Stop drinking your lotion, people!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

5:30 PM PT

JoNel Aleccia

MSNBC

Here's a warning you probably thought you'd never need: The federal Food and Drug Administration is urging consumers not to swallow Benadryl Extra-Strength Itch-Stopping Gel after receiving reports of people chugging the lotion that’s meant to be used only on the skin.

At least 121 people have reported gulping the gel, which they confused with other over-the-counter Benadryl products that are actually intended to be swallowed, between 2001 and 2009. FDA officials said they had received reports of serious side effects from drinking the lotion. In large amounts, the active ingredient in the gel, diphenhydramine, can cause numb lips, unconsciousness, hallucinations and confusion.

One man reported that he simply grabbed the wrong medicine from the kitchen cabinet where he stored the cough medicine.

“One small swig and he knew he had made a mistake,” reported the patient safety site www.consumermedsafety.org. “He threw it up and his lips were numb for two hours.”

Some of the confusion is understandable. The anti-itch gel comes in bottles that are similar in shape and size to the oral medication, and the consistency of the products is similar.

Still, the product’s manufacturer, Johnson and Johnson, has taken steps to prevent serious injuries. They’ve changed the product label to add a new, bold statement that says “For Skin Use Only,” and added a sticker to the cap that says the same thing.

They’re also planning to research the problem further to understand why consumers may be mistakenly swallowing a lotion that’s only meant to be rubbed into the skin.

The FDA’s best advice? Store skin gels and oral medications separately. And, read the labels, folks.