At one time or another nearly everyone has taken diphenhydramine (dye-fen-HYE-dra-meen), an antihistamine that can have a sedating effect on the central nervous system. Millions of people take it for dust, pollen, and other allergies; others for nausea, vomiting, or vertigo; some for Parkinson’s disease. And untold millions use it as a sleep aid. Best known under the brand
Ruby Gifford, 86, has come to see Armon B. Neel, Jr., out of fear and perhaps even desperation. Gifford (her name has been changed in this story to protect her privacy) hasn’t been feeling well lately, and the list of symptoms that have prompted her to come to Neel’s office in Griffin, Georgia, might well mark her as a hypochondriac in the eyes of many doctors.