13-year-old nearly dies after taking part in TikTok 'Benadryl Challenge'

A 13-year-old girl from Horry County, South Carolina, was hospitalized after participating in the so‑called "Benadryl Challenge," a social media trend in which teenagers ingest large quantities of the over‑the‑counter antihistamine to try to induce hallucinations.

The girl was rushed to a hospital after her resting heart rate approached 200 beats per minute and she experienced hallucinations, her mother told WMBF. The mother, who declined to give her name, said she found Benadryl pills under her daughter's pillow and an open bottle with a large number of tablets missing. "I asked her how many she took and she told me two, but I didn't believe her because the bottle was open and there were pills on the bed," the mother said. She described the episode as "a terrifying wake‑up call" and said her daughter later could not remember the events of the night and woke up in the hospital frightened.

The trend, which gained traction during the COVID‑19 pandemic, involves consuming doses far above recommended levels — commonly cited as 12 to 14 tablets — to trigger delirium or hallucinations. Medical professionals and federal regulators have warned that such overdoses can cause serious heart rhythm disturbances, stroke, seizures, coma, brain damage and death.

Federal safety officials publicly addressed the challenge in September 2020 after documenting teenage misuse on social media. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said taking higher than recommended doses of diphenhydramine, the active ingredient in Benadryl, "can lead to serious heart problems, seizures, coma, or even death," and noted it had observed teenagers ending up in emergency rooms or dying after attempting the challenge.

The social media trend has been linked to multiple deaths and hospitalizations since 2020. In July 2023, authorities reported the death of a 13‑year‑old boy in Ohio who had overdosed on diphenhydramine while attempting the challenge. In August 2020, a 15‑year‑old girl in Oklahoma died in a case connected to similar misuse. Local news outlets have reported clusters of hospitalizations, including three teenagers in Fort Worth, Texas, who were treated in the same week after overdose; one of those teens had a resting heart rate of 199 beats per minute after ingesting 14 tablets.

The Horry County mother said she found evidence of the Benadryl Challenge across her daughter's phone and attempted to report the videos to TikTok, but discovered some did not appear to violate the platform's guidelines. Searching "Benadryl" or "Benadryl Challenge" on TikTok currently leads to a landing page that reads "Be informed and aware," with guidance about how substances can affect the mind and body and a link to learn more. App users can reportedly bypass the landing page by searching for misspelled or altered versions of the drug's name.

TikTok told reporters that it removes content that promotes dangerous behavior that could cause serious injury and noted that the Benadryl Challenge predates the platform and exists on other social media services. The company said it enforces policies intended to limit the spread of content that could encourage self‑harm or physical harm.

The Horry County family has shared the account as a cautionary example to other parents. The girl's mother said the episode prompted her and her husband to reconsider how they store household medications and to raise awareness among other families about the potential risks associated with viral online challenges.

Medical authorities continue to advise that diphenhydramine be used only as directed on product labeling or by a health care provider, and to seek immediate medical attention for suspected overdoses. Emergency treatment may be required to manage dangerous heart rhythms, seizures and other life‑threatening effects of severe diphenhydramine poisoning.