Benadryl + Show = Bad?

behndy · #1 05-19-2011, 05:10 PM

hey y'all.

got a show tonight. still a bit stuffed up from this death-flavored flu i've been battling. last show i played if i forgot to mouth-breathe than i was almost blowing snot bubbles. which........ is not a good look.

i'm going to try to remember to take some kleenex onstage with me tonight, but anybody ever popped a few Benadryl or other antihistamine before playing? bad idea? they usually don't hit me that hard, but i move around a bit live. not anywhere near Flea levels, but i get my heart rate up.

murrrrrrrrr?

steamthief · #2 05-19-2011, 05:13 PM

There's so many better OTC antihistamines to take with a much lower incidence of drowsiness - Zyrtec, Allegra and Claritin, in order of effectiveness according to the medical literature.

behndy · #3 05-19-2011, 05:20 PM

cool. good to know. i rarely take anything (OTC, recreational or prescription) so i have NO knowledge about what's what.

i'll pick up some Zyrtec on the way out there.

thanks!

BurningSkies · #4 05-19-2011, 06:13 PM

I used to always get sinus effects from hot stage lighting...when we were playing a lot I'd always have some Sudafed on hand...worked like a charm on the drippy face nozzle and it made everything pleasingly speedy.

NoiseNinja · #5 05-19-2011, 06:17 PM

Why don't you just do some real drugs?

behndy · #6 05-19-2011, 08:10 PM

sh*********. i ALREADY have everybody around me thinking i'm doing blow 'cause i'm sniffing so much. might as well.

naw. i'm such a freaking lightweight. if i tried anything hard now after so long i'd probably just fall over, head exploding Scanner's styley.

bass_lord_mutha · #7 05-19-2011, 08:17 PM

I had a similar situation about 8 years ago when I had a horrible upper-respiratory infection and no one to fill in for me, so I had to suck it up and take whatever I could to make it through the night, and the only thing I had at the time was Nyquil. In retrospect, I should've 1) waited until I got to the gig before I took some and 2) not drank half the bottle.

The last thing I remember on the way to the gig was driving through two red lights. And I don't remember even playing the gig, but I know I played it because I had some money in my bass case the following day.

So Benadryl during the show is fine, just be sure you're already there before you take it, lol.

f.clef · #8 05-19-2011, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BurningSkies

I used to always get sinus effects from hot stage lighting...when we were playing a lot I'd always have some Sudafed on hand...worked like a charm on the drippy face nozzle and it made everything pleasingly speedy.

Seconded! Not the off the shelves, but OTC nonetheless. They're old school, respected, and are still allowed. Show your license (or somebody else's) and get the psuedo-ephedrines. They work for the gig.

Art Araya · #9 05-19-2011, 08:19 PM

benadryl makes me sleepy - i'd go for claritin...

Jim Kernan · #10 05-19-2011, 08:34 PM

Zyrtec, Allegra and Claritin, probably are not strong enough for a head cold. Just my experience.

Derek Balonek · #11 05-19-2011, 08:40 PM

Well, you said it doesn't hit you too hard, so you shouldn't worry too much. Benadryl usually will make you a bit sleepy, so I'd go with what the other posters have said about ones that cause less drowsiness. Ideally, if you have the time, you could test a few out at practice to see which ones work best for you. And, if all else fails, a little bit of caffeine can help counteract the sleepiness.

bongomania · #12 05-19-2011, 09:02 PM

I used to have a reliable pattern: Claritin if I wanted to be "up", and Benadryl if I wanted to sleep. Then Claritin removed the pseudoephedrine from their product (only in Oregon and a couple other states that are cracking down on meth production), and I found Claritin didn't do squat for me anymore. It was all about the pseudoephedrine! So that's what Sudafed is, and that's what I'd suggest for a gig.

behndy · #13 05-19-2011, 09:27 PM

**** YES. little bits of legal meth? gimme.

i picked up some Claritan. lulz.... i think i'm gonna avoid the NyQuil. i got prescribed some Robitussin with Codeine in it. that already gets me tipsy sleepy.

any more "damn i shouldn't a taken that" stories?

i was playing a show once, a friend unbeknownst to me, was selling acid. as i walked past him to the stage somebody bumped him, he spilled almost the whole vial of liquid he was pouring on sugar cubes on me. i didn't really notice.

LUCKILY i'd tripped ballz before. 10 minutes into our set i was like, "i..... am... on acid. huh.". VERY interesting show.

rosanne · #14 05-19-2011, 11:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by behndy

**** YES. little bits of legal meth? gimme.

i picked up some Claritan. lulz.... i think i'm gonna avoid the NyQuil. i got prescribed some Robitussin with Codeine in it.

Absolutely avoid anything with codeine in it! I learned the hard way. Took some before a gig cause I had a cough, and it completely threw me off. First song we played, tho I was in the right key, it sounded (to me) like the wrong key, so I couldn't sing it correctly! Sounded like s***. Played that whole gig in a fog.

Derek Balonek · #15 05-20-2011, 12:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by behndy

...10 minutes into our set i was like, "i..... am... on acid. huh.".

Oh, I am so sigging that if you don't mind.

ShredderMaximus · #16 05-20-2011, 12:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by behndy

**** YES. little bits of legal meth? gimme.

i picked up some Claritan. lulz.... i think i'm gonna avoid the NyQuil. i got prescribed some Robitussin with Codeine in it. that already gets me tipsy sleepy.

any more "damn i shouldn't a taken that" stories?

i was playing a show once, a friend unbeknownst to me, was selling acid. as i walked past him to the stage somebody bumped him, he spilled almost the whole vial of liquid he was pouring on sugar cubes on me. i didn't really notice.

LUCKILY i'd tripped ballz before. 10 minutes into our set i was like, "i..... am... on acid. huh.". VERY interesting show.

For you maybe, crowd was probably wondering why the bassist of the band was standing slackjawed staring into the lights the whole time...

As someone who has done their fair share of "experimentations," my experience with playing bass while my brain was en route to jupiter ended up with me hitting open strings and admiring the awesomeness of the vibrating multi colored living breathing snake-worm that seemed to be crawling all over the front of my bass. It was HELLA cool, just not very "musical."

My name is Mudd · #17 05-21-2011, 10:28 AM

So now that it's too late...how DID you survive the gig?

behndy · #18 05-21-2011, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShredderMaximus

For you maybe, crowd was probably wondering why the bassist of the band was standing slackjawed staring into the lights the whole time...

yeah. NO. i'm TOTALLY not saying i did well at that gig. i got a lot of funny looks from my guitar player (my little Laotian gangster buddy that ALWAYS played blazed), my drummer kept yelling at me and asking if i was ok, (i guess "faaaGAHHH. BLOOP." wasn't a reassuring answer), and my singer kept telling me that pants stayed ON while we played. NOT a good show. fun, but definitely not something i want to do again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by My name is Mudd

So now that it's too late...how DID you survive the gig?

actually worked out ok. i took about 600x the recommended dose of Claritan (not really. just a few tabs), felt a'ight until three songs in, freaking CRASHED for half a song, felt better the rest of the set. drank a buncha the magical, lovely Codeine-a-tussin and was a little too talkative and spacey till we went home.

i. hate. being. sick. glad this freaking hantavirus is almost done.

**svtb15** · #19 05-21-2011, 11:03 AM

Not Benadrly.. but something way stronger..A few years ago i did a Mega church gig.. Fell in the shower that morning and broke two ribs .. gig must go on right???... A "person"

gave me a Percodan ... I saw god during that service... The recordings came out great.. i was on total auto pilot..

Quote:

Originally Posted by behndy

hey y'all.

got a show tonight. still a bit stuffed up from this death-flavored flu i've been battling. last show i played if i forgot to mouth-breathe than i was almost blowing snot bubbles. which........ is not a good look.

i'm going to try to remember to take some kleenex onstage with me tonight, but anybody ever popped a few Benadryl or other antihistamine before playing? bad idea? they usually don't hit me that hard, but i move around a bit live. not anywhere near Flea levels, but i get my heart rate up.

murrrrrrrrr?

behndy · #20 05-21-2011, 11:25 AM

yeah. i played with a friend one time that broke his leg in three places playing basketball earlier in the day. played in a chair doped up pretty good...... struggled through.

people can do some amazing stuff sometimes. 'course, he slept for about 2 days after that.