Anticholinergic Co-Medication Burden Does Not Predict Cardiac Toxicity in Adolescent Diphenhydramine Exposure: A Pharmacovigilance Study of the FDA Adverse Event Monitoring System

Objectives: Social media trends such as the "Benadryl Challenge" have increased adolescent misuse of diphenhydramine (DPH), an over-the-counter antihistamine with anticholinergic activity. Whether co-ingested anticholinergic medications compound cardiac risk is untested. Using the Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden (ACB) scale, this study examined whether co-medication ACB burden is associated with outcome severity and cardiac toxicity in adolescent DPH cases reported to the FDA Adverse Event Monitoring System (AEMS). Methods: This study extracted all adolescent reports (age 13-19) mentioning DP

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