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 | NOT TAKING ZYRTEC: Hives rashes extreme itching all over the body. Inflammations, agitation. | Upon trying to stop taking the "wonder drug" that is Zyrtec, I experienced extensive itching, rashes/ hives, and generally am pissed off and would like to see the inventors of Zyrtec tortured with itching powder on their private areas. | M | 47 | 1X day | 7/19/2010 | 1 | Allergies | extreme sleepyness, irritability and anger,depression, foggy weight gain. My Dr. blamed all of these symptoms on menopause. I had a hysterectomy to alleviate some of the above symptoms. It was xyrtec all along. I have discontinued for 2 weeks, and it felt like I was transformed from a raving zombie back to the land of the living. I did not have the withdrawl symptoms that some people have had. | To all physcian's when people complain of these symptoms, please review their medications, not remove organs!!! | F | 47 | 2 years 20 1X day | 2/25/2013 | 1 | Sudden Onset Of Hayfever | No waiting to find out. Had a similar experience of loss of creativity and motivation when taking VIOX and found out 3 month's later that it was BAD! I will try to minimise exposure to pollen instead. | heavily advertised on Australian TV. First thing recommended by pharmacist when I went for help as the runny nose just wouldn't stop. Never had hayfever before. Suspect the cause in in processed food!! | M | 47 | 1 days | 10/23/2005 | 1 | Allergies | Extreme tiredness and seemingly little relief of symptoms. Daughter also taking it and getting stomach upset as well as tiredness and crankiness. | Ack, the itching! I am sooo glad I found this site and can see that I am not alone. I stopped taking this a few years ago because it seemed to be doing nothing for me. But then I broke out head to toe in hives. We had just moved from CA to NY and I assumed I was more severely allergic to something there in NY and that the med was in fact doing something for me. So I continued to take it. Then I had to do without it for a few days when my pharmacy ran out and were slow to restock. Again broke out in hives. Moved to WA and noticed that I was getting more and more tired to the point of being non-functional. Found this site when looking up side effects of another med and decided to look up all the ones I was taking. Was astounded to read that the itching was a withdrawal symptom of stopping the med. Decided just to stop it and tough it out. It has been a week now. Still get periodic bouts of itchiness but it's mild compared to what it was at first. After about 24 hours of | F | 47 | 7 years | 4/8/2007 | 1 | Allergies (year round) | Needed 9 -10 hours of sleep a night. Lethargy, couldn't concentrate at work, heart palpitations, heart thumping, dry nose. Now that I'm w/drawing - can't sleep past 3 am, migraine, dizzyness. | I've been off Zyrtec for a week to 10 days, and I was hoping to find some information on how to deal with the w/drawal symptoms. I've tried several times over the years to withdraw but after 3 days, the itchy sneezy nose would return with a huge migraine. Since being on shots for 3 years has helped I thought I'd try again and found that not only did I get multiple days of migraines (in spite of taking Rx for it), I can't sleep past 3 am. But I'm tired all the time, exhausted. For several days, I was extremely dizzy to the point of falling if I tried to stand. I'm worried because I have 3 kids on this drug, and wondering if they should come off, esp since one has depression and is on meds for that. This site has helped a great deal. But I still don't know what to do about the withdraw symptoms. If anyone has gone off with success, I would like to hear about it. Thanks! | F | 47 | 7 years | 10/1/2007 | 1 | allergies | Instant change of mood to TOTAL RAGE & ANGER, especially with conflict. | It is about 24-36 hrs after I stopped taking, am restless and cannot sleep. Had bad dreams when I could sleep. Same side effects (irritability, rage, restlessness, insomnia, and an extreme sense of urgency on insignificant things) I had from prescription drugs (Levaquin & others) for sinus infection. Heart hit harder (not severe), somewhat faster at times, but when I stopped taking it my heart felt like it wanted to jump through my throat. Did not put it all together until I finally reasoned through after it got repeatedly BITTER in my relationship due to my dramatic mood swings. Reasoning was easy, first I had to accept there was a problem. My girlfriend telling me I was irrational did not help but she was correct. It was tough to accept what was going on, I would just fly off the handle over nothing/everything. I seemed “fine” until the slightest insignificant conflict, such as not agreeing on dinner. I was not fine, I was a powder keg with a short f | M | 47 | 2 months | 4/23/2008 | 5 | Asthma | Mild drowsiness | This medicine has been great for helping my asthma symptoms. | M | 48 | 3 years | 7/14/2007 | 5 | hives and severe itching | LISTEN AND LISTEN GOOD......I PUT DOWN 5 JUST TO GET TO THE TOP SO YOU ALL CAN READ. THERE IS DEFINITELY A PROBLEM IN MY OPINION WITH SIDE EFFECTS WITH ZRYTEC. NOT ONLY DID SHARING ON THIS WEB SITE SUPPORT ME AND HELP ME, IT FINALLY BROUGHT ME MY QUALITY OF LIFE BACK.....PLEASE TRUST ME....I SUFFERED SEVERE HIVES AND ITCHING 15 MONTHS AGO AND WAS PUT ON ZYRTEC....YES IT HELPED ....BUT AT A HUGE PRICE......HEADACHES,PANIC ATTACKS,BREATHING PROBLEMS,CONFUSION,FOGGINESS,IRRITABILITY, ANGER,LOSS OF LIBIDO,UNAPPROACHABLE,DEPPRESSION,LARTHARGIC,SAD, AND......AND.....WHEN YOU TRY TO GET OFF THIS DRUG?....YOU GET SO ITCHY THAT YOU WANT TO CRY,TOTALLY UNBEARABLE, HIVES APPEAR WORSE THAN THE ONES YOU WERE TREATED FOR SO WHAT TO YOU DO?.....TAKE MORE ZRYTEC BECAUSE IT WILL RELIEVE YOU...BUT THIS IS A CYCLE THAT GOES ON WITHOUT FIXING THE PROBLEM......AND......WILL CAUSE NEW PROBLEMS THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR DAY TO DAY LIVING....PLEASE BELIEVE ME...DOCTORS, PHARMACISTS AND OF COURSE PFIZER WILL NO | STOP TAKING THIS DRUG NOW!!!!! | M | 48 | 15 months | 1/5/2007 | 4 | chronic hives and itching | i have a hard time focusing and i am light sensitive when i take zyrtec. i now take only half(5mg)every two or three days after taking one a day. after 3 days my hives come back with a vengance. i definitely do not feel like myself on it, fatigued, but i can not live in my skin without it. would love to find a way to wean off but can not at this time....any answers? | definitely works but side effects for me have made me a a different person who has lost his edge.... | M | 48 | 15 months | 1/2/2007 | 4 | Watery eyes, runny nose | Zyrtec made me starve craving hungry!! I gained 5 pds in 3 days from over eating while taking this drug. It did not clear my watery eyes and runny nose. I bought children's Dimatap and it worked almost immediately. | F | 48 | 1 days 10mg | 2/2/2015 | 3 | Allergies | Upon taking the very first pill i experienced a feeling of breathlessness. Having to take deep deep breaths. It got a little scary because it had only been 30 minutes or so and i didnt know if it would get worse. Also felt kinda "wired", tingly feeling, anxiety, but that was probably from the fact that i was having to breath deeply and wasnt sure of the outcome of that. Slight headache and stomach upset. | Its now been about 4 hours since taking that first pill and i still have a slight headache but the breathlessness has gone somewhat. I dont think i'll take any more though. I seem to be quite intolerant of drugs lately. Just took 5 days of Levoquin and boy oh boy!! Now thats some horrible stuff.I think if i could stay on the Zyrtec it would help but i don't like the initial feeling.Plus the reports here of it being hard to get off really put me off. | M | 48 | 1 days | 10/27/2007 | 3 | allergens, in and out | drowsiness; out of it feeling | update:after being off zyrtec for 2 mos., decided to try zyr again (take it at night), felt drowsy, out of it, and also irritable with no energy. i'm sticking with Allegra where I feel like a human being. also, all of sudden i was able to lose weight in the last 2 mos. -- reading other posts, wonder if the zyrtec was the reason i kept gaining not losing? | F | 48 | 1 years | 10/22/2005 | 3 | Chronic Hives | I've been taking it for six years. For the last eight months, my hair has been falling out. I'm female, so it's very distressing. My hair is getting very thin. I'm not sure it's the Zyrtec. I'm seeing my doctor tomorrow. It is the only medication that works in controlling my hives. Full hair and hives or bald and hiveless. Decisions, decisions. | F | 48 | 6 years | 4/24/2006 | 3 | inside and outside allergens | taking a whole 10mg pill left me feeling drowsy and out of it, i found by splitting it in half and only taking onehalf per night, i was ok been doing this for 1 year | I recently started taking onehalf am onehalf pm during bad pollen season spring and summer and i was fine, no effects. now all of sudden i'm waking up feeling drugged and out of it; sometimes just feel wierd all over; took Claritin for two days to experiment and seemed better but then my teeth and nose started hurting like a sinus infection coming on. i went back to one half tablet zyrtec, didn't feel drugged but not myself. i will talk to dr next visit to decide what to do . been on Allegra and claritin so many yrs that they just don't cut it. what i really wanted to comment on is the itching. I thought i was the only one who had extreme itching when off antihistamines. i can't go off. I really think going off zyrtec is worse than the others. i went off Allegra yrs ago for allergy testing and it was bad but bearable. a yr ago after i had just started zyrtec, i had to go off for 10 days to complete allergy testing, well, it was so bad i would cry everytime i had to take a shower or wash my hair, it was bad. and it didn't get better. i do think your body changes after being on the antihistamine. i rated it a 3 because i'm not sure about the side effects, but it does help my allergies. | F | 48 | 1 years | 8/8/2005 | 3 | allergies | My 2 yr old daughter was prescribed Zyrtec and she changed for the worst almost overnight. Our normally sweet, loving child became highly emotional, easy upset and whiny. She lost her appetite and would not eat ANY breakfast or lunch. It all went down the drain after reading some other comments here. | M | 48 | | 9/12/2007 | 3 | Year-round allergies & sinusitis | severe sedation for 6 months, weight gain, possible others | I have been on this medication since its introduction over 10 years ago. While I have not experienced a tolerance to the med, I have, over all of these years, been treated for almost ALL of the side effects listed in this forum (significant weight gain despite high activity, depression, sedation, etc.). Until recently, I was on 2 antidepressants simultaneously (Wellbutrin XL and Lexapro).The thing that is freaking me out is that on 2 occasions that I have stopped taking it, I experienced WITHDRAWAL SYPTOMS like I would expect from going off of a narcotic (abdominal cramping, diarrhea, fatigue). This is my final attempt and I am weaning myself off of it (Zyrtec every 3rd day and taking Claritin on the off days). Pharmacists assured me there was no such thing as withdrawal from Zyrtec. Thanks to this forum, I finally understand. | M | 48 | 11 years | 6/19/2007 | 3 | allergies, asthma | Severe tiredness...falling asleep at work at my desk, unable to concentrate, making tons of mistakes and errors at work, forgetful, generally confused, weight gain, stuffy nose, dried blood coming out of my nose. | I was so tired and didn't put 2 & 2 together until I read comments on this website. I slept from 4:30 pm until 9:00 am the next morning without waking up... called in sick to work... too tired to make it in... too tired to exercise. | M | 48 | 1 months | 5/10/2006 | 3 | Nasal Allergies | none | Keeps me from having a full blowner but my nose won't stop running. | M | 48 | 2 years 1X day | 4/9/2011 | 2 | allergies making my voice raspy | extreme tiredness, yawning all day (needing a nap right after I woke up),inability to focus at work,lack of energy | I started Zyrtec at the suggestion of my doctor because I was having relatively mild allergies that were affecting my voice. I think it helped the allergies, but I have been so tired, I can barely function. Like some others, I am so glad I found this website because my doctor did not tell me/think it could be this medicine. But based on when the symptoms started, I know that this is the culprit because I am usually a very energetic person. Didn't have the negative emotions, but who knows, maybe I would have had I continued. Thanks for posting everyone. Going off--the "cure" is way worse than the "disease". | F | 48 | 20 days 10 mg 1X day | 10/29/2010 | 2 | Seasonal allergies | I take allergy medication in the spring when tree and grass pollen is in the air but then stop during the summer when I don't have problems. I take 10mg Zyrtec in the AM. When I missed a dose I began to feel itchy over my entire body but especially on my hands and feet. Like pins and needles or a nerve reaction. After the second day I had small subdermal blisters similar to eczema on my feet and ankles that developed into hives. The itchiness was unbearable. I used cortizone cream and when I resumed the zyrtec the itchiness subsided. Recently I stopped taking the drug again and the itchiness returned. This time I did not use cortizone but restarted the zyrtec and again the itchiness subsided. | Great website! I'm glad to konw others have had this side effect. Zyrtec works for the allergies, but the withdrawal is not acceptable. Will need to speak with my doctor on this so I can take another drug that doesn't cause the itchy hands and feet. | M | 48 | 3 months | 6/23/2006 |