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 | hayfever | I took only 5 doses in March 2009, it cleared up my runny nose and I could breath again. BUT I lost my complete sense of smell! I can't smell at all and I use to have a very good sense of smell. Now days I might get a small whiff of something but it's very rare. | I had never taken this medicine before, this was my first and last time. I want my sense of smell back so bad. | F | 53 | 5 days | 8/23/2009 | 2 | Allergies and Asthma | My 12 year-old daughter has been taking zyrtec off and on for 6 months. She is a lovable, creative kid who gets along well with others. She was having some trouble with her asthma this summer and having a feeling that she was not getting enough air in. We've had two episodes this summer where her anxiety was so bad she was in an uncontrolable state of crying and fear. She felt like she was going to die and wanted to go to the hospital. She's experienced feelings of despair and anxiety that I can't help her come out of. She's become constantly afraid and worried about dying. Not her usual Shirley Temple self. I'm taking her off zyrtec forever. I think it has really produced all of her anxiety. Many thanks to all who have posted their stories. | F | 12 | 6 months | 8/22/2009 | 2 | Allergies | Anxiety, anti social, general sad feelings. | Had been taking this stuff for 5 years and it is now after reading your comments I can put 2 and 2 together. I though I had a disorder and I was gradually getting more anti social and anxious. This stuff is no good and its like a weigh is off my chest now. Havnt really experenced withdrawal except itchy but i'll get off this rubbish reguardless. | M | 26 | 5 years | 8/20/2009 | 2 | seasonal allergies | irritability,"spaciness", lowered social interaction. | my 7 year old daughter experiences seasonal allergies and i gave her this based on rave reviews from friends. since beginning it 4 days ago she has dark circles under her eyes, is spacey and doesn't respond, and is irritable. i am weary of stopping though, because these are also common symptoms of severe ALLERGIES IN CHILDREN. so...? | M | 35 | | 8/18/2009 | 1 | itching/allergies | although the zyrtec did control the itching at night, my daughter complained about feeling 'not real', pretend like in a story. She said she felt like she had water in her ears; a stuffy feeling that comes & goes. She said it started around the time 1st grade began. I connected that was when she started taking zyrtec as prescribed by her PCP. | we stopped the zyrtec and after 3 days, she said she said she was feeling more real! I definitely believe it was the zyrtec, especially after reading this database. I was actually looking for a psychiatrist thinking she had a mental health issue. We're turning to homeopath treatments to relieve her allergies now. | F | 7 | 10 months | 8/16/2009 | 1 | For allergies | This seemed to work fine but I always had a running nose. I decided to stop taking Zyrtec and the side effects were horrible. I was getting heart palpitations, depression and a feeling like I was going to die. I felt anxious and very tired. I had to go back taking it again. A week ago, I started taking 1/2 a pill everyday and only had slight side effects. Slight heart palputations and no feeling of depression. In a few days I am going to skip a day until I no longer have this poison in my system. | Don't ever start taking this medication. It messes you up and it takes away a part of you life. I rather suffer with allergies than to go through these symptoms again. | F | 56 | 5 months | 8/16/2009 | 2 | Seasonal/Pet allergies | Weight gain (lots for me!), irrational thoughts, weird dreams | Wow! I just realized that all of the negative thoughts and 15 pound weight gain is due to my taking Zyrtec...Not sure why I didn't peruse the reviews before because I usually do extensive reading before taking anything. I have gained 15-20 pounds in the last 3 months. Unbelievable because I work out 4 to 5 times a week and eat sensibly. I have only been taking this medicine for about that long too. I quit taking all of my vitamins for perimenopausal symptoms because I thought that they could be contributing to the weight gain. I'm totally freaked out by this medicine. Talk about weird dreams...the weirdest. Also I have had really illogical thoughts which made me even consider committing myself to a mental institution...stay away from this medicine for sure!! | F | 46 | 3 months | 8/15/2009 | 1 | 11 year old son taking it for hives | severe irritability, depression, and anger | the symptoms were pronounced when on the drug and went away shortly after stopping the drug. we had been advised to use zyrtec preventatively and on an ongoing basis. given our son's reaction, this would doom him to a life of mental health problems. he is fine since we stopped it. we will use benadryl in the future for short term relief. | M | 11 | 10 days | 8/13/2009 | 1 | allergies | I now have what's called ototoxicity (permanent tinnitus, a roaring low sound constantly in my left ear, like a foghorn) I had bad hearing anyhow and this made it worse! It drives me crazy and there is no relief. I also seemed to have mood swings and some other odd symptoms (that didn't exist before) such as chest pressure or feeling flushed. I also developed acne in very odd places, it was never a problem before. I've stopped taking it and slowly feel as if I'm regaining some things, but the ear damage appears to be staying. | F | 45 | 1 years | 8/13/2009 | 1 | pet allergy / seasonal congestion | Irritability, moodiness, anger, aggression, appetite changes, sleep problems, personality change | Our son was taking zyrtec on and off as needed for over a year. We thought he was just a high-maintenance strong-willed child. It wasn't until he started taking it daily for a couple weeks straight that he became completely unbearable. We would have honestly sworn the devil had possession over our child, that's the best way I can describe his behavior. It wasn't until I found this site that it made me think it was the medicine causing it. I stopped giving it to him, and within a couple days, he was a completely different child. Much easier to manage, more agreeable, and overall happy. I thank whoever created this site, and just wanted to post our story, so maybe someone else who experiences the same thing can learn from our misery! We have since tried Claritin, and it causes the same symptoms. Now we are on Allegra, time will tell how that fares... | M | 3 | 1 years | 8/13/2009 | 1 | Seasonal Allergies | Agressive behavior, rage, sadness, sleeplessness, confusion. | My pediatrician recommended children's Zyrtec for my 3.5 year old daughter to relieve her allergy symptoms. After taking it steadily and then on and off for 4 months I finally put together that whenever she was on it, she was prone to random major rage events to include kicking, biting, spitting, screaming uncontrolably, whining, sadness, crying at the drop of a hat, Etc...it takes a good 3-4 days for her to withdrawl from 1 2.5 ml. dose during which she can't sleep at night and is a zombie during the day. We are DONE with Zyrtec! | F | 35 | 4 months | 8/11/2009 | 1 | Allergies | Everything felt very surreal to me. I felt blurry and spacey and nothing seemed quite real. I experienced rapid heartbeat, dizziness, and blacked out once after getting up. I would feel as though I couldn't breath, like I couldn't get enough air. All of this never happened before I took Zyrtec. I felt sad and hopeless and depressed all summer. Although Zyrtec definitely treated my allergies, the side effects were not worth it. | F | 41 | 4 months | 8/10/2009 | 1 | upper respiratory allergies | excessive sweating, weight gain, dry skin | did not put 2&2 together when I gained weight although I strenuously exercise 3-4x a week regularly. Thought I was going through early signs of menopause when I could not stop sweating and gained weight pretty severely. When the epiphany came to me one day about a month ago I stopped taking Zyrtec and immediately started itching with hives on palms of hands and upper torso ( which, thank God, has now completely subsided). My sleeping pattern has now gotten back to normal - initially after stopping the medication I did feel anxious and restless which is now gone as well. I have already lost some weight -- halleluja!!!! I cannot believe my doctor did not tell me any of these severe side effects when he put me on this medication. Unbelieveable! I will never doubt my own body again and will be my own advocat for sure!!! | F | 40 | 2.5 years | 8/9/2009 | 1 | Seasonal Allergy | anxiety, panic attacks, very aggressive behavior, overly emtional, paranoid, memory loss, confusion, feeling stupid. | This drug is poison. Looking back, I now realize that 5 years ago it was probably taking Zyrtec that caused my need to go on anti-depresants and the onset of panic attacks. Never had a panic attack before taking this drug. This allergy season I have been a miserable person to be around. Ready to fight all the time. Feeling violent. Lots of rage. I never thought that I could get hooked on a drug I only used as needed. Been off it for four days now. Terrible withdrawl. Crazy itchy and feeling sick. I just feel like I'm going crazy. Tell everyone you know to stay off this drug. They may think you're crazy(which is the reaction I've received), but you might save someone some grief. | M | 46 | 5 months | 8/9/2009 | 1 | Allergies | Severe anxiety | Provided some relief from allergy symptoms, but caused constant, major, debilitating anxiety. Did not make the connection at all until I switched to a different allergy medication to see if it would work better, and suddenly the anxiety went away. In hindsight, I realized that the anxiety had started when I started taking Zyrtec. Basically lost 6 months of my life to this medication. | M | 32 | 6 months | 8/8/2009 | 3 | Seasonal Allergies | Very tired, Dry eyes, and vaginal dryness to the point it was red and irritated. It also hurts to go to the bathroom. | One of my friends was taking this and she had the same problems, she has since stopped taking zyrtec and she no longers had these issues. | F | 32 | 2 months | 8/7/2009 | 1 | Seasonal allergies | Very bizarre, disturbing dreams which left me exhausted in the morning. | I thought I was going crazy until I read all the other feedback here about people having weird dreams while taking Zyrtec. I've been on Allegra for years, and thought I'd try switching over to Zyrtec for a change of pace - and to see if it worked better. What a mistake! I haven't slept well in the 3+ months I've been on Zyrtec. At first I was attributing the dreams to stress, but when they continued I pinpointed the start of the dreams to about the time I started Zyrtec. So, I've stopped taking it and gone back to Allegra. The weird dreams have stopped and I am getting great sleep. In the past I have also had odd reactions to Claritin and Seldane (anyone remember that stuff?) I would not recommend Zyrtec. | F | 48 | 90 days | 8/7/2009 | 1 | allergies | Stopped taking this med and the itching was unbearable. Random red, itchy patches on chest, legs, under arms, neck, face, etc. | M | 45 | 2 years | 8/6/2009 | 3 | Cold with allergy symptoms | Loopy and strange sleep patterns | I literally woke up in the middle of the night with the idea that I could time travel. This was in the first night of me taking this drug. | F | 16 | 1 days | 8/4/2009 | 3 | Allergies | Check out Pfizer's fact sheet on Zyrtec: www.pfizer.com/files/products/uspi_zyrtec.pdf "The most common adverse reaction...was somnolence...6% in placebo, 11% at 5 mg, and 14% at 10 mg." Fatigue was a 5.9% incidence vs. 2.6% on placebo. Many of the other symptoms represented on this page were concomitant with Zyrtec use, albeit at less than 2% frequency. | | 8/3/2009 |