ZYRTEC Reviews (CETIRIZINE HYDROCHLORIDE)Average Rating: 2.0 (1820 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare ZYRTEC with similar:
Type: Over-the-counter Drug
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Results are sorted by Date added. 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 | FDA Adverse Event Summary
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR ZYRTEC | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 2 | Cat allergies | It helped the allergy symptons, but oh my the side effects!! It effected my mood and interfered with a good night sleep. I couldn't believe how it changed my mood. I'm usually pretty easy going and all I wanted to was fight. Also I have had very little sleep in the last two weeks. Woke up one morning and found a unopened can of pop and bag of candy by the side of my bed. Weird!! Not taking it tommorrow, I'd rather find another home for the cat!! | F | 52 | 14 days 10 MG 1X day | 2/28/2012 | 1 | allergies | muscle pain, swelling of hands/feet, itchy skin | All side effects disapppered within 48hrs of stopping Zyrtec. | F | 37 | 3 months 10 MG 1X day | 2/24/2012 | 1 | Allergies | I had been taking prescription Zyrtec for a couple years. I stopped. I recently took OTC Zyrtec a few times, one time here, one time there... And I get into a terribly bad and near rage-like mood whenever I take the OTC Zyrtec. I have discarded them and will never take them again. They also stopped helping my allergies. Something's changed from when I had the prescription and with the OTC now. | F | 51 | 2 years 10 mg 1X day | 2/24/2012 | 3 | Allergies | I have been taking Zyrtec for 10 years or more. It does help my allergies, but I have been having pain in my right side around my gall bladder area. I have seen the doctor repeatedly for this pain. Many tests later, I found this web site. I have stopped the zyrtec 1 week ago and so far the pain is gone. | F | 45 | 10 times 10Mg 1X day | 2/23/2012 | 1 | year-round allergies | Headaches when it wore off an was time for next dose. Had to stop taking it for a week for allergy testing and found out about the heroin-level withdrawal. Unbelievably severe itching everywhere, and my allergies were NEVER in the form of itches before taking Zyrtec. Blood tests during this withdrawal revealed my liver hormone levels were 8x normal from it, and the itching was from how the withdrawal damages the liver. Took 6 months gradually lowering the dosage with the liquid version for infants to get off of it. | Absolutely unbelievable that this is FDA approved, let alone OTC. | M | 38 | 2 years 10 1X day | 2/21/2012 | 1 | Allergies/sinus infections | My daughter took this medication for allergies - at the advice of our pediatrician. She is an easy, mellow kid. Her behavior changed dramatically - like PMS - moody, prone to quick and sudden anger, anxious. It was extremely worrying. My husband suggested it might be the zyrtec. I thought that was unlikely, because it is so commonly prescribed for children far younger than mine. I finally stopped giving it to her - totally out of desperation. Within 48 hours, she was back to her old self! | F | 8 | 10 days 10 mg/day | 2/19/2012 | 3 | Cat Allergies | After reading this forum, I am now completely convinced that my fatigue every day is being caused by this medication. I am also finding it hard to lose weight, and also find myself more irritable than usual. I started taking it daily because my boyfriend has 2 cats and whenever I go over to his house, I have a rediculous allergy attack. I will probably just take this medication when i know I will be going to his house and not daily like I usually do. | It works but the side effects are not worth it. | F | 36 | 7 months 10mg 1X day | 2/16/2012 | 1 | seasonal and cat allergies | Vertigo, ringing in ears, sweats, hand and leg tremors, vision problems, heat palpitations. | I have taken Zyrtec for years, not sure if they changed it recently or if I just built up a reaction to the product. It worked very well for years then I started noticing, vertigo, hand/leg tremors. It recently has escalated to the point I needed a brain MRI to rule out major issues. I decided to go off all meds and see what happens. The first week was HORRIBLE.. withdrawals were hives, headaches and the worst allergies I have ever had in my life. But the ringing in my ears and other symptoms started to diminish. I got desperate last night and took a Clariton, I had night sweats, my ears felt like they were going to explode, my heart was beating so hard I had to get up and try to calm myself. Felt like I was having a heart attack. I will never take either drug again. Although not sure what I will take in replacement. Right now my eyes are swollen almost shut, I can't really breathe and I fell like crap. At least I am not killing my self with Zyrtec or Clariton. | F | 51 | 5 years 10 1X day | 2/16/2012 | 1 | Allergies | When our daughter was around 2 years old, the doctor thought she was having allergies and told us to use children's liquid Zyrtec. She has always been a very laid back, easy going child, but she started having meltdowns at the smallest things, unable to sleep through the night (she would make this odd wailing sound off and on through the night), and was just overall EXTREMELY irritable. In short, she was the total opposite of herself - it turned her into a bit of demon child. At first we chalked it up to beginning the "Terrible 2's", but after a few weeks it finally hit me that it all started about the time she was put on Zyrtec. I Googled it and found similar stories in several places, so immediately stopped giving it to her. The difference was immediate - she slept through the night the very first night after we stopped, and within 48 hours her normal disposition had completely returned. | My guess is that majority of the population is not affected by Zyrtec, but for the people who are, it can totally change who you are as a person. Take careful note of your disposition (or your kids' disposition) after you start this drug. | F | 2 | 3 weeks 1X day | 2/14/2012 | 1 | Allergies | Was extremely tired all day, regardless of when I took the drug. Althought it helped my allergy symptoms, gave up after a month of total fatigue, weight gain, and irritability. That's when the problems really began. Currently on day four after quitting the drug and withdrawal symptoms of headache and severe nausea so bad I can't sleep or work. And it keeps getting worse not better! | F | 40 | 1 months 10 | 2/4/2012 | 2 | Seasonal allergies | Worked well , however in attempting to ween off during winter months.... Severe itching throughout body.... Today post nasal drip and sneezing w/ no exposure explanation !?! | Very concerned; am I to be addicted, why this intense withdrawal. Where is this addressed professionally ? I've read enough here to realize where there's smoke ; there's fire ?!? | M | 43 | 2 years 10mg 1X day | 1/30/2012 | 3 | seasonal allergies | it seems I can't stop taking Zertec now. Used to only use Sept-Nov every year when allergies kicked in. This year, however, when I try to stop taking my allergy symptoms come in with a vengence after missing one dose. Not sure if this is some kind of rebound or addiction happening. Also a lot of weight gain since Sept. | After reading all these comments I feel my suspicions that it is addictive may be true | F | 49 | 5 years 1X day | 1/22/2012 | 1 | allergies, sinus | I would strongly caution any person taking this medication to keep a running tab on your mood. While I took this drug I experienced basically constant "pms" symptoms and did not understand why until I thought to check other experienced side effects of the only medication I was taking...Zyrtec. I discovered I was not the only one who had horrifying night terrors, fits of anger and full on panic attacks for no reason, all while taking zyrtec at normal, regular doses. I was also tired basically all the time. After my research I have stopped the meds, bought a neti pot and eat local honey. No more drugs for me. I feel MUCH more in control and, funny, my allergies are better now than on the meds. Please be careful if you are giving this to your little ones! | All though it did help my allergies a LITTLE, it was not worth the horrible side effects of depression, anxiety and night terrors :( | F | 26 | 6 years 10mg 1X day | 1/20/2012 | 1 | Allergies | I started taking Zyrtec for allergies and it stopped my blocked nose and sneezing quite well. I could not pin point why throughout the week I was angry and irritable for no reason. I woke from first thing in the morning irritable and I was on holidays. I can only describe the symptoms as similar to PMS. On the two morning that I did not take the medication I felt my normal self again but when I took the product at night before bed again I woke just about ready to throttle anyone who spoke to me. I am really disappointed that I was not warned about this type of side effect, consumers have the right to know the severity of such things. | This should not be sold over the counter!!!!! I would rather have a blocked nose than feel irritable and angry all day and everyday I took it. | F | 29 | 7 days 5mg 2X day | 1/18/2012 | 1 | Hayfever, sinus allergies | My daughter (age 4 when she started Zyrtec, now age 6) over time has been exhibiting increasing anxiety and nervousness. She always says she has "bad thoughts." She has lots of fears. Cries because she does not want to go to school, constantly checks her pulse to make sure her heart is still beating, expresses fears that she'll stop breathing in her sleep. We took her to a counselor and in the first few minutes of our initial visit she informed us that Zyrtec can be a cause for anxiety and depression. We were shocked! | We have stopped her Zyrtec now and are hoping that her anxiety will begin to get better. It breaks my heart to see my baby like she is. Doctors should never prescribe this to children. They do not know how to cope with these side effects. | F | 6 | 2 years 1 tsp. 1X day | 1/17/2012 | 1 | doctor insisted I use it | No side effects | Another case of the doctor insisting I use something I have used before, even though I had had no previous luck with the product. Do doctors get kickbacks, or are they just arrogant? If I go to a shoe salesman and tell the clerk I can't wear a size 3 shoe, it's not like they take me to the aisle with size 3 three shoes and try to cram them on my feet. What gives with doctors that they take feedback with a grain of salt? | F | 42 | 7 days 1X day | 1/15/2012 | 1 | My 8 year old daughter became severely depressed on this medication. She could not stop crying, could not think of anything happy, and wanted to quit school because she was too afraid to walk out our front door. She is normally full of life and love, but described her heart on this med: "when I normally look through my heart everything is happy, but lately when I looked through my heart, everything was black". We thought she was going crazy and I cried at the loss of my sweet child, but then sat up in bed in the midst of this and realized the only thing different in our lives was the fact that she had started taking this med. When I did an internet search and discovered similiar anecdoes here, I was saddened for this drug's affect on many other children, but at peace because we found out what was wrong with my child. | F | 8 | 7 days 10 mg 1X day | 1/12/2012 | 1 | Allergies | Extreme abdominal pain & constipation, urination problems, heart palpitations, anxiety, depression, cold/numb hands and feet, red/irritated/puffy eyes, insomnia, anger/rage and mood swings. | Allergies are a problem for me in the spring & late fall in Oklahoma. I felt great this summer and when October came the allergies hit like clockwork. The first few weeks went by seemingly uneventful and about the last of Oct I noticed I had no zest for life anymore. Anxiety and depression had set in on me and I was not even aware of it. I did not want to go anywhere, do anything or be around people. I am restoring an old car and up until late October this was my passion and I had no desire at all to continue working on my car. I also noticed that I hurt all over my body...muscle pain, joint pain, cold hands and feet. I also noticed that I would snap at my wife and kids for the smallest things and at the time I felt this was warranted. Rage was a problem as well. I had difficulty urinating and would spend what seemed like an hour for a process that usually takes 10-15 seconds. While zyrtec did control some very bad allergy symptoms for me I have decided that the allergy problems are nowhere near as bad as the side effects caused by zyrtec. As I look back over the last 2 years of my life I can clearly see the problems I had and were all due to zyrtec. I'll never take this med again. | M | 48 | 2 years 10mg 1X day | 1/6/2012 | 1 | common allergies: dust, pollen, etc | It relieved my runny nose, sneezing, and itchy eyes all of my life. When I would miss a dose I would feel itchy all over and we believed it was just my allergies surfacing so I would take my medicine and feel better. I was at a 5mg dose for the first few years and then bumped it up to 10mg. Once, when I was about 14, I was on vacation for a few days and realized I forgot my medicine at home but figured it shouldn't be the end of the world and that I would be home soon enough. Instead, after a few days without zyrtec, I woke up in the middle of the night with a terrible headache and nausea. Of course these withdrawal syptoms were on top of the unbearable itching that feel like bugs under my skin accompanied with scratching that leads to my dermatographism making my body one giant welt. Anyway, I took some tylenol for the headache and bought some zyrtec the next morning and felt fine. I officially started my final withdrawal a week ago and if my nose is runny I take a claritin. There is nothing that will surpress the itching which is the worst part. I have found that the key to making it so long is resisting the urge to scratch. Once you start scratching its all over. Previously, 3 days has been my longest time without giving in. Staying active and busy helps take your mind off the scratching and benadryl is a good way to knock yourself out when its unbearable. And if you start itching, rub an ice cube on the area or take an ice bath or cold shower. Good luck to everyone like | F | 19 | 10 years 10 mg | 1/2/2012 | 1 | illness | strange coughing episode(s) that resulting in passing out | I'm commenting for my husband. He's been sick & the Dr prescribed this, generic, (along with other meds.) He noticed that, shortly after taking this (each night), he began to have 'odd' coughing episodes where he could not catch his breath. Last night was the worst. He was lying back on the sofa and after the coughing started, his hands shook, the back of his head got numb & tingly and he believes he actually passed out. I remembered this site & after reading comments to him, he will not take it again! Scary experience. Thanks to everyone who comments here. | F | 38 | 4 days 10mg 1X day | 12/31/2011 |