Chris asked
I take vitamin C every day and was curious if it was okay to take Benadryl along with it?
Answer
There is no known interaction between Benadryl (diphenhydramine) and Vitamin C. Taking both at the same time is considered safe. In fact, it is not uncommon to see both taken together as Benadryl can help with symptoms of a cold (such as sneezing and runny nose) while vitamin C is often used to boost the immune system and shorten the duration of a cold.
Vitamin C is generally considered a safe supplement to take and has very few drugs interactions. One of the only reported interactions may be with certain "statin" medications which lower cholesterol. One study reported that antioxidants, like vitamin C, along with simvastatin (Zocor) can attenuate an increase in HDL (i.e. good cholesterol). This was a preliminary finding and more data is needed to determine whether or not vitamin c truly does have an adverse effect in this regard.
Benadryl (diphenhydramine) does have significantly more reported drug interactions than vitamin C, which mostly stem from its sedative effects and potential for additive sedation. However, as vitamin C does not have a similar side effect profile (it has very few reported side effects) to Benadryl, there should be no risk of additive side effects
