IV Benadryl

[kmrn1737]

Anyone ever have weird side effects with IV Benadryl?

I gave 25mg IV Benadryl to a patient diluted in 5 cc saline and almost immediately they started feeling 'a rush'. Then she went unresponsive and started seizing. I gave them Ativan and they stopped. She came around and didnt remember any of it.

We were all baffled by what happened. Just wondering if anyone else ever had this happen.

[kauai46]

Hi everyone,

i am a nurse and began having whelts on both of my arms which seemed to spread throughout my body. No throat swelling or shortness of breath but went down to the emergency room to get it checked out. 25 mg iv push Benadryl was given to me and all of a sudden I couldn't breathe, my throat felt as if it were closing. Was placed on telemetry and my heart rate was 160's-170's with uncontrollable shaking. I was then given Ativan which helped a little. I forgot to mention I am 29 years old with frequent allergies and takes 25 mg Benadryl po most of the time. This even was the scariest thing that ever happened to me.

[patriley]

I give IV Benadryl w/ Toradol as a migraine concoction, never knew you push it over 1 minute. I know it burns, so I push slow anyway.

[Pheebz777, BSN, RN]

If there's no IV fluids running I usually pull out a 50-100 ml saline bag and run it slowly from the farthest port to prevent extrapyramidal symptoms. I also do this with reglan unless the MD orders Ativan IV as well.

[emtpbill, ASN, RN, EMT-P]

Hi everyone,

i am a nurse and began having whelts on both of my arms which seemed to spread throughout my body. No throat swelling or shortness of breath but went down to the emergency room to get it checked out. 25 mg iv push Benadryl was given to me and all of a sudden I couldn't breathe, my throat felt as if it were closing. Was placed on telemetry and my heart rate was 160's-170's with uncontrollable shaking. I was then given Ativan which helped a little. I forgot to mention I am 29 years old with frequent allergies and takes 25 mg Benadryl po most of the time. This even was the scariest thing that ever happened to me.

If you have been taking PO Benadryl with no issues then I would look at another source for your , what sounds like, anaphylaxis.

Have you ever had a panic attack? That can resemble symptoms of anaphylaxis.

[emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Hi everyone,

i am a nurse and began having whelts on both of my arms which seemed to spread throughout my body. No throat swelling or shortness of breath but went down to the emergency room to get it checked out. 25 mg iv push Benadryl was given to me and all of a sudden I couldn't breathe, my throat felt as if it were closing. Was placed on telemetry and my heart rate was 160's-170's with uncontrollable shaking. I was then given Ativan which helped a little. I forgot to mention I am 29 years old with frequent allergies and takes 25 mg Benadryl po most of the time. This even was the scariest thing that ever happened to me.

How fast was that 25mg pushed? Slamming benadryl can cause significant paradoxical symptoms.

[emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

If you have been taking PO Benadryl with no issues then I would look at another source for your , what sounds like, anaphylaxis.

Have you ever had a panic attack? That can resemble symptoms of anaphylaxis.

Doubt it was anaphylaxis. Ativan's not a 1st line treatment for a legit allergic reaction. I'm going with my thought above, that the benadryl was slammed.

[Seasidesgirl7]

I went to the ED with severe migraine/nausea. The nurse was very young..did not scan the arm band actually on my arm or ask me and 2nd identifier (date if birth)...I told her she needed to scan my arm band on my person, not the extra ones on a table in the room..she said"I looked at it" I said thats poor nursing practice..I teach the classes. the physician ordered NS bolus wide open, 30mg Toradol, 50 IV benedryl, IV decadron..She administered the Toradol and Benedryl over about 10 seconds each BEFORE hanging the NS drip! I felt horrible..like I was going to pass out, and like I was going to stop breathing! I told my husband "if I code do not let them Put a Tube fown my throat" .. it was a horrible helpless feeling..I at that point asked for O2, refused the decadron, and got terrible tremors. My BP reading went high, I made her take a manual BP after several high readings..my BP the day prior was 112/76..I have neg Hx of HTN..

Patients should be asked if they are sensitive to medications before administering these medications..I do not drink alcohol and am very sentsitive to medications..These medications should be administered after IV fluids have been initiated, and I think that that high dose of Benedryl should have been administered mixed in 50ml of NS and hung as an IVPB.. that was how the IV Reglan was administered to me. A very scary experience for this seasoned former ICU nurse now Educator.

[Margotrita]

I recently had a 50ish female pt that I had administered IVP benadryl and she became shaky, flushed and light headed. I did not dilute it. I will dilute in the future and push slowly. Glad you posted about this.

[DeSim516]

I have an anaphylactic reaction to Benadryl; my throat starts closing up and I cannot breathe. Unfortunately I found out the hard way.

[Guest374845]

Regarding IV valium and precipitate in NS: the precipitate is immediately unbound in plasma so it's actually ok to give it via a med port or diluted. The way around the precipitate altogether is to draw it up in a larger syringe (5 or 10ml) and dilute it with the pt's own blood via IV aspiration, then essentially administer/autotransfuse.

[Nursey1982]

I've always given any dose of Benadryl IV in 10CC saline or more and push over 2 minutes. I've never seen anyone have a seizure but have had patients nearly fall asleep halfway through injection. It's pretty intense given IV!