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 |
| 1 | Chronic nasal allergies | HAIR LOSS!!! Depression | I took zyrtec for about a year and a half. Two months after I started it I began sweeping piles of hair from the floor daily! I saw the doctor and he said my hair loss was probably genetic. Everyone in my family has beautiful thick hair. Even the men. I became severely depressed. Over a period of about 8 months I loss nearly half my hair volume. Dr never related it to zyrtec. I reviewed the Physicians Desk Reference and discovered that alopecia is a side effect of this medication. Please! please check it out on drugs.com. I have been off zyrtec for 5 weeks and already have hair regrowth. | F | 32 | 1.5 years | 1/29/2009 | 1 | ALLERGIES | DRY MOUTH HEADACHES HYPERACTIVITY IRREGULAR HEARTBEAT | I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND GIVING THIS TO CHILDREN. MY DAUGHTER HAS EXPERIENCED MANY SIDE EFFECTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE MEDICINE. | F | 32 | 2 years | 12/15/2008 | 1 | "possible" allergies | nightmares, acting out, irritable, defiant | Zyrtec was prescribed to my 2 1/2 year old. Seemed to work great until she came very defiant, irritable, couldn't sleep. She cried a lot and became very aggressive. We attributed it to the "terrible twos" because she is such a sweet and loving child. I am so glad she hasn't been on it long and we were able to narrow it down to this medication. She is already totally different after just one day off! | F | 32 | 2 weeks | 5/13/2009 | 1 | Allergies | Severe anxiety | Provided some relief from allergy symptoms, but caused constant, major, debilitating anxiety. Did not make the connection at all until I switched to a different allergy medication to see if it would work better, and suddenly the anxiety went away. In hindsight, I realized that the anxiety had started when I started taking Zyrtec. Basically lost 6 months of my life to this medication. | M | 32 | 6 months | 8/8/2009 | 1 | For children | Well, I am taking it and I am wide awake- so I was looking up to see if it effect others in that matter- When my son was younger 5-6, he could not take zyrtec or clartin. He was mean on both- even his teachers asked what had I put him on. He can take d-allergy or allegra and he doesn't have the side effects. He also has asthma...I guess I need to take in the am....considering I have to be at work in 6.5 hours and I'm WIDE AWAKE!!! | F | 32 | | 11/3/2009 | 1 | Allergies | Heart palpitations, extreme anxiety, depression to the point I would burst into tears at random times. | The active ingredient in this drug is cetirizine hydrochloride, and quite frankly it should be banned. I'm a confident social person and I took this drug for a month. During that month I felt like my heart rate was over 100 most of the time. I was depressed and had severe debilitating anxiety. I simply could not function and most mornings couldn't physically leave the house to go to work. When I was at work I would go into the toilet cubicle and be unable to walk out of there. It was frightening being like that. I would cry for no reason despite not being a crier. Normal situations were starting to cause extreme anxiety to the point where I would just want to shut myself away from the world all the time. It took WEEKS for me to get back to normal after taking it, so don't be alarmed if you're not back to your old self in just a few days. This drug gave me the worst month of my life. Please don't take it, especially if you are in any way an anxious person to start with. This drug completely changes your personality while you're on it and makes day to day life very difficult to cope with. It really should be banned. | M | 32 | 1 months 10mg | 9/9/2015 | 1 | Seasonal Allergies | Nausea, joint paint (especially hips and shoulders), extreme irritability, crippling fatigue, cannot concentrate, terrible ADD symptoms, brain fog, cannot get out of bed, anger/rage, deep depression, heart palpitations, horrendous weight gain, soul-less feeling, zero interest in life. | I began taking Zyrtec in March to battle seasonal allergies and did not realize until today all the horrible side effects I have been experiencing are from this pill! I take 1 Zyrtec at night, right before bed due to the extreme drowsiness it causes if I take it during the day. I am a certified nutritionist and adhere to an extremely regimented diet and exercise plan. I have a ton of self control when it comes to diet and exercise and typically maintain a weight of 115 lbs. Over the last 2 months I have gained 10+lbs without a single change to my routine. Over the last 2 months my weight has been slowly creeping up. So I have increased my cardio and reduced my calories even farther and my weight will not budge! I cannot even fit into my pants anymore! I was so desperate for answers that I thought I may have a thyroid disorder. Over the last week I have been racking my brain trying to figure out what is wrong, but now it all makes sense. Zyrtec really helped my allergy symptoms however it will ruin your life! Update: Stopped taking Zyrtec cold turkey. Day 1: terrible splitting headache and nausea with frequent urination. Day 2: Very bad nausea and vomiting, stomach upset, blurred vision, spacey feeling, itching. Feels as if you are coming off some crazy narcotic!!! This stuff should be taken off the market. | F | 32 | 2.5 months 10mg 1X day | 5/23/2015 Patient History | 5 | allergies | slightly drowsy. I use half tab for anxiety, itchiness from Cymbalta withdrawal, and seasonal allergies | F | 33 | 10 years 1 1X day | 8/27/2018 | 5 | Pollens, Cats, Dogs, Molds, etc... | After reading through some of the responses I wonder if my side effects are greater than I had originally thought. I take a 10mg in the morning, usually with my coffee. I can be quite irratable during the day, but not always. At night if I sit down after work it's all I can do to stay awake. I have had significant weight gain. I think I might also be suffering from seriously dry sinuses. When I blow my nose it can be kind of bloody. | Despite these side effects I have nothing but praise for this drug. It is my miracle cure. My allergies and asthma are pretty severe throughout most of the year. Now taking Zyrtec and Advair. With the combination of these two I am virtually symptom free. I still sneeze occasionally but nothing like I used to. I also haven't missed any more work because of an allergy/asthma attack. Now as long as this drug doesn't lose it's potency I'll be happy! | M | 33 | 1 years | 12/30/2006 | 5 | hives | Been taking it for several years now. No side effects that I know of other than drowsiness. Solution = take it before bedtime. | If I miss 1 dose, I start itching. I havent let it go past that since I suffered from hives for years. This is the ONLY medicine that I've tried that works, and I've been prescribed all of them. I take 1 10mg pill every night. | M | 33 | 4 years | 11/21/2004 | 5 | I take Zyrtec for angio edema. | I have been taking Zyrtec everyday for five years. I take it at night because my angio edema seems to attack sometime in the night. I have had no side effects at all other than sleepiness. Taking it at night helps with that. Without Zyrtec I would not be able to work. My angio edema is pretty erratic. I haven't had an attack in 2 years. Without it I'd be very depressed. The swelling always begins in my face first. It is almost impossible to eat, go into public, or talk when my face and mouth are swollen. I've had attacks where my throat has swollen sending me to the ER. So without Zyrtec my life would be very difficult. | F | 33 | 4 years 10 mg | 1/10/2013 | 5 | seasonal allergies | None | I'm posting to counter many of the negative comments which can be attributed to other factors, and to counter the the self-selection bias. Sure I've had dizziness, problems falling asleep, and hair loss, but all of these occurred long before I started taking Zyrtec! In the interest of full disclosure though, I only take enough to counter 95% of my symptoms so I'm not "flying blind" and risking overdosing. | M | 33 | 1 years 2.5 to 5mg 1X day | 6/21/2010 | 4 | Hives | NONE not one side effect I was amazed | When I first started taking Zyrtec It was like a wonder drug. Needed only every 48 hours and would clear hives completely with in 20 min. No side effects what’s so ever. But after two summers of taking it one day it suddenly did nothing, Not sure if my body adapted to it or what but defenilty get a trial pack. You will know with in 30 minues if it’s the stuff for you. I have since tried Benadryl. Which didn’t do anything for me. Currently I have gone back to Zyrtec with zantac aswell. | M | 33 | 2 years | 8/22/2004 | 4 | severe allergies | some depression, crying, agitation, bad dreams | It's been the most effective allergy medicine I've used. As soon as I started taking it I went from severe allergies to none at all. | F | 33 | 4 days | 1/5/2007 | 4 | Allergies | Sleep much better, possible increased appetite, but also may be the Astelin. | Worked great on allergies. Induced sleep helpful because I used to be insomniac! | F | 33 | 2 months | 6/19/2007 | 4 | Post Nasal Drip | dry mouth, kept waking up at night | Helped clear the mucus. | F | 33 | 3 days | 8/17/2016 | 4 | spring allergies | weight gain | Very effective at controlling my allergies. I'm perhaps a little drowsy, but I counter that by taking it at night and drinking coffee in the day. In another month, allergy season will end, and hopefully I'll be able to lose the weight. | M | 33 | 30 days | 4/30/2009 | 3 | sinus headaches due to allergies | weight gain, irritability, depression, apathy | I quit taking zyrtec due to doctor advice when I had a severe sinus infection...the zyrtec was drying it out and keeping it from draining. Didn't start taking zyrtec again after the infection cleared...CRAZY ITCHING for WEEKS! I'm going nuts! How long does this last? I was always reminded when I ran out and missed for a few days because this itching would begin, but I never knew it would last THIS LONG!! The funny thing is that the allergy symptoms I had before zyrtec did NOT include itching at all. | F | 33 | 5 years | 5/6/2009 | 3 | Hay fever | Sleep apnea! I had never experienced sleep apnea before. My wife reported that my breathing stopped periodically while I was sleeping. I woke up many times in the night, not knowing why. For me, poor sleep yields weight gain. | It's a shame. It did a great job of controlling my allergies. If they made a 12-hour version of the drug, it would be perfect! | M | 33 | 40 days | 5/13/2009 | 3 | ALLERGIES | gained 30 pounds(can't get the weight off no matter how much I work out), very tired all day, trouble sleeping, weird dreams, more hungry late evening/night | helped my allergies, but now that I have read about the awful side affects and realize my unusual weight gain is probably from the zyrtec, I am going to quit taking it and see if all of my exercising and diet will finally start showing results | F | 33 | 8 months 1X day | 11/7/2014 |