Chelsea Handler Accidentally Gave Her Dog Adderall Instead of Melatonin on a Plane: 'He Was Licking the Bathroom Door'

Mar. 15, 2025

Chelsea Handler with her beloved late dog, Chunk.Photo:Chelsea Handler/X.com

Chelsea Handler/X.com

Chelsea Handlerhad a pill mix-up while traveling with her late dog, Chunk — which resulted in him running amok in an airplane cabin.

Handler shared the story withKelly Ripaon the talk show host’s podcastLet’s Talk Off Camera, after Ripa quipped that she wanted Adderall to manage her early mornings because “the coffee wasn’t doing it.”

Adderall, asVerywell Healthexplains, is a stimulant drug meant to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy.

Handler said she was flying home from a vacation in Spain with Chunk, and “I thought I gave him a melatonin, and I gave him an Adderall accidentally because I had mixed all my pills together because  I’ve been on vacation for quite a long time.”

Chelsea Handler with her late dog, Chunk.Chelsea Handler/X.com

“I had taken a Xanax,” Handler said of the anxiety drug, whichVerywell Mindsays has a “sedative effect," and she gave Chunk the sleep aid melatonin — or so she thought.

“And I was like, ‘What? I have a dog? Like, what are you talking about?’ And I went over, and there he is licking the side of the bathroom door,” she shared.

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The star continued, “I was like, ‘Oh my God. My dignified, regal dog was acting completely out of whack.’ And I was like, ‘How could he react a melatonin like this?’ “

“When I got home and I told my sister the story, she’s like, ‘That wasn’t a melatonin. You better look through your pill case,’ “ she recalled.

Chelsea Handler.Paul Morigi/WireImage

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Handler said that her sister told her, “ ‘You’re packing some serious heat in there, and you need to find out what you gave him.’ “

The comic recently shared a video detailingall 17 supplementsthat she takes on tour, which includes a mix of vitamins and prescription medications.

After looking through her pills, Handler said, “I found out I had given him an Adderall.”

Chunk was 9 when Handleradopted the German shepherd-Chow mixfrom a kill shelter in 2009; the beloved pet and social media stardied in 2018.

Looking back on the plane incident with Ripa, Handler said, “And people ask me whyI don’t have children. It’s like, ‘Hello?’ ”

source: people.com