By obviously a scumbag criminal - 24/11/2017 19:00

Today, I took a drug test for probation and failed a category called "tricyclic antidepressants". The tablet of Benadryl I took last night for sleep assistance caused me to violate my probation. FML
I agree, your life sucks 4 021
You deserved it 590

Same thing different taste

Top comments

Lobby_Bee 17

Using artificial sedative isn't always the best option, try hard liquor next time.

Benadryl is not a tricyclic antidepressant and not close to it. This would be a false-positive result. Fyi, benadryl does not easily cause a positive drug screen. If you haven't taken something else, it means you're taking way too much benadryl, practically toxic, to be causing a false positive. I suggest you lay off using it for sleep assistance - that's not healthy and not Benadryl's purpose.

Comments

That sucks, but if you need help sleeping you should get actual sleeping pills. Benadryl is not a sleep aid and using it as one can become dangerous long term.

Really? I thought prescription sleeping pills were all fairly high risk too.

Have you looked at the ingredients to ZZZquil? Nothing more than two benadryl.

Dyphanhydramine is the active ingredient in Benadryl. It's also the active ingredient in unisom, but at double the amount.

Most over the counter sleeping pills *are* Benadryl.

Zzzquil (which is marketed as an over-the-counter sleep aid) is literally just benadryl dyed purple. Look at the label and their active ingredient is the same, Diphenhydramine HCl.

Lobby_Bee 17

Using artificial sedative isn't always the best option, try hard liquor next time.

Alcohol doesn't help sleep, it actually disturbs it and makes you get less REM and deep sleep. So even if you pass out from alcohol your still going to sleep badly.

You did self-medicate with an off-label use of the drug. You shouldn’t sleep too much in jail.

Did the fact that cough medicine is widely used recreationally not send up any red flags for you?

that's weird 'cos im looking at a bottle of benadryl cough medicine right now.

PhantomCrevan 8

People don't usually consider Benadryl a cough medicine. Compound wise, yes it counts as one, but most people associate it with allergies- runny nose, sinus pressure, itching, swelling, flushing, coughing, etc- rather than colds. The fact that doctors do promote the use of Benadryl as both an anti-anxiety medication and as a sleep aid doesn't exactly help clear things up any.

PhantomCrevan 8

Also, cold/cough medicines- including Benadryl- DON'T cause false positives for tricyclic antidepressants. They cause false positives for (meth)amphetamines, PCP, methadone, and opiates. Which means it's more likely that OP's urine was possibly tampered with or otherwise contaminated.

feckarsedrink 9

Back to jail for you.. wonder what you must have done for a sleep aid to be such a problem hmmm

Benadryl is not a tricyclic antidepressant and not close to it. This would be a false-positive result. Fyi, benadryl does not easily cause a positive drug screen. If you haven't taken something else, it means you're taking way too much benadryl, practically toxic, to be causing a false positive. I suggest you lay off using it for sleep assistance - that's not healthy and not Benadryl's purpose.

While Benadryl (Diphenhydramine) is not a tricyclic antidepressant, as mentioned already (thanks CRC_101), certain assays such as the enzyme immunoassay may show false positivity with Benadryl, especially at higher dosages, but usually not with a single pill ...

Umm... Why wouldn't you be able to take an antidepressant while on probation?

PhantomCrevan 8

It's not that you can't, it's that you can't if you don't have a diagnosis and a current script from a doctor.

If you are on antidepressants, if you have a script for it, or can get a note from your doctor saying they prescribed it to you, then they have to drop the charges or do a million more tests to prove you've taken something you're not allowed to other than that. The burden of proof is on them, this shouldn't be too hard to challenge (tho it will be a pain in the ass)

sereney0502 6

Have fun sleeping in jail lol jk