Claim: The common allergy drug Benadryl can be used to treat rattlesnake bites. 
Verdict: REFUTES

Retrieved passages:
title: Urushiol-induced contact dermatitis
text: and generally making it more vulnerable", and is only useful for secondary treatment (not for cleaning urushiol from the skin, which should be done with cold water). People who have had a prior systemic reaction may be able to prevent subsequent exposure from turning systemic by avoiding heat and excitation of the circulatory system and applying moderate cold to any infected skin with biting pain. Antihistamine and hydrocortisone creams, or oral antihistamines in severe cases, can alleviate the symptoms of a developed rash. Nonprescription oral diphenhydramine (U.S. trade name Benadryl) is the most commonly suggested antihistamine. Topical formulations containing diphenhydramine

title: Benadryl
text: sleepiness. The product is not recommended for use in children under the age of six where it has caused fatalities. In 2014, the FDA posted a warning about swallowing Benadryl gel products that were meant to be used topically. The warning stated that the relatively high levels of diphenhydramine in the gel could cause confusion and loss of consciousness. Benadryl Benadryl is a brand name for a number of different antihistamine medications used to stop allergies. In the United States and Canada, it is the first-generation antihistamine diphenhydramine. Some products marketed in Australia and New Zealand as a cough medicine

title: Rattlesnake
text: is often intense, increasing with the ensuing edema. Children generally experience more severe symptoms because they receive a larger amount of venom per unit of body mass. Antivenin, often referred to as antivenom, is commonly used to treat the effects of local and systemic pit viper envenomations. The first step in the production of crotaline antivenin is collecting ("milking") the venom of a live rattlesnake—usually from the western diamondback ("Crotalus atrox"), eastern diamondback ("Crotalus adamanteus"), South American rattlesnake ("Crotalus durissis terrificus"), or fer-de-lance ("Bothrops atrox"). The extracted venom is then diluted and injected into horses, goats, or sheep, whose immune

title: Antivenom
text: if otherwise indicated. Although it is a popular myth that a person allergic to horses "cannot" be given antivenom, the side effects are manageable, and antivenom should be given as rapidly as the side effects can be managed. In the U.S., the only approved antivenom for pit viper (rattlesnake, copperhead and water moccasin) snakebite is based on a purified product made in sheep known as CroFab. It was approved by the FDA in October, 2000. U.S. coral snake antivenom is no longer manufactured, and remaining stocks of in-date antivenom for coral snakebite expired in the Fall of 2009, leaving the

title: Rattlesnake
text: front legs and head. Horses generally receive bites on the muzzle, and cattle on their tongues and muzzles. If a domesticated animal is bitten, the hair around the bite should be removed, so the wound can be clearly seen. The crotaline Fab antivenin has been shown to be effective in the treatment of canine rattlesnake bites. Symptoms include swelling, slight bleeding, sensitivity, shaking, and anxiety. Aztec paintings, Central American temples, and the great burial mounds in the southeastern United States are frequently adorned with depictions of rattlesnakes, often within the symbols and emblems of the most powerful deities. The Feathered

title: Snakebite
text: species. Pharmaceutical companies which produce antivenom target their products against the species native to a particular area. Although some people may develop serious adverse reactions to antivenom, such as anaphylaxis, in emergency situations this is usually treatable and hence the benefit outweighs the potential consequences of not using antivenom. Giving adrenaline (epinephrine) to prevent adverse effect to antivenom before they occur might be reasonable where they occur commonly. Antihistamines do not appear to provide any benefit in preventing adverse reactions. The following treatments, while once recommended, are considered of no use or harmful, including tourniquets, incisions, suction, application of cold,

title: Crotalus scutulatus
text: the United States over the previous 50 years, CroFab antivenom (approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in October 2001) uses Mojave rattlesnake venom A (in addition to venom from three other species) in its manufacture, making it particularly effective for treatment of venom A Mojave rattlesnake bites. Antibodies in CroFab produced by the other three species' venoms effectively neutralize Mojave rattlesnake venom B. All rattlesnake venoms are complex cocktails of enzymes and other proteins that vary greatly in composition and effects, not only between species, but also between geographic populations within the same species. "C. scutulatus" is widely

title: Diphenhydramine
text: properties, and has been used as such in people allergic to common local anesthetics such as lidocaine. Diphenhydramine is effective in treatment of allergies. , it was the most commonly used antihistamine for acute allergic reactions in the emergency department. By injection it is often used in addition to epinephrine for anaphylaxis. Its use for this purpose had not been properly studied . Its use is only recommended once acute symptoms have improved. Topical formulations of diphenhydramine are available, including creams, lotions, gels, and sprays. These are used to relieve itching and have the advantage of causing fewer systemic effects

title: Sominex
text: For example, diphenhydramine is sold under the brand name Benadryl as an anti-histamine for use against allergies. Tylenol PM contains diphenhydramine in addition to acetaminophen for the purpose of inducing sleep and reducing pain and/or fever. Promethazine is marketed by the brand name Phenergan for use against allergy symptoms and motion sickness in the US, where a prescription for promethazine is required. It is also available in the form of a syrup either alone or in combination with one or more of several other active ingredients including codeine and dextromethorphan, for the treatment of allergy symptoms, cough, or cold, among

title: Benadryl
text: Benadryl Benadryl is a brand name for a number of different antihistamine medications used to stop allergies. In the United States and Canada, it is the first-generation antihistamine diphenhydramine. Some products marketed in Australia and New Zealand as a cough medicine with the Benadryl name contain diphenhydramine. In the United Kingdom, the active component of Benadryl is often the antihistamine acrivastine or cetirizine. Benadryl is available for oral or topical use. It is marketed without a prescription by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary McNeil Consumer Healthcare. Before 2007, Benadryl was marketed by Pfizer Consumer Healthcare (originally Warner–Lambert). Diphenhydramine can also cause

title: Antivenom
text: after it occurs, when it may be too late. As an alternative when conventional antivenom is not available, hospitals sometimes use an intravenous version of the antiparalytic drug neostigmine to delay the effects of neurotoxic envenomation through snakebite. Some promising research results have also been reported for administering the drug nasally as a "universal antivenom" for neurotoxic snakebite treatment. Antivenoms act by binding to and neutralizing venoms. Although individuals can vary in their physiopathological response and sensitivity to animal venoms, there is no natural immunity to them in humans. Some ophiophagic animals are immune to the venoms produced by some

title: Venoms in medicine
text: a pathway that leads to vasoconstriction which raises blood pressure. After the creation of this drug, many analogues (enalapril, lisinopril, perindopril, ramipril, etc.) were produced. Ziconotide is a synthetically made version of the ω-conotoxin made by the cone snail, that is used to treat severe pain and is delivered as an infusion into the cerebrospinal fluid using an intrathecal pump system. Ziconitide acts presynaptically on N-type calcium channels, blocking the receptors of this channel with high selectivity and affinity, Eptifibatide was modeled after a component in southeastern pygmy rattlesnake venom and is used in anticoagulation therapies in an effort to

title: Crotalidae polyvalent immune fab
text: patient. Untreated, the snake venom can cause severe pain and tissue damage that can result in the loss of a limb or even death. Prompt (within six hours of snake bite) treatment with CroFab is recommended. 'Fab' refers to Fragment Antigen-Binding, the active mechanism for this antivenom. The most common adverse events reported in clinical studies were mild or moderate reactions involving the skin and appendages (primarily urticaria, rash, or pruritus), which occurred in 14 out of 42 patients. Three patients experienced a serious adverse event. Two patients had a severe allergic reaction (severe hives and a severe rash and

title: Egg allergy
text: egg products by allergic individuals varies depending on the sensitivity of the person. An antihistamine such as diphenhydramine (Benadryl) may be prescribed. Sometimes prednisone will be prescribed to prevent a possible late phase Type I hypersensitivity reaction. Severe allergic reactions (anaphalaxis) may require treatment with an epinephrine pen, i.e., an injection device designed to be used by a non-healthcare professional when emergency treatment is warranted. A second dose is needed in 16-35% of episodes. There is active research on trying oral immunotherapy (OIT) to desensitize people to egg allergens. A Cochrane Review concluded that OIT can desensitize people, but it

title: Diphenhydramine
text: H-antihistamine and works by blocking certain effects of histamine. Diphenhydramine is also an anticholinergic. Diphenhydramine was first made by George Rieveschl and came into commercial use in 1946. It is available as a generic medication. The wholesale price in the developing world is about per dose. In the United States, it costs less than for a typical month’s supply. It is sold under the trade name Benadryl, among others. Diphenhydramine is a first-generation antihistamine used to treat a number of conditions including allergic symptoms and itchiness, the common cold, insomnia, motion sickness, and extrapyramidal symptoms. Diphenhydramine also has local anesthetic

title: Toxicology of red imported fire ant venom
text: with antihistamines, epinephrines, and parenteral corticosteroids. Epinephrine is the first product for use to treat systemic allergic responses, particularly if a patient is experiencing dyspnoea or hypotension because it is capable of reversing adverse events quickly and is very safe to use. It is recommended that people who have suffered from anaphylaxis carry an epinephrine autoinjector (EpiPen), should dyspnoea or hypotension begin to occur. Whole body extract immunotherapy (WBE) to treat victims of anaphylaxis has been in use since 1973. Anyone who has a suspected allergy to the venom is redirected to an allergist for assessment. The treatment uses the

title: Diphenhydramine
text: country. Several Americans have been detained by the Zambian Drug Enforcement Commission for possession of Benadryl and other over-the-counter medications containing diphenhydramine. Although diphenhydramine is widely used and generally considered to be safe, multiple cases of abuse and addiction have been documented. Because the drug is cheap and sold over the counter in most countries, adolescents without access to stronger, illicit drugs are particularly at risk. People with mental health problems—especially those with schizophrenia—are also prone to abuse the drug, which is self-administered in large doses to treat extrapyramidal symptoms caused by the use of antipsychotics. Recreational users report calming

title: Cold urticaria
text: urticaria symptom without an increase in adverse effects using 20 and 40 mg. Allergy medications containing antihistamines such as diphenhydramine (Benadryl), cetirizine (Zyrtec), loratidine (Claritin), cyproheptadine (Periactin), and fexofenadine (Allegra) may be taken orally to prevent and relieve some of the hives (depending on the severity of the allergy). For those who have severe anaphylactic reactions, a prescribed medicine such as doxepin, which is taken daily, should help to prevent and/or lessen the likelihood of a reaction and thus, anaphylaxis. There are also topical antihistamine creams which are used to help relieve hives in other conditions, but there is not

title: Latrodectism
text: The horse is bled and the antibodies purified for later use. Doctors recommend the use of anti-inflammatory medications before antivenom administration, because antivenom can induce allergic reactions to the horse proteins. The efficacy of antivenom has come under scrutiny as patients receiving placebo have also recovered quickly. Antivenom is used widely in Australia for redback bites; however, in the United States it is less commonly used. Antivenom made from prior spider bite victims has been used since the 1920s. Opiates such as morphine relieve pain and benzodiazepines ease muscle spasm in most patients. The vast majority of victims fully recover

title: Mepyramine
text: rash. Mepyramine Mepyramine, also known as pyrilamine, is a first generation antihistamine, targeting the H receptor. It rapidly permeates the brain often causing drowsiness. It also has anticholinergic properties. However, its anticholinergic potency is negligible compared to its antihistaminergic activity; it has an H to muscarinic K ratio of 130,000 to 1, compared to a ratio of 20 to 1 for diphenhydramine. It is used in over-the-counter combination products to treat the common cold and menstrual symptoms. It is also the active ingredient of the topical antihistamine creams "Anthisan" and "Neoantergan", sold for the treatment of insect bites, stings, and