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 | Allergies | It works but the side effect that never goes away for me is the fatigue. I've tried taking it at night. I still cant get the sleepiness to go away. I feel drugged.... | F | 41 | 2 months 10 MG 1X day | 5/31/2012 | 1 | seasonal allergies | I took this on and off for years after claritin stopped working for me. I have also battled episodes of intense anger and depression for years. I finally put it together with the zrytec after my second child. I stopped taking it for almost a year due to mild allergies season and started again. I became downright abusive to my husband and children. I had no patience only intense rage. I misplaced the pills and was finefor a week. Started them again for 3 days and the rage came back. I tried this 3 more times for different lenghts of time until I concluded it was the zrytec and stopped. I had no rage or anger for the following few weeks and havent since. I am trying to repair the damage with my children fromthis stuff. It did work controlling my allergies and has been the only drug successful at that so far but I will never use it again. | F | 41 | 1 years 10 | 6/23/2012 | 1 | allergies | Ran out of my usual Nasacort and took Zyrtec for 3 days while waiting for a refill of the Nasacort. Did not put the symptoms together with the Zyrtec use at first, but symptoms started to clear up as soon as the last dose started to wear off. Experienced extreme fatigue, overall achy feeling with no specific spot that hurt, severe mood change - depression, anger. Never experienced such feelings before, or since. Decided it's much better to deal with the allergies for a few days while waiting for the refill rather than continue the zyrtec. | F | 41 | 3 days | 10/8/2009 | 1 | Allergies | Everything felt very surreal to me. I felt blurry and spacey and nothing seemed quite real. I experienced rapid heartbeat, dizziness, and blacked out once after getting up. I would feel as though I couldn't breath, like I couldn't get enough air. All of this never happened before I took Zyrtec. I felt sad and hopeless and depressed all summer. Although Zyrtec definitely treated my allergies, the side effects were not worth it. | F | 41 | 4 months | 8/10/2009 | 1 | Uncontrollable allergies | Headache, dry mouth, dry eyes, fatigue, restlessness, sleep disturbance, difficulty breathing upon exertion (even walking up steps), rapid heart beat during cardio exercise | I took this medication after my loratadine did not work for my fall allergies. They have been bad this year and I needed to look for something new after not being able to control a persistent hacking cough for over three weeks. Right away I noticed this medication made me tired. Not unexpected and for the relief I needed I could deal with that. Then I noticed my mouth and eyes became extremely dry. Since it helped to dry up some of my congestion and seemed to offer me some relief, I thought "I can deal". I am a very active person and exercise (cardio, weights, biking and running) regularly and I noticed that the mouth dryness became pretty intense during exercise, no matter how much water I drank (and I usually have 64 ounces of water or more pre exercise). It felt like I had a dry sponge in my mouth. On top of that, when I was active I noticed I needed to take frequent breaks to catch my breath and to help the feeling that my heart was going to thump out of my chest subside. I felt winded even walking up stairs. No thank you to all of that! Plus, I quickly noticed that when I tried to sleep my legs felt restless and my sleep quality was poor. All of these things are very unlike me. I went off the Zyrtec-D three days ago and onto a natural allergy relief product and already feel a world better! I know my body well and just over a week of Zyertec-D was enough for my to know this OTC medication has serious side effects that may not be desirable. | F | 41 | 1 weeks 5mg/ 120 m 2X day | 10/23/2015 | 1 | Allergies (runny nose, coughing) | Extreme difficultly breathing and excess congestion. Also, jitters and labored breathing after the main incident, as well as a headache. | I woke up this morning with chest congestion, which is normal, and had a runny nose, neither of which wanted to clear by an early morning doctors visit. I was a first time patient and didn't want to go in and have everyone thinking I was seriously ill. I was also very tired, which made things seem worse. So, I took HALF of one of my mom's Zyrtec tabs. By the time we got home (roughly two hours later) my throat was tight and it was impossible to take a deep breath on my own. I would have been in the ER if not for my respirator that I have to use at night anyway. After a couple of hours I was able to breathe on my own again, but I still have tightness in my chest and more congestion than before I took this evil pill. I also became extremely cold, and the doctor did say my blood pressure was low. Now, several hours later, I am experiencing the "common" side effects: jitters, labored breathing and a headache. I will definitely be going back to my trusty Sudafed Non-Drying. | F | 41 | 1 days 10mg | 10/20/2015 | 1 | for Hives | I began taking prednisone and zyrtec, as recommended by my doctor for hives. I've taken one before bed for the past week. Since that time I have become increasingly agitated and anxious. Today I have felt like I had had about 20 cups of coffee and feel like I can't relax at all. I am also really bloated. | I saw my chiropractor today who is also into nutrition. I told him what was going on and he said I was most likely experiencing side effects of the prednisone and zyrtec. I can't remember everything he said, but I'm done with the prednisone and I will no longer take the zyrtec. A NATURAL ALTERNATIVE that I will use is Allerplex (made by Standard Process). My chiro told me I could take 3-4, 3 x day. It's all natural and has helped my son's seasonal allergies a lot. I wish I had taken it in the first place!!! | F | 41 | 7 days | 9/16/2008 | 1 | allergies | Have had no problems with zyrtec 5mg but have noticed the 10mg/24 hour dose gives me a horrible headache. | Just wondering if anyone else has noticed that 5mg works fine but the 10mg dose causes problems. It's just like the medical industry to have the view that if one dose works well twice as much is even better! Maybe some of the folks here who've had problems would try 5mg instead of the 10mg they'd be happy with the results. | F | 41 | | 6/21/2009 | 1 | Itchiness from allerg reaction | Weight gain, anxiety, nervousness, jittery, unable to think, forgetful, sad/depressed, weakness in my legs, increased migraines. | I was on Zyrtec under a doctor's advice following an allergic reaction to an antibiotic (itchiness/hives). I was on the medication for a total of 5 months. For the entire time, I was not myself. I was anxious and nervous constantly. I was very jittery and had a persistent weakness in my legs/thighs. I was very emotional and fragile with frequent mood swings. I was having migraines weekly. I honestly thought that I could be having a nervous breakdown. Then I stopped taking Zyrtec. My leg weakness disappeared and I was not anxious/jittery. Things went back to normal. I recently had another allergic reaction to antibiotics and was itching again and so I took it for three days. The leg weakness returned. So did the jitteriness and I had a migraine for the first time in almost three months. I consider this a harmful drug and will never take it again. | F | 41 | 5 months | 11/20/2008 | 1 | seasonal allergies | malaise, negative thoughts, bad mood, depression | I took this drug once when it was prescribed to me by a doctor, I only had a couple doses before noticing that it was affecting my emotions and I stopped. A few years later, I had forgotten about that episode and took Zyrtec again - exact same results in just two days, I've never had any medication affect me like that: a horrible feeling of depression. I'm sorry to read about all the parents who have given this to their kids. Personally, I have had the best results with Allegra, no side effects. | M | 41 | 2 days | 3/30/2009 | 1 | environmental allergies | high blood pressure, weight gain, severe anxiety, aggression, unable to focus; when I miss a dose: migraine, severe nausea, heart racing | I have never been great about taking medications daily, so the symptoms kept coming and going. It was the nausea that finally made me look up side effects. After reading other symptoms on this site I was able to realize why I have been such "nut case" the last several months. I have been concerned about a sudden increase in blood pressure. I already suffered from migraines, but could not figure out why I was having them so frequently with no known triggers. I have been withdrawing now for two days; I am so sick. | F | 41 | 4 months | 6/2/2008 | 4 | Horrible allergy headaches | I have to take it at night I wake up with a terrible headache if not, but around 8 pm I can feel it wear off... I have insane dreams and think it's from the medicine??? I can't find anything else to take they will take my headache away... I have tried everything!!! | F | 42 | 0 weeks 10mg 1X day | 11/1/2020 | 4 | SEVERE ALLERGIES SICK YEAR ROUND! | SLEEPY | I AM ALLERGIC TO DUST, RAGWEED AND CATS. ZYRTEC HIGHEST DOSE(IT HAS TRULY HELPED ME BREATH THROUGHOUT THE DAY AND GIVES ME A CLEAR PASSAGEWAY AT NIGHT. ALSO,FLONASE (GENERIC :), AND QVAR. AND A STRONG VITAMIN REGIME WHICH INCLUDES ACIDOPHILUS AND THAT HAS REALLY HELPED CONTROL MY PROBLEMS. I COUGH ALL WINTER AND THROUGHOUT THE RAGWEED SEASON USING AN INHALER TO HELP ME ALONG THE WAY! I AM BEING TREATED BY DR. KAGEN IN APPLETON, WI. ALLERGY SHOTS! SO FAR THERE IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE AND I SURVIVED THE RAGWEED SEASON WITH ONLY A FEW BAD WEEKS. HE HAS ALSO RECOMMENDED JUVENON NOT A DRUG TO HELP HEAL WITHIN''IT ALL STARTS THERE. WITHIN! | F | 42 | 1 years | 10/31/2006 | 4 | Food Allergies | Weight gain - Stretching and bending exercises become difficult because the omentum packs on pounds. My belly has gained girth, but not my chin or any extremities. Frankly I have to stop because I need to breathe. Antihistamines in general seem to make people pack on pounds. I know very few habitual hayfever sufferers. Threshold itchiness - it can feel like you're about to get hives all the time, but you never do. It feels like electricity to some people I've talked to. Lethargy - While I don't feel tired, I notice that my day ends considerably sooner than it did before I started taking Zyrtec. My already considerably short attention span is even shorter, and I find that my attention to detail is easily side tracked, and end up doing stupid things of little use or consequence. Ironically, I fall asleep as soon as I take Zyrtec at night, but find myself staring at the ceiling with my mind racing | I started taking this because everything I ate was causing me to break out in hives and fall asleep. Zyrtec stopped that enough so that I could function during the day, but the beneficial effects are wearing off now. I'm tired again after I eat and am beginning to get itchier. After ceasing Zyrtec for a few days, I've noticed that I feel pretty itchy all the time, so I try not to scratch. I am wondering if this particular antihistamine might have been blocking some itchiness it would have been better to be aware of. In fooling the body into not reacting for some things, it may fool the body into not reacting for important things - like yeast infections. This is not good. Frankly, I don't think this should be given to children. It seems to make me not care about some important things. Childrens' bodies are too formative to be exposed to something that could have lasting or permanent effects on their bodies, brain chemistry and social wiring. | M | 42 | 7 months | 4/1/2007 | 4 | Seasonal Allergies | Drowsiness, increased appetite, and dry mouth are the main side effects I have experienced. I went from a 10 mg dose to a 5 mg dose to combat the drowsiness but still find myself experiencing insatiable hunger. | I rated it a "4" because it really does control my allergy symptoms, but my appetite has been over the top. I'm only going to take it when I wake up with severe allergy symptoms. I can't risk the possibility of extreme weight gain. | F | 42 | 1 years | 9/6/2006 | 3 | allergies | Drowsiness, stomach upset, next-day headaches, dry mouth, lethargy | After reading other posts, I realized the loss of mental focus I had may not have been all stress - sure enough, when I go off meds, my energy is better. But then, my allergies flare and I'm heartbroken if think I'll have to give up my cat. I am trying natural products, with small effectiveness, and taking Zyrtec only when I'm having an awful sneezy-itchy attack. Otherwise, I am so discouraged by all the side effects of allergy meds I wonder if they are worse than the allergies themselves. My natural plan includes quercitin, nettle and the OTC "seasonal relief" airborne allergy mix - it does seem to help a bit, with no side effects (even a little burst of energy). Interestingly, I've also gained weight, again I blame school stress but it does happen to coincide with my reliance on Zyrtec. | F | 42 | 1 years | 3/29/2008 | 3 | Allergies, mainly nose/sinus | Zyrtec helped a lot while I was taking it but it is VERY DIFFICULT to get off of! I have tried several times and always go back to it because of problems sleeping, anxiety, rapid heartrate, moodiness, fatigue. What the???? I thought this was non-habit forming! | I think ANY drug can become habit forming - physically and/or psychologically. Keep that in mind and, if possible, go off of it for 1/2 the year (during low allergy season). | F | 42 | 5 years | 3/10/2008 | 3 | hay fever | weight gain, breast tenderness and swelling, mood swings | I was taking Zyrtec couple years ago and noticed the constant desire to eat, and rapid weight gain. My doctor swore it couldn't be due to the Zyrtec, but I tried another med. When I noticed it was now available over the counter I decided to try it again about a week ago. In that time, my breasts are swollen, as if in the early stages of pregnancy (I'm not,) I've gained at least six pounds and I have no patience at all. | F | 42 | 7 days | 3/8/2008 | 3 | Year round allergies | If it was the zyrtec, as my new allergist claimed, extreme lethargy, dizziness, foggy thinking, never able to fully wake up, worse depression, ADD and anxiety. | Never related these symptoms to zyrtec. I was happy that my allergy symptoms were better (never fully gone, but better than any other med) that when Dr's would suggest getting off of zyrtec b/c of lethargy/complete tiredness, I told them they were crazy; My allergies would go nuts. But now I've been off of it for 3 days and feel so much better. Almost human right now. Symptoms got worse every year I was on it. I just assumed my allergies were worse every year as I heard others in this area talk about. | F | 42 | 12 years 10 mg 1X day | 11/5/2010 | 3 | hives | Hair loss, fatigue, weight gain, irritability. | Wow! I have been wondering for a while why I am losing my hair and cannot lose weight that I have gained. I have never had this much of a problem losing weight. I was actually pleased when I read these comments to finally figure out why these things were happening to me. The only problem is it is the only thing that stops me from itching. I don't know what I am going to do because either way, with or without it I will be miserable! Does anyone have any suggestions? | F | 42 | 1 years 10mg 1X day | 11/23/2010 |