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 Age from youngest to oldest (reviews with no age reported listed first). 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 |
| 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 | 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 | allergies | I gave this to my 9 year old son who just struggles with awful allergies to everything. 1 tsp about 6 pm. He went to sleep at 8pm and slept soundly for a while with no sneezing but still sniffling. Woke up around 2 am and was just angry. Yelling, stomping, gritting his teeth mad at everything. Couple hours later fell asleep .Got up for breakfast in a worse rage. Went from room to room forgetting why he went there.I kept him home from school, he fell back asleep after breakfast and woke up at 1:30pm (when I woke him up) Wow, that was scary. Never again. | This completely changed his personality in one dose and he was very , very sleepy with it. I really was hoping we had found something to help him. I'm angry I wasn't warned. | M | 9 | 1 days 1 tsp 1X day | 3/27/2010 | 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 son’s 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 | seasonal allergies | My 9 year old son started taking Zyrtec 2 weeks ago after seeing our pediatrician because of seasonal allergies. my sweet, happy, smiley, energetic boy, changed…literally, overnight...he’s a completely different child. In the last 2 weeks he's become very moody, extremely anxious, fearful (to the point of being afraid of dying), lack of appetite (lost 8 lbs in 7 days), irritable, trouble sleeping, complaining of tightness in his chest, trouble breathing, aches, stomach ache, and body aches. He’s been extremely moody and cries out of nowhere. He had a complete, what looked like a panic/anxiety attack this weekend saying "something is wrong but I don't know what's wrong with me!!" He’s very angry and lashes out the family but will quickly turn around and apologize. He's always VERY sweet to his little sister but during these past 2 weeks he can’t even look at her without being upset and wanting her to go away and pushes her away. After 2 weeks | M | 9 | 2 weeks 10MG 1X day | 3/27/2017 | 1 | Allergic Rhinitis | My 9yo boy was advise by his pedia to take Cetirizine for 7 days, 1 tab/day, and since he started it he's having a terrible nightmares, he almost told me he's not happy with his life anymore.. what the ***.. I was terrified and it's not his usual sleeping behavior.. so on his 3rd day I stopped giving him this tablet.. and he had a very nice sleep.. no nightmares.. i tried to give him again on his 4th day.. then he had the nightmare again.. so I believe it is the drug causing him all of these bad dreams and confusion... | BEWARE OF CETIRIZINE be it generic or branded like Zyrtec.. it gives the same worst side effects! | M | 9 | 4 days 10MG 1X day | 2/4/2015 | 1 | Allergies | 9 yr old son took Zyrtec and now it takes up to 2 hours to awake him. When we try to awake him he fights (throws punches and kicks) all while he is still asleep. | M | 9 | 2 days 5 MG | 5/1/2015 | 1 | Seasonal allergies | My son took this for four days and instantly started having trouble sleeping ( started sleep walking, opening doors) he even said he hated his life and got aggregated while trying to get him back to bed .... This drug should not be used as a OTC!!!!! | M | 9 | 4 days 10MG | 6/5/2015 | 1 | Seasonal allergies | Extreme sadness, bouts of anger, inability to fall asleep. | I cannot believe I am just now making the connection between my sons sudden mood and behavior changes and Zyrtec. He told me tonight that he is scared he is going to be sad forever and he can’t figure out why. He cries even when he is doing the things that he normally loves. I can’t wait until this med is out of his system completely. | M | 9 | 4 months | 3/18/2020 | 1 | allergy | My nine year old Grandson is experiencing side effects from the use of the generic brand (cetirzine)10 mg purchased by his parents at Walmart. He is having irregular heartbeat, mental and mood changes, difficulty breathing and tightness in his chest. I have addressed these problems with his parents and they blame it on behavior problems and will not take him off of this drug. Please help other children who parents relate everything to behavior problems that is clearly being caused by this drug. The Generic drugs should also be recalled, they have many bad side effects that are being ignored by parents. Please help to get the word out about the generic drugs too so they will have to recall them too. | Do not give any of drugs to your children including the generic brand. They are all bad, stop blaming their behavior on ADHD, Aspergers, etc. It is the drug causing your children problems. Parents please wake up. I am doing what I can to get my grandson off of these drugs but unfortunately Grandparents have no rights. | M | 9 | 90 days 10 mg 1X day | 5/2/2010 | 1 | hay fever/allergies | Extreme mood swings, anger, irritability, violent behavior. | My 9 year old son has been taking Zyrtec for the past few weeks. Until I saw this website with all the comments, we thought he was losing his mind. He has been extremely angry, irritable, and impulsive. He's been violent and lashing out at my husband and I, as well as our younger daughter. When we ask him what's going on with him, he began to cry saying "I don't know. I just feel so angry." Now I know that it most definitely has to be the Zyrtec. I can't believe this. This was recommended by his pediatrician too. I had a suspicion that the Zyrtec might have been an influence. I feel aweful that we've been giving him this drug and the anger has been the end result. I'm throwing this product out. Thank you to all of the other people who made comments. | M | 9 | 2 weeks 10mg 1X day | 5/2/2010 | 1 | seasonal allergies | depression, lack of concentration in school, panic attacks, fear and anxiety, anger. | My 9 yr old son was prescribed Zyrtec by his pediatrician. We noticed an immediate change in his attitude, behavior and grades. He was a very happy, motivated, straight A student. His personality completely changed. We thought his mood and behavior problems were just caused by his age and a new friend. We had no clue about the side effects of this drug until he stopped taking it just to see if his allergies were gone. After stoping the drug. It took about 10 days for the panic attacks to start(multiple times a day). He would just cry and shake and say his head felt funny. After taking him to his doctor, getting lab work done, EEG, EKG, referal to a pediatric psychologist I was told about the effects of this drug in children. I can't believe doctors are not talking to their patients about these severe side effects!!! Take your child off of this drug immediatly!!!!!!! | M | 9 | 5 months 10 MG 1X day | 6/23/2010 | 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 | seasonal allergies | Facial tic (eye squinting/blinking) | My 9-year old son developed a facial tic immediately after starting zyrtec. One eye was squinting/blinking non-stop, every few seconds all day. At first, we thought it was a coincidence...but it started again when we tried to reintroduce it. His pediatrician said it's not uncommon. | M | 9 | 4 days 7.5 mg 1X day | 5/3/2013 | 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 |