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 |
| 4 | Sinusitis | HORRIBLE itchiness after stopping Zyrtec | I have taken this medicine for many years, and was happy with the results until I decided to stop (my allergies had lessened after a move to the city). In 2 -3 days after stopping the medicine my entire body is covered in a horrible, hot itch that usually begins in my hands and feet- and only gets worse if you actually itch it; welts begin to raise in the places I touch. At night, the stinging itch gets so bad that I feel like there are bugs crawling all over me; I truly start to go crazy. The itch was so bad, I kept going back on the Zyrtec. Under the direction of a concerned allergist (who had never heard of this type of withdrawal before)I have been trying to wean myself off of it by lengthening the days between taking Zyrtec, and using over-the-counter Benedryl to curb some of the itching. Though the Benedryl does help a little, the itchiness has gotten more intense, and always comes back at day 2. At this point, I have made it 7 days off of the Zyrtec, and the itching has not beg | F | 30 | 9 years | 7/31/2007 | 3 | allergies | lethargy, weight gain | Thank you to others who have posted on this site. I have been on allergy medicines for over 11 years (first Allegra, then Zyrtec). I had read that Zyrtec could cause depression. (I have not been diagnosed with depression, but was not the happy person I used to be.) I decided to try to wean myself off Zyrtec and use a Neti Pot. First, I used the Neti Pot (which is nasal saline irrigation) for two weeks, while continuing my regular dose of Zyrtec. Then, I halved my Zyrtec dose for a week. (The first day of half a dose was rather unpleasant for my sinuses, but the rest of the week was fine.) So the next week, I quit Zyrtec altogether. The first day was again unpleasant for my sinuses, but by the second day my sinuses were fine. (I was doing the Neti Pot 3 times a dayat this point, planning on weaning myself to 2 times a day once my body was used to not taking Zyrtec.) But the next day, I broke out in hives. It started on my scalp and worked down my forehead and back. By evenin | F | 38 | 8 years | 7/31/2007 | 1 | seasonal allergies | Overly tired, WEIGHT GAIN, joint aches, I have become very spacey at normal everyday tasks! I am Extremely tired and I thought that most of these symptoms were caused by just a lack of sleep! Well after reading this site I was totally wrong!!!! I'm so glad to hear that other everyday people have similar problems! I have also had a lack of sex drive as well as extreme moodiness! I almost thought that I was pregnant! Thank goodness that I'm not because lord knows what that would have done to a fetus! But my only question is how long has it taken for these symptoms to go away!!!! | The whole thing has scared me really! I thought that I was losing my mind! Literally!!! I just kept thinking just get caught up on your sleep and you'll be back to your normal self but that's never happened! I took Zyrtec today and let me tell you that it will be my last because it has affected me so much that I am about to lose my job!!!!!!! | F | 21 | 2 months | 7/30/2007 | 5 | severe allergies | some sleepiness--I take it at night | I wonder if some of the side-effects that I see on this board have to do with Zyrtec-D. I would be a mess if I took Sudafed daily. | F | 35 | 3 years | 7/29/2007 | 3 | allergies/ sinues problems | makes me constantly lazy and lethargic, heavy tiredness, horrible insomnia, mood swings, always hungry | it works for me but the side affects really bring me down. i am thinking about asking about something else. | M | 17 | 1 years | 7/29/2007 | 1 | for allergies | I took it and experienced numbness in hands the thumbs the worse, tired, a cough,itching hunger worse. 2 daughters took it and one nose bleeds, tired, stomach aches. the other daughter is the worse. She was itching, but now twitching a lot, her hands, eye blinking, sticking out tongue, repetition of touching her shoulders each side, her arms, her hands like she is stiffing them. Her hands she holds out with palms up a lot. Its compulsive behaivor and she doesn't stop. She has been on it for two months and these all started about 2 and half weeks ago. They seem to be getting worse. I looked up side effects and saw these postings. We stopped taking it. Its been four days and not binging, her twitches are still there but not constant, starting to slow down. | Its to bad these Medical companies don't post all the warnings. Like with any drug they might not affect some people and will effect others. So the ones posting with nothing effecting them your lucky. | F | 40 | 2 days | 7/29/2007 | 1 | Seasonal Allergies | Nightmares, daytime hallucinations, hyper activity at times, lethargic at other, anti social behavior, depression, voices. | My son took this drug for 6 months when he was 8 years old. It did help his sneezing, coughing. But the side effects were bizarre. He talked about seeing a 'devil boy' inside a 'ghost boy' who sat in his class in his place while he watched. He talked about hearing voices in his head telling him to do bad things. He talked about having dreams during class. And the nightmares were very vivid. My son always has been such a happy go lucky kid, his sudden dark mood swings and aggressive behavior were really out of character. If he were older I would have been looking for some sort of substance abuse issue. As it is, the 'substance' might have been actually provided for him by us unwittingly. Once we took him off the med he is doing much better at home. His nightmares are gone and he is 'singing' around the house again. Unfortunately his cough and sneezing are back, BUT we'll take that over the nightmare the family went through | M | 8 | 6 months | 7/25/2007 | 1 | Allergies to pollen, dust and mold | I have taken Zyrtec in years past with no side effects. HOWEVER, I went back on it 5 days ago after taking Allegra for 3 months and having bone pain with that, and I am so sick, I cannot believe this is the same Zyrtec I used to take. They must have changed the formula. I am so tired and lethargic, it feels like an effort to breath. I have to drink something with caffeine just to stay awake. I have almost no appetite, can't eat more than a few bites without feeling sick. I have alternating constipation and diarrhea with severe gas. I have not taken a dose of Zyrtec today and I will never take it again. I cannot wait until this garbage is out of my system and I feel human again. I would rather just suffer with the allergies for the rest of my life. | DO NOT TAKE IT! YOU WILL REGRET IT! | F | 34 | 4 days | 7/22/2007 | 5 | allergies | Drowsiness, increased fatigue and probable weight gain. | I have been taking Zyrtec for several years and it works GREAT in regard to allergies. BUT - I have always had a high metabolism and been skinny, very active, eat an incredibly healthy diet, etc. and so I have been unable to explain my mysterious weight gain over the past few years until I came across this site and learned that it could well be a side effect of the Zyrtec! I am also using Flonase which is likewise implicated. My hair has also been falling out over this same time period. I have not had any abnormal lab tests to explain this. I am going to quit both meds immediately. I would rather have a stuffy nose than be fat and bald! | F | 44 | 6 years | 7/16/2007 | 5 | Asthma | Mild drowsiness | This medicine has been great for helping my asthma symptoms. | M | 48 | 3 years | 7/14/2007 | 4 | allergies | My 13 year old son took this medication. After about 5 days on Zyrtec we began to notice changes to his behavior, attitude, personality. Did not immediately relate it to the medication. Attitude change at school with teachers so extreme that a teacher notified me because my son "was not himself". I began to monitor and investigate. The withdrawal from wanting to be with peers and being content with just playing video games was not acceptable to us and we set down very strict rules to try to determine the cause of the changes. I went online and began to investigate the Zyrtec side effects. After reading similar accounts, I immediately stopped the meds. Within 5 - 7 days, he was back to the young person we are used to living with and the teachers agreed. I work in a mental health field and teaching youth and I constantly think about what are actually the students problems or conditions vs. what may be the side effects of meds they are taking. | The extreme emotional and mental health side effects were not worth the benefits of managing the allergy symptoms with this medication. | M | 13 | 5 weeks | 7/11/2007 | 1 | Eczema, Asthma | Mood swings, temper tantrums, violent outbursts, crying about little things, irritable. | My son has suffered from eczema and asthma since he was born. He has been diagnosed and misdiagnosed many times. He was prescribed many different things from steroid creams to antihistamines of all sorts. Nothing has worked in the medical world, but zyrtec was the biggest mistake of all. My sweet little boy turns into a demon in front of my eyes and at a drop of a hat. All children have there bad days but let me tell you that this poison makes our kids into different children. My heart breaks that I had no warning from his doctor or on the label. Its not fair that these poor babies suffer not only with the aliment they are cursed with, but with extra symptoms caused by something meant to help them. They are little people with no voice. These drug companies should be ashamed!! Parents if you are here its to late you have given your kid this drug. Please stop ASAP! | M | 3 | 2 months | 7/11/2007 | 1 | seasonal allergies | stomach pain w/upsetting bm's, restlessness, unusual tantrums, nightmare's, crying, mood & personality changes | After not having much success with Benedryl or Clariton for my 5 year old's allergies, my pediatrician reccomended Zyrtec. Initially the stomach aches started. Each night my son would wake up and come into my bed complaining of nightmares, something he had not done in years. Witihn 3 days I noticed his inability to sit still, which became significantly worse each day! By day 5 he was out of control, a totally different child!! And, as one other parent wrote, non-compliant, desrcribes it well, way beyond what is normal for a 5 year old boy, and very unlike any behavior he's exhibited in the past. By the evening, he had a full blown tantrum of which the likes he has not exhibited since a toddler. I decided to check this Zyrtec out and boy am I glad. He will never take another pill. I am outraged that my pediatrician never mentioned this, nor were these side effects listed on the information sheet provided with the prescription. | M | 5 | 5 days | 7/11/2007 | 1 | Allergies | Inconsolability, mood swings, nightmares, sleeplessness, aggressive behavior, anxiety, resistance to following directions, dazed behavior, hyper sensitivity, fatigue. | My 6 year old son came off this medicine after 3.5 years after I read these reviews here. In less than 2 days, he became a changed child. He no longer has the negative behavior traits that has been plaguing him for YEARS. No med. professional could get a grip on why my child was behaving the way he was. I'm so glad to have my sweet little boy back. You can just tell he feels SO much better being off of Zyrtec and his behavior shows it. I can't believe how quickly he changed coming off of this. He will NEVER take this medicine again. | M | 6 | 3.5 years | 7/10/2007 | 1 | Chronic Hives | Dependancy, severe itching, muscle tightness, headaches, joint pain. | It took me nearly 15 years to discover a doctor that could actually cure my condition. Zyrtec was not the answer. I was able to stop taking it after a couple weeks after taking a specific natural supplement regimine and altering my diet. Zyrtec starts out like a wonder drug then gradually steals your health until you have to do something else. Unfortunately by that time it is really hard to wean away from it and repair the damage. I went to www.drmagaziner.com and they were able to find the cause and the cure so I didn't need Zyrtec. I would suggest seeing a Doctor that specializes in that type of treatment - your ordinary dr. will tell you you are fine and will not run the necessary tests that are needed to find the underlying problem that Zyrtec causes. | M | 35 | 4 years | 7/9/2007 | 1 | Seasonal Allegies | nosebleeds at night, numbness in limbs, substantial hair loss. | My whole life I have always had thick, healthy hair...that was until I went on Zyrtec. Overnight, I started loosing entire fistfulls of hair. It was falling out of my scalp and also bleeding at night. My limbs were constantly falling "asleep" or going numb as well, and this was especially while I was asleep at night. Sometimes, it would worsen to the point of pain and would wake me from sleeping at night. I was terrified that something was really wrong with me. I gained weight as well, but it was the hair loss and numbness that caused me to panic about my health. My advise would be to avoid this medication all together and to seek a less evasive medication. Allegra D has worked almost as well for me without any of the horrific side effects. It is beyond me how it is that Zyrtec is still on the market. It was a horrible and scary experience!!! | F | 26 | 2 months | 7/9/2007 | 1 | SEASONAL ALLERGIES | HAIR LOSS! ASIDE FROM DIZZINESS, SLEEPLESSNESS, LETHARGY, MY HAIR STARTED FALLING OUT WITH THE ROOT INTACT WITHIN A WEEK OF TAKING THIS MEDICATION. I HAD BLOODWORK DONE AND MY THYROID IS FINE. THIS IS THE ONLY NEW MEDICATION THAT I HAVE TAKEN. I STOPPED TAKING ZYRTEC AFTER A MONTH AFTER I FOUND THIS SITE AND READ THAT OTHERS HAD THE SAME PROBLEM. MY DOCTOR COULDN'T EXPLAIN IT BECAUSE IT IS NOT LISTED AS ONE OF THE TOP 10 SIDE EFFECTS. I AM STILL WAITING FOR MY HAIR TO STOP FALLING OUT BUT I SEE NO SIGNS OF IT SLOWING DOWN. | F | 54 | 30 days | 7/8/2007 | 1 | pet allergies | extreme fatigue, fogginess, terrible IBS (diarrhea and stomach pains for the past 2 days), depression, tendency for crying spells | Thank you all for your postings! I now feel I have an answer to my strange "flu" of the past few days - will stop the drug immediately!! | F | 39 | 4 days | 7/3/2007 | 1 | ALLERGIES | HAIR LOSS AFTER TAKING THIS DRUG FOR LESS THAN A MONTH. ASIDE FROM OTHER SIDE EFFECTS LIKE LETHARGY, FATIGUE, DIZZINESS THE DRUG COMPANY THAT MANUFACTURES THIS PRODUCT DOES NOT LIST THIS AS A SIDE EFFECT HOWEVER THIS FREIGHTENING EXPERIENCE IS HAPPENING TO ME. I THOUGHT ABOUT OTHER POSSIBLE CAUSES FOR MY HAIR FALLING OUT BUT I HAVE COME UP WITH NOTHING ELSE. THIS IS THE ONLY NEW MEDICATION THAT I HAVE TAKEN IN THE PAST SIX MONTHS. I RECENTLY HAD BLOODWORK DONE AND EVERYTHING INCLUDING MY THYROID IS NORMAL. I'M HAPPY TO HAVE FOUND THIS SITE SO THAT WE CAN FIND OUT JUST HOW SERIOUS THIS DRUG IS. | F | 54 | 25 days | 6/28/2007 | 4 | Allergies | Tiredness, stomach problems | I've been taking 5mg of Zyrtec for the last couple of months on an "as needed" basis. Before taking Zyrtec I was taking Prevacid for my stomach and thought I was going to be able to go off of the Prevacid soon, as I was doing really well. After starting the Zyrtec my stomach started getting worse and I even had to up the dosage on my Prevacid. Then I developed stomach spasms and had to start taking Levsin. In the past I'd take one or two dosages and things would be back to normal. I have been trying to get my stomach settled down for a week and it's finally more calm. Just tonight when I was thinking about taking a Zyrtec I realized that might be the problem. I found this web site and now I'm sure my stomach issues are from the Zyrtec. I'm going to refrain from taking it and see if my stomach is better. It's most certainly the Zyrtec or Flexeril (5mg) I took from time to time. | F | 47 | 60 days | 6/27/2007 |