‘Benadryl Challenge’ Trending On TikTok Might Have Already Caused A Casualty
Image via rustycanuck / Shutterstock.com
A new dangerous trend on TikTok, dubbed the ‘Benadryl Challenge’, has been blamed for killing a 15-year-old girl in Oklahoma.
The dare involves overdosing on Benadryl, which is the brand name for an allergy drug called diphenhydramine, to induce a high that can also result in hallucinations.
People on the medication are warned against taking more than six doses within 24 hours. However, the Benadryl Challenge encourages participants to pop at least a dozen pills.
It is unclear how many pills the teenager had taken.
Scott Schaeffer, director of the Oklahoma Center for Poison and Drug Information, described to local news network KDVR that the potentially hallucinating-causing dose “is very close to the dose that can cause something potentially life-threatening.”
He added, “Large doses of Benadryl can cause seizures and, particularly, problems with the heart.” When this happens, “the heart tends to go out of rhythm and not pump blood effectively,” Schaeffer explained.
According to Newsweek, three teenagers from Fort Worth, Texas who had taken part in the trend were rushed to the hospital for medical attention in May.
They all recovered, but one of the three, a 14-year-old girl, arrived at the premises with a heart rate of 199; in comparison, the normal heart rate for her age group is between 60 to 100 beats per minute. The teen was also hallucinating and speaking incongruently.
Amber Jewison, a nurse practitioner from Cook Children’s Medical Center, explained in the hospital’s blog that none of the patients “were trying to harm themselves” and were just “curious to try it.”
[via Newsweek, cover image via rustycanuck / Shutterstock.com]
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