I don't know how dangerous it was for you to quit cold turkey. I couldn't find any information that mentioned that. But I do know that some people who have been on this drug for a long time experience withdrawal symptoms when going off the medication. You have to keep in mind that diphenhydramine is an ingredient in many sleeping pills (Nytol, Sominex, Sleep- eez, Anacin PM, Excedrin PM, Tylenol PM.) The main side effect of stopping diphenhydramine is inability to sleep, which you didn't mention, but after five yers of taking this medication, it is not surprising that you are experiencing other withdrawal symptoms. As long as the withdrawal is bearable I would not worry. If it gets to the point that you cannot sleep or it is affecting your life drastically I would make a doctor's appointment.

How are you feeling on day three?

Fortunately I have had no problem sleeping. That is a HUGE relief for me. I have replaced the pills with earplugs and so far so good! On the other hand, I still have a sore throat, dry cough, headaches and severely clogged sinuses. The nauseousness has passed but has been replaced by being very jittery and very moody. I'm not sure what is going on -- my issues are all over the place. I'm going to give it some more time and see what happens. Thanks for asking!!

Awesome! I'm happy for you.
It's really a great thing you're doing, and i'm sure that you'll find a solution to the respiratory stuff as well.

Best wishes,
Daniel

It may take a while for things to get back to normal for you. The body is weird like that. The very thing you take a medicine to prevent will come back in spades once you stop taking the medication. People that use Visine/ eye drops all the time go through a period where their eyes are really, really red when they stop using the drops. I would assume the same goes for the allergy medicine. You are experiencing all the symptoms that diphenhydramine prevents. The sinuses cause the headaches. The nasal drip or mucus from the sinuses causes the sore throat and cough... It's all connected.
Sorry I didn't realize this before. I was focusing more on the side effect of diphenhydramine- drowsiness.
I hope you get to feeling better soon.

Hi Sarahdadara,

I was looking for info on Benadryl withdrawal too (it's easier for me to search, I have a med background). It's not your imagination- withdrawal does cause problems, try reading this. If nothing else it should give you comfort, these patients took as much as 1250mg per day:

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/pagerende r.fcgi?artid=1451752&pageindex=1#page

Good luck! You should feel quite normal soon.

I have also experienced these problems too its tough... I was taking about 700mg of this stuff daily for 4 months and ten days later i still have these issues.. Hot flashes, nose being stuffy and so on, they have diminished drastically over time but its still shows up... does anyone know how long this lasts?

I don't know about anyone else, but I quit about 5 days ago (I've been on 50-75mg a day for the last 2 years), and I've been excessively anxious, restless and have had constant shortness of breath. Anyone around who's gotten through this process that can say how long it lasts?