ZYRTEC Reviews (CETIRIZINE HYDROCHLORIDE)Average Rating: 2.0 (1816 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare ZYRTEC with similar:
Type: Over-the-counter Drug
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Results are sorted by Date added. Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 |
More on ZYRTEC: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR ZYRTEC | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 1 | chronic sinus infections | sleeplessness, stomach pain, mood changes: defiant, aggressive, crying, nightmares, hyper | Last spring my son took Zyrtec for the first time. For two weeks he was out of control. Totally disrespectful, not listening or following directions, hitting and kicking at daycare. Took him off after 2 weeks and symptoms went away. A month ago, Dr. suggested back on it as Claritin was not working. Tried it again (thinking that maybe last years issues were caused by something else). Same thing happened. He cannot concentrate, refuses to do activities, hitting screaming kicking etc. He will stop taking it tonight after reading 105 pages of negative side effects of this drug. | M | 4.5 | 1 months | 4/17/2008 | 1 | allergies | aggressive / temper tantrums /emotional outbursts | This medicine should not be prescribed to children!! | M | 2 | 9 days | 4/17/2008 | 1 | allergies | severe stomach pain, nausea | I swapped my Claritin for my daughters Zyrtec because she said it didn't work as well as the Claritin did for her. The Claritin seemed to not be working as well for me so we went for it. I had no allergy symptoms on the Zyrtec but after a couple of hours I had severe stomach pain, nausea and a general sick feeling. It appeared to come and go throughout the day then diarrhea set in. I wont dare try it again with in light of what I'm reading here. | M | 43 | 1 days | 4/16/2008 | 1 | Allergies; Chronic Cough | Extreme drowsiness; irritability; mood swings | I'd been taking this drug at around 6 p.m for the past two days. I'd had a horrible time waking up in the mornings and a totally exhausted feeling throughout the day. My mental focus was way way, way low and I felt like a total zombie that was fighting just to stay awake. I was also very irritable and angry others. Meanwhile, my chronic cough was just as bad as it was before taking this medication and it did nothing for my itchy, watery eyes either. | F | 48 | 2 days | 4/16/2008 | 1 | Seasonal Allergies | VERY emotional and worried!!!! Easily frustrated and irritated!!!!! Some of the same side effects as mentioned. | DO NOT GIVE THIS TO YOUR CHILDREN! Thank God for everyone who shared thier experience concerning this drug because we did not find this information elsewhere! DO NOT GIVE THIS TO YOUR CHILDREN! | F | 4 | 1 years | 4/16/2008 | 2 | sneezing, itchy eyes, nose | depression | This is the first time I had allergies, and (looking back) was quite naive about treating it. I just went to a drugstore, picked up some zyrtec, and started taking one a day. Shortly after I became severely depressed. I have never experienced depression before, so I didn't even know what was happening to me. I thought I was stressed out or eating bad or tired or something, but then my wife said I may be having depression from the zyrtec. I stopped taking it, and immediately (the next day) began feeling a little better. I am improving day by day, instead of crashing day by day. This drug came close to really messing up my life. | M | 27 | 1 months | 4/13/2008 | 1 | seasonal allergies | fatigue, vivid dreams, stomach pain, diarrhea | I am so glad to be off of this medication. I didn't have the withdrawls that some mentioned, but I couldn't believe how much better I felt after I stopped the meds. I was so refreshed in the morning and didn't feel like a zombie! I was worried I had irritable bowel syndrome or an ulcer, but the stomach pain and diarrhea stopped a week after I stopped taking Zyrtec. I'll stick with Claritan and Sudafed. | F | 40 | 6 months | 4/8/2008 | 1 | chronic (over 2 years) hives | severe leg aches, breast tenderness | I was prescribed Zyrtec to help control chronic daily hives. It didn't seem to have any effect at all on the hives and for the entire time I was taking the drug I felt like I had the flu with body aches that were particularly bad in both calves. All bad effects were gone the day after I quit taking it. | F | 53 | 21 days | 4/8/2008 | 1 | To stop allergy caused by antibitic | palpitations, feeling disconnected, euphoria, dizziness, hallucinations, weird dreams, mind racing, insomnia, reckless behavior, fast and uncontrollable rage, anger, epression | My doctor gave me zyrtec to stop a skin allergy I developed from antibiotics.. I took my first pill and the last: I started feeling really sad and then felt a sense of urgency like a tragedy was going to happen; started yelling at my husband to call 911 paramedic came, my heart was racing so hard and started crying horribly for no reason. I was loosinf my mind. This is a horrible drug..!! | F | 43 | 1 days | 4/8/2008 | 1 | Seasonal allergy | Took 1 24-hour tablet. Instantly effective on symptoms, but 4 hours later I became very drowsy, had trouble remembering things, and felt like I was in a mental fog. | I will not take it again, and cannot recommend it to anyone. | M | 60 | 1 times | 4/7/2008 | 1 | allergic rhinitis | my son has been taking claritin prn for the past few months for allergic rhinitis sxs. We did notice it made him hyper, especially if we gave it to him in the am. We switched to zyrtec last night and noticed that he was extremely irritable all day today, crying at the drop of a hat. We didn't thnk much about it , as he was also sick. However, tonight after his second dose, he woke up at midnight hysterically screaming. When we went to comfort him , he was aggressive and angry and very difficult to console. Had I not read the other comments on this site, I would not have believed it was the zyrtec. I will never give it to him again! We also noticed more aggressive and moody behavior when he was on singulair. He has been off that for 2 days now. We will go back to claritin and his flonase nasal spray. | Please call your pediatricians and allergists if you experience similar reactions in your children. If enough people make complaints , then action will be taken. | M | 2 | 2 days | 4/7/2008 | 1 | Spring Allergies | Extreme Irritability, Out of control behaviour, strange dreams. | I would never take this again. It was like being possesed. | M | 44 | 1 days | 4/7/2008 | 1 | Allergies | Extreme sleepiness and depression | I took my first and last Zyrtec pill last Friday to help me with unpleasant allergy symptomps. I should have explored this drug better! The first night I slept 11.5 hours and the whole day felt like I was under influence of heavy drugs. Sleepiness, detached feelings, depressed. I slept after lunch and in the late afternoon. Saturday night was not better, again, slept over 11 hours (I usually can't sleep longer than 7-8 hours) and got very depressed and angry. This is today and I hope that Zyrtec will get out of my system quickly. This must be a strong drug and people need to be warned. Especially those sensitive to certain medications, I am sensitive to Benadryl, but thought that Zyrtec does not have sedative effect. I hope I will be back to my old self quickly! | F | 42 | 1 days | 4/6/2008 | 4 | Year round allergies | None | I had been taking Zyrtec for many years until it went over the counter. I then switched to Allegra, but it didn't help my symptoms as much as the Zyrtec did so I'll be going back to the Zyrtec. | F | 49 | 7 years | 4/4/2008 | 1 | hayfever | She-devil; off-the-charts mood swings | It cleared up my allergies, hands down better than any other I'd ever taken. I took it one day, and was a raving lunatic. I didn't know what my problem was, but I didn't take the pill again the next day and I was fine. A week later, I took another dose. I was ready to kill someone, literally. I will never take another one of these pills. | F | 52 | 2 days | 4/4/2008 | 5 | Allergies | mild fatigue doesn't even compare to the fatigue and nausea that would result if not taking Zyrtec | PLEASE DO NOT CONFUSE ZYRTEC-D WITH ZYRTEC. Zyrtec-D contains a decongestant which shouldn't even be available by perscription because it causes hyperactivity, anxiety and sleeplessness in almost everyone who takes it even short term. My daughter has seasonal allergies, and allergies to dust mites, which essentially means she's allergic all year. She has been taking Zyrtec for 7 years with no noticeable side effects. Before taking Zyrtec she would wake up every morning with an upset stomach from the drainage going into her stomach. Zyrtec absolutely stopped this. It may have have a mild effect of drowsiness, but without it she would be facing nausea every morning, sinus infections every spring and bronchitus or pneunomia every fall. She had to get off of Zyrtec for a week to undergo allergy testing and she was so nausiated she couldn't go to school. She developed a sinus infection that required two antibiotics to clear it up. Long term studies show this drug is SAFE. If your side ef | F | 14 | 7 years | 4/3/2008 | 1 | Eczema, seasonal allergies | Extreme mood swings, anger, inability to cope with even the slightest disagreement, screaming, drowsiness. General insanity. | DO NOT give this evil stuff to your child. My daughter experiences both a chronic eczema as well as hive like breakouts made worse during allergy season. I have tried Zyrtec on 2 occasions and experienced the same side effects both times. I can't even believe I tried it a 2nd time. I am even more galled that it is now available OTC. Have you noticed that when looking through the list of antihistamines here that Zyrtec has the most responses??? This is why. I believe it's just too strong for kids. Stick with good old Benadryl at night. | F | 4 | 3 months | 4/3/2008 | 1 | Seasonal allergies | My 4 yr old daughter has experienced many of the same side effects as everyone else. | She was on Zyrtec about 2 years ago for about a year and started having terrible temper tantrums and they escalated over time. You could not reason with her at all and it was like she didn't even hear you (exorcist-like). The smallest thing would set her off. We stopped giving it to her because we didn't really see any benefit. Her mood changed dramatically but we just attributed it to getting out of the terrible twos and threes. We just started giving it to her again about a month ago and the violent behavior came back about a week ago. We never made the connection to Zyrtec until now. The light bulb went off on Tuesday that it might be the problem because her diet hadn't changed and nothing else had really changed. I found this website and was blown away at the postings. I looked at the side effects listed on the pamphlet from the pharmacy and the only thing it says related to behavior is possible change in mental status. I can't believe this medicine is now sold over the co | F | 39 | 30 days | 4/3/2008 | 1 | Allergic outburst to pennicillin | My allergic hives seemed to worsen after I took zyrtec, my mouth and lips were dry ans sore and my feet and hands had swollen to the point where I didn't fit my shoes. So the doctor switched me to something else which represses my immune system so it will stop fighting the pennicillin which has already left my body days ago?? I also suddenly craved snacks and food, I ate two tubs of Ben&Jerry's in three days, I usually never eat that. The night after I stopped taking Zyrtec the hives I alreay had from the allergic reaction had become far itchier than they had ever been and I couldn't sleep all night. I took another pill just before stubmbling upon this site because I thought it might help the itch. I'm regretting that, but the itch is still not gone hours after taking the Zyrtec eventhough I hear others speak of immediate itch-relief. | After reading all of these comments I am quitting zyrtec immediately, I will take benedryl against the itch and just tough this thing out. Hopefully, since I have only taken zyrtec for a few days I will not experience the weeks of itching others talk about. in teh past I have taken zyrtec twice over a few weeks with no problems, although the allergy, just as it does now, took a ridiculously long time to disappear. I have hives from my neck to my feet, but reading your alarming itch-accounts and seeing how my itch already dramatically worsened after just 4 10mg pills I am far too afraid to continue this drug. So glad I found this site so soon. | F | 25 | 4 days | 4/3/2008 | 3 | adult onset spring allergies | lethargy, weight gain, rash on my neck, low libido | It has worked better than Claritin for my adult onset spring allergies; I originally tried "natural" remedies, which did nothing to help the sneezing, dripping and achy eyes. However since starting Zyrtec about 2 months ago, I have been needing 9-10 hours of sleep, and still have a hard time getting out of bed. And I have been gaining weight for no apparent reason, about 5 pounds in the last 2 months since I began Zyrtec this year. And a reduction in sex drive the last couple of months. And a mild itchy rash on my neck the last few weeks. As my allergies are seasonal, and they usually subside around now, I stopped Zyrtec 3 days ago and have been having trouble sleeping. Last night I lay awake most of the night. I am very happy to have found this web site and now know that these changes are because of Zyrtec. However, I would take it again next year, maybe try taking less, and taking it at night, or maybe try Claritin again because the constant sneezing and dripping and sore | F | 58 | 60 days | 4/2/2008 |