I tried Benadryl at the dose the vet's office suggested last Sunday. He had drool running out of his mouth the first hour after I gave it to him. Then he was just about knocked out for hours. Oddly even though he was down and out he'd still rouse when it thundered.
Yesterday I tried a lower dose. No drooling and less stoned, but still some nervous
I usually have the TV on in the house. The sound from it doesn't seem to help. My neighbors can crank their stereo up to the point that with my windows closed, the a/c on and the TV cranked up I can still hear their f'ing music. And I live out in the boonies, they are a 1/4 mile away.
As for music/tv to drown out thunder. I live in the lightning capital of the world. We get thunder boomers that rattle the windows and make the walls shake. No music or tv is gonna drown that out. Heck, some times when we are getting really loud boomers even the cats get upset. Funny side note, some times when the thunder is really rockin' and rollin' Mikey (cat) expresses his displeasure by walking around growling at the thunder.
Bottom line is that I haven't decided about Benadryl vs thundershirt. I really don't like drugging him, but the shirts are expensive and might not work.....