Benedryl is the shit... it may knock you on your ass, but it can literally be a life-saver for people with certain edemas. I suffer from angioneurotic edema and on occasion the soft palate or other soft tissue in the back of my throat start to swell. There's nothing quite so scary as waking up from a sound sleep feeling like you're suffocating because you tried to swallow and couldn't due to the swelling.
A triple cocktail of hydroxezine (30 minute peak efficiency), diphenhydramine (benedryl, 2 hour peak) and desloratidine (aerius, 4 hour peak) and anything that swells up is killed DEAD. The hydroxezine and aerius just supress any additional stuff, the benedryl is what knocks it (and you) out.
Now if they could make a metabolite of diphenhydramine that has the mega-antihistimine action without turning the patient into a drooling zombie for hours, I'd be totally set...
PS - Don't scratch. It'll only make it worse.
