The article is extremely short, but comparing 2-4 OTC doses of diphenhydramine to a level of alcohol concentration above what constitutes a DUI in most places seems like an odd choice? Or is that just a matter of proof of concept, go for the big obvious demonstration first?
The directions I'm looking at for a store brand diphenhydramine say to take 1-2 of the 25mg tablets as needed, so I'd expect that's the typical therapeutic dose.
2 doses of diphenhydramine can have very noticeable and profound effects on many people, 50mg total isn't a light dose by any metric. That seems fine as a comparison to 0.1% BAC.
But 60mg Fexofenadine makes no sense to me in comparison. It's usually 180mg in a single pill.
Hate to break it to you, but 50mg is pretty much a common dosage for most people taking Diphen. At least where I lived over the past few decades... This is mostly due to the effect of 'if 1 pill is almost enough to do the job, then 2 pills should be adequate'. You see this a lot with people who take Tylenol and/or Advil. Tylenol overdoses are more common because of the frequency of acetaminophens use in other medications in combination with people taking Tylenol not realizing they are doubling/tripling their doses.
So having people end up driving on 50mg+ doses of the dryl is not uncommon in places like Canada. Pair it with a dose or two of pseudoephidrine hydrochloride as well, and you basically have a breath easy cocktail that might put you to sleep, or might keep you awake all night.
Sure, but you should always check basic mg/kg numbers before you take a drug. Diphenhydramine can be hallucinogenic in high doses.
They also sell 1-gram extra-strength Tylenol pills OTC, but that's a very high dose for an average person. And what do you know, acetaminophen is the leading cause of acute liver failure in the US.
