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 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 | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR ZYRTEC | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 1 | allergies | My 7 yr old child who makes good grades and has never once been in trouble for anything at school was suspended with a behavior problem. It was totally out of character and the teachers and principal could not believe it. He became an anry, irritable, destructive child with strange and irrational behavior. We made an appointment with a psyc doc. It was not until several days later I realized the only change was that I had started giving him allergy medicine. Who whould have thought allergy medicine could do this. He stopped taking it and is completely normal without behavior issues. Could not believe it. | I am so sorry that I gave this medicine to my child. I will never ever recommend anyone give this medicine to children. I am curious if anyone else has experienced this similar problem with this drug. Please please let me know if you have. thank you. | M | 41 | 9 days 5mg 1X day | 9/11/2010 | 3 | Dust mite allergies | None, actually, but I usually do not experience side-effects of any drug. | The stuff works great... Sometimes. And when it DOES, it's only for about a third of the time it says it should last. I have NEVER gotten 24 hours out of it. On the other hand, my allergies are pretty extreme. So I would recommend it to someone with less severe allergies. As for people like me, I'm planning on asking my doctor about something stronger. | F | 15 | 4 months 10 mg 1X day | 9/10/2010 | 1 | allergies | Headaches, behavior changes, throwing fits | My daughter has been taking Zyrtec for almost 2 years. The past year and half have been horrible. She is 6 years old and will throw fits and scream and cry like a baby. She has a hard time concentrating and in kindergarten last year, her teacher was worried she may have autism. We have been to a neurologist over her headaches. I had no idea about all of this and am so thankful for this website. Me and my neighbor were talking the other day and she had said that she had given her daughter zyrtec one time and it totally changed her and it made me think. So my daughter hasn't had any zyrtec in 5 days and yesterday her teacher called me to tell what a good day she had in school. I was amazed. I thought I would look up side effects of zyrtec today and it feels like I wrote a lot of these posts b/c my daughter has such similar issues. No more zyrtec for any of my kids!! | F | 32 | 2 years 1 tsp 1X day | 9/8/2010 | 1 | Seasonal allergies | My two year old son, who has always been sweet, loving and agreeable started taking Zyrtec for seasonal allergies and his entire mood, demeanor and attitude completely changed. He started acting like a different child. He became angry, violent, didn't want to eat, irritable, weepy and clingy. He would wake up screaming NO at night, when he never had sleeping issues before. He would smash his head on things, hit himself, pull out his hair and crush food and throw it everywhere when he was frustrated, sad or scared. The only thing we can attribute these changes to is the Zyrtec. All these symptoms started when he started the medicine. I have stopped giving it to him after reading this website because I now know I am not crazy! Thank you for posting this information so parents like me are more informed about what their child is really getting. I am disgusted that these possible side effects are not disclosed in the packaging!!!!!!!!! | It is HORRIBLE and I will NEVER give it to my child again!!!!!!!!! | M | 2 | 2 months 10 MG 1X day | 8/30/2010 | 2 | Runny eyes, sneezing, allergies | irritable, tired | around day 8 did not work at all in relieving runny eyes, sneezing | F | 66 | 10 days 10 mg 1X day | 8/28/2010 | 3 | F | 35 | 1X day | 8/25/2010 | 5 | to meet people | I fell in love with the first thing I saw. I'm sure glad I took it on the first day of college and not back when I lived with grammy and gramps. | It is a love potion! beware of it's effects on arousal. Also, stops my itching and cat allergies. | F | 31 | 1X day | 8/24/2010 | 5 | allergies, intense ear itch | increased appetite, drowsiness | Zyrtec is a wonder drug. Sure I have vivid dreams. I have had them my whole life - 20 years before Zyrtec. Come on people. Zyrtec has changed my life. Not only have I gotten rid of a daily intense ear itch (apparently from unknown allergies), but I also developed more severe allergies last year, and taking Zyrtec-D has rid me of the symptoms. Also, I have noticed that when getting a cold, Zyrtec helps immensely and I can function normally. It does make me very tired, which is why I take it at bedtime, and I wake up just fine and my allergies stay away all day. Usually I just take 1/2 pill (over the counter). If you have any of these problems, PLEASE try this drug. It really works. You can find ways to get around the drowsiness and hunger pretty easily. Take at bedtime and eat healthy! Side effects will occur with any medication. These are very manageable and SO much better than allergies!!! | F | 29 | 8 months 10 1X day | 8/20/2010 | 5 | Seasonal Allergies | None noticed. Doc suggested daughter take this at night as some experience drowsiness. She does take it then, but have not seen a 'drowsiness' side effect. | This drug has been a gift to my daughter. Summer of 2009 (pre-allergy-diagnosis) was a nightmare. Daughter coughed all summer long...many trips to doc. End of summer finally diagnosed with allergies. Put on Zyrtec and a nose spray and we finally had our 'normal' daughter back...including sleeping better as she wasn't coughing all of the time. Takes it only during allergy season...stops at first freeze and starts again about mid-March. Summer of 2010 has been GREAT for her! | F | 12 | 1.5 years 10 MG 1X day | 8/20/2010 | 2 | extreme allergies | IRRITABILITY. I have been a pretty calm, easy-going person, but in the two days I have been taking Zyrtec, I have become easily irritated by the most benign things. I am definitely not myself. | works great for my allergies, but I don't know if I want to deal with the side-effects. | F | 33 | 2 days 1X day | 8/18/2010 | 5 | Seasonal and pet allergies | None | Zyrtec has been the only allergy medication that has worked for both seasonal (pollen/dust, etc) and pet allergies. I have never suffered from any side effects from Zyrtec and I love it. I was taking the prescription pill, then the prescription liquid when my insurance no longer covered the pill, then I switched to the OTC Zyrtec when you no longer needed a prescription. They have all worked exactly the same. | F | 28 | 10 years 10 MG 1X day | 8/16/2010 | 4 | allergies: pollen,mold,dust,animals | Extreme dryness, stomach ache/bloating, constipation, panic attacks. Eventually, increased hunger, increased water retention. Also, extreme histamine rebound if I stop taking suddenly, after taking it regularly for a prolonged period. However... | ...through much trial and error over the years, I have learned to avoid or minimize these effects. First, 10mg is too high of a dose for me. I tend to cut the pill into quarters and take one quarter every other day, while necessary. Plus all of the obvious things: drink water more frequently, eat a simple balanced diet, get adequate sleep. Addition, I use a neti pot at least once a day. Mild, sweet candy helps with the dry throat. And I have found that the best time to take the Zyrtec dose is around lunchtime. When it's time to stop, I'll taper off by extending the interval to two days, then three, etc., while also reducing the dosage. If there is one thing I wish was different about Zyrtec, it's that I wish it came in smaller doses but still in pill form. | F | 35 | 5 years 10mg/day 1X day | 8/15/2010 | 1 | Year Round Allergies | Didn't seem to have many side effects on RX Zyrtec except head to toe stinging, burning rash when I had to go off it for more than two days. OTC Zyrtec side effects - irritability, lethargy and mild depression - possibly others but can't be sure. | I forgot to take my OTC Zyrtec one night and couldn't get to sleep - which is very unusual for me! The next morning, after just 4 hours of sleep, I sprang out of bed and felt much happier than I had the night before. This made me realize that the mild depression, irritability and severe lethargy I've been experiencing were side effects of Zyrtec! I have other health issues which have been reported as side effects of Z, but I have not gone off Z long enough to find out if those will be relieved as well. Unfortunately, the withdrawal symptoms - facial/lip swelling, head to toe stinging, burning rash and insomnia are a killer! This drug needs to be pulled now! Scary stuff! | F | 38 | 8 years 20 1X day | 8/12/2010 | 3 | Allergies | Depression, anger, sadness, dry mouth | For the past few weeks I have been feeling deeply depressed. I was blaming my job, money, etc. Typically I am normally a pretty happy guy. I would call my wife during the day and tell her how sad I was feeling and I didn't know what was wrong. I only put tied these feelings back to Zyrtec this weekend as I stopped taking it mid-week and was feeling "great" again by Friday evening. I started to suspect that it my be Zyrtec since that is the only "thing" that has changed recently in my life. I read about the side effects online and noticed the only thing I had in common was dry mouth in the morning which seemed normal as my nose was also dry! My allergies were acting up again last night, so I took a Zyrtec. Once again, I woke feeling extremely angry and very depressed! After reading all the posts, I realized this must be the problem. I have never had a reaction to any medication like this before; too bad it had to be Zyrtec. The flip-side, it worked GREAT for my allergies! I wish it didn't cause those awful feelings. Unfortunately I won't be taking it again :-( First time in my life I have allergies, and this?!??! | M | 30 | 2 weeks 10mg 1X day | 8/9/2010 | 1 | allergies | My 8 year old daughter is, by nature, a little scattered and high mental energy. She was put on zyrtec by her allergist, in combination with allergy shots. We stopped the zyrtec last week when the discount mega-bottle we'd bought a few months ago ran out. Well, suddenly, we had our daughter back. She had become obnoxiously rude, unable to focus or sit still for any real amount of time, had difficulties getting to sleep, had frequent temper tantrums, argued incessantly, and generally became nearly intolerable to be around--honestly, I had thought about getting her a psych evaluation and entering into family therapy. Last night, 4 days without zyrtec, I found her quietly engaged in an art project, listening to music. We had spent the first non-aggressive, non-shouting, non-totally hyper weekend we've had in months. I am SO GLAD we stopped this horrible drug. Please, if you suspect your child's behavior has changed, take them off the zyrtec. It isn't worth it. Severe allergies are truly m | F | 8 | 160 days 1 tab 1X day | 8/9/2010 | 1 | Allergies | Intense depression, Inability to get to sleep, Inability to stay asleep, Nightmares when finally asleep! Insatiable hunger, Unexplainable anger, Consistent exhaustion! | I've only taken it for two or three weeks but I'm quitting it today, I can not have these side effects any longer. | F | 19 | 3 weeks 10mg 1X day | 8/7/2010 | 1 | allergies; itching | depression; extreme exhaustion; irritability;angry; vivid dreams; bloated stomach; constipation; brain fog; blurry vision; extremely hungry;felt suicidal | I would not recommend this drug to any one. I felt like ramming my car into a pole while taking this drug. I could not function at home, work;ect. I became very mean on this drug | F | 40 | 3 days 10 mg 1X day | 8/5/2010 | 1 | allergies | Irritability. Vivid dreams. Increase in the amount of nightly sleep. Constant tiredness. It seemed there was a ceiling in the amount of joy I could feel. | Made me feel like a zombie. Then I started taking only half a pill per day. This was enough to stop my allergies, but I still felt like a zombie. When I stopped taking Zyrtec, my old self returned, as did my sneezing, itchy mouth, and running nose. Stopped my allergies better than Clariton. But Clariton didn't make me feel like a zombie. | M | 46 | 4 weeks 10 MG 1X day | 8/2/2010 | 1 | Allergies (hayfever, cat, molds...) | Depression, extreme mood swings, Muscle pain, excessive bloating (stomach, swelling of ankles, feet, fingers), insomnia, weight gain, shortness of breath... | I can't even begin to tell you how alarmed and relieved I am to have found this site. I have been taking Zyrtec for about 3 years. If I were to run out and go a couple of days without it, I would start to notice how awful I felt. I thought it was just my allergies acting up, so I would start taking Zyrtec again. I am so glad to have found that there are others that have been suffering from the same symptoms as I have. I have been severly depressed, I have been having major moodswings (cry all the time, lash out at little things), my stomach was ALWAYS bloated like it was always about to explode, I would want to sleep for hours on end, and not go anywhere because I felt so awful. I literally thought my body was slowly shutting down. I ran out about a week and a half ago and decided to give my body a break and OH MY GOSH, I have been miserable. My muscles are always aching, I itch (of course). I decided to do a little research, and found this site. I am so glad that I have. I am going to log how my body has been changing for a month to see the changes. But as for right now, I'm still trying to get this horrible stuff out of my system. I will NEVER take Zyrtec again. | F | 32 | 3 years 1X day | 8/2/2010 | 5 | Allergies | Some drowsiness as mild "hangover" in the morning on full 10 mg dose. | I was on Claritin & Nasalcrom for awhile and found them to be only fair in controlling my often nasty allergies. Went to an allergist, had standard arm pin-prick test done which only confirmed what I already knew about my sensitivities, and was given Zyrtec 10 and Nasonex, both for daily use. It was an unbelievable improvement. Only issue was next day drowsiness, which I've nearly eliminated by taking 7.5 instead of 10 mg (tricky cutting the tablets though; and, 5 mg was not quite enough) and doing so 2 hours before bed rather than right at bedtime. Unexpected benefit was a reduction in some social anxiety I've had off and on for years, which I believe is due to a residual anxiolytic effect of Zyrtec/cetirizine as an Atarax/hydroxyzine metabolite - can't find substantiation for this anywhere but I don't think it's my imagination! | M | 50 | 14 days 7.5 mg 1X day | 7/28/2010 |