<p>Benadryl generally makes patients sleepy.
I have never had it, but most allergy medicines make me high, not to mention decongestants and cold medicine. I can’t have NyQuil or Tylenol Cold - always suffer totally clogged up:)
So I guess it really depends on a person.</p>
<p>“I have never had it, but most allergy medicines make me high”"</p>
<p>You say that like it’s a bad thing.;-0</p>
<p>Here is Randy Pausch’s congressional testimony, it’s eight minutes long and it is well worth listening to this courageous, classy, poised and extremely articulate man. He uses few words and every word counts. Very impactive. </p>
<p>He could simply substitute “pancreatic” for “lung” and the same points are valid, except for the social stigma aspect. Pancreatic cancer also desperately needs funding, but there is no money, and, there is no way to get any with the current administration. And the stats he quotes are real - I know because a few months ago I compared SEER statisticians records of “observed survival” of pancreatic cancer to lung, breast, melanomas, etc.; I wanted to get my mind around real survival compared to investment of research dollars over time. </p>
<p>Most stunning is when he displays the photograph of his beautiful family, and introduces his “widow”, the brave person who will raise those three children alone. Ouch.</p>
<p>He also points out that there is no way to protect oneself against this - he exercised, was very healthy, didn’t smoke, etc. AND he told the committee he would happily trade his cancer for aids. </p>
<p>[Randy</a> Pausch’s Home Page](<a href=“http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/]Randy”>Randy Pausch's Home Page)</p>
<p>LTS, do you take the Benadryl on a full stomach? I’ve found that it doesn’t hit quiet as hard when you’ve eaten (a lot). Also, maybe don’t drink caffeine prior to the treatment? (not sure if you do).</p>
<p>Hi LongTermSurvivor! Have a lovely weekend!</p>
<p>isn’t Benadryl an antihistamine? I myself am allergic to them. I once took some and literally felt my breathing rate slow down dramatically which panicked me. I strongly urge you to discuss what happened with your physician. Sometimes allergies build up over time – antibiotics are an example of that. Are you sure it’s the Benadryl and not the chemo?</p>
<p>and another</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>[Do</a> I believe in miracles? - Dr. Bob’s Corner](<a href=“http://www.jenniferirelandfoundation.com/drbobscorner/2008/05/do-i-believe-in-miracles.html]Do”>http://www.jenniferirelandfoundation.com/drbobscorner/2008/05/do-i-believe-in-miracles.html)</p>
<p>and 263 more (small-cell lung cancer “survivors”)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>[Long-term</a> survivors of small-cell lung cancer (SCLC): A French multicenter study – Jacoulet et al. 8 (10): 1009 – Annals of Oncology](<a href=“http://annonc.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/8/10/1009]Long-term”>http://annonc.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/8/10/1009)</p>
<p>Are they giving you Benadryl alone, or with phenergan (another anti-nausea medicine). If so, it’s usually phenergan that is the culprit for causing weird reactions. However, there are patients that do have adverse reactions to common drugs, such as benadryl, and these reactions may not appear until multiple dosing. Another thought- did they check the dose? Hospitals do make mistakes.</p>
<p>I’m positive it’s the benedryl and not the chemo - before the chemo is even hung, I am required to state my full name and date of birth, and, yesterday, just after the benedryl injection, I had trouble articulating my name and date of birth when asked. I was also in the process of replying to an email, and, it took several attempts - nearly five minutes - for me to finish typing one brief sentence, because my motor skills got goofy and I kept hitting the wrong keys. In a couple of instances I had to make three or more attempts to connect with a “t” instead of an “r” etc. </p>
<p>This is the first time this has happened. I always get ridiculously high off the benedryl but I have never lost control of coordination etc. before, or, felt as if life saving measures might be needed. My nurse, Reggie, stayed very close to me for the duration. He is always the person who gives me my medicines; he is employed by my primary oncologist and is a godsend. He doesn’t make mistakes. Now nearly eight months past diagnosis, I have had exposure to many, many nurses and this man is simply head and shoulders above all of them. </p>
<p>Fortunately it wore off as the day went on, however, I will tell my doctor when I see him Monday. Reggie has almost certainly already documented it in my file though.</p>
<p>Barrons - it is bad for me , I absolutely hate the feeling :(</p>
<p>It is rare to be allergic to Benadryl, since it is in itself an allergy medication, but like someone pointed above , reactions like that might build over time.
I also suggest double checking if maybe it was given along with Phenergan?
Maybe it was pushed “too fast”?
And LTS, as much as you love the guy (Reggie), we ALL make mistakes. </p>
<p>I have a new patient - 43 year old male with metastatic lung cancer (liver, bones, brain). I just pointed him to Randy Pausch’s site and he is scrolling through it right now.</p>
<p>K, I don’t “love” the guy; I highly respect his professionalism and expertise. He did not make a mistake; I watched the whole thing. I always check labels, verbally verify dosages, etc. I am not a patient who sits idle and passively permits people to inject stuff into me, regardless of how much I trust and respect the person doing the injecting.</p>
<p>LTS,</p>
<p>Reggie might be a great resource to tell you if he has seen the kind of symptoms you experienced in other patients, with or without benadryl, during chemo, etc.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>-Picasso<br>
.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>[Dave</a> Matthews Band @ Stand Up For A Cure Concert Series](<a href=“cancercommentary.com”>cancercommentary.com)</p>
<p>Yes, benadryl is pushed (given quickly, rather than dripped in slowly) can give a “high” and disorientation. We occasionally have problems with teens who like the feeling and want it pushed- or will adjust the pumps so it goes in quickly.</p>
<p>Happy Mother’s Day LTS!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yes!</p>
<hr>
<p>
</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.lungcanceralliance.org/mothers_day_message_2008.htm]mothers_day_message_2008[/url”>http://www.lungcanceralliance.org/mothers_day_message_2008.htm]mothers_day_message_2008[/url</a>]</p>
<p>LTS, I believe they did give my husband benedryl before every chemo, no matter what type, and even before blood transfusions. He had no problems with benedryl. However, there were times when backups in the pharmacy meant his benedryl wore off before the chemo was complete, or in one case, even started…</p>
<p>In those cases they didn’t give more benedryl until he started to get a bad reaction to the chemo. At that point they would stop the chemo and give him benedryl. Once the benedryl kicked in fully (and it would start kicking in immediately, so the bad side effects of the chemo stopped immediately) they would start the chemo up again, just slower. This happened with several different types of chemo.</p>
<p>So I’m wondering if because of these side effects you could ask them to put the benedryl on hold, and then only give it when you start having side effects from the chemo. That way you could also prove it was the benedryl, and not the chemo, and perhaps come up with some other type of antihistamene. It would mean if you did have side effects the whole chemo process would take longer that day, as they have to stop the chemo for an hour to wait for the benedryl.</p>
<p>UCDAlum82, Happy Mother’s Day; I have been thinking of you and hope you are well. I will talk to my doctor tomorrow during our regular Monday appointment; will see what he says…in my case the same nurse administers the same stuff to me every single time and we don’t have scheduling event issues…but I’ll tell you what, I cannot endure another situation like Friday - I was certain I was in serious trouble…</p>
<p>Thank you ADad and Epistrophy. I have fallen behind a bit in my plans to ask at least one person per day to stop smoking; the post with LCA reminds me to pick up the pace…</p>