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 |
| 3 | stuffy nose | Sudden single pupil dilation..headache..dizziness | Doesn't seem effective...been taking zyrtec 10mg long term | F | 22 | 1 days 10 mg | 12/11/2014 | 3 | Chronic year-round allergies | I used to alternate taking this drug with Claritin. For example, I'd take a Claritin one day and the next day a Zyrtec. Then I ran out of Claritin so I started taking Zyrtec daily. Zyrtec dried out my nose so much that it felt plugged up, which was only a minor side effect. However, it made me incredibly drowsy, and I would have to go lie down because I couldn't physically keep my eyes open. The worst side effect I experienced were very disturbing nightmares. I woke up multiple times in the night with these dreams that seemed so real and it was scary. It was not a pleasant experience. I also experienced a good bit of sneezing while taking this drug...so it wasn't that effective. | F | 22 | 2 weeks 10mg 1X day | 6/10/2010 | 3 | Allergies | Dry skin, dry mouth, irritability, anxiety, lack of motivation. | Works really well on allergies. But I can't stand the loss off attention, dry mouth, anxiety. | M | 22 | 15 years 10mg 1X day | 4/3/2013 | 3 | Allergies | I quit taking it not far into 2006 (No coverage anymore), after 3 days I had a VERY itchy scalp/skin, dry mouth, and dry skin. All of it went away after a few days but was surprised to find out others had the same exact experience. I no longer really have allergies either and honestly I am glad I'm not taking it anymore. | Use it if you really need it as it does help but quitting it, the side effects are pretty rough for about a week. Bad enough where you might have to take time off work or put things on hold for a few days. | M | 22 | 3 years | 2/16/2008 | 3 | Hayfever | Only slightly tired or lethargic, well worth it for the releif from hayfever however it does seem to cause mild to serious depression and insecurity depending upon how much and how often you use it. | I've used zyrtec on and off for 2 years and i recommend that you use it to relieve short-term allergies, it works brilliantly, however I would hesitate before taking it for longer periods of time such as an entire week as this is when the side-effects seem to develop. | M | 22 | 2 years | 4/4/2005 | 3 | seasonal allergies | drowsiness...the medicine worked well, though i started getting hives after i started it. and when I stopped taking it I was extremely miserable and felt as if I was in withdrawal, had hives, and was extremely itchy. | I have stopped taking it. | F | 22 | 4 years | 11/19/2004 | 3 | Allergies, Sinusus | Appitite increase, Loss of libido,Sleepyiness. A tirade of mental problems I suppose were caused from Zyrtec,I don't truly have the right to say so since I already take Anto-depressants, but my syptoms sound awfully the same to others.It did help with allergies and sinus. | Well I never new these were SE While on them , now maybe this is the truth. I am a fairly small average guy.5,9 - 155 pounds. Well I started taking this and again at the time I did not think anything of it. I could out eat others by a mile , I mean big men, EASILY!!! I noticed decreased libido, Absolutely loss of concentration and focus, short term memory loss. And Sleepy as hell , When I first started taking this I nearly got in several wrecks trying to drive back from my Girlfriends house.Again I did not suspect Zyrtec to be causing all of this. I have a new bottle right now right in front of me that I was about to start again after being off for about 6 months, just cause I felt I should do some research just to be safe before I start back.good thing I did. One thing I want to ask , And please men comment on this. For you all who were only on Zyrtec, Did you notice say, If you did notice A loss of libido? And On top of that(maybe a direct link) maybe Delayed-ejaculation( c | M | 22 | 3 years | 11/28/2006 | 2 | allergies | itching, low sex drive, mood changes | I no longer have pets, so I recently tried to stop taking zyrtec and about 2 days later experienced horrible itching all over. Only recently has someone mentioned that problems with low sex drive could be related to this medecine--glad to know others have experienced similar problems. | F | 22 | 4 years | 4/4/2005 | 2 | Seasonal Allergies | I am super tired all the time, I took a nap the 2nd day for about 3 hrs and still felt lazy and tired afterwards. I get so hungry throughout the day. It helped very little as far as my dust/pollen allergies. Spring 2007 in MD. I still sneezed, runny nose, itchy eyes, etc after taking the pill. I took the pill at 8PM before I went to bed. After reading these comments I finally found the answer why i've been feeling/acting so differently. I knew it was the pill! Time to find a new allergy medicine. | I don't like it at all | M | 22 | 4 days | 5/3/2007 | 2 | Year around allergies | OCD, Irrational and extremely unwanted thoughts, a little depression. | I just came upon this website in the past few days and by chance, I was searching for things about OCD. For the past 6 years, since October 2001, I have been thinking irrational thoughts that I don't want to have. These thoughts were worse when I was bored. When I wasn't bored, they kind of went away, but were still there a little. But since June 2007, they picked up a lot again because my schedule has changed to allow me to have more free time. But now everything adds up; I started taking Zyrtec in October 2001 and this may be what is causing these weird thoughts. I am still on it, but I have to get off it. However, I'll have bad allergies, but its better to live with allergies than these thoughts. | M | 22 | 6 years | 11/21/2007 | 2 | allergies, asthma | Fatigue. I would take Zyrtec at night before I went to sleep and it made it difficult to wake up in the morning. I think for years I never realized that this might have been due to the Zyrtec, because I never felt sleepy, just persistently low energy. | Wow. I stopped taking Zyrtec 3 days ago because it had ceased to be effective for me. I found this site because I was wondering if Zyrtec caused drowsiness, since I'd noticed how much more awake and alert I'd felt in the past three days. Reading all of these posts, I wish I'd thought about this years ago. My doctor prescribed Zyrtec to me for allergies when I was 14, and for years I've taken it daily without even stopping to consider whether it was worth it. As for people who say it causes behavioral problems in children, I have a theory: when I'm not in my college classes, I work most afternoons as a nanny for a family with three girls, aged 4-10. The youngest is a wonderful girl, and she's generally cooperative and calm. However, I can always tell if she hasn't had enough sleep the night before, (because of a nightmare or something,) because she will be terribly grouchy, throw temper tantrums, and can be really defiant. I've never attributed this to her personality, only to her | F | 22 | 8 years | 4/12/2006 | 1 | Allergies | F | 22 | 10 years 10-15 MG 1X day | 12/3/2011 Patient History | 1 | allergies | I would get violent and take it out on my wife, especially when she makes meatloaf. She would get a swift kick to the stomach and I would proceed beating her across the head and throat. I would then turn green and smash through the door. | It doesn't taste good. | M | 22 | 5 days | 3/4/2008 | 1 | CHRONIC HIVES (PRESSURE URTICARIA) | Zyrtec has significantly damaged my life and body as much as, and possibly more than the hives which I’m being treated for. Extreme mental fogginess (biggest side-effect) HUGE increase in weight (biggest side-effect) Have become extremely depressed (depression) and have noticed an extreme increase of anxiety (biggest side-effect) Huge increase in appetite Huge increase in fatigue – I have no energy (increased desire for sleep, cannot stand long, physical activities make me feel like I’m 40, not 22) Overall drive has decreased (including sexual, social, personal) Often find myself not interested in things or activities – which are usually interests of mine Developed major mood-swings and wide-ranging irritability Developed extreme paranoia --email me for more side-effects if interested-- | I have chronic hives and have had them for about 5 or 6 years now. About 3 years ago, I finally decided to go to an "Allergy Specialist" because NOTHING that regular DRs were giving me was curing them. They told me that the cause of my condition was unknown. After being prescribed and trying many medicines from the specialist himself (including, singulair, claritin, hydroxyzine, ZYRTEC, herbal remedies, allegra, sulfa-sulfate salazine (I think), etc...) I found the only thing that made them consistently STOP was a combination of ZYRTEC and HYDROXYZINE. I was taking the ZYRTEC in the morning, HYDROXYZINE at dinner, and HYDROXYZINE at bedtime. Hives were for the most part gone for good, besides random occasional breakouts. I quit taking ZYRTEC before reading this blog (message board) because the side-effects were getting to be too much for me. Now after reading this blog and seeing all the THOUSANDS of similarities in side-effects, there is no damn way I would eve | M | 22 | 3 years | 5/9/2007 | 1 | seasonal allergies | severe fatigue, drowsiness, dissociation or dream-like state, flat effect | I took Claritin before but had no relief, so I began Zyrtec a few years ago on and off. It'd work, but my allergies weren't bad enough to be bothered. This year they're terrible, and noticing Zyrtec is making me almost completely incapacitated. I take it before bed because it leaves me so tired, but I wind up sleeping 10 hours and extremely tired the next day, with a strange disconnected feeling. I've been told I seem to not know what's going on around me and have no emotional reactions like I normally do. It however, does make my allergy symptoms go away, but I'd advise anyone to stay far away from this especially if they find out of body/confusion experiences scary. (p.s. I've been using it 3 yrs but it's on & off and only in the spring) | F | 22 | 3 years | 5/4/2005 | 1 | seasonal allergies | I took Zyrtec for just about two weeks. As each day passed, a new side effect would arrive. The first thing I noticed was very vivid dreams... nothing scary or violent, but I never remembered my dreams before taking this medicine. Next, fatigue, irritability, drowsiness and I felt shaky and weak at times. I felt like I gained weight instantly. I was hungry all day long, to the point where I always carried around something small to eat because I was actually anxious and afraid of passing out. Finally, after about 10 days, severe anxiety and feelings of hopelessness and early signs of depression. I've never been a depressed person, but this medicine made me feel awful. | It's been 36 hours since I've taken my last dose of Zyrtec. I don't feel completely better yet, but definitely better than I did. I usually do my research before I take any medications, and I'm very disappointed in myself for not doing that with Zyrtec. I had no idea a simple OTC allergy medication could make me feel so awful. I've used Allegra in the past and I never had any of these issues. The only reason I switched to Zyrtec was because a doctor at the local walk-in recommended it over Allegra and Claritin. After this experience, I probably won't ever take an allergy medication again. I would rather just deal with the runny nose, itchy eyes and sneezing. I'm hoping this Zyrtec gets out of my system soon. It's an overall terrible product. I would rate it a 0 if that was an option. | M | 22 | 2 weeks 10mg 1X day | 4/27/2015 | 1 | Seasonal Allergies | Racing Heart Rate, Anxiety, Dissociation, Cotton-mouth, agitation, restlessness, strange thoughts | Effects lasted for over 12 hours after taking the half dosage. This medication is SCARY, I felt completely unlike myself. Not worth it. | F | 22 | 1 times 5 mg | 5/24/2017 | 1 | For my indoor allergies | Tiredness, sore throat, cough and nausea | Do not take | F | 22 | 7 days 10 mg | 2/11/2016 | 1 | Seasonal Allergies | I started taking Zyrtec to fight off allergies and it worked great. But about a week ago, I stopped taking it because I noticed my allergies weren't as bad anymore. BIG MISTAKE. The first day was fine. I didn't notice anything abnormal, but the second day was hell. I could barely stand up without feeling like I was going to throw-up. I was constantly dizzy and nauseous. I spent most of the day in bed, but I had trouble sleeping. At first, I thought I was getting sick, but I felt fine otherwise. Halfway through the second day of nausea, I was thinking about what could have caused this. My diet hasn't changed and I was exercising too, the only thing different was the lack of Zyrtec in my system. It's Day 4 now and I'm feeling much better. The nausea is still there, but it is not so severe anymore. | Zyrtec withdrawal sucks. Big time. Be careful if you suddenly quit taking it. | M | 22 | 20 days | 6/21/2008 | 1 | relief from alergies | took one pill for the first time because it was recommended by lots of people. soon after i started getting very worried and a feeling of panic. very emotional. blurred vision! Do not take this drug. | M | 22 | 1 days | 6/3/2008 |