Hey Dollars, I 'm posting this because I'm really curious about something freaky happening to me. I recently started taking Benadryl for my severe insomnia. It's a very long complicated story, but basically, I don't sleep. My psychiatrist has cornered me into taking medication, don't ask unless you want another long story. Well I took it for the first time on Thursday, but not before I did some research on it's side effects as a sleep-aid. It says on the box "Do not use for sleep." but my psychiatrist told me it was ok, so....yeah. Well, one of the side-effects is commonly nightmares. Apparently, it's SUPER COMMON. But the FIRST night I took the Benadryl, I had a freaky nightmare. I've had nightmares frequently all my life, and my psychiatrist is always asking me to explain them to her, but since I started this medicine, these nightmares are.....just...terrifying. I keep waking up with my heart racing, my body tensed. Last night, I dreamt I was in this house in the kitchen and I was being haunted by this little pale skinned boy with some kind of dementia or schizophrenia or something. There were people in the house I don't know. I heard this little ghost boy say "I told you, what do you think it would be like to die in your sleep." And then another boy sitting at my dining room table fell forward. There was a knife in his back. That's when I woke up. The night before, I dreamt my friend was a ghost and she was haunting me. She was trying to kill me with a shot gun. The night before THAT, I dreamt there was a demon in my house and I was running, trying to escape but I couldn't get out of the house. All of these dreams take place in houses I don't recognize. There's some kind of supernatural pattern going on here too. Well the thing that sticks out the most, is last nights dream. Everything was so freaking clear. And when the boy fell down on the table, behind him on the windows was a name. "John Miya." Written in blood. I know it sounds so fake, but I swear these dreams are freaking me out. I was wondering, has anybody else here taken Benadryl as a sleep-aid, or have any of you taken it in general and similar "side-effects?"

I don't know much about this, but I do know your dreams or nightmares usually involve what you last thought about. You're probably falling asleep thinking about the nightmares, in some way, shape, or form. Try thinking positive things b4 you fall asleep :)
~Sorry I wasn't much help, but best of luck to you! Know that your not alone, we are here for you :)

I've never had side effects from Benydryl, but I've had two friends with extremely low drug tolerances that hallucinate on normal doses. One sees spiders climbing up the walls and the other one became extremely paranoid and was convinced her house was trying to kill her. Hallucinations are apparently a fairly common side effect of taking too much Benydryl. I'd say it's time to get a new psychologist and get an actual sleep aid.

it could be the placebo effect. You read that it would give you nightmares, so your brain created nightmares because it expected nightmares. As for the nightmares themselves, it is a combination of fears. The fear of death(obviously), the fear of losing a friend, the fear of being trapped. obsessing over it isn't helping. you only remember bits of dreams. It's a lot like skimming a book to get the basic plot. After you wake up, and you start thinking about the dream, you subconsciously fill in the details to make sense of it. The problem is, these details may not be what you really dreamed about, but implanted idea's simply because you expect your dream to freak you out. No matter if it's placebo, the Benydryl, or simply stress from every day life, you should probably stop the Benydryl because it isn't helping. If you don't want to completely stop, lower the dose and see if that helps.

I have insomnia, I've tried bennies for sleep.
I also love to take drugs because yoloswagnigger, so I've taken too many bennies at a time as well.

The dreams could probably be a result of the bennies.
Benny trips are insane, they are scary.
You will see the darkest parts of your mind play out in front of you.
You'll skip around in time, you'll have conversations with people who aren't there.
You'll get deja vu and probably throw up.
Also, you'll see spiders and everything looks as if it's slightly made out of hair.

I don't suggest taking bennies for ANYTHING.
They are a wicked wicked thing.

Maybe try some natural sleep aids.
They can help.

>>5 Um, benadryl is a natural sleep-aid. I'm not on drugs or anything, but thx for the warning!

I'm seeing my psychiatrist today. Thx you guys, I'm gonna talk to her about changing this medicine. These effects are too much for me. I have tried some other sleep-aids, but they all screw me over, just like the depression medication. I've tried Melatonin even. Every night I'm just laying there in the dark. It doesn't help my depression either! Sigh, thx for the advice dollars, and good luck to anybody else with insomnia.

You said you've had nightmares before, your insomnia can stem from fear of those nightmares. Nightmares can occur from various trauma and/or information stored in the subconscious. Maybe you should see a hypnotherapist. I know it sounds cheesy but it can help uncover what's in your subconscious. I think there are other professionals specializing in sleep too.
The only experience I have with insomnia is just mild cases where I can't sleep due to stress, etc.; so like an idiot I turned to the only depressant I had around, booze. Don't do it. Don't ever get dependant on alcohol as a sleep aid. Ever. It's so addictive and it messed up my sleep, my thinking, it helped contribute to me quitting my psychics course... I'm not dependant on it anymore but for a little while I was and it was awful.

>>7 Physics* X3