ZYRTEC Reviews (CETIRIZINE HYDROCHLORIDE)Average Rating: 2.0 (1816 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare ZYRTEC with similar:
Type: Over-the-counter Drug
|
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 (seasonal) | Anxiety, irritability, weight gain, dry mouth, fatigue, insomnia, mild depression, mood swings and vivid dreams. | Started Zyrtec about 8 weeks ago and noticed about a 8 lb weight gain...some other psychological symptoms. I run 5 miles a day x5 days a week and was surprised at this sudden increase in weight and bloating. Also triggered an increase in hunger. Never experienced psychological issues (mood swings, insomnia, irritability, anxiety, depression) before until I started taking this drug. Although the psychological symptoms are mild, they are still upsetting. These side effects started about 1 week after I started taking it. I have stopped Zyrtec due to not "feeling myself" anymore. Hopefully, these symptoms from the drug will cease very soon so I can return to being happy and healthy. | F | 42 | 8 weeks 5 mg 1X day | 6/1/2016 | 1 | Allergies | I didn't have side effects until I ran out of Zyrtec for a couple days. I started itching and feeling sick. It was easy to guess that this was the culprit. Then i went online and started reading how toxic this drug is. About day 3 my itching and sneezing was out of this world. I have clawed and scratched my skin off and have hives on my chest and neck. I refuse to give in and take another one. I'll be half dead and miserable or go to the hospital one...but i won't ever take this again. Poison, not to mention makes you retain water and gain weight. Please read up on Zyrtec withdrawals...you'll never take it again, nor will you give it to your children. | F | 42 | 2 years 10 mg | 7/12/2016 | 1 | Dr thinks I have seasonal allergies | Took at 9pm last night,this morning I had extreme drowsiness, foggy to the point I thought I might pass out, very weak, awful and still feeling it right now at 6:30pm Feels like I took 100 Benadryl. Will never take again. | Never again! This was prescribed by Dr. ( also called Cetirizine hcl ) | F | 42 | 1 days 10mg | 4/29/2017 | 1 | Allergies | Severe Itching, Sneezing, Runny nose, Headache, Insomnia | I have taken Zyrtec for about 10 years. Suffered from severe depression and anxiety. At the suggestion of my therapist I went off cold turkey. She feels that the Zyrtec along with Singulair may be causing the Depression, Anxiety and weight gain. | F | 42 | 10 years | 9/18/2009 | 1 | Allergies | Social withdrawal, sluggishness, sleeping for very long periods of time and having trouble waking up even after 12 hours of sleep and nosebleeds. | I started giving this to my son when prescribed many years ago. I didn't give it to him for extended periods of time so I did't put two and two together until my husband started taking it and exhibiting strange behaviors himself that I had never seen him do before. My husband began having chest pains, heart palpatations, sluggishness, depressing, an unwillingness to join in family activities, and he was tired all of the time. My son would have some of those symtoms and also nosebleeds. We began researching the side effects of this and realized that it was this drug causing it. My son informed me that every nosebleed he has had was when he was taking the Zyrtec. I thought about it and he was right. He has also used nasal sprays and his peditrician and I thought that was causing the nosebleeds, but he wasn't using it this time. I abruptly threw this drug away and the nosebleeds have stopped and my husband is now going through withdrawal symptoms (he was using it on a daily basis and had been for almost a year). I wouldn't ever use this drug or recommend it to anyone. | F | 42 | | 8/26/2009 | 1 | Allergies | Daily headaches, restlessness at night, heart palpitations | I couldn't understand the reason for my headaches (which I never get) and heart palpitations. It finally clicked that I just haven't felt like myself since I started taking this medication. Which did NOTHING at all to help my allergies. I stopped taking it and it's been three days off of it and I'm feeling back to my old self again. I will never take that crap again! | F | 42 | 1 months 10 1X day | 6/10/2013 | 1 | chronic allergies | Major effect was that I had progressively worse memory impairment. After 3 months, I was having trouble remembering recent events and finding common words, and it was starting to affect my job. I also experienced significant weight gain (20 lbs) and the medicine just didn't work well for my allergies compared to others to combat allergies, although at least it did not make me tired. | I rarely have very negative reactions to drugs, so I was surprised at the extent of my impairments with this medicine. Once I went off it for several days, my memory started to improve and I began to lose weight again. I realize everyone is different so the drug might work okay for some people. However, if you start experiencing memory loss, realize it may be the drug itself. Very scary to experience. | F | 42 | 3 months | 4/6/2009 | 1 | Allergies | I got very dry skin and a red scaling rash on my elbows. It made me so tired I couldn't concentrate at all and could barely keep my eyes open, yet I could not sleep. Started to get asthma again, also. | I have a lot of allergies and have been going through various treatments for a long time. Zyrtec was pretty good at masking my sinus problems. But I was so wiped out by it, I think its worse than Benadryl. And my problems came back right away when I went off it. Which isn't always the case with Benadryl. I'm sensitive to drugs. The positive side of Benadryl, if there is one, is you can by the 4-hour caplets and break them in half. Then you take it at night and it wears off by the next day. I dislike any time-release drug because of the potential for it to make me unable to sleep. | F | 42 | 15 days | 6/13/2009 | 1 | Allergies | My 5 year old daughter was prescribed OTC liquid Zyrtec by her doctor after an allergic reaction to a cat. She took it for 2-3 weeks. She became extremely combative, aggressive, hitting, kicking, fighting, screaming, crying, throwing tantrums, etc. | Her behavior was so unusual and out of control, that I began thinking about what had changed during that period of time and remembered she had started taking Zyrtec. I stopped the Zyrtec and her behavior changed immediately back to her normal 5 year old self. The change was dramatic and obvious. I found this web site by googling side effects of Zyrtec. After reading some of the comments and my own experience, I believe it is a crime that the manufacturer is not listing aggressive behavior as a side effect for children. I only went through this for a couple of weeks and it was awful, I feel sorry for the parents and kids who were taking this drug and experiencing these side effects unbeknownst to them. My daughter kept telling me she "couldn't help how she was behaving" and cried and was sorry and upset she couldn't be a good girl. I now believe her that she couldn't helpt it, because it changed immediately. I have also taken the pill form of Zyrtec myself for a couple of years to control my allergies and thought I had no side effects, however, I have slowly gained 30 lbs. over the past two years and wonder if this is related. | F | 42 | 2 weeks | 6/1/2009 | 1 | allergies | extreme drowsiness | I took Zyrtec in the evening and woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and with no allergy symptoms. However, approximately 14 hours after taking it, while I was at work, I had the odd sensation that my hands and feet were not connected to my body. Thank god I had the sense to cancel all my appointments for the day and not get behind the wheel of a car, because about a half hour later I felt so tired that it was painful to even try to type. I remember I started crying when I had to reach for the number keys on my keyboard, they seemed so far away! I spent the next 4 hours at my desk, a complete zombie, unable to move. I'd advise anyone taking this product for the first time to avoid driving for at least 24 hours. | F | 42 | 1 days | 5/15/2009 | 1 | Fluid in ears | I experienced heart palpitations, anxiety attacks, general nervousness and a motor tic...my head just shakes for no reason. Loss of concentration, skin irritations. | Don't take this drug, there are other drugs out there like Benadryl that will do the same thing and are much safer. | F | 42 | 1 years | 1/6/2009 | 1 | Allergies | Disproportionate anger, irrationality, rage, aggression, muscle and joint pain, back pain, fatigue upon waking. | My husband tried Zyrtec this past weekend for the first time. While his allergies cleared right up, he became someone I didn't even know. He is one of the most calm and collected people I have ever met, but he was enraged from the morning after his first dose onward. He could not focus, was fatigued even after a night's sleep, and was angrier than I have *ever* seen him over nothing at all. The worst part was how irrational he became. These are absolutely not characteristics my husband is known for. Last night (thankfully) he forgot to take the pills before bed and he's back to himself this evening. He says he feels like he missed the whole weekend in a fog. | M | 42 | 3 days | 2/9/2009 | 1 | Histamine issues | I was diagnosed with POTS shortly after starting this medication. Doctors told me this medication has no side effects and that I needed to be on it. This medication causes severe dehydration, anxiety, tachycardia. | F | 42 | 1 years 10mg | 6/23/2018 | 1 | My allergist prescribed it for me | So about 10 years ago my allergies had really gotten bad so I went to see an allergist. He put me on Zyrtec. I am a very laid back and easy going person, but after being on Zyrtec only a few days I started to feel intense rage and anger. I went back to my Dr. and explained what I believed to be side effects. He switched me to Xyzal and it worked great and no side effects. When Xyzal went over the counter, I ran into the drug store to grab more and hurriedly picked up a bottle. The next day I couldn’t get off my couch and felt extremely dark and depressed. I went to my purse and realized I had grabbed the wrong bottle and was taking Zyrtec again. I stopped immediately and my depression faded soon after. Never again! | Zyrtec is the devil. | F | 42 | 7 days 30mg | 6/24/2018 | 1 | MCAS | AWFUL exhaustion, fatigue, depression, anxiety, sore throat, anger, hopelessness | F | 42 | 6 months 5mg 1X day | 7/8/2023 | 5 | urticaria & angioedema | Dry mouth, receeding gums & fatigue | It's a trade off, I could not live the way I was, it's an effective drug with some side effects just like any other drug, I'm willing to take those. | M | 43 | | 7/19/2008 | 5 | Cronic Hives | Fatigue, Weight Gain, low sex drive | Zyrtec is the only thing that works on my hives to keep them under control. I was on a dose of 2 times per day and have been slowly cutting down to 1/2 a pill (5mg) a day. When i try to stop completly, i get headaches and hive right away. After reading the board I finally know i'm not crazy. | F | 43 | 5 years | 3/3/2006 | 5 | Hives | Fatigue | Yes, Zyrtec makes me tired, but it is certainly better than being covered in hives! It has been extremely efficient at curing my itchy skin (but less effective for nasal allergies), and I am very happy with this drug. | F | 43 | 365 days 10 2X day | 1/18/2011 | 5 | itchy skin, runny nose | Sometimes heart was beating so fast that I had to stop moving to slow the heart beat. | This was a few years ago. I didn't get tiredness from taking this med at that time. But a few years later, I took Zyrtec again to deal with itchy skin and runny nose, I got very, very tired and had to stay asleep all day and all night. I couldn't work. I couldn't do anything. Just sleeping and sleeping. Last night I was hungry but I couldn't get out of bed to eat because I was too weak. I skipped supper and slept. I wanted to eat, but I couldn't get out of bed and fell asleep till late morning. I think 10mg is too much of a doze for many people. Today I cut up the pill in half and took 5mg instead. Maybe because of my aging... I used to love taking Zyrtec, and 10mg didn't cause problems, but now I can hardly keep myself awake with 10mg. | F | 43 | 3 weeks 10 1X day | 9/21/2011 | 5 | Seasonal allergies | Made me sleepy so I take at night. | It's the only thing that completely works on my allergies. Got no relief from Claritin or Allegra. I take it regularly during fall allergy season; here & there during rest of year. | F | 43 | 3 years | 4/18/2005 |