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 | Severe Allergies | Extreme tiredness. Inability to wake up in the morning regardless of amount of sleep the night before. Horrible withdrawal like symptoms whenever I attempt to stop taking the pills. Weight gain due to never feeling full. | I have been taking Zyrtec off and on for 5 years(only in the winter), but I've gotten the end of the road. I have fought the constant tiredness, inability to wake up, and irritability, but can't anymore. I have been on every allergy drug out there, Claritin, alevert, allegra, Hismanal, tavist, flomax, cingular, rhinocort, etc... and Rhinocort and Zyrtec are the only ones that really work for me. During the winter, Rhinocort Aqua dries out my nasal passages too much giving me horrible nose bleeds, forcing me to use the Zyrtec. But I can't take the side affects anymore. Inability to wake up regardless of how much sleep I've gotten is the worst. I am a morning person three quarters of the year, until I take Zyrtec... Then I can't get out of bed. I am right now dealing with the nausea and headaches from the withdrawal I deal with every year when I discontinue use. To be honest the 4 to 5 day withdrawal going cold turkey is so bad that I generally wean myself off the drug. One every other d | M | 26 | 5 years | 2/6/2007 | 2 | pet & mold allergies | Unexplained weight gain (4 pounds in 2.5 weeks) - no change in my diet or exercise, constant sugar/carb cravings, irritability, depression, extreme drowsiness in the mornings even though I take it about 7pm. Has also completely thrown off my fertility signs (I practice natural family planning and need to track temperature and cervical fluid). | Helped a great deal with my allergy symptoms, but not worth the side effects for me. | F | 26 | 3 weeks | 8/5/2005 | 2 | Allergies | I was prescribed Zyrtec by my new doctor due to a skin rash. I took one as directed and fell asleep for more than 10 hours. I was so exhausted after taking the medication. | I had stopped after two similiar experiences. | F | 26 | 2 days | 1/8/2008 | 2 | hives | drowsiness, dizziness, headaches, moodiness/depression, increased appetite. | the first two days on this was fine, but lately have been noticing that i can't seem to get out of bed in the mornings. i feel drugged all the time. can't concentrate on anything and i found myself constantly snacking. i was just rolling around on the floor crying (because for some reason i couldn't understand anything in my fed courts book--now i know that reason is zyrtec), when i decided to google the side effects. glad i found this page and that i haven't lost my mind. will definitely stop taking it. hopefully, i won't itch because the itching does sound scary and i started on this drug to stop itching. | F | 26 | 4 days | 12/11/2005 | 2 | Seasonal Allergies | Extreme irritability, mood swings, depression | I began taking Zyrtec once we moved to North Carolina because my allergies were horrible in the Spring. My wife noticed an extreme change in mood and extreme irritability on my part. I noticed that I was more depressed. After her suggestion to quit the Zyrtec, I began feeling more like myself and my mood changed back to normal. I only took this for 2 weeks and could feel the mood shift pretty quickly. If you decide to try this medication, keep track of your feelings and moods! | M | 26 | 2 weeks 10 mg 1X day | 4/11/2012 | 2 | Itching | Worst allergy med ever!! This made me feel crazy. I was soo easily irritated by anything. I was a crazy women. It also made me sleepy. My mood was constantly down and I'm usually an outgoing fun person. It took my itching away, but I rather itch then Be so nervous and die of a stroke. | Zyrtec withdrawls also stink from what i heard. | F | 26 | 2 weeks 5mg 1X day | 8/11/2012 | 1 | Took to help with severe allergies | Had mood changes and tiredness. Like experiencing pms x100. Woke up to fingers convulsing. Scared had or was about to have seizure. Going back to taking plain benadryl. Ill take the sleepy side effect over this bs any day. | F | 26 | 1 days 30 mg | 11/4/2012 | 1 | allergies, sinus | I would strongly caution any person taking this medication to keep a running tab on your mood. While I took this drug I experienced basically constant "pms" symptoms and did not understand why until I thought to check other experienced side effects of the only medication I was taking...Zyrtec. I discovered I was not the only one who had horrifying night terrors, fits of anger and full on panic attacks for no reason, all while taking zyrtec at normal, regular doses. I was also tired basically all the time. After my research I have stopped the meds, bought a neti pot and eat local honey. No more drugs for me. I feel MUCH more in control and, funny, my allergies are better now than on the meds. Please be careful if you are giving this to your little ones! | All though it did help my allergies a LITTLE, it was not worth the horrible side effects of depression, anxiety and night terrors :( | F | 26 | 6 years 10mg 1X day | 1/20/2012 | 1 | severe allergies and asthma | Agitated, restless, nausea (wanting to throw up constantly), hyper yet exhausted throughout the day, headaches, unquenchable thirst, dizziness and memory loss/lack of concentration. | It did relief my allergies and asthma attacks but I still have to sneeze a lot, sniffing and itchy eyes. Recently I went to my doctor and he suggested to quit the zyrtec. Never made the link between the side effects and zyrtec if it wasn't for him .If I don't take it my symptoms are much, much worse. But after reading this site I realized it's not worth it, so I'll quit. | F | 26 | 10 years | 3/17/2006 | 1 | Allergies | anxiety, lack of sleep, depression, anger, lack of motivation | I was told to take this by my physician. | F | 26 | 4 weeks 5 mg 1X day | 6/9/2010 | 1 | allergies to nearly everything | Severe agitation & depression. Felt like waking up in a haze ever day & the smallest things would set me off. Stopped taking it & within a week I felt happy & calm again. | I'll fight the allergies rather than struggle through the way this medicine makes me feel. | F | 26 | 8 months 10MG 1X day | 7/29/2011 | 1 | allergies | Depression/moodiness, sleepiness, weakness/fatigue, memory problems, confusion, tremor, trouble focusing, etc..., etc... | It worked on my allergies! To be fair I typically have some mild depression, but this stuff was ridiculous. I was about to schedule and appointment with my psychiatrist and inquire about some anti-depressants or something. I couldn't think, sometimes I would want to just sit there and stare at the wall. | M | 26 | 6 weeks | 3/5/2008 | 1 | Chronic post-nasal drip/allergies | increased blood pressure, heart palpitations, anxiety | 5 days ago my doctor prescribed Zyrtec to deal with chronic post-nasal drip due to allergies. After the first day of taking (at night), I woke up feeling anxious and my heart was fluttering/palpitating. Since these were not listed side effects on the insert, I thought that perhaps I was just having an off day. Five days later and feeling the same, I was having a check up with another doctor, who informed me my blood pressure was 130/96 when it had been 120/70 just 5 days before--which is also strange because I am fit and otherwise healthy. I called my primary care doctor, who said to discontinue the medicine because it can have cause increases in blood pressure and tachycardia. | F | 26 | 5 days | 2/5/2008 | 1 | Allergys/Asthma | Been on zyrtec for a little over a month, twice daily, I am 26 and have never had any problems with my thick gorgeous hair, now I am loosing it in record timing. The drug works great if you dont mind going bald...Ladies I'm talking to you! | F | 26 | 30 days | 5/27/2007 | 1 | Seasonal Allegies | nosebleeds at night, numbness in limbs, substantial hair loss. | My whole life I have always had thick, healthy hair...that was until I went on Zyrtec. Overnight, I started loosing entire fistfulls of hair. It was falling out of my scalp and also bleeding at night. My limbs were constantly falling "asleep" or going numb as well, and this was especially while I was asleep at night. Sometimes, it would worsen to the point of pain and would wake me from sleeping at night. I was terrified that something was really wrong with me. I gained weight as well, but it was the hair loss and numbness that caused me to panic about my health. My advise would be to avoid this medication all together and to seek a less evasive medication. Allegra D has worked almost as well for me without any of the horrific side effects. It is beyond me how it is that Zyrtec is still on the market. It was a horrible and scary experience!!! | F | 26 | 2 months | 7/9/2007 | 1 | seasonal allergies | sleepy all the time, sad, moody, messed up my menstrual cycle. | not worth the side effects for the discomfort of seasonal allergies. | F | 26 | 2 weeks | 4/18/2005 | 1 | Allergies / Hives | At first I didn’t notice any neg. side effects and enjoyed not suffering from allergies. But over the 3 months, I became lethargic and became more aggressiveness. Sounds conflicting, but I went from doing stuff when I got home from work, to just watching TV. At work and with friends, if someone annoyed me (which became easier over time), I’d let them know in no uncertain terms they should stop. Stopped using it 2 days ago and I am feeling a lot calmer. | Listen to your friends and family. It took my roommate pointing it out for me to notice. I remembered my brother-in-law saying something about stopping using Zyrtec because of mood side effects. So I stopped and feel much better now. I also found out my niece was almost expelled from school for disrptive behavior, but settled down after taking her off it. So becareful, the change can be subtle and build over time. | M | 26 | 3 months | 11/10/2004 | 1 | Dermatographia, Seasonal Allergies | Zyrtec never really did anything for my seasonal allergies. But it did help with the dermatographia ..until it wore off then the itchiness felt almost unbearable. The weirdest side effect I experienced was a change in vaginal odor. It was the oddest thing. I ended up trying claritin-D ONE TIME and the dermatographia became almost nonexistent every since. The weird odor went away completely too. I'll definitely never take zyrtec again. | Maybe a coincidence, maybe not. | F | 26 | 1 years 10 | 5/22/2020 | 5 | year round allergies to everything | sleepy | zyrtec has been great for me. i take it every day at night. but now that i am reading about everyone gaining weight.. and that i am over weight... i think ill try going off of it. | F | 27 | 3 years | 8/10/2008 | 5 | Allergies/post nasal drip | Zyrtec makes me a little tired, but I take it before bed and have no complaints. | I suffered from year round allergies which caused post nasal drip that lead to severe sore throats and swollen glands. Since taking Zyrtec I rarely experience sore throats and feel that my immune system is stronger since I no longer have to constantly fight with my allergies. I am also VERY sensitive to most meds and experience the full range of side effects, but not from this drug. | F | 27 | 2 years | 3/7/2007 |