Some background: I was prescribed 25mg Hydroxyzine for sleep. I haven't had an experience with it before, and earlier I had taken Klonopin (early enough for it to have stopped working, however). I have pretty high baseline anxiety, which is why I think I may have gotten some of the effects I did. On with the report.
Hydroxyzine
Well-documented
Well-documented
Multiple authoritative sources agree on dosing and effects.
- 4 corroborating sources
- 1 ROA with full dose ladder
- duration data present
- PubChem toxicity data
Well-documented
Multiple authoritative sources agree on dosing and effects.
- 4 corroborating sources
- 1 ROA with full dose ladder
- duration data present
- PubChem toxicity data
Aliases: Atarax, Hyzine, Rezine, Vistaril, Vistaject
Summary
Hydroxyzine is an FDA-approved first-generation antihistamine commonly used short-term for anxiety, pruritus, and premedication. At normal therapeutic oral doses (25-50 mg), hydroxyzine has no significant respiratory depressant effects on its own. Tolerance to CNS effects develops rapidly (3-7 days), limiting long-term anxiolytic efficacy; maximum recommended duration is 4 months for anxiety.
Dose Information
| ROA | Light | Common | Strong | Heavy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral | 25-50mg | 50-100mg | 100-150mg | 150mg+ |
Light
Common
Strong
Heavy
Onset, Duration & After-effects
| ROA | Onset | Comeup | Peak | Offset | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral | 15-30 min | - | 2-4 hrs | - | 4-6 hrs |
| Intramuscular | 15-30 min | 15-30 min | 1-2 hrs | 2-3 hrs | 3-5 hrs |
Add to PsychonautWiki Journal
The PsychonautWiki Journal logging app doesn't include every substance. To track Hydroxyzine there, start adding an ingestion, search for the name, and choose to add it as a custom substance. Paste these values:
⬇ Download import file
Import this file as custom substances
and you get "Hydroxyzine (Substance Search)" with every
route's full dose ladder and timeline, no typing. Works on iOS and
Android (v15+); the format is confirmed by the app's
developer. The manual values below work for older
versions.
Name
Hydroxyzine
Unit
mg
Description
Hydroxyzine Source: SubstanceSearch (substancesearch.com) Oral dose (mg): threshold 10 · light 25-50 · common 50-100 · strong 100-150 · heavy 150+ Intramuscular dose (mg): threshold 25 Oral duration: onset 15-30m · peak 2-4h · total 4-6h · after-effects 14-26h Intramuscular duration: onset 15-30m · come-up 15-30m · peak 1-2h · offset 2-3h · total 3-5h · after-effects 1-8h Note: ranges are harm-reduction guidance, not a prescription. Start low, go slow, and test your substances.
Tip: for quicker logging you can also add a Custom Unit in the app, e.g. common dose ~ 75 mg (Oral).
The app keeps custom substances simple, so the full dose ranges live in the description text above. Ranges are harm-reduction guidance, not a prescription.
Tolerance
Build-up
sedative effects diminish within 1–2 weeks of daily use
Reset
a few days of abstinence
Tolerance Decay
Full tolerance
3d
Half tolerance
4d
Baseline
~5d
Acute tolerance: develops within a single session — the reset numbers above apply after sustained heavy use, not after one binge. Within-session tachyphylaxis usually resets largely overnight.
Cross-Tolerances
Diphenhydramine
30%
Doxylamine
30%
Effects
Aggregated from 15 Erowid experience reports
Positive Effects 5
Anxiety Suppression
73.3%
70%
Sedation
60.0%
70%
Euphoria
33.3%
70%
Focus Enhancement
20.0%
70%
Stimulation
20.0%
70%
Adverse Effects 0
Combinations
Cross-Check Hydroxyzine with another substanceCommunity Trip Reports
Anecdotal first-person accounts from Reddit, Erowid, and Bluelight. Click a source to expand. Reports are harm-reduction context, not medical guidance. Tags summarise each author's own verdict — how reports are classified.
Erowid 6 reports 5 neutral 1 cautionary visit
This is an overview of my hydroxyzine usage. I was prescribed some hydroxyzine by an online insomnia management clinic and it helped me not feel as if I am always rushing around. When I take it at night a noticeable difference is felt.
Taking a Large Dose I'm prescribed Hydroxyzine for anxiety, take-as-needed. I hardly ever need it, so I end up stockpiling it to take in large doses when I don't have anything else.
I had been prescribed Vistaril (hydroxyzine) to combat anxiety. I was prescribed 50mg pills to be taken 4x a day as needed. Let me tell you: Vistaril does fuck-all nothing for anxiety. Anxiety is a funny thing. If I get to a point where it's bad enough, I'll do almost anything to make it stop.
I ended up getting prescribed these for my anxiety. I have pretty bad anxiety, specifically when I'm trying to go to sleep because I have nothing to take my mind off of the thoughts. Anyways, I was really anxious one night. I have 25mg tabs, small and white. I took 4 of them.
Got prescribed Hydroxyzine 15mg pills to combat anxiety. Around 6pm I was feeling anxious and decided to try one. Effects came up in around 30-45 minutes, and I started to feel very cloudy and drowsy. I feel the relaxation from the drug was just because I was starting to feel more and more tired.
Bluelight 2 threads 2 neutral visit
I took 50MG vyvance this morning, and 50MG hydroxyzine about 2 hours after, I feel very euphoric, and focused. I dont feel as hyper and OCD. I feel relaxed physically, and im not twitching out, not scratching my nose every 5 seconds, im just mellow, but focused and euphoric..
I consumed too much alcohol last night and I knew I was going to wake up still drunk. I can't let my drinking binge continue due to work and out-of-town guests coming in, so I wanted to "sleep it off" in it's entirety.
Pill Identifiers
41
known pill identifiers on record — view imprints, colors, shapes, and images
→
Hydroxyzine's nerd page
Pharmacology, chemical data, effect profiles, and more
→
Helpful Links
Report an issue or suggest an edit
Spotted incorrect or dangerous information, have a correction, a new study, or a useful addition for Hydroxyzine? Let us know. Reports are reviewed by moderators — this is not posted publicly.