From sedation to stimulation: anecdotal case reports of enhanced sexual arousal in men and women taking diphenhydramine hydrochloride.

IF 2 3区医学 Q1 MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL

Sexual Medicine Pub Date : 2026-03-23 eCollection Date: 2026-04-01 DOI:10.1093/sexmed/qfag011

Melitzsa Pascale Regis, James G Pfaus

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Introduction: Unexpected enhancement of sexual arousal, desire, and orgasm following diphenhydramine (DPH) ingestion has emerged in anecdotal reports across online platforms.

Aims: To examine whether there are common effects of DPH on the sexual responses of women and men who respond to DPH with excitation rather than sedation.

Methods: Qualitative case data were gathered from surveys of men and women on a DPH Reddit site to examine the consistency, intensity, and subjective nature of DPH effects on sexual arousal, desire, and orgasm.

Results: Participants described enhanced sexual arousal, orgasm, increased stimulation sensitivity, and profound emotional release from DPH. Some found the effects stronger than those of prescription medications for sexual arousal disorders.

Conclusion: These observations suggest a paradoxical pharmacological action of DPH, potentially involving dopaminergic and/or histaminergic pathways. While DPH itself is not a recognized therapeutic agent for the treatment of sexual dysfunctions, these unexpected effects may point toward a novel neurochemical mechanism of sexual excitation in some individuals that warrants further investigation.

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从镇静到刺激：服用盐酸苯海拉明的男性和女性性唤起增强的轶事案例报告。

导读：在线平台上的轶事报道显示，摄入苯海拉明（DPH）后，性唤起、欲望和性高潮的意外增强。目的：研究DPH对兴奋性反应而非镇静性反应的女性和男性的性反应是否有共同的影响。方法：从DPH Reddit网站上对男性和女性的调查中收集定性病例数据，以检查DPH对性唤起、欲望和性高潮影响的一致性、强度和主观性。结果：参与者描述了从DPH中增强的性唤起、性高潮、增加的刺激敏感性和深刻的情绪释放。一些人发现它的效果比治疗性唤起障碍的处方药更强。结论：这些观察结果表明，DPH具有自相矛盾的药理作用，可能涉及多巴胺能和/或组胺能途径。虽然DPH本身并不是一种公认的治疗性功能障碍的药物，但这些意想不到的效果可能指向一些个体性兴奋的一种新的神经化学机制，值得进一步研究。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Sexual Medicine MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL-

CiteScore

5.40

自引率

0.00%

发文量

103

审稿时长

22 weeks

期刊介绍： Sexual Medicine is an official publication of the International Society for Sexual Medicine, and serves the field as the peer-reviewed, open access journal for rapid dissemination of multidisciplinary clinical and basic research in all areas of global sexual medicine, and particularly acts as a venue for topics of regional or sub-specialty interest. The journal is focused on issues in clinical medicine and epidemiology but also publishes basic science papers with particular relevance to specific populations. Sexual Medicine offers clinicians and researchers a rapid route to publication and the opportunity to publish in a broadly distributed and highly visible global forum. The journal publishes high quality articles from all over the world and actively seeks submissions from countries with expanding sexual medicine communities. Sexual Medicine relies on the same expert panel of editors and reviewers as The Journal of Sexual Medicine and Sexual Medicine Reviews.