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 | asthma/allergies | Moody, cranky, emotional highs and lows, sleeplessness, aggression | 8 months ago the doctor prescribed 1tsp a day for my 4 year old who has asthma that is triggered by common allergies. It wasn't until he transitioned from childcare to school that a red flag was raised concerning his moodiness, behavior issues, sleeplessness, etc. I thought it was a phase, but he really wasn't himself. I spoke to his teachers, counselors, the doctor and everyone said he was just having transition issues. I didn't buy it and at my mother's suggestion, started to research all of the medications he was taking for the asthma. Low and behold, Zyrtec has all of these crazy side effects. Who knew?! Why would you prescribe that for a child?! I took him off of it 2 weeks ago and he's done a 180. He's a happy go lucky kid who's back to being himself. | M | 4 | 8 months | 11/18/2009 | 2 | allergies | My 4 year old son was placed on this medication for his allergies. Almost immediately he became a different child. "Possessed" comes to mind. He was extremely aggitated and irrational. | He will not get another dose. I'm glad I came across this website. | M | 4 | 1 days | 4/23/2009 | 2 | allergies- tree poll, grass,ragweed | My 4 year old son who is normally very sweet natured, quiet, and cooperative turned into an aggressive, angry, and irritable boy. He would have fits of rage that were very out of character, developed a low frustration tolerence and would often cry easily, and engaged in "mean" verbal and physical behavior to his siblings and parents. | Zyrtec appeared to work well in gettig rid of my son's allergy symptoms (tree pollen, ragweed, grass), however, the behavioral side effects do not seem to be worth it. | M | 4 | 8 weeks | 8/2/2007 | 2 | Seasonal Allergies | My 4 year old son is allergic to almost everything under the sun having to do with outside and springtime. About a year and a half ago we took him to an allergist and he was tested and prescribed Zyrtec to treat his symptoms. He has been on and off of this since. About a 2 weeks ago he began to have allergy symptoms. So I administered the Zyrtec. About a week or so after that I noticed that he began to move his neck, clear his throat often, blink plenty and shrug his shoulders involuntarily. When I took him to his pediatrician she freaked me out by likening his symptom to a child with Tourettes said that they were repetitive tics and referred us to a neurologist. I lost my mind, but it wasn't until I began to read these ratings and came across one that talked about the involuntary tics that I made the connection and did some more research on the medication. | Do not let your pediatrician diagnose your child with a trumped up biased observation and call it "tourettes" when in actuality it may only be the medicine. This scared my husband and I to death. | M | 4 | 8 times | 4/18/2007 | 1 | allergies | moody, trouble sleeping at night, agressive behavior, argumentative over the smallest requests | my son has been on zyrtec for 2 years on and off.He is moody and is defiant but I just thought it was normal 4 year old behavior.This week he started acting out, he hit two of his friends, he gets really angry over the littlest things.I was at my wits end and I just thought about looking up side effects and found this website and I am in tears over reading the other reports.I am taking him off zyrtec tonight. | M | 4 | 2 years | 10/13/2008 | 1 | Nasal allergies | We started giving my son zyrtec at around age 2 for his allergies in the fall, his drainage was so bad that we would become sick every morning. He also started mother's day out at the same time, would cry every day and continued this into the next year would not talk to the teachers or interact with the other children. He also was stuttering when he would talk with us at home. After talking with the school I found out how he was not responding to them at all. So I had him evaluated by a speech pathotoligst and the evaluation was to take 45 min. because he would not talk to them took 2 hrs. At this time he got a severe sinus infection and the Dr. put him on a antibodic for 14 days and took him off the zyrtec during this time he did not stutter and at the 2nd testing they did not pick up on the stuttering but did have him evaluated at the school and after watching his action in the class room suggested that I have him tested for selective mutism. He has now been off the medication for 2 | I think he was just always in a daze, he was also very difficult to manage with crying alot and not wanting to particiate in any activties. | M | 4 | 2 years | 6/16/2006 | 1 | seasonal allergies | my son was on it for about a month - he wanted to eat constantly! i'd say in that month alone he gained about 4 or 5 pounds - and that's alot! he already has svt - so he can't gain alot of weight at once, nor can he take any medicine. he also seemed a little altered - wasn't really into things. we took him off of it - he's a monster now. not sure if it's the withdrawal i've read about, or just the allergies driving him crazy -- i was on it for about two weeks. i couldn't function, wanted to sleep all the time, and had a really hard time getting up in the mornings. | after what i've read, i would not recommend this to anyone - especially children!! | M | 4 | 30 days | 7/17/2006 | 1 | post nasal drip | my four year old son was drowsy, coughed a lot in the morning, yelled out many times in his sleep and cried a lot during the day. The worst was he sneezed a lot and had a constant runny nose!!! Before he went on this medication, he was dry faced... | Our doctor prescribed Zyrtec to my son because he cleared his throat a lot probably due to post nasal drip. He sneezed occasionally. Zyrtec has the opposite effect on him, making him sneeze a lot and exhibit a runny nose. After only two days, I am discontinuing. I'd rather have throat clearing and the other mild allergy symptoms my family experiences then put up with the side effects of this medicine. | M | 4 | 2 days | 7/10/2005 | 1 | allergies | My daughter has allergies and was prescribed zyrtec to replace claritin after having pneumonia twice in two months. I was told to give her the Zyrtec at night because it can cause drowsiness. I usually did that but occasionally when someone else would keep her overnight, they'd forget and give it to her in the morning. Her behavior was terrible -- aggressive and unpredictable and she's usually very sweet. I couldn't rule out the fact that she was with someone else when this happened. For the last two weeks, I ended up giving her the Zyrtec in the morning because we forgot one night and just got off track. My daughter's behavior has been awful -- to the point where her teacher even asked if she was taking something that might make her behave so differently. I decided to see if I could find some link between aggression/irritability in young children and zyrtec. I am so grateful to have found this site. We will go back to Claritin today. | F | 4 | 6 days | 4/9/2007 | 1 | severe allergies | behavioral problems, emotional numbness, could not sleep, lots of temper tantrums, did not seem to help with allergies after a certain time of day, upped the dosage and he had more unusual behaviors, speech delayed. This medicine almost ruined my child!!! | For a long time I thought my child was autistic. I finally got him an appointment to get him evaluated because he more or less fit the mold of an autistic child. After a year of bad results with zyrtec, I took him off of it and within days he was a different child. He stopped all his irrational, abnormal behaviors, started sleeping and most importantly started talking and responding to life. I thought I was helping him because of his severe allergies, but instead zyrtec robbed him of a year of his life. | M | 4 | 1 years | 7/27/2004 | 1 | allergies - heyfever | My 4 1/2 yo son was put on Zyrtec to help control his hayfever. He experienced heightened behavioral problems at preschool - including intense hyperactivity, distractibility and inability to attend. He also experienced stomach problems and had diarrhea every day while on Zyrtec - at first we thought the diarrhea was directly related to an antibiotic he had been put on for 7 days but now we know he was cramping due to Zyrtec. | I might add that my son's doctor mistakingly put him on 10 mg instead of the 5 mg he should have been taking, for his age group. I am taking my son off Zyrtec - all together - and will see if that helps him get back to being "him" at school. If so, we might try a dosage of 5 mg at a later point in time. But after reading the comments here, I'm even skeptical about that level dosage in kids. Last night was his first night off of it and he woke up, mid night, with violent stomach pains, cramping and intense diarrhea. | M | 4 | 3 weeks | 10/4/2006 | 1 | Allergies | I can't believe that I am not the only one who has experienced this. This is both reassuring and disconcerting at the same time. I actually got very emotional when I started to read all of the comments, especially, those parents with 4-5 year olds taking these meds. My 4-year-old daughter has been taking Zyrtec for the past four months. A wonderfully sweet child transformed into this terribly-aggressive and noncompliant pre-schooler. Further, she became extremely emotional, aggressive towards me, my wife, and her brother, and catatonic at times. She started tantrums, talking to herself, destroying her toys and her room. In fact, she started a new daycare two weeks ago because she was dismissed from her previous pre-school because of uncontrollability. We immediately dismissed the notion that our daughter should be tested for ADHD. I feel so bad for our daughter because we also have taken so much from our daughter in attempts to correct her behavior -- toys, early bed, no snack | I agree with others that this information needs to be more readily available. My wife and I have had many sleepless nights worrying about our daughter. We really have to find a way to get this information out to others!!! | F | 4 | 4 months | 4/9/2007 | 1 | Allergies | My 4 year old son was prescribed Zyrtec and Singulair last fall. Shortly after beginning, I noticed severe behavioral changes. He become very irritable, aggressive, and non-compliant. He had taken Zyrtec before, and I didn't really notice any changes, so I attributed the behavioral changes to the Singulair. I took him off of both meds and things went back to normal. We started back on Zyrtec a week ago. Five days in, he is exhibiting the same behavioral changes as last fall. I stopped giving it to him today. | I really wish that pediatricians and pharmacists would warn parents to watch for these changes in behavior when prescribing Zyrtec. These little guys are at our mercy and don't deserve to have to feel like this. | M | 4 | 6 days | 6/4/2007 | 1 | Allergies | We have tried several medications for my 4 year old daughter over the last couple of years. She has a chronic runny nose and on several occaisions has had horrid coughing attacks at night due to drainage. We started her on Zyrtec at the recommendation of our pediatrician and our normally sweet even tempered child became a holy terror. IN TWO DAYS, she began having irrational fits, just about climbing the walls! She became very aggressive with her 18 month old brother. She acted as if she couldn't hear me when I tried to get her attention to stop her from her destructive behavior. I asked her why she was acting so nuts and she said-"I just can't hear you mommy". She would have moments of time where she just stared off into space; totally glazed over. At one point my husband said it was like having a football player on steroids in the house! Last night she went from hysterical crying to a dead pan face "Mommy, how do you spell your middle name?" We took her off immedi | As others have expressed, I wish doctors and pharmacists would be more aware of these kinds of side effects in children. I feel for the parents who had their children on this stuff for so long never making the connection and being told it isn't the medication. I guess we all have to be our own advocates! Especially for our children-I feel terrible for having put her through this! | F | 4 | 3 days | 11/26/2007 | 1 | Allergies | behavior problems, didn't listen, angry, you name it. Also very tired during the day and very fussy. | In my opinion, this is VERY bad medicine for young children. Like many readers this was the only place that I found to confirm my thoughts about this medicine. The drug companies would loose lots of money if the truth were told. Once I stopped giving my son this stuff he returned to his normal happy self. For a while I thought he was possesed. I feel like a bad parent having given him this stuff for as long as I did. Don't make the same mistake........ | M | 4 | 1 years | 1/18/2008 | 1 | Seasonal Allergies | VERY emotional and worried!!!! Easily frustrated and irritated!!!!! Some of the same side effects as mentioned. | DO NOT GIVE THIS TO YOUR CHILDREN! Thank God for everyone who shared thier experience concerning this drug because we did not find this information elsewhere! DO NOT GIVE THIS TO YOUR CHILDREN! | F | 4 | 1 years | 4/16/2008 | 1 | Eczema, seasonal allergies | Extreme mood swings, anger, inability to cope with even the slightest disagreement, screaming, drowsiness. General insanity. | DO NOT give this evil stuff to your child. My daughter experiences both a chronic eczema as well as hive like breakouts made worse during allergy season. I have tried Zyrtec on 2 occasions and experienced the same side effects both times. I can't even believe I tried it a 2nd time. I am even more galled that it is now available OTC. Have you noticed that when looking through the list of antihistamines here that Zyrtec has the most responses??? This is why. I believe it's just too strong for kids. Stick with good old Benadryl at night. | F | 4 | 3 months | 4/3/2008 | 1 | seasonal allergies | My son, now 4, has been taking zyrtec on and off for over a year. I thought he was just a difficult child and perhaps even had autistic tendencies, when I discovered the zyrtec was making my child a monster. He is an emotional wreck when he is on this medication. I'm throwing it away. | M | 4 | 1 years | 9/26/2005 | 1 | seasonal allergies | My son has been taking this medication for about three weeks. He has become irritable, angry,having temper tantrums which he never did! He has also complained of abdominal pain and itchy skin. I discussed this with his doctor and have stopped the zyrtec. I did not know about these side effects and thought he was getting sick for some other reason. If parents try this med they need to be aware of these awful side effects. My son is having outbursts, crying when the littlest issue aggravates him. | It's now three days since my son stopped taking zyrtec. I feel I have my son back. An example of how this affected just the routine day to day stuff - when I asked him to brush his teeth he would scream and start crying, telling me no, this went on for every routine morning task from dressing to eating breakfast. This type of behavor went on all day. The behavior got progressively worse over a few days. Normally he needs just a little positive encouragement to do all these activities by himself and is a happy, well adjusted child. These last three weeks have been awful. This drug should come with a BLACK LABEL warning. My doctor said she thought it was possibly the medicine. When I came across this site, after stopping the medicine, I felt that I had been underinformed. The doctors really need to hear from parents observing these side effects. I believe that all parents should demand that their doctor officially report the side effects to the FDA. | F | 4 | 21 days | 3/24/2006 | 1 | seasonal allergies | My son has been taking this medication for about three weeks. He has become irritable, angry,having temper tantrums which he never did! He has also complained of abdominal pain and itchy skin. I discussed this with his doctor and have stopped the zyrtec. I did not know about these side effects and thought he was getting sick for some other reason. If parents try this med they need to be aware of these awful side effects. My son is having outbursts, crying when the littlest issue aggravates him. | F | 4 | 21 days | 3/23/2006 |