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 |
| 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 | 3 | seasonal allergies | Extreme tiredness, weird feelings, spaciness, slight depression, headaches, hairloss, and dizziness. | I started taking Zyrtec about 3 months ago instead of Xyzal or Allegra because my insurance wouldn't cover those anymore. I am just now realizing that perhaps that is why I lost alot of hair the first month I was on this. I can not take a full dose because I get a terriable headache. I cut the dose in half and take it every couple of days. It's much too strong for me. I also get so tired to the point of being unable to function and have to go to bed. I become real depressed and have weird thoughts. When I went off it for a few days all the symptoms were gone. It's unbelievable the side effects drugs can give you even when they may help you at the same time. I also get dizzy and have some racing heart feelings and palpatations. That could be the drug or some other issue I have with perimenopause of low vitamin levels. Anyhow...it has mainly been going on while being on Zyrtec. I am definately going to search for another option for me. | F | 44 | 3 months | 8/2/2009 | 1 | Seasonal/Persistant Allergies | Anger, severe irritability, irrational fighting, inability to control emotions, hostility, bizarre sleeping patterns, picking arguments that turned into violent rageful combative arguments, anxiety, increase in migraines and panic attacks. | Good god, where do I start? I started taking this in mid June for allergies that sucked, the kind with the itchy eyes, runny nose, sore throat, you know. Basically, i turned into an angry aggressive, angry, hostile, combative, miserable monster woman. My boyfriend (who I had been with over a year) called me a spiteful angry bitch. I would pick fights over comments such as "You seem tired today, take a nap maybe you'll feel better." "Do you need help with (insert action here)?". I cant believe I let this go on this long... My mother asked me if anything on this planet made me happy, because apparently, i was a miserable person. I cried over nothing. Honestly, i cant even remember I time in the past month I cried over something rational. Come to think of it, I cant remember the last time this month that I fought over something rational. I honestly thought I was just a basically bad person. I'm never taking this medication EVER again, and it was this website that made me realize how awful it was before it dawned on me that my symptoms all started last month. I'm starting to with draw though (according to other people on the site saying that they did too, with the same symptoms. Dizzy, restless, headaches...). Id rather deal with the seasonal allergies than with these behavioral issues ever again. | F | 23 | 2 months | 7/30/2009 | 1 | Seasonal Allergies | WEIGHT GAIN - HAIR LOSS - BLURRED VISION - MENSTRUAL PROBLEMS | I stopped taking Zyrtec 7 days ago and the withdrawal is terrible. Intense itching on hands, legs and scalp. Prior to taking this, I was slender and in great health. I am not taking any other medication. In the seven years I have been taking Zyrtec, I have gained 20 lbs. I have not changed eating or fitness levels. I began noticing hair loss four years ago. My menstrual cycles have gone crazy and my vision has changed as now I need glasses to read and sometimes cannot focus for the first couple of hours each morning. My advice: DO NOT TAKE ZYRTEC!! | F | 43 | 7 years | 7/29/2009 | 4 | seasonal allergies | some drowziness, but not enough to curb activities. | I only take Zyrtec in the Spring/fall when I know that I will start having issues. Knowledge of what triggers each persons allergy symptoms and when the triggers first appear I feel is crucial to using this medication to make it work. I have been prescribed Zyrtec for about 8 years. So far so good. | F | 59 | | 7/25/2009 | 1 | seasonal allergies | first two weeks---- complete relief of allergies, even excema seemed to improve, some drowsiness 3rd week-2nd month--- sleeping part of the day, nervousness, nearly constant hand tremors, occasional dizziness, daily chest rashes, frequent nausea, feeling 'outside' myself, constant worry, trouble thinking/concentrating, sometimes racing pulse, stopped taking caffeine but still no change after two weeks, went to doctor who prescribed low dose anti-depressant, which did nothing except add to list of side effects 3rd month---- in addition to above side effects, began wheezing at night several hours before my next dose of zyrtec. Took benadryl to help me breath, doctor prescribed inhaler. wheezing episodes would come earlier and earlier. Finally, my husband and I sat down and eventually associated all the above symptoms with the time I started taking zyrtec on a consistent and daily basis. 4th month--- stopped taking zyrtec and antidepressants, had headaches a couple days, felt | This happened about a year ago, after some research online, I believe I had a rare allergic reaction to zyrtec, and that the drug was broken down in my system producing a chemical which caused the psychiatric effects. I think most people can probably take this drug without problem, but should be aware of the possibility of rare reaction. I also react to other allergy medicines, claritin has lost its effect on allergies over the years so I stopped taking it, but I remember it caused restless dreams (not nightmares) so I would take it in the morning always. Benadryl causes drowsiness, and Singular I only took once but both times I had norrible nightmares, one of which I woke up in the middle of the night and I felt like a needle was being pushed through my foot which didn't go away for several minutes. I now take flonase occasionally with allergy eye drops and elidel for my excema, all on an as needed basis and I never get the complete relief that I had with zyrtec. I'm sure steriod shots would work for me but I haven't tried it and I'm not excited about it. We switch between a variety of allergy medications for our son as needed, and including zyrtec. I plan to cautiously try new allergy medications in the future. | F | 25 | 3 months | 7/23/2009 | 1 | Ear Infections | Agressive behaviour,hitting,biting,screaming,throwing things,temper tantrums and not sleeping | I thought my son had the terrible two's, till i read these comments, "possessed" is how some parents describe their children, i agree. I'm a single parent some nights i just sit and cry, he's already been kicked out of one daycare for biting. Stopped the Zyrtec 2 days ago and already see an improvement, pray that it keeps getting better, wish i'd known sooner. | M | 2.5 | 1 years | 7/23/2009 | 3 | itchy skin due to allergic reaction | Well at first starting about 2 months ago I took it maybe once a week and I stopped itching within a few minutes to 15 minutes and didnt seem to have side effects. Although I do remember feeling dizzy sometimes but didnt realize it was the Zyrtec. But then in the past week whenever I felt itchy I would take it. So in the past week I took it every day. The 10mg over the counter product. I would say maybe 4 or 5 days in a row and now I feel wired, and yucky like if I had caffeine. I avoid caffeine cause I dont like that wired feeling. I also have mild nausea. And overall dont fell right. And I do feel bloated. I took a 10mg pill this morning at 10am. I will not take it ever again and will have to report back to tell the changes in how I felt not taking it. I think adding in a caffeinated soda excelarated the side affects. | F | 49 | 2 months | 7/21/2009 | 3 | Nasal allergies | Weight Gain... 20 pounds in 4 months. I just saw the link and I'm horrified. I didn't change anything else in the 4 months except starting to take Zyrtec everyday. | It worked really well for my allergies... but the weight gain is too much! | F | 24 | 4 months | 7/20/2009 | 3 | Allergies | First few doses were well tolerated. After a week, thought I had lost vision completely...the zyrtec caused me to initially feel better which made me drink more beer and I passed out under my stairs where there is no light...not a safe drug at all! Vision problems continued a few more times without much warning. Do not take with more than a 12 pack or so...not safe! | M | 39 | 4 months | 7/18/2009 | 1 | to stop my cough from a cold | I had a cold and the syptoms went away except for my cough so my doctor told me to take zyrtec. I could smell before I started taking it but after 3 weeks of taking it I had no sense of smell. | F | 58 | 3 weeks | 7/16/2009 | 1 | seasonal allergys | 8 yr. old daughter groggy in mornings then 4 days into she started having severe asma attacts stopped taking all went away | the stuff is dangerous | M | 5 days | 7/16/2009 | 1 | Chronic Sinusitis | Took 1 Zyrtec 10 mg at 1 AM and woke up at 4 AM with tremors and shaking and very high blood pressure 155/85. I immediately stopped taking it. Had insomnia for three days. Vomitted several times. My heart was racing and had chest pains! A strange depression set in like the end of the world was about to happen (never had happened before in my life). I got a nosebleed a few days later, diarrhea, and a loss of appetite. Also a dry taste in my mouth and a feeling of ants crawling all over my skin. High anxiety, nervousness and panic attacks. Nausea and headaches! | It has been 4.5 days since I stopped taking it and I feel better and have less axniety. All of my symptoms have subsided to a minimum, still have high blood pressure from time to time. Does anyone know how long it takes to for blood pressure to come back to normal after getting off of Zyrtec? Post the answer if you can, thanks! | M | 25 | 1 days | 7/15/2009 | 1 | hay fever | I used Zyrtec for one year, and it controlled hay fever symptoms very well. However, I developed dry, scaly skin on my face, dandruff in my eyebrows, and red, swollen cracked lips. The corners of my mouth were cracked, and it hurt to open my mouth wide enough to eat. I thought I had developed an allergy to my moisturizer and lipstick, so I changed to non-allergenic products with no effect. My nostrils were also dry and scabby. Recently, I had several nose bleeds. At my annual checkup, the optomotrist diagnosed chronic dry eyes and prescribed Restasis, which contains cyclosporine, a powerful drug used by transplant patients to prevent organ rejection. About this time, I had my teeth cleaned, and the dental hygienist diagnosed dry mouth, which is causing plaque to form at the top of my porcelain crowns. (In a healthy mouth, saliva helps rinse decay-forming bacteria from the teeth.) Chronic dry eyes, nose bleeds, and dry mouth motivated me to research Zyrtec. I stopped taking it immediate | I would not recommend Zyrtec to anyone. | F | 69 | 1 years | 7/12/2009 | 1 | allergies | I have been taking it for about 4 months. Bought it OTC and it was working as far as stopping my runny nose etc. Just stopped because I felt like I was "out of it" most of the time and didn't know why and mentioned taking it to a friend who is a nurse and she said "oh I can't take it ...it makes me crazy". So I decided to stop and see if I felt like my old self. I have been very very dizzy since stopping which has made me feel queasy in my stomach. This dizziness has lasted over a week now. Has anyone else had this side effect from withdrawal? | F | 60 | 4 months | 7/11/2009 |