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 | Worked ok for allergies but get excruciating itching when try to stop (most definitely NOT a return of allergies as I never had itching). Found a step down withdrawal method on another website and has been working until now. Currently down to 2.5/mg daily and when I took the next step down of alternating one day on / one day off the itching started again! So will try 2.5/1.25 and then step down again from there. Cutting the pills is a hassle but getting the itching is even worse! | I never would've started this drug if I knew how terrible the withdrawal could be. Doctors and the FDA should warn people about this! | F | 51 | 10 years 10MG 1X day | 2/17/2010 | 1 | Sinus issues | dark urine, major itching, chills, red eyes, dry mouth | I was told by my ENT to take Zyrtec for my chronic sinus issues. It helped with my pain. But then I was having wired side effects. I did not know why I had major itching, dark urine. It was not until I ran out of Zyrtec that I relized it was the drug! I was off the Zyrtec for a week and my urine improved a bit, the itchy rash was getting better. Do not take this drug it not worth the side effects!! I am going to find a better way to relieve my chronic sinus pain, like accupunchure. Chronic means Always. :( | F | 37 | 1 years 1X day | 2/16/2010 | 5 | Allergies | I think zyrtec is a wonderful drug. It keeps me symptomless when I am on it. A doctor told me once that it is too strong and can cause bacterial infections in the sinuses. So I sometimes only take it every other day. I have been very happy with the results, especially since loratidine and allegra do not work at all. | F | 55 | 10 1X day | 2/11/2010 | 2 | 2 year olds ear infections | My 2 year old son was put on zyrtec for recurrent ear infections. He had a major bahavioral change take place. Uncontrolled temper tantrums for something as simple as taking off shoes. Thought it was just normal 2-year-old changes in behavior, but after stopping the medicine, his behavior has returned back to normal. | Be careful when giving this drug to your children! | F | 2 | 5 weeks 2.5 mg 1X day | 2/10/2010 | 1 | Allergies | IRRATIONAL ANGER, constant irritability, mood swings, depression, brain fog, crying jags, "thought disorder", lethargy, weight gain, poor nights sleep, swelling around stomach, blurry eyes, lack of motivation.... I use to take this medication before going to sleep, so I didn't make the connection between Zyrtec and the side effects. I also took Claritin on and off for a year prior to Zyrtec which I now see was the beginning of my symptoms. I Googled Zyrtec and weight gain (because I've gained 20+ lbs since starting the med which I can't lose no matter what diet or how much exercise) and found this site. I was shocked by all the posts about the effects this medication had on people's thinking and moods, especially irrational feelings of anger and extreme emotional lability (eg crying over the simplest things.) | I stopped taking Zyrtec over a week ago and immediately noticed a difference in my thinking and mood. It was like a dark cloud lifted and the simmering anger I felt inside me all the time GONE. No more negative, obsessive thinking, or crying jags either. All my life, I have always been a positive, easy going, happy person. But over the past 2+ years I was slowly turning into an irrationally angry and over emotional disaster. Friends and family thought I was either having a nervous breakdown or symptoms of menopause. I have even seen a counselor to discover what *issues* were effecting my life, lol. Who'd of thunk that an ANTIHISTAMINE could cause such havoc! I had been attributing my change in mood and personality to the stress in my marriage, fighting, and divorce issues. I see now that Zyrtec has been THE ISSUE. In researching histamines, I discovered that they have to do with neurotransmitter and hormone regulation. Who knows what is going one when they are blocked by an antihistamine. No wonder there are so many psychiatric adverse effects being listed, rather like antidepressants. The children are the canaries in the mine. If so many kids are having such SEVERE emotional and mental reactions, you have to figure this med is TOXIC to ones brain. This med should NOT be OTC. I predict we will see black box warnings on this med pretty soon, maybe even see it be withdrawn from the market. One can hope. | F | 46 | 2 years 10 MG 1X day | 2/10/2010 | 1 | seasonal allergies | Our high energy 5.5 yrs old son became irritable, moody and clumsy. We are used to his high level of energy but his normal "ready to learn" behavior at pre-school radically changed 2 weeks after he started the medication. For the first time his teacher complaint about my son not listening, ignoring her and taking one bad choice after another. Behavior at home was not much better, since he's always been so active and he has a little brother, it took me a while to realize how out of control was his behavior. I can't believe our DR would prescribe this med without a warning. I am thankful for all the entries, it is important to share this kind of information. | M | 5 | 3 weeks 5ml 1X day | 2/10/2010 | 1 | Allergies | My 7yr. old son had been taking this for his allergies. He has been very hard to deal with. Very angry, hateful wanting to hurt himself, trying to hurt others. He has said he wants to kill himself a few times over the last month. Lots of crying every day over nothing. I did not know that it was this drug doing this to him. He has been off it for three months now and is doing wonderful. He came to me and said he does not feel mean anymore. Mom, I'm back to my old self again. I was so happy to hear this. He has not had any crying, mornings have been great. He does take Advair 115/21 still now I'm wondering if this is doing something to him also. | M | 7 | 8 months 10mg 1X day | 2/10/2010 | 1 | Allergies | No side effects but terrible withdrawals. I have been taking Zyrtec for 3 years BECAUSE I have been getting hives which were caused by the drug. I just figured this out 6 days ago. I stopped immediately and have not stopped itching since day 2 of being off of it. I heard that you can not take anything to offset the itchiness, other than heavily moisturizing. I also heard the itching can last up to 6 weeks! That is torture! | M | 37 | 3 years 10mg 4X W | 2/8/2010 | 1 | i had hives | I had fogginess in my head. That shit belongs in the dumpster! | I rather have hives than take this crap. | F | 46 | 3 weeks 10 mg 1X day | 2/7/2010 | 1 | Chronic sinusitis | Extreme lethargy, to the point that I had trouble keeping my eyes open at work and I only took it at night. It made my head feel foggy and like I was in a stupor. THEN, despite feeling absolutely exhausted, I had trouble falling asleep AND staying asleep! I also felt grumpy, although whether that was from the medicine or lack of sleep, I couldn't tell you. In any case, it made me feel completely out of it! | I would not recommend this to anyone, unless you are having really severe allergy problems and nothing else will work. The side effects are just not worth it! | F | 31 | 2 days | 1/29/2010 | 1 | eczema & itching | Our son (age 5) was put on Zyrtec to control his itching, which would improve his eczema. We saw amazing results the first week and were very pleased with it. After that week, he developed a severe cough, sore throat & severe headaches. Has miss school several days due to the headaches. We skipped the medicine for a few days and he is back to himself. Won't be giving it to him anymore. | 5 | 20 days | 1/27/2010 | 3 | allergies | Severe itching and irritability when trying to stop taking it | I started taking zyrtec on occasion for seasonal or pet allergies, and quickly found myself itching, angry and moody when I don't take it. It worked relatively well on my allergies, but after 10 years of being on daily pill I started getting sudden severe allergic reaction to unknown allergen in my house, that is not controlled by zyrtec at all. | F | 40 | 10 years | 1/25/2010 | 4 | allergies | none | Did not work as well as Claritin for clearing my sinuses, but at least it didn't have the side effects that Claritin did. Although I was pleased, I stopped taking Zyrtec after reading numerous accounts of people suffering from itching fits when trying to get off the drug. I'm now taking chlorpheniramine maleate because I know it won't give me side effects or withdrawals (10 year history), and it works just as well as Zyrtec for me. | F | 25 | 15 days | 1/12/2010 | 4 | Year round allergies | Racing heart,headaches, mood swings, weight gain, sleepiness, coughing, dry mouth, always hungry and being in a complete daze. | I am so glad I found this site. I have been suffering from tons of side effects and I couldn't figure out why. I started researching after My headaches and my mood swings have been getting progressively worse. Sometimes my head hurts so bad that I have to run to the ER to get shots in my arm to stop the pain. Several times I have attempted to stop taking Zyrtec and I would break out in this itch all over my skin that is just unbearable to deal with. I always thought it was my allergies that was causing this itch but I guess it just might be the medication. | F | 32 | 8 years | 1/12/2010 | 4 | dermetagraphism | a little drowsiness | great! it's helped me so much. i've been taking zyrtec for about 9 years. | F | 19 | 9 years | 1/5/2010 | 3 | Year-round allergies, asthma | Itching, Weight Gain, Night Terrors, Many sleeping problems | It does help me with my allergies a lot, but the withdrawal symptoms after (severe itching, rashes/bumps) are not so awesome. | F | 16 | 2 years | 1/5/2010 | 2 | Asthma & Allergies | Dry skin, EXTREME itching when stopped, some weight gain, sleeping problems, mood swings/emotional issues, "stupor"/confusion/"in a daze", | Does help allergies, but the side effects are sometimes severe. It actually had an adverse effect on me and instead of becoming drowsy, I became hyper, so I had to switch to taking this in the morning. This helped somewhat with sleeping problems, because the weird/graphic dreams stopped, but I would still give this a 2 b/c of the other side effects. It also did not help with excess throat mucus/throat clearing. | F | 0 | 3 years | 1/5/2010 | 1 | allergies | Our doctor recommended zyrtec for our 2 yr old daughter for a an extreme allergic reaction/hives(cause undetermined) we will never gives this drug to her again, never, extreme irrational temper tantrums, not a normal tantrum, aggressive odd behavior. we stopped taking giving her this drug after reviewing all these similar posts. extremely disappointed in doctor for not warning us of these possible side effects. | F | 2 | 7 days | 1/1/2010 | 4 | Allergies | Dry mouth, mild sedative effect, more hungry all the time, some weight gain. | Zyrtec works well, but I do sometimes feel foggy and more tired at times. Hunger and weight gain are the only other issues, but, compared to the Claritin, I'd rather do without the anxiety. | M | 38 | 5 years | 12/29/2009 | 1 | My young son- allergies | Our little boy had extremely negative and agressive behavior. He had uncontrollable temper tantrums at home and in public. He also displayed seemingly depressive behavior. This is just to name a few of the side effects he experienced while taking zyrtec. | Our son began taking zyrtec on a daily basis at 15 months old. It was suggested to us by our pediatrician to assist in our ongoing battle with ear infections and allergies. Initially, we contributed his behaviors to his age and "being a boy" although our first child, also a boy, had never experienced quite these same things. As he got older, we saw a significant increase in his physical agression as well as his extreme temper tantrums. His behavior would turn on a dime and was almost impossible to anticipate. As his primary caregiver during the day, I was beginning to feel like I was losing my mind. By the time my husband came home at night, I was often in tears. Finally, on a whim, I googled zyrtec/negative behaviors...I found a world of parents experiencing the same things as us. At this point, my little boy had been on the medication for over a year and a half. I felt like we had never seen his real personality. After that day, we never gave him Zyrtec again, EVER. His behavior,literally, changed overnight. He is now 4-1/2 and has never ever behaved again as he did while on that drug. Although not all children will react in such a negative way, for us, it was truly a nightmare. When we look back on that time, both my husband and I feel so sad about the fact that we were constantly giving him consequences for behavior that was truly out of his control. | F | 35 | 2 years | 12/29/2009 |