Around the age of 21 and 22, I went through a surge of experimentation with different mind-altering substances. (FYI, I am now 28.)
One of the weirdest ones I ever tried was diphenhydramine. Because of its proximity to the dream state, I thought it’d be interesting to share my “experience report” of the time I took 400mg of diphenhydramine.
This wasn’t just a shot in the dark, it was an amount decided upon after much research on the internet, primarily at Erowid’s Diphenhydramine vault, on dosage and expected effects. (I do admit though that I should have not done it alone.)
Once I swallowed the many pills, I passed the time reading and playing guitar, waiting for things to kick in.
I went into the bathroom and that’s when I noticed the effects had started: I was starting to see things that weren’t there!
With fascination, I watched as lines connected out of thin air and created a “trip spider.” Yet this visual was fluid and weak, simply fading away as I watched it.
After this, my memory is very vague.
I remember becoming extremely tired and then I merged into a state I can only describe as dreaming while awake. I say this because I hallucinated aspects of my surroundings and accepted without question the reality presented to me, without realizing how bizarre or unlikely it could be.
The actual “dream” isn’t too interesting in and of itself: I was sitting on my couch, having a conversation with my ex-girlfriend sitting next to me…
Then…
…the next thing I know, I”m waking up, and it’s a new day.
This entire experience with my ex girlfriend in the room with me was a fabrication – she wasn’t there, I was hallucinating her presence completely. The thing is I so clearly remember her sitting there with me and the two of us talking back and forth. It was just like having a dream but the dream environment was my real physical environment, and the dream was taking place in it!
Although that aspect of the experience really fascinates me, generally speaking, this was a pretty lame experience. Save for the intellectual curiosity I have about taking a drug that put me in a “dreaming-awake” state of mind, the experience itself had no redeeming value, and I have no desire to try this drug again.
My experience closely matches the entry at Wikipedia discussing recreational use of diphenhydramine:
Those who use diphenhydramine recreationally take a higher dose than recommended (usually between 225mg and 450mg)[6] for its deliriant effects…The mental effects are described by many as, ironically, “dreaming while awake” involving visual and auditory hallucinations which, unlike those experienced with most psychedelic drugs, often cannot be readily distinguished from reality. Diphenhydramine generally has a low abuse profile due to the frequently unpleasant nature of the hallucinations. People who consume a high recreational dose can possibly find themselves in a hallucination which places them in a familiar situation with people and friends and rooms they know, while in reality being in a totally different setting.
This last line makes me wonder – was I actually in my bedroom and not the couch? I do not remember going to or from the living room.
Before I go, I’ll let you in on a little secret:
Diphenhydramine is Benadryl!
Yep, that’s right, I took a bunch of benadryl…
haha, nice. i’ve done this a couple times. very interesting, though the experience itself is veeeery uncomfortable since you feel extremely tired the entire time but cannot go to sleep regardless of how much you try. Ironic, since a small dose of Benadryl will knock me out, but a recreational dose will keep me awake in a LITERALLY day-dreaming state.
intresting. Funnny speaking about sonsciousness, because the other day I was stadnignstanding in the kitchen doing dieshes dishes feeling like my awareness was fading away and I’m not on drugs. I was actually upset over something and it was like moving into another plaec but then I snapped back. curious experienec experience and hope it doesn’t happen again.