadryl in some situations is also used to induce sleep because it is the common effect of some of the antihistamines to produce sleep and that’s why it is used to induce sleep too and also it is used against the motion sickness. Benadryl is the over the counter medication which means you wouldn’t need a prescription from the doctor to buy it which in most of the drugs is required.

Whenever you think of a medication for the seasonal allergy the first anti-allergy that ever comes to your mind is the Benadryl because it is the first choice of most of the people. Benadryl is completely safe for use by the people but still, you should be careful with using it because no drug is safe when used inappropriately. How many people Benadryl is used by each day is countless and that’s why the safe use must be promoted.

Benadryl and alcohol

Alcohol is taken by most of the people and especially people that like to drink wine prefer it with every meal so when we are taking some of the over the counter medications we should consider if they are safe to use with the alcohol or not and whether it should be discussed with the doctor before the use of that certain medication. Benadryl and alcohol are one of those combinations that we should definitely discuss with the doctor before using or we can avoid taking Benadryl and alcohol together without doctor’s guidance or don’t take the two of them together.

The reason why you shouldn’t take Benadryl and alcohol together is that they both cause the central nervous system to depress. As already been told that Benadryl induces the sleep and it is even used for this purpose by some people which means it causes the central nervous system to depress and alcohol has a little excitory effect in the start and then it starts to depress you CNS too which means they both shouldn’t be used together because it may result in extremely depressed state of your brain and this may lead to the sedation and drowsiness and it is not a good thing especially in the tasks where you need to stay alert like driving and during work etc.

Misuse

Alcohol itself has the misuse potential and when the Benadryl is used for the sleep aid then the Benadryl and alcohol together have the increased misuse potential than both of them alone. But some people may think that with one glass of wine and a dose of Benadryl will help them sleep but instead it will cause more restlessness because it will cause the dizziness and this may prevent you from sleeping. Even that Benadryl is used for sleeping purpose but is a wrong practice and it must be used for allergies only.

Sometimes people unknowingly take them together with the sleeping medications and this may turn out to be harmful and now if you are also having alcohol with them you can imagine how depressed it will make your brain. So you must avoid taking Benadryl and alcohol together. And if you can’t leave alcohol then you must talk with your doctor to suggest you some alternative.

Driving

Another reason why you shouldn’t take Benadryl and alcohol together is that even though you are taking both off the things together in small quantity but still it can cause enough drowsiness to disturb your drive and then you won’t be able to concentrate properly while driving and this may lead to some serious consequences like some traffic accidents. So if you don’t want to risk your life then never take the Benadryl and alcohol together, in fact, don’t use Benadryl before driving so you can stay safe.

Every life is precious and by not being alert while driving you are not only putting your life but the life of people on the road that time with you in danger and sometimes when you are driving with your loved ones you will be putting their lives in the danger too. How many lives can you save by being careful in this matter? So for the sake of all these lives on the risk, you should avoid taking Benadryl and alcohol together.

Use of Benadryl and alcohol together is even dangerous in the elderly people because the use of them together inhibits your motor skills and thus being old it’s even dangerous for your health. So these were all the reasons as for why you should not take Benadryl and alcohol together.

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