ZYRTEC Reviews (CETIRIZINE HYDROCHLORIDE)

Average Rating: 2.0 (1815 Ratings)

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 ANTIHISTAMINES

 Type: Over-the-counter Drug

  

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Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.)
5=HIGH (this medicine cured me or helped me a great deal.)

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RATING  REASONSIDE EFFECTS FOR ZYRTECCOMMENTSSEXAGEDURATION/
DOSAGE
DATE ADDED
 
 1  allergies Night Sweats, fatigue When I moved to Spain they switched me from using Xyzal to Zyrtec because they didn't carry Xyzal, and after the first few months I started noticing horrible night sweats. The sheets are wet, my clothes are soaked! I'm more tired than usual as well. It worked for the allergies but I'm losing sleep from being soaked half way through the night. F 30 90 days
10 mg 1X day
2/24/2011
 1  allergies aggression, hiting, biting others, hyperactivity, irritable, change in behaviors, change in personality and sleeplessness. These behaviors occurred gradually. I was not warned by my allergist that these are possible side effects. My son started zyrtec the same time my daughter was born so I thought his behavior changes were due to the changes in our home. After taking him off zyrtec, I immediately noticed an improvement in his behavior. He wil not be taking zyrtec again. M 2.5 4 months
1/2 teas. 1X day
2/23/2011
Email
 1  allergies Mood disturbance, severe withdrawal symptoms My 9-year old son started taking Zyrtec in the fall for seasonal allergies. He also has food allergies and has taken Zyrtec on occasion, but never for an extended period before. After two months, we tried to stop, but he developed the itching many other posters have complained about. Our pediatrician told me not to read blogs and to keep him on 10mg/day and to see the allergist. The allergist's nurse said we could not come in unless he'd been off the Zyrtec for 5 days, but he could not stop the Zyrtec without the itching - a vicious cycle. Finally, after reading more online, I insisted on talking to the allergist, who got on the phone and confirmed that the itching is a withdrawal symptom. Basically, he said, your body gets used to the histamines being suppressed; when they flood back, some peoples' bodies overreact. He said prednizone would help and that the itching would go over in 2-5 days, but I didn't want to give my son steroids, and the itching persisted and was unbearable. I switched him to Benadryl (shorter-acting) and followed a step-down approach. A week at 3/4 of a 25 mg pill at bedtime; then a week at 1/2 a pill; then a week at 1/4; then a week at 1/8 (After cutting the 25 mg pink pills in half, I bought the children's 12.5 mg fast melt tablets and cut those in half, then in quarters). My son has now been off all antihistamines for 4 days and is still slightly itchy from time to time, but I think we're over the worst. His mood has also improved markedly. M 9 5 months
10 mg 1X day
2/21/2011
 1  Allergies extreme anxiety, extreme depression, rage, anger, violent dreams, hopelessness, sleeplessness, paranoia, fatigue, increased appetite, weight gain, mood changes, irritability, inability to concentrate, personality change, and suicidal thoughts. I have been living in hell because of Zyrtec, it drained the life out of me and i had no idea what was going on, I have been off for about 12 days and have been so much more at peace, all the symptoms are slowly going away, within 48 hours no depression no anxiety, the only thing now is the itch that lasts for 2-3 weeks called zyrtec withdrawal M 30 7 years
10MG 1X day
2/18/2011
 4  Year round allergies Chronic fatigue and weight gain I have been wondering lately why I've been gaining weight and I can never seem to get enough sleep. Zyrtec is the only medication I take so I decided to google it's side effects. I was shocked to see everyone's horror stories. I just bought another bottle today, but now I want to throw it in the trash. I'm worried about being able to quit the drug. The sad part is that it works great on my allergies. Good luck everyone in getting off of it. F 32 140 days
10 1X day
2/15/2011
 1  Seasonal allergies I began taking Zyrtec because the Claritin was not working for me. I noticed the allergy symptoms clearing very quickly. HOWEVER, by the 4th day a dark sad mood came over me - for no apparent reason. (I am a 44 year old woman that understands her body well - when I am hormonal, etc. This was not hormones.) By the 5th day, I was feeling suicidal and extremely concerned by the depression closing in on me. I was also very very tired, even though I had slept 8 hours the night before. Then, I remembered that we had taken my 9 year old son off of Zyrtec because we thought it was affecting his moods. Apparently, we were right... his out look on life and his general mood changed drastically a couple of days after taking him off Zyrtec. For some reason, I thought I would be immune to the side effects. But, I was not. I would recommend NOT taking Zyrtec. F 44 5 days
10 mg 1X day
2/10/2011
 1  Allergies Started taking zytrec about 2 years ago as Allegra and Clariton werent working anymore. Doc suggested the change. Just this Dec. 2010 I started getting hives on my hands - went to the doctor who was "bewildered" since it was only there and my eyes kept swelling up, he said I must have alot of allergies and told me to keep taking zytrec and put me on preidsone for four days. The hives cleared up for the most part and I started wondering about the long term use of zytrec and looked it up on the internet - I decided to stop it cold turkey and recalled how I thought my allergies were getting worse in the fall of 2010 as if I went off the zytrec for a few days I would start feeling awful and once I started it again I felt better. However the hives on my hands started up while I was still taking zytrec. So I went cold turkey off it, I am currently on day 21 off this nasty drug. Its been tough, but Ive been drinking ginger tea and using apple cider vinegar on the hand hives and am s F 49 2 years
10 MG 1X day
2/9/2011
Email
 1  Vertigo related to allergies Weight gain, fatigue Discontinuing it effective today--despite what my ear/nose/throat doc might say. F 38 2 months
1X day
2/7/2011
 2  Allergies Every time I got in my car to drive, I felt an overwhelming sleepiness come over me. I could not understand why I was experiencing this change in my behavior.When I decided to discontinue taking Zyrtec, my sleepiness while driving stopped. F 55 40 days
1X day
1/27/2011
 1  Allergies Heed my words: STAY AWAY FROM ZYRTEC! I discovered Zyrtec in May, 2010. Totally cleared up my allergies and I was sold. I used it off and on, whenever I had bad days. I started using it more consistently every other day in mid December. I also started to get dizzy when I tried to sleep on my sides - or try to sleep in general. What made this worse is it was making me extremely tired. Thought it might be BPPV or something more catastrophic. Went to the dr. and he prescribed me Trazodone - said the feelings must be sleep related. Didn't take them as I could tell he didn't quite know what it was and Trazodone's top side effect was dizziness. Stopped a week ago after exhausting searches on the internet about anything related to dizziness. Zyrtec and this site finally popped up. I also learned through further reading it is an ototoxic medicine (great to know now since I'm a MUSICIAN/COMPOSER), quit and after about 4 days started to feel like myself again. It's been a week and I'm almost fully recovered but have some new humming in my ears. Everything else is normal again fortunately. Thanks for the new tinnitus, terrible brain fog, depression, misery, and terrible dizziness Zyrtec! Time to flush this deceiving drug down the crapper. M 33 5 months
10MG 1X AN
1/24/2011
 3  Cholinergic Urticaria I felt cetirizine sufficiently suppressed my CU, whilst I was taking it. I only experienced an attack on the first day, after that none. Sadly, I had to stop taking it despite its efficacy as it was causing me to have severe chronic headaches, sinus pain,made me feel out of it, sleepy, made me need at least 10 hrs of sleep, and impaired my coordination and focus. It isn't a horrible drug as it has it's positives but I believe the negatives outweigh them for me. M 17 3 weeks
10 1X day
1/20/2011
 5  Hives Fatigue Yes, Zyrtec makes me tired, but it is certainly better than being covered in hives! It has been extremely efficient at curing my itchy skin (but less effective for nasal allergies), and I am very happy with this drug. F 43 365 days
10 2X day
1/18/2011
 1  Seasonal Allergies Severe depression and anger. Every year we would warn my son's teachers about his behavior believing he was reacting to the discomfort from his allergies, never realizing it was the Zyrtec. Pediatricians should include behavioral changes in the list of side effects and symptoms. M 14 4 years
1X day
1/9/2011
 1  Allergies Gave to my 3-year-old son for constant cough from allergies. Worked on cough, but turned him into a monster! He would cry and throw huge temper tantrums over the slightest upset. He has been angry and aggressive- attacking his 4-year-old sister when he gets mad. He is normally a sweet child with normal behavior. I could not even recognize the monster child he had become!! He also has had nightmares that have caused him to cry out during sleep. It took a few weeks to realize the medication is what caused this change. We had given it to him intermittently, so it was not as obvious. His sitter and I were tallking about his behavior and when it started- and together had the "aha!" moment. He will not be taking this anymore! F 43 3 weeks
2.5ml 1X day
1/5/2011
 4  Year round allergies Uncontrollable itching that starts on hands, feet, and scalp and moves to my whole body when I forget doses Works great on my severe allergies. Forgetting doses is miserable though F 25 5 years
10mg 1X day
1/4/2011
 2  asthma/allergies my son was on Zyrtec at the age of 7 for about two weeks. It did not help his allergies. One day he woke up screaming with abdominal pain and a belly that looked like a 5 month pregnant woman. We rushed him to the hospital and discovered that he was completely blocked in his bowels. The dr said that this was caused by the Zyrtec. We took him off of it and within days he was better. M 7 14 days
5 or 10mg 1X day
1/4/2011
 1  allergies I was in tears today with my 4 yr old daughter; she was soo negative and moody, throwing tantrums and being defiant. She usually is the sweetest child, caring and helpful. She was soo rude, saying no and actually pushed her little sister today in frustration/anger. Thank u sooo much for this site, i am no longer giving her this medicine. thank god i didnt keep her on it longer!!!! F 4 5 days
1.5 ml 1X day
1/2/2011
Email
 5  Seasonal allergies none It works, quickly and effectively, where all other non-drowsy antihistamines have failed. I take the generic Walgreens/CVS/Wal-mart version as needed (about once or twice week during the winter) and stop sniffling/sneezing within fifteen minutes! As a side note, I try not to take any medication regularly unless it's absolutely necessary, to protect against potential dependency or cumulative side effects. This may influence why I have nothing negative to report. F 26 1 years
10mg 1X W
12/7/2010
 4  Allergies Tiredness, sometimes dries me up too much. This works very well, but sometimes over dries my nose, so I stop it for a day or two. Makes me rather sleepy, so I take it at bedtime and sleep like a baby. M 53 1 months
10 mg 1X day
12/7/2010
 1  Allergies Horrible nightmares, tightness and swelling of tongue and throat, scratchy throat, hoarseness, tiredness. I decided to try Zyrtec because Claritin doesn't do anything for me, and Benadryl gives me panic attacks. The first day was okay, but I did not notice any side effects. The second day, I had a strange dream where my father came on to me sexually. I have never been abused or molested ever in my life, so there was no reason to have such a nightmare. Then last night, I had a dream where my body was covered in an awful rash, my throat swelled up and I could hardly breathe, and I was losing vision and consciousness and I couldn't see anything but knew I needed to put on my clothes and go to the ER. I was also screaming my husband's name in the dream, but he couldn't hear me because the bathroom fan was on. I woke up in tears, relieved it was a nightmare, but still very disturbed. I haven't taken the Zyrtec in 2 days... hopefully it is out of my system now and the nightmares will stop. My throat and tongue still feel swollen. My stepdaughter is 6 and so far has no problems with the zyrtec - she takes a 5 mg dose every day. F 30 3 days
10 mg 1X day
12/1/2010

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