‘Benadryl challenge’ kills 1, hospitalizes dozens of children in Fort Worth
A social media fad challenging kids to ingest Benadryl to induce hallucinations is sending dozens of children to the hospital, Cook Children’s Medical Center said.
One child has died from overdosing on Benadryl, said Dr. Stephanie Felton, associate medical director for the Cook Children’s emergency department.
The trend — known as the Benadryl Challenge — first surfaced in 2020. Now, it is making the rounds on social media again, encouraging kids to intentionally overdose on the over-the-counter allergy drug, and then fight the drowsiness caused by the drug to experience a high.
In six months, more than 100 patients have gone to the Cook Children’s emergency room for Benadryl overdoses, according to the health system. Felton said the hospital isn’t seeing as many overdoses as it did in 2020, but that the volume was still concerning. Teens and pre-teens are the age group primarily affected by this trend, Felton said.
The overdoses can cause a range of harmful effects on the body, Felton said, including a high heart rate or arrhythmia and urinary retention that can cause renal or kidney dysfunction.
In 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning about the dangers of taking high doses of Benadryl, which goes by the generic name diphenhydramine. The FDA cautioned that high doses of Benadryl can cause “serious heart problems, seizures, coma, or even death.”
Felton encouraged parents to have direct, honest conversations with their children about their social media use and messages they might be seeing.
“A simple conversation and continued conversations…are important so we have an open door policy with our kids so that they know that they have a safe place to come to with these questions,” she said.
She also urged parents to keep track of medications in the home so that children don’t have unlimited access to them.
This story was originally published April 28, 2026 at 5:23 PM.
