| Key to ratings for zyrtec: 5-Very Satisfied: this medicine cured me or helped me a great deal. 4-Satisfied: this medicine helped. 3-Somewhat Satisfied: this medicine helped somewhat. 2-Not Satisfied: this medicine did not work to my satisfaction. 1-Dissatisfied: I would not recommend taking this medicine. |
| Rating | Reason | Side Effects | Comments | Sex | Age | Time Taken | Date Added | |
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| 2 | allergy | not sure yet due to the bottle only shows 3 side effects. my child has had bloody noses, difficulty breathing, and increased urination. | was wondering if anyone else had these side effects | F | 9 | 21 days | 9/1/2005 | 2 | hives | My 9-year-old daughter, who is normally the life of the party, now seems depressed. She's definitely not herself. She says she just doesn't feel right, her throat feels weird, as does her stomach. But the depression is what made me go on the computer tonight to find out more about this medication. She's been on it for 3 to 4 weeks for hives. I think she would rather have hives than feel so sad and insecure. | F | 9 | 3 weeks | 8/25/2004 | 2 | allergies and asthma | irritability, lack on focus, sensitivity, runny nose, headaches | My daughter was on singulair and zyrtec for about a year and a half before I started to realize that it was negatively affecting her grades at school. She was unable to remember things from day to day, concentration seemed to be an issue, and at home I noticed her becoming more irratable and sensitive. Once I realized that the medicine could be the cause of the symptoms, I discountied both. Things have improved in all areas. Before taking these medications, my daughter did not exhibit trouble in school. | F | 9 | 1.5 days | 12/9/2007 | 2 | Allergies | My daughter was put onto Zyrtec for allergies and she has uncontrollable crying and anxiety. | F | 9 | 30 days | 2/20/2009 | 2 | seasonal allergies | urinary problems, possible visual disturbances | My 9 y/o daughter has been taking this almost daily for about 4 months for a chronic cough and seasonal allergies. Her cough has not improved and she says her throat is still itchy. Nasal symptoms/stuffiness seems better, but she's on Veramyst too. The disturbing part is she has been having problems urinating (feeling like she has to go, then can't go, or accidentally leaking a bit in her pants). She mentioned this before, but I didn't take much notice of it, till she told me again tonight and I got on this site. She also has had comments of "seeing horizontal blue lines" or shadowy "people' out of the corner of her eye a couple of times while she is watching TV. Took her to the eye dr. and her vision is perfect. I'm thinking both of these symptoms may be due to Zyrtec, so I will call her Dr. and take her off of it tomorrow. No point if it's not even helping the chronic cough they prescribed it for!! | F | 9 | 4 months | 9/7/2008 | 1 | seasonal allergies | My 9 year old son started zyrtec on a daily basis at the end of August to help with seasonal allergies that trigger his asthma. He started becoming extremely emotional both at home and at school. Knowing that normally he would never cry at school if he could help it I started questioning the Zyrtec. I decided to take him off for a week and see where we were at and immediately saw improvement at home. Then I was called into the classroom by his teacher because she wanted to tell me what a huge change she saw at school overnight! She explained that she was very worried about my son's transition into 4th grade but now she is confident he is doing fine! She claims he is like a whole different kid in the classroom than what she has been witnessing the 3 weeks prior since the start of school. I would decribe his side effects as fatigue, lack of concentration, weepy, depressed. | If your child is suffering from anxiety, depression and being very emotional take them off Zyrtec! Huge improvement over night! | M | 9 | 1 months | 9/22/2008 | 1 | Seasonal Allergies | Severe mood swings, sadness, anger, rage. | My 9 year old son has very bad seasonal allergies. I have tried everything from Singulair to Benadryl to this medicine. My son is one of the happiest children I have ever met...all of that changed when he began using this. At first it was subtle, but now it is full blown. He is so manic that it actually frightens me. He is very aggressive and violent. He will also cry for no reason. Then apologize for his behavior...and 2 minutes later start all over again. I really think the Zyrtec is causing this because the same thing happened on Singulair. He has stopped taking this and I will see if there is any improvment. | M | 9 | 2 months | 5/28/2009 | 1 | allergies | Obsessive-compulsive disorder Defiant behavior Problems with concentrating Anxiousness | Two weeks ago we noticed a radical change in our 9 year old sons behavior. At first we noticed his obsessive-compulsive disorder. He began picking things around, filling his pockets and was unable to throw them away. He was touching things with his arm to the point to have bruises. He became obsessed with symetrie, and trying to get things in order. He became unable to concentrate at school or for homework, unable to obey. He was feeling extremely anxious and began having violent impulsions that, luckily, he managed to control to a certain point. Once he suddenly stabbed a pencil in my back .As I turned I saw his sweet little face saying « oops, sorry Mom, Just had to do it » He realized he changed, he was suffering and kept saying that he wants to become normal again, just as his friends, just as he used to be before. We were desperately trying to find the reason of this sudden change as he used to be a normal child, NEVER violent. At one point I thought of the fact that about three weeks ago he started taking Virlix which is the French name for Zyrtec, and luckily I found this site. We stopped giving it to him 2 days ago. The change is radical, our joyful son is back. Still some sporadic OCD gestures left, hopefully it will go away as well. | M | 9 | 20 days | 6/2/2009 | 1 | 9 year old daughter has allergies | My daughter's mood changed drastically. She was irritable and angry to the point we thought she was depressed. She also had a rash of white bumps around her eye and cheek. After we took her off zyrtec her normal personality came right back and the bumps went away. This medicine made our daughter miserable. I think it is dangerous. | F | 9 | 4 months | 8/22/2004 | 1 | sinusitis | My 8-year-old daughter was given zyrtec for 2 weeks to treat sinusitis first and then sinus infection. She became moody, started displaying extreme anger and irritability. It culminated into a terrible, violent temper tantrum on day 12, in which she was screaming, scratching her face and kicking everything around her. This is totally uncharacteristic for her. As a toddler she threw a few tantrums, but never as violent as this. It didn't occur to me it was the medication until then. She's now off of it for 3 days. Lingering effects on her mood continue but to a lesser degree. | I had been reading on this site about similar effects on adults and children who took Claritin and other loratadine brands. She had taken Claritin for a week two months back, for similar sinus-related complains. After the violent tantrum, I checked for Zyrtec effects, and was surprised to find the same. Our pediatrician never warned us of such side effects. All my research on the web didn't bring up anything like that, until I FOUND THIS SITE. It's the only place where this information is available. THANKS. | F | 9 | 12 days | 2/22/2005 | 1 | Eczema | agressive behavior, can't focus, can't remember anything, can't sit still, can't pay attention and follow teacher's instruction. nose breeding. always tired | Teacher kept complaining about my 8-year-old son behavior, she even force me to put him as a ADD kid, after I found out this website, I did two things: 1. Reduced the medicine little by little (it took me two months to quit the whole medicine). 2. Transfer my son to another teacher's class. Now four months pass, I just got his report card, he got straight 'A' and citizenship marked as "Excellent".He is still in ADD status but he did not take any ADD medicine, I knew his behavior problem was caused by Zyrtec and Singular (he took two medicines everyday). My suggestion is: Quit those drugs as soon as possible, my son is under the treament of Chinese herb and there is no side effect. you may make a research and find another better way to treat your kid. Good Luck!! | M | 9 | 2 years | 5/26/2007 | 1 | post nasal drip, mucus, congestion | My 7 year old son was taking Zyrtec and developed very bad behaviors in school, threatening suicide and others, and was very physically aggressive to his teachers. Once I realized that the bahaviors started the same time as Zyrtec, I took him off. One year later, he still has behavior problems, but they are lessening. Last week, I gave him one dose because of terrible itching. He had 2 very bad episodes at school so far. Thereis no doubt that Zyrtec triggered something in his brain. Hopefully it is not permanent. | Since my son was mildly retarded, I don't think he could express how he felt. But when asked why he felt so angry, he always said, I don't know . Something got in my head. | M | 9 | 1 years | 11/5/2007 | 1 | allergies | visual, auditory and tactile hallucinations | My 9 year old son was on Zyrtec for 7 months. When placed on Amoxicillan for two weeks for a sinus infection, he began to experience hallucinations. The doctor thought it might be the penicillan and never mentioned the zyrtec. Had an EEG which was normal. When I realized the side effects of zyrtec I took him off immediately (5 days ago). However, he just had an "episode" again tonight (lasts about 10 minutes). Has anyone had a child experience this??? How long before the side effects go away? | M | 9 | 7 months | 4/17/2007 | 1 | Eczema | My son just turned 9, he started taking Zyrtec when he was 7, his teacher kept complaining about his behavior, he can't remember anything, he looked so lost in the school. He can't sit still, he can't focus on the classwork. His teacher suggested me to talk to the doctor because his behavior just like ADD, I made a research and found this website,I was so shock that Zyrtec will affect the child's behavior so much. I decided to reduce the medicine week by week, now my kid was very good in the school, he remember everything, He completed every sigle classwork/homework. I really think all of the doctors should give the parents warming before the children starts taking ZYRTEC. I feel so sorry for my son. | So many parents has no idea what will happen when their child start s taking this medicine, Please consider not to let the kid take this medicine........... | M | 9 | 2 years | 1/27/2007 | 1 | asthma triggered by allergies | My 8 year old son has been taking Zyrtec for nearly 4 years. During that time, we have struggled with him concentrating in school and learning to read. We even had him repeat kindergarten and attend private reading tutoring for 1.5 years ($4760!!). We were about to invest $2500 in a private neuropsychological evaluation to see if he had a learning disability or ADD. Almost two weeks ago, I discontinued the Zyrtec in preparation for allergy testing. In that time, his teacher and reading tutor reported a measurable leap in his attention span and reading performance. We saw it at home too. Similar experiences posted to this site has confirmed my suspicion about the connection to this amazing turn-around and the cessation of his Zyrtec. It's the root of all evil. | Question any medical professional or change in your child's behavior if Zyrtec is involved. | M | 8.5 | 4 years | 11/7/2008 | 4 | Daughter's Allergies | Not any-my daughter has been taking zyrtec for 4 years now | If I discontinue zyrtec-she will immediately become crazy from the allergies. She has environmental allergies and this seems to work great along with a nose spray. | F | 8 | 4 years | 8/25/2008 | 3 | chronic allergies | Waking up 15 minutes to an hour after going to sleep; says he feels hot and does look and feel a little flushed; uncontrolled crying for no reason; feeling sad for no reason. | My son started zyrtec on his 8th birthday. The regimen is singulair and rhinocort in the morning, and zyrtec at night. This has helped his allergies tremendously. Then he started waking up for no reason after going to bed, feeling hot for little reason (once I thought it was from too much sun), and on numerous occasions, crying for no reason. Tonight I asked if he felt sad, and he said, "Yes, but I don't know why." Tomorrow, we will go without Zyrtec. (He had taken Singulair on and off for over a year so the mood change is not from that.) If he needs a nighttime antihistamine, I will give him what I have taken for 44 years: chlor pheniramine maleate, aka Chlor Trimeton. The only side-effect I've ever had is drowsiness. BTW, I attribute the biggest improvement in my own allergies (shots since age 5) to nasal spray (Rhinocort). None of the new antihistamines do as well as the classic old ones (Benedryl and Chlor Trimeton) but most of the new ones don't make one drowsy. | M | 8 | 3 weeks | 8/16/2007 | 2 | Allergies | My son had been taking the Zyrtec 10 mg chewable for about 2 years. We recently switched to the liquid about three months ago. We have noticed some severe behavioral problems. He is extremely disagreeable, very moody, has outbursts daily and often seems very angry. He almost seems depressed. Often just minutes after an episode he will have a very calm and apologetic attitude. He has always been recognized by his teachers and other adults for his good behavior in the past. He has not been sleeping through the night. He's extremely tired in the morning and talks of very vivid dreams or even nightmares. He's also having great difficulty focusing both at home and at school. I was in the process of having him tested for ADD before learning that many children on Zyrtec are experiencing the same symptoms. It seemed to worsen these past few months when we switched to the liquid formula. Not sure if there is a connection. We have immediately removed him from the drug. | M | 8 | 2 days | 1/21/2008 | 2 | hives | weight gain, mood swings, difficult to concentrate | my 8 y/o son was given zyrtec by the allergist for hives in july . it is december and my son has gained 7 pounds in 5 months. he has lower grade average, difficult concentrating, tearful etc. i will take him off this med today and will use benadryl if needed , not on a daily basis as with zyrtec. i should have checked this before. | M | 8 | 5 months | 12/23/2008 | 1 | runny nose, allergic cough | Facial tics (squinting), aggression, night terrors, depression, overly emotional behavior, halucinations, totally zoned out at school | This medication almost ruined my daughter's life. I had no idea this drug was the cause of so much of our misery until I found this site and took her off of it (very slowly to avoid the horrible itching that always happened when we skipped a dose). Try to find an alternative to this drug. We use Nasalcrom with no problems so far. | F | 8 | 5 years | 2/12/2008 | 1 | environmental allergies, ASTHMA | My son's behavior over the last 2 years have been worrisome to say the least...to the point that we have scheduled appts with child therapist. It is like he is constantly surrounded by a bubble of negative energy..moody, slight OCD, anxiety, facial ticks, etc. We constantly try to keep positive energy around him..He has had thoughts to hurt him self. A friend of mine who I totally respect and is very "science oriented" she would never rely on blogs..told me about her son who was on zyrtec and she took him off of it because of the behavioral changes he has experienced. it got me thinking. I was reading all of these blogs and felt like I could have written any of them. I plan to start to wean my son of Zyrtec immediately!!!! | M | 8 | 2 years | 9/7/2009 | 1 | Allergies | My 8 yo daughter took Zyrtec once, ONCE and FAINTED at school the next day. A whole 5 mg of the stuff did it!! It was very unsettling to receive a call at work from the school nurse saying your daughter has fainted. She was eating cheese sticks for lunch and fell back as she lost consciousness. School staff were concerned she could have choked on food parts in her mouth or throat. The sad part of it all (as if the fainting was not enough) is the only reason we gave her Zyrtec was because the local pharmacy didn't have Benadryl strips when I went out on Sunday night to buy some. I'm back w/Benadryl. And will look into natural remedies as well. | Am now further convinced the FDA is really not on the ball, big pharma is out for profits ONLY. | F | 8 | 1 days | 9/16/2009 | 1 | seasonal/pet allergies | Rage, hyperactivity, night terrors, loss of handwriting ability, complete personality change. | My 8-year old son discontinued the medication 12 weeks ago and he is still having outbursts of rage. Has anyone else had side effects continue for weeks or months after stopping the Zyrtec? Please e-mail me; I am frantic with worry. | M | 8 | 10 months | 9/3/2007 | 1 | allergies | HELP!!! My 8-year old son completely changed during the 9 months he took this drug. First his handwriting completely disintegrated until it was completely illegible, then he gradually became more and more hyper, reclusive, stopped playing with friends, couldn't pay attention in school. During the last few months he took it, he became increasingly irritable, until by the end he would frequently erupt into violent rages, during which he would say crazy things about dying, say he hated everyone, etc. He couldn't handle the smallest disappointment. Also, his hyperactivity escalated until it was off the charts. We had to pull him out of the gifted program at school. He really has become a totally different child; he used to be happy, sweet, sunny, with tons of friends, calm and gentle-natured. We've stopped the drug as of two weeks, ago, but he's still not recovered. Can someone tell me PLEASE HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE HIM TO RETURN TO NORMAL. | Please e-mail me if your child has experienced anything similar. He's acting like a crazy person, but I can't believe any type of mental illness would just suddenly appear like this. His irritability and temper when he doesn't get his way are making our lives very difficult. Any information would be appreciated. | M | 8 | 9 months | 6/24/2007 | 1 | Seasonal Allergies | Nightmares, daytime hallucinations, hyper activity at times, lethargic at other, anti social behavior, depression, voices. | My son took this drug for 6 months when he was 8 years old. It did help his sneezing, coughing. But the side effects were bizarre. He talked about seeing a 'devil boy' inside a 'ghost boy' who sat in his class in his place while he watched. He talked about hearing voices in his head telling him to do bad things. He talked about having dreams during class. And the nightmares were very vivid. My son always has been such a happy go lucky kid, his sudden dark mood swings and aggressive behavior were really out of character. If he were older I would have been looking for some sort of substance abuse issue. As it is, the 'substance' might have been actually provided for him by us unwittingly. Once we took him off the med he is doing much better at home. His nightmares are gone and he is 'singing' around the house again. Unfortunately his cough and sneezing are back, BUT we'll take that over the nightmare the family went through | M | 8 | 6 months | 7/25/2007 | 1 | allergies, congestion | depression and extreme emotional sensitivity in my 8yr old son | he was back to normal when he stopped taking zyrtec | M | 8 | 3 weeks | 5/21/2003 | 1 | allergies | weight gain | my son started taking it 6 months ago and gained a lot of weight. Initially I thought I would just give it to him for a month in spring to help him with his allergies. Then when he stopped taking zyrtec, he suffered and was very irritable. But now I am going to take him off of it any way. I wish he never took it. | M | 8 | 6 months | 8/18/2005 | 1 | seasonal allergies | shakiness, anxiety, uneasy feeling | my son has been taking the chewable form of this medicine on and off for about a year under his pediatrician's advise. I used to combine a pseudoephedrine syrup for him before sleeping because his problems with the stuffy nose would not go away with the zyrtec. zyrtec only seemed to help relieve the itchy nose, coughing and sneezing but not the sinus problems due to the allergies. As I started him on zyrtec for this spring season I suspended the use of pseudoephedrine because the pharmacist told me not no combine anything else with it, eventhough I never seemed to have problems of interactions between the two drugs. I continued giving my son the zyrtec pills at night before bedtime. however two days ago, he started feeling anxious and shaky in school with an overall feeling of being uneasy. the school nurse checked the side effects of the drug and told us this might be one of them. after checking this website I found important information on side effects for children and I am definitel | M | 8 | 1 years | 3/28/2006 | 1 | for allergies | Used this drug for about 60 days and my general health continued to decline. Although my allergy symptoms are reduced, the side effects are horrible | This is the drug from Hell. The side effects included: Extreem fatique,sore joints and mucles,rise in blood preasure,dizzeness,and overall lethargic feeling. Would never recommend this drug and I can not believe it is an over the counter drug. Over all rating (mean & nasty) | M | 75 | 60 days | 8/7/2008 | 4 | allergies | NONE | My son has been taking zyrtec for about 3 years and has had NO side effects. He is a great student with no behavioral issues. We even get comments from people in public about how well mannered he is. It is actually the only medicine that keeps his itchy eyes and nose in check. We've also added an over the counter allergy eye drop by Similisan. We notice a big differnce within 2 days if he has not taken his pill. Thank God for Zyrtec. | M | 7 | 3 years | 9/23/2008 | 4 | Hayfever type allergies | My 7 yr. old daughter has been taking this regularly for about 5-6 months. Until this year we had never had any behavior problems at school - not paying attention and not minding teacher. This is the only thing I can think of that has changed. | The medicine works very well at controlling her allergies but I am going to take her off of it and see if the behavior problems get better. CAN SOMEONE TELL ME IF IT IS SAFE FOR ME TO JUST STOP GIVING IT TO HER OR SHOULD I SLOWLY CUT THE DOSEAGE? | F | 7 | 5 months | 3/23/2006 | 4 | seasonal allergies | drowsiness, moodiness - child cries MUCH more easily than when not taking zyrtec. | M | 7 | 2 weeks | 4/30/2006 | 4 | My child's severe allergies | This medicine is great | This is the only allergy medication that in my opinion, saved my son's life. He no longer goes through asthma, itchy skin, sneezing, when he takes this at night. Plus he gets a good night sleep. | M | 7 | 1 years | 9/5/2007 | 3 | spring outdoor allergies | irritability, anger issues, cranky, argumentative, rudeness, negative | We've had horrible behavior issues that last long for the past few days for no reason at all. Finally tonight it dawned on my husband and I that we just started giving him the zyrtec this week. I'm taking him off tomorrow and hopefully he will be back to his old 7 year old jolly self. It was helping his spring allergies,but we'll have to find something else because I can't deal with those side effects. Also it contains parabens in the ingredients and those are not healthy for humans according to my most recent research. Alot of beauty items in fact are advertising paraben free on the packaging. | M | 7 | 5 days | 4/29/2009 | 2 | yes | Very cranky , hitting , yelling , shouting , getting really mad hard to control | I have seem many people concerns over the ZYRTEK , CLARITIN , SINGULAR especially on kids and read about the similar syntoms as i have seen for my 7 year old. But i never realized that those symptoms could be because of any of these medicines and as many specified the doctors or FDA does not mention these as side effects anywhere. I am glad that i found this site. In 2007 I was using an ayurvedic medicine for my sons allergies which was working perfectly with no side effects but then last year i took zyrtek again as it became available OTC and was a bit lazy ordering my ayurvedic medicine online. Now I am going to order it and would like to suggest it to moms who would like to try an alternative. It is called 'Septilin' by Himalaya herbals. Here is one link http://www.himalayausa.com/herbalformulas/immunocareliquid.htm . you can also search for it on google. And I also suggest to teach some yoga to the kids especially to asthma prone. I tried with my child and i see a lot of improvement. Doing 'Pranayama' is good for this which is a set of Breathing exercises. And in that especially 'Kapalabathi' exercise is very good. You can also search in youtube for Baba Ramdev exercises and demonstrations. You can get all the info on the above by a simple search in google. I hope this is helpful | M | 7 | 1 years | 3/24/2009 | 2 | allergies/asthma | drowsiness, problems with attention/focus | My 7-year-old has been on Zyrtec for four years. He was having trouble in school. His reading levels were poor. This year his teacher even thought he might have ADD or an auditory processing disorder. He was going to be evaluated by a speech pathologist, and they asked me if he was on any allergy medicine. I told them yes, he is on Zyrtec, Singulair and Advair, when needed. She told me to check the side effects of these medicines. After checking Zyrtec, I read other similar reports that children were having trouble focusing, paying attention and reading levels were poor. I took my son off all medicines. There has been a huge improvement. His reading level went from a 12 to a 20 in one month. His teacher said he is volunteering answers during class discussion and is being more social. This has all changed since taking him off the medicine. His attention and focus is much better. Now that he's off the medicine, I asked him if he feels different. He told me he used to feel | M | 7 | 4 years | 12/19/2008 | 2 | Allergies | My son's behavior changed so dramatically that I was looking into him seeing a child pyschologist. I noticed that his violent and depressive mood swings coincided with his taking the medication. As soon as I took him off of it he was fine! I was so relieved to see that others had the same concern. | M | 7 | 60 days | 10/16/2006 | 2 | Allergies | Aggressive behavior, disorganized thinking, increased anxiety. When my son stopped taking it he developed hive like spots all over his back, which lasted for about 10 days. | Our son is diagnosed with a mood disorder, so at first we did not recognize that he was having a negative reaction to zyrtec. In retrospect we now realize that completely destabilized while taking this drug. Fortunately, the damage was not permanent though it took him about about two weeks without zyrtec to return to his prior state. The manufacturer appears to be aware that this type of reaction can occur. If you look at page 11 of the 14 page document issued by the manufacturer Pfizer you will see a list of psychiatric symptoms associated with this drug. The company states that zyrtec is unable to cross the blood-brain barrier and affect mental functions. This may be true but it appears to me that the drug affects the body's biochemistry in some other way that does extend to the brain. Bottom Line: NO ONE WITH A MOOD DISORDER SHOULD TAKE THIS DRUG. It may destabilize a person to such an extent that serious harm could occur. | M | 7 | 4 months | 12/16/2006 | 1 | Alergies | Our 7 year old son was having violent temper tantrums, throwing things, punching and hitting other family members. These tantrums would last up to an hour or more. He was unable to handle anything that didn't go his way. He was like a monster and we did not know what to do. I thought he was ADHD or ODD and we began threapy for him. THANK GOD I FOUND THIS WEBSITE! It never dawned us us it could be the Zyrtec. Neither his doctor or his therapist knew anything about the pschological side effects that Zyrtec can cause. After further research I found that the following pschological side effects were listed in Zyrtec's own studies *** ABNORMAL THINKING, AGITATION, AMNESIA, ANXIETY, LOWERED LIBITO, DEPERSONALIZATION, DEPRESSION, EMOTIONAL LABILITY, EUPHORIA, IMPAIRED CONCENTRATION, INSOMNIA, NERVOUSNESS, PARANOIA, SLEEP DISORDERS *** Amazingly, the doctor perscribed the medication and never warned us of this! Everyone should be aware of this and I can attest that children should not be taking | Needless to say we took our son off the Zyrtec as soon as I read the information on this website. It has been about three weeks and we have seen much improvement. I pray that there are no long term effects on our son. Any other parents' comments are welcome. Feel free to e-mail me. I would love to hear from you. | M | 7 | 1 years | 2/13/2006 | 1 | Chronic Sinus Infections | Irritability, crying, sour throat, tiredness When we tryed taking her off, our normally well focused child has problems following directions, focusing, itching and stomach pain. None of these problems existed prior to medication. She was originally seen for sleep apnea type symptoms and chronic sinus infections. | If we use this drug in combination with Singular, the sleep apnea type syptoms seem to go away, but I wonder if their masking it because their making her sooo tired. I did sleep with her one night and she still had irregular breathing during sleep after taking just zyrtec. When we initially went to our Dr. about our daughter (she was 3 1/2) waking at night saying she couldn't breath and having constant sinus infections, we were sent to a ENT that said there was nothing wrong with her. We insisted something was wrong, her beathing was irregular at night. Our Ped. referred us to an allergist who put her on Zyrtec and when that wasn't enough, he put her on Singular as well. I hated the way she seemed like she was a zombie, so we just put her on nasal spray. We finally took her off everything and she experienced extreme itching in her ears and stomach pain. I agree that this drug is addicting, I put her back on and her itching and stomach pain stopped. After reading all these notes, I am t | F | 7 | 2 years | 5/18/2006 | 1 | Allergies | Change in behavior of our 7 year old son. He also did not feel right on the medication. | Did not clear up the runny nose. It did lower occurrances of sneezing. | M | 7 | 3 weeks | 6/10/2001 | 1 | Allergies | severe moodiness and tempers, lack of concentration, poor performance in school | My son started taking this medicine after allergy testing showed he was allergic to 90% of the allergens in the test. The medicine did seem to help his allergy symptoms. Meanwhile, my son started having lots of problems in school concentrating eventually leading us to getting him tested for seizures (per his pediatrician) and weekly meetings with a therapist/counselor. I asked both his pediatrician and allergist if any of this allergy or asthma medicines could be causing these problems and was told no. Meanwhile, he was barely passing kindergarten, then first grade, then second grade even though testing showed he was above average intelligence. This spring, it seemed like his allergies were getting worse so I stopped Zrytec and tried Claritin and next thing I see is that he is making 100s and getting good conduct marks at school. I didnt put 2 and 2 together until I gave some Zrytec to his little brother and suddenly he started having big brother type mood swings and troub | M | 7 | 3 years | 3/7/2006 | 1 | allergies | My seven year old daughter became very emotional and irrational when her dose was increased to 10mg. She began taking 5mg when she was three and it worked well for several years, but it had started to be less effective (more drainage that interfered with sleep). My sweet girl became a moody, argumentative, mean girl. It was scary. | I stopped the zyrtec immediately after reading about similar side effects on this web site - thank you for making the connection for me. I had thought that maybe the higher dosage was interfering with her sleep and making her super grouchy. After stopping zyrtec, she was back to her normal self within about 10 days. She will never take it again. | F | 7 | 4 years | 1/23/2007 | 1 | sinus/allergies | My seven year old daughter began taking Zyrtec daily in July. She has suffered from sleeplessness, extreme temper tantrums, ODD like behavior (very defiant), crying over everything, extreme hunger (even after eating). This behavior has increased and escalated everyday. | We have taken her off this drug. I have reported this to the FDA through a link at the following website www.keepkidshealthy.com. | F | 7 | 30 days | 8/19/2007 | 1 | Severe Allergies | Stomach ache, throat pain, and severe stomatitis | M | 7 | 3 days | 10/1/2007 | 1 | Allergies | My daughter had behavioral changes...she cried constantly. She was honestly depressed. She never smiled. She was also very itchy on Zyrtec. After about 6 months she developed a motor tic. It took awhile to link it to Zyrtec, but within a month of going off Zyrtec the motor tic went away. She was also able to smile and laugh again. | Zyrtec was a horrible experience for my daughter. | F | 7 | 1 years | 10/30/2008 | 1 | Seasonal Allergy | My 7 year old daughter become unable to focus, had trouble concentating in school, complained of headaches, became extremely unhappy, and experienced weight gain while on Zyrtec. And, thankfully within days of switching to Singular we are seeing "our daughter" back again. | The side effects are horrible! | F | 7 | 45 days | 10/8/2006 | 1 | Seasonal Allergy | My 7 year old daughter become unable to focus, had trouble concentating in school, complained of headaches, became extremely unhappy, and experienced weight gain while on Zyrtec. And, thankfully within days of switching to Singular we are seeing "our daughter" back again. | The side effects are horrible! | F | 7 | 45 days | 10/8/2006 | 1 | Allergies | My 7 year old daughter took this for 1 1/2 weeks. I am sorry that I ever put her on it. She is a sweet, loving child who behaves very well. She turned into a demon child. She lost her apetite and would not eat anything at all. She complained about stomach aches and dry throat. She was afraid to eat or drink because she said her throat felt as if it would close up. | This product should be taken off of the market immediately. I spoke to several moms tonight at a PTA meeting and they had the same complaints about their children. My daughter would scream at me and tell me that I dont understand her. She would wake up and just start yelling at me. My daughter wakes up sooo happy every day. She was not herself in anyway. I took her off of it 4 days ago... her apetite is back x 10 and my sweet, loving, caring child is back. It breaks my heart that I put her through that greif. Never again. | F | 7 | 10 days | 3/3/2009 | 1 | son's hay fever could lead toasthma | Normally well-balanced 7-year-old son became emotionally unstable, crying and having tantrums every day. Vivid nightmares. This was when I used 5 mg instead of 10 mg as prescribed for my 50-pound child. | Tell everyone you know. Try to get the word out to the media (a la Singulair). I trusted the allergist. The doctors won't mention these effects. See the hundreds of posts from parents below! Be WARNED. What are these allergists thinking to ignore SUCH psychotic effects on children (like Singulair and who knows what else). We'll try Claritin if we have to have something. | M | 7 | 10 days | 6/4/2008 | 1 | Allergies | Facial tics | My son who is 7 has been taking Zyrtec 2 years. Within the 2 years I noticed that he was blinking his eyes a lot. It went from blinking to "eye rolling" within 6 months. The eye tic was so bad that I thought that he had Terrett (sp) syndrom. I starting looking on the internet and found this web site. My son also had night terror. I stopped Zyrtec and was wondering if anyone knows how long it stays in the system? He is soooo much better without this drug although I don't know what to do about his seasonal allergies (it did work for that). | M | 7 | 2 years | 4/3/2009 | 1 | allergies | My 7 year old daughter has been on this drug for about 3 years. It controls her allergies 100%. HOWEVER, lately, she has been extremely overly emotional - she cries at everything. Almost every day. After reading all these comments on the side effects of zyrtec on children, I am hopeful that this is the cause of her upsetting behavior. She will never have another one of these pills - we will gave to find some other way to control her allergies. | F | 7 | 3 years | 5/18/2009 | 1 | itching/allergies | although the zyrtec did control the itching at night, my daughter complained about feeling 'not real', pretend like in a story. She said she felt like she had water in her ears; a stuffy feeling that comes & goes. She said it started around the time 1st grade began. I connected that was when she started taking zyrtec as prescribed by her PCP. | we stopped the zyrtec and after 3 days, she said she said she was feeling more real! I definitely believe it was the zyrtec, especially after reading this database. I was actually looking for a psychiatrist thinking she had a mental health issue. We're turning to homeopath treatments to relieve her allergies now. | F | 7 | 10 months | 8/16/2009 | 1 | hay fever | I used Zyrtec for one year, and it controlled hay fever symptoms very well. However, I developed dry, scaly skin on my face, dandruff in my eyebrows, and red, swollen cracked lips. The corners of my mouth were cracked, and it hurt to open my mouth wide enough to eat. I thought I had developed an allergy to my moisturizer and lipstick, so I changed to non-allergenic products with no effect. My nostrils were also dry and scabby. Recently, I had several nose bleeds. At my annual checkup, the optomotrist diagnosed chronic dry eyes and prescribed Restasis, which contains cyclosporine, a powerful drug used by transplant patients to prevent organ rejection. About this time, I had my teeth cleaned, and the dental hygienist diagnosed dry mouth, which is causing plaque to form at the top of my porcelain crowns. (In a healthy mouth, saliva helps rinse decay-forming bacteria from the teeth.) Chronic dry eyes, nose bleeds, and dry mouth motivated me to research Zyrtec. I stopped taking it immediate | I would not recommend Zyrtec to anyone. | F | 69 | 1 years | 7/12/2009 | 1 | Seasonal allergies | DEEEE-PRESSION! | THAT stuff is terrible on my system. I had no idea what was making me feel so "dark." It crept up on me; but the literature didn't mention "Depression" - oh no. I thought about the meds in the first 10 days. I tried everything - meditation, relaxation, music, oh hec it was awful. I don't take any other RXs so I guess I'm lucky for my age. I hate that stuff. | 68 | 2 weeks | 9/1/2008 | 1 | rhinitis from eye medication | Amnesia and confusion. I suddenly became aware I was driving on the wrong side of the median on a narrow road. I could not remember how i came to be there. I had lost about three minutes or four minutes of time. | This was exceedingly scary. It took a lot of research and reading of fine print on medical websites to isolate Zyrtec as the only thing I was taking that could have been responsible for this period of amnesia. | F | 66 | 4 days | 6/21/2008 | 4 | allergies asthma | None | It works very well. The only better medication was Seldane which was taken off the market due to a very few people with serious side effects. | F | 65 | 9 years | 2/11/2009 | 1 | allergies | hands and feet swellings body aches. SLEEPINESS. DEPRESSION. I think it is a horrible drug. I stopped for a three days and was feeling much better. ( I was trying to see if Zyrtec was the problem) I took one last night. Nightmares hands,feet, backache body aches are back. I am THROUGH with Zytrec. I can take the 12.5 mg meclinzine You can ask druggist for it OTC. I will take that when I need it for allergies. I have been on Zyrtec on and off for years, and now I know I am not crazy!!!! | HORRIBLE DRUG!!!! | F | 65 | 6 years | 10/18/2006 | 1 | seasonal allergy | upset stomach, loose bowels, diarrhea. | Within two days of discontinuing Zyrtec, my symptoms disappeared. The drug was effective in minimizing my allergic problems, but for me, the side effects are not worth it. | M | 63 | 30 days | 5/21/2008 | 5 | allergic to cats, most grasses, tre | sleepiness not sure if the forgettfulness is caused by zyrtec | F | 62 | 4 years | 11/9/2005 | 5 | general hay fever | Dry Eyes and Nostrils. Minimal side effects with a 5 mg dose. Significantly greater effects with the normal 10 mg dose. | I only use Zyrtec on an as needed basis about once per week most of the year and two to four times per week during the spring pollen season. A 5 mg dose works great for controlling my allergy symptoms. Both my doctor and pharmacist said it was okay to cut the 10 mg tablets in half, so, I am using a pill cutter to do that. | M | 62 | 5 years | 8/25/2006 | 1 | allergy to dogs and cats | hives | F | 62 | 6 days | 10/30/2006 | 1 | allergies | Utter fatigue and drowsiness. | I will not continue this medication, because I cannot function well being so fatigued. | F | 62 | 1 weeks | 12/24/2001 | 2 | Chronic Hay Fever | Wired, anxious sleep, drowsiness, apathetic mood. | ZYRTEC was effective in stopping my allergy symptoms, but after 3 days on this medication, with very little sleep, and the sudden apathy, I stopped, and returned to "normal" within 2 days. There should be more extensive warnings for this allergy medication, and it should be taken off the shelf. I will go back to taking Claritin "D" full of pseudofed which makes me wired also, but with no mental side effects--and I can't take that for more than 1 or 2 days! | M | 61 | 3 days | 4/22/2009 | 1 | Chronic allergies | It took me approximately 4 weeks to recognize that I was suffering from severe depression, anxiety attacks, and paronoia. A freind had recommended it as it is somewhat effective for allergy relief, but the side effects are terrible. | M | 61 | 4 weeks | 11/7/2009 | 1 | Hives | severe sleepiness, akin to narcolepsy, lethargy,increased appetite with gross weight gain, mild depression, dermatitis, Dermatographia, mild forgetfulness of common terms and names. I gained 75 lbs while taking Zyrtec, fifty of them in the last 6 months. I suffered from severe intermittent urticaria (hives) for thirty years, until my doctor put me on Zyrtec 10mg. every night before bedtime. When prescription runs out and it takes a couple of days to renew it, hives return and are very severe. I suffer tingling in the hands and fingers, and sometimes the wrists, and dizziness, with a buzzing sound I seem to hear in my head, rather than as an outside auditory sound. It's like a bee buzzing quickly through my head. My feet swell without clinical rationale. | I became mildly depressed, believing I was suffering some serious disease, and perhaps actually at risk of dying. I asked my doctor if there were any side effects, and he didn't suggest any. I didn't question the Zyrtec until I finally saw a commercial on television which listed drowsiness as a side effect. Bam! That was it. I hadn't realized it, but the lethargy, sleepiness, drowsiness almost to the point of narcolepsy started about four months after beginning the regimen of Zyrtec. I was a nurse for thirty-seven years, and didn't have the sense to even consider that Zyrtec might be the culprit, since it worked so well against the Hives. When I began reading the comments of others here, I began to cry uncontrollably. I may have found relief from Hives, but Zyrtec has made my living Hell. I'm going off Zyrtec at once, and will advise other users who have presented with similar possible side effects to stop taking Zyrtec, and see their doctor at once. | M | 61 | 1.5 years | 2/14/2006 | 4 | Allergies | A very positive side effect! I have anxiety sometimes that causes chest pain, headaches and general lousy feelings. Zyrtec seems to prevent that from happening. I sleep well and can breath better. | M | 60 | 2 months | 3/26/2009 | 2 | sinus/allergies | At first, the drug was a godsend. I could only take it at bedtime, and I learned that the normal dosage for me was only 1/2 of a pill. If I took a whole pill at bed time, the next morning I could barely stay awake to drive to work. After taking the drug, seasonally, for about 3-4 years, I began developing new allergies. I once had an allergic reaction to two mosquito bites on the same leg. My blood pressure shot sky-high, but a dose of Zyrtec brought everything under control. I got so I could not sleep without it. Highly addictive for me in this regard. It took me four months to kick it. I spent many long nights awake. I finally weaned myself by taking half a pill on alternate days, then dropped to a quarter of a pill, then a quarter of a pill on alternate days. Finally, I am off the drug---Thank God! I am sleeping better than I have in years, and my allergies are much better. | Was paying $80. for 30 pills, then they made it an over-the-counter drug, wouldn't you know it, just as I was getting off the drug. | F | 60 | 5 years | 4/18/2008 | 2 | SKIN ALLERGIES | vERY TIRE, LACK OF ENERGY | LIKE TO KNOW IF OTHER USER OF THIS MEDICATION HAD ANY EXPERIENCE WITH ZYRTEC BEING A DRUG-INDUCED PARKINSONISM. CETIRIZINE AND CINNARIZINE A KNOWN DRUG-INDUCER OF PD AND BOTH ARE DERIVATIVES OF PIPERAZINE SEE BELOW Piperazine derivatives Buclizine Cetirizine Chlorcyclizine Cinnarizine Cyclizine Hydroxyzine Levocetirizine Meclizine Niaprazine Oxatomide | M | 60 | 5 years | 4/1/2008 | 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 | allergies | I have been taking it for about 4 months. Bought it OTC and it was working as far as stopping my runny nose etc. Just stopped because I felt like I was "out of it" most of the time and didn't know why and mentioned taking it to a friend who is a nurse and she said "oh I can't take it ...it makes me crazy". So I decided to stop and see if I felt like my old self. I have been very very dizzy since stopping which has made me feel queasy in my stomach. This dizziness has lasted over a week now. Has anyone else had this side effect from withdrawal? | F | 60 | 4 months | 7/11/2009 | 4 | mold, cat allergy | 6 yr old son - irritability, screaming at me, severe mood issues. When asked what was wrong, he would scream at me "I don't know". | My son also has asthma and has been taking zyrtec along with singulair and pulmicort. Works great for allergies. (I have another son on it as well) Originally taking every day then decreased to as needed w/cat & mold exposure. However, at the end began experiencing behavior/mood issues. When took him off of Zyrtec noticed a significant difference in his behavior. Switched allergy/pulmonolgist drs and he said not to give it to him. His behavior over all has improved drastically. My 3 year old doesn't seem to have "issues" because of zyrtec. | M | 6 | 3 years | 2/5/2007 | 3 | Allergies, Env & cats year round | we endured her almost getting kicked out of preschool for basically torturing another child - extremely bad irrational behavior extremely bad outbursts - very unlike her - back to soy milk we went - some of the negative behavior subsided - however as she has grown her dose of Zyrtec has increased - 5 mg chewable each morning. She struggles not with drowsiness; but performing fairly simple tasks - and when failing that completely sobbing meltdowns. | I have said some of the same things "Where has my daughter gone?" "Please give her back" "Please go to bed and wake up as my sweet little girl" My daughter is 6 now, has been on Zyrtec 3.0 years for year round environmental and cat allergies. When she was 4 she had her tonsils removed - we thought she's be able to stop her medications - not true - she was worse with her behavior after that surgery - which at the time we switched her from her usual soy milk to cows milk - allergy tests showed only intolerance not allergy to milk - we endured her almost getting kicked out of preschool for basically torturing another child - extremely bad irrational behavior extremely bad outbursts - very unlike her - back to soy milk we went - some of the negative behavior subsided - however as she has grown her dose of Zyrtec has increased - 5 mg chewable each morning. She struggles not with drowsiness but performing fairly simple tasks - and when failing that completely | F | 6 | 3 years | 10/24/2007 | 3 | Seasonal Allergies | My 6yr old daughter had problems last spring with vaginal irritation and discomfort when urinating. We took her to the pediatrician 3 x's and a Gyn and they came up with nothing. This spring, same problem - went online and found this site stating some females had similar problems w/Claritan. I called Pfizer this morning and they told me that skin irritation is side effect of med(which they included her problem as part of that side effect). Incidentally, 4 yr old son had strange rash on face after starting Zyrtec, maybe is related to med as well? | My daughter has terrible allergies, don't know what to do to relieve suffering - she missed several days of school last year due to vaginal irritation - not to mention Dr's asking her if anyone "touched" her. Terrible experience for parent! | F | 6 | 30 days | 4/25/2007 | 3 | environmental allergies | My daughter has been taking zyrtec for over 3 years. I never put many thing together because when she started taking the medicine was the same time children at the age of 3 start acting out - crying about nothing - temper tantrums - etc. Her doctor recommended that she take the 10 mg 2 times a day due to her itchy reaction to her allergies. Unfortunately, I never questioned the behavior side effects of this medicine. My daughters 1st grade teacher asked me to look into the effects of zyrtec and how effects children. I am shocked at what I have read! As of today she is no longer taking the medicine! We are looking for a natural alternative! However, she does get monthly shots to help build her immune system and we are as of now going to continue with the shots, BUT no more zyrtec! We are hoping that her emotional outburst will get better ... who would have thought ???? I'm so disappointed in the reality of the medical world! | If you have a child don't let them take this drug!!!! It might help their symptoms, BUT who knows what it is doing to their BRAINS! | F | 6 | 3 years | 11/13/2008 | 2 | seasonal allergies(spring only) | My 6 year old son took Zyrtec for two spring seasons since he experiences severe allergies to spring pollen and grass. The drug did wonders in clearing his allergies, but caused him to manifest behavior problems. When he first started taking Zyrtec in late March when he was 5 years old (right when seasonal allergies begin), his teacher started calling me from school telling me that he was breaking down, crying easily, and throwing tantrums. She said that if she didn't know him from the previous 7 months in her class (when he wasn't on Zyrtec), that she would have thought that was just the way he was. I did not make the connection, and so the poor kid spent 3 months screaming at school. The end of summer came, and I took him off his allergy meds. All is well at school, and then March rolls around again, and I start him on his Zyrtec. Sure enough, I get a call from the teacher (different teacher, by the way) reporting the same exact behavioral problems. This teacher, who is excel | M | 6 | 4/10/2007 | 2 | seasonal allergies | To all parents of young children--my 6 year old experienced the SAME behavior problems on Zyrtec. I contacted his allergist today, and he said Zyrtec crosses the blood-brain barrier (as do most anithistimines), and therefore could defintely cause behavioral changes. His allergist prescribed Allegra for children (which is NEW spring 2007), and Allegra DOES NOT CROSS THE BLOOD-BRAIN BARRIER!!! Will start this in a few days with my son...hopefully will work! Good luck, and get your kids off this terrible medicine! | M | 6 | 4/10/2007 | 2 | allergies | Became anxious, bit withdrawn, obssessed over irrational worries.No matter how much we tried to disprove worries did not believe us. Said his brain would not stop worring even though he knew they were silly. Would melt down,cry,kick thought he was going to get into trouble.Symptoms of OCD and general anxiety dissorder. | Worked for nasal problem. Unfortunately when he was on 5mg(1 week) I did not pay attention to small amount of anxiety and dosage was increased to 10mg(1 week). This intensified anxiety,irrationality and worries. When zyrtec was stopped behavior calmed down. Now we are left with residual effect. I though something happened and he was now crazy.Feel helpless that I did not see this in beginning and must now suffer through effects and seek psychological help . | M | 6 | 1 weeks | 5/23/2007 | 2 | Allergies | Fits of irrational responses (screaming, hitting, rage), twitching, nightmares, sleep walking, extremely emotional. | My 6y daughter was put on Zyrtec at age 3 for various allergies. We thought she was being helped for those allergies and her irrational behavior typical of a 3y old. However; after talking with other parents of Zyrtec kids - We've realized her behavior was a result of the Zyrtec. She has now 11/03/07 been off of the Zyrtec since 10/24/07 - WHOA what a difference. A very calm child has reemmerged. Our family life is so much more relaxing. Now we see - she really is a normal 6 yr old girl. Not the irrational rageful luanatic she was. very scary stuff. | F | 6 | 3 days | 11/5/2007 | 2 | Seasonal Allergies | My 6-year-old daughter went from a happy, beautiful child to an emotional trainwreck. Allergies and puffy eyes went away, but in their place was a teary, depressed, befuddled and evil child who slammed doors, broke glass, and acted out verbally. | I am mortified that I put this poison in my daughter's body. After reading the other comments on this site, my heart goes out to all parents who tried to help their kids and, like me, turned them into monsters. My daughter has 10 days left in the school year, and she will attend with puffy eyes and a booger nose, and be her happy, normal self again. I'll spend the summer finding alternatives that let me keep my daughter sympton free AND happy. Any other parents, feel free to e:mail me! | F | 6 | 30 days | 5/21/2006 | 2 | hives | irritability, making poor choices, mood swings, crying, not at all acting himself. | My now 6 year old son has been taking zyrtec for two years - off and on. This past fall we had to increase his dose due to increase hives, and have been giving it nightly. He also began kindergarten this fall and it has been a nightmare! My always sweet, polite child was hitting, not paying attention, the teacher was calling me daily about his poor choices. We never put two and two toghther with the zyrtec!! I took him off it last weekend, as it's always bothered me pouring this med in him every night, he has been a totally different boy. He's back to being well behavied, much more impulse control - I could go on and on. On a hunch I looked this up and found this site - I am floored that that I was not warned of this and how awful my son's first year of kindergarten has been! I will not put him back on this! I am now concerned on what we will treat him with when the body covering hives do come back - the zyrtec did take care of them. | M | 6 | 2 days | 2/1/2006 | 1 | Allergies | My 6 yr old son was prescribed zyrtec syrup for seasonal allergies with nasal congestion. One hour after the first recommended dose of 1 tsp. he began trembling, complaining of severe stomach pain & dizziness and began throwing up. Quite a sudden change from a healthy (just congested) little boy who had previously been running through the house like he was trying out for the Olympics. | Proceed with caution. I think this stuff is a bit too strong for children in my opinion. If you have a small child, I would consider cutting the first dose in half. We were recommended to give this medication another try after waiting a few days...but we will not be doing that. We are done with Zyrtec here. | M | 6 | 1 days | 11/23/2005 | 1 | allergies | son becoming more anxious, seemed to get upset easily, c/o abd pains, headaches ect. | M | 6 | 30 days | 4/4/2006 | 1 | hay fever | After the first dose our daughter was having violent outbursts and behavior and also had a depressed affect. We are taking her off a.s.a.p. Thankful to have found this site and put two and two together. | F | 6 | 2 days | 6/7/2006 | 1 | allergies | I am trying to take my 6 year old son off of zyrtec due to negative side effects, he has been on it for one year and every time we try to stop , he breaks out in terrrible abdominal hives and persisitent itching.It is as if his body is now dependent on it. He never experienced hives prior to the zyrtec use and I feel it is just another bad side effect we were not warned about. | M | 6 | 1 years | 6/30/2005 | 1 | allergies | My son took this in past and then a few months ago restarted it for allergies-horrible side effects-headches, eye aches, belly pains, crying, rash nape of neck, sore throat, acting out, ect. I had him to the doctor 3 times, the ER 1 x and for a psych eval. I took him off it thanks to this site and there is a dramatic change-able to get him to school w/o crying, tantrums ect. Please how can we get a warning for this med- valnscott@verizon.net | Please consider this med a source of any problems you or your child is having. I wouldn't have believed it if i did not see it first hand. | M | 6 | 3 months | 4/10/2006 | 1 | Allergies | Inconsolability, mood swings, nightmares, sleeplessness, aggressive behavior, anxiety, resistance to following directions, dazed behavior, hyper sensitivity, fatigue. | My 6 year old son came off this medicine after 3.5 years after I read these reviews here. In less than 2 days, he became a changed child. He no longer has the negative behavior traits that has been plaguing him for YEARS. No med. professional could get a grip on why my child was behaving the way he was. I'm so glad to have my sweet little boy back. You can just tell he feels SO much better being off of Zyrtec and his behavior shows it. I can't believe how quickly he changed coming off of this. He will NEVER take this medicine again. | M | 6 | 3.5 years | 7/10/2007 | 1 | allergies | Became anxious,bit withdrawn, had irrational thoughts and worries. Nothing we did could stop the worries or disprove his thoughts. He said his brain would not stop even thought he knew thoughts were silly.Would melt down crying about worries.Would obsess over worries (Symptons of OCD.) | Worked on nasal problem.Unfortunaly did not notice small changes when he was on 5mg1 week and was increased to 10 mg for 1 week.This sent him over the edged. When medicine stopped behavior improved.But now left with phsycological effect. Feeling frustrated and helpless as a parent to see your child go through this and think they are crazy. | M | 6 | 1 weeks | 5/23/2007 | 1 | sinus infctns due 2 seasonal allerg | 6 year old daughter has been on Zyrtec off and on due to seasonal allergies since she was 2 1/2 or 3 years old. We recently started up again (been about 2-3 weeks now). She has been completely irrational and out of control emotionally. Extreme meltdowns at the least bit of disappointment. As many parents before me have mentioned, my child acted as if possessed. We too had started checking into psych coucil thinking that something had to be going on with her. She experienced extreme rage that was scary to us. If we would start to ask her to do something like put her bike away etc she would start screaming I know I know I am a bad girl and you hate me and on and on and on. There was no consoling her. She also developed what has appeared to be an involuntary tic with what started as rapid blinking of her eyes. Now she appears to be winking rotating from eye to eye. I just today found that numerous studies have shown that a rare side effect is orofacial dyskenesia which is invol | Has not adequately been proven safe for children. Parents do your research before adminstering to your kids!!!!!! Watch for involuntary facial movement. It is not fare that our children have had to endure disciplinary action due to side effects of a drug that I feel should not be prescribed to children. | F | 6 | 3 weeks | 4/10/2007 | 1 | Son was taking it for allergies | My son (now 6) had serious behavioral problems to the point of being suspended 15 times from kindergarten. He had always been on zyrtec since he was a baby and had behavioral problems since then also. Stopped the Zyrtec and have not had a problem since. | It had gotten to the point we had him seeing a therapist, did behavioral testing etc. Then I stopped the Zyrtec and he doesn't have the problems anymore. He had a VERY bad temper, would not listen to anyone, very defiant, very hyper. I stopped the Zyrtec and there was an almost immediate change in his behavior, back to a normal rational 6 year old. | M | 6 | 4 years | 7/22/2004 | 1 | seasonal allergies | My daughter started taking zyrtec when she was 4 1/2, she had trouble sleeping (always waking up in the middle of the night and coming into our beds), she would have extreme horrible tantrums, disagree and argue over the smallest details. | She started taking zyrtec under an allergists care when she was 4 1/2. The doctors never mentioned any possible side effects in children. So when she all of sudden started with the extreme horrible tantrums and the mood swings we thought it was just a phase. She is 6 now and has been off of zyrtec for 1 1/2 months, and we have noticed a change almost immediately. Her tantrums are very few now and can be controlled with a simple time-out. | F | 6 | 1.5 years | 10/24/2008 | 1 | allergies | 6 yr old son- became depressed wanted to hurt himself and others | M | 6 | 12 days | 3/7/2005 | 1 | to reduce fluid in ear | My once pleasant and polite 6 year old daughter turned into a she-devil. She began having attacks that were almost panic-like. She absolutely could not control herself. We did not immediately make the connection to the medication as she had been taking it for approximately 6 weeks prior to these symptoms. We started with behavior modifications and nothing worked then something clicked and I looked into drug side effects and was relieved to see that maybe it really wasn't something that she could control. She has extreme night terrors and completely freaks out. She cannot be controlled at these times. She also has been very mean to her younger sister and cousin. You cannot talk sense into her. She has been off the medication for 4 days now and last night was the first night in 2 weeks that she did not freak out when she woke up in her bed. She did wake up but only once with no behavior problems. I am hopeful that as the medication leaves her system our daughter will return! | F | 6 | 6 weeks | 4/20/2008 | 1 | Allergies | aggressive bad behavior, irritability, temper tantrums over tiny thing. Would go crazy like a wild animal then crash down to a sobbing little boy. | Never will i give this to my son!!! We know it's the Zyrtec causing this behavior for we tried it two different times. Claritin has given him the same side affects also. We would rather see him suffer the allergies than be on these meds. | M | 6 | 6 days | 3/10/2008 | 1 | severe allergies | My son has been taking this medicine for the last 3 years. He was a carefree, playful, and very caring toddler. However, over the last 3 years he has increasingly become violent, had trouble concentrating in school (his teacher kept asking us if he had ADD), and completely irrational. Nothing we did seemed to help. | When I starting thinking about the timing of his behavioral change, it kept coming back to the time he started taking Zyrtec. Then I found this site and read other parents' experience...OMG, I'm stopping the Zyrtec immediately. I hope to have my sweet & caring son back to the way he was very soon!!! | M | 6 | 3 years | 3/19/2009 | 1 | child with allergies | My 6 year old daughter started crying a lot and being very clingy, she didn't want to eat, her stomach hurt, and she was very tired. she was acting very rude. took it about 1 month. | F | 6 | 1 days | 1/15/2009 | 1 | Allergies | About 1 1/2 years ago I started giving children's liquid Zyrtec to my son per his Peds. Allergy Specialist. After reading this site, its like OMG... the changes in him are from the Zyrtec. He used to be a happy go lucky kid, nothing rattled him, he slept through the night. Now he is angry and mean, sleeps poorly, having concentration problems in school, having crying meltdowns, being clingy. It's like he has become a totally different child. There is no rhyme or reason to his crying fits or his angery fits. The hardest part of this for me to accept is that I did this to him, I allowed a Doctor tell me there are no side effects to this drug. When clearly there is, my son was on 1 1/2 teaspoons a day per Doctors orders. (1/2 teaspoon more then recommend dose) I am stopping it TODAY!!! Hopefully by the end of April I'll have my little sweety back. Someone should look into a class action lawsuit, this drug is harming innocent children because these Doctors and drug companies are ha | To any parents who are considering this or have just started your child on this horrible drug STOP!!!!! You won't recognize your child if you keep them on this drug. This past year and a half has been a nightmare for me to watch my son turn into this depressed, angry, exhausted, fits of crying and meltdown child. I have spent the last year trying to figure out what has happen to my son, and not been able to come up with an answer. My family has just started family counseling because I have tried everything else. I will update you at the end of April to let you know how he is doing. | M | 6 | 1 years | 3/30/2009 | 1 | Allergies | I posted here almost a year ago that my son was experiencing horrible bi-polar type violent episodes since taking Zyrtec. We took him off Zyrtec the day I found this site. At first the behaviors subsided within 24 hours of stopping the medication. Slowly, over time and now a year later, the same behaviors are back in full force again and he is on NO allergy meds, except for occasional Benedryl. He's has been recently diagnosed with ADHD and is on Ritalin, that's not helping much. He is soon to be tested for bipolar disorder and oppositional defiant disorder. He's not had any Zyrtec in almost a year. My 6 year old, first grade son has said he wanted to kill himself. He's been in therapy over a year. | I firmly believe that the Zyrtec did permanent damage to my sweet bright, little boy's brain. He is now classified as "special needs". DON'T GIVE THIS DRUG TO YOUR CHILD, AND TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW DO NOT GIVE THIS TO THEIR CHILD! I fear my son will never be the same. I believe Zyrtec poisoned him. | M | 6 | 7 months | 8/10/2008 | 1 | Allergies | My 6 year old son changed into a completely different little boy. His allergies cleared up but he showed signs of aggression,anger,and sadness. | Once I found out his behavior at school had drastically changed I was determined to figure out the cause. Then I realized it all began when he started on Zyrtec. I am so thankful for this site because I realized my son wasn't the only one experiencing these side effects. Now he is back on Claritin which isn't as effective as Zyrtec in clearing up his allergies, but I don't have to worry about crazy side effects. If you plan on giving your child Zyrtec, please keep a close eye on them for any changes. | M | 6 | 20 days | 6/15/2009 | 1 | seasonal allergies | moodiness,aggressive behavior,sleeplessness,irratable, inability to concentrate,rash on the back of neck | My son has not been himself for three weeks, he has been so irritable, angry and aggressive. He has had difficulty sleeping and has had some very serious problems in school with friends and his schoolwork. I only wish I had thought about a possible connection with Zyrtec. Today is the first day I did not give him any and I am hopeful I will notice a difference soon, I will never give him Zyrtec again, I will look into alternatives. | M | 6 | 3 weeks | 6/5/2009 |
| Key to
ratings: 5-Very Satisfied: this medicine cured me or helped me a great deal. 4-Satisfied: this medicine helped. 3-Somewhat Satisfied: this medicine helped somewhat. 2-Not Satisfied: this medicine did not work to my satisfaction. 1-Dissatisfied: I would not recommend taking this medicine. |
