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 | I felt drowsy and hyper at the same time. Dry mouth,very weak, foggy minded, sweats, nauseous, light headed and dizzy | Was counting down the hours until the medication wore off. Do not recommend for anyone, especially young children. I have very bad allergies during springtime, but would rather deal with the allergy symptoms than zyrtec side effects. | F | 24 | 1 days | 4/28/2009 | 1 | seasonal allergies | I was a zombie 24/7. Couldn't function and it was affecting my mood. My two-year old who is normally very sweet-natured turned into an aggressive manic. | Horrible side effects. It barely took the edge off of my symptoms, but it did clear up my son, although at a price that I'm not willing to pay. | F | 33 | 5 days | 4/28/2009 | 3 | indoor and outdoor allergies | fog-brain, lethargy, sleepiness, irritable due to tiredness | 3 people in my house on zyrtec- 4.5 yr old (since 1 yr old for confirmed dust mite, tree, weed and grass pollen allergy); 2.5 year old (since 1.5 yrs for confirmed tree, weed and grass pollen allergy); me- 30 - started 2 weeks ago for confirmed dust mite, tree, weed, grass pollen allergy). For the people whose children are irritible, "possessed," cranky, etc- they are probably tired and it is probably from the medicine. Make sure you give it to the kids at night! I made the mistake of taking it myself first thing in the morning and could not be my motor going, so to speak- just wanted to nap all day. For me and my older child, it definitely has a sedating effect. For my younger child, Zyrtec works for his allergy symptom relief and seems to have no side effects. Everyone has a different body chemistry. I am allergic to cats as well and so is my youngest, but my oldest is not. I am allergic to dust mites and so is my oldest, but my youngest is not. We do see an allergist and had the testing done and the pediatrician also tells us when to increase the dose for the kids based on age and weight. Make sure you don't give the kids too much - that's a danger of OTC and not asking the doc before you give kids an antihistamine drug. My oldest started on 1/4 tsp and gradually increased based on his age and mostly his weight. If you start a 2 year old on the max. dose per the OTC bottle, it might be too much. PS- My oldest also has reactive airway and we tried Singulair for | F | 30 | 3 years | 4/25/2009 | 2 | Allergies | I have been around the same weight my whole life, but I started taking Zyrtec 4 months ago when the doctor told me that an infection that I had may have been due to allergies. I continued taking it into the spring, b/c I always have seasonal allergies. In these four/five months, I have been gaining weight slowly, but surely. I eat very well and exercise daily, so I was very upset and confused that my clothes don't fit anymore. I gained about 10-15 pounds. I am going off this med today! Id rather suffer with spring allergies than not fit into my clothes! | The medication does work, (I have had NO allergic symptoms, and that is amazing, since I am very allergic to any plant, tree pollen) But I am NOT dealing with these side effects. Going off of it TODAY and staying off FOREVER! | M | 25 | 5 months | 4/25/2009 | 1 | Coughing from post-nasal drip | I gave my 5 1/2 yr old son this medication and within a day he was moody and miserable. I didn't immediately connect it with the medicine, I just thought he wasn't feeling well. I gave it to him for about 4 days and also started my 8 yr old on it when he started with a similiar cold. They were at each others throats, fighting and generally irritable. I stopped the medicine for both of them and it took about 2 days for them to be back to normal. What a drastic reaction they both had. I will never give it to them again. | M | 5 | 4 days | 4/24/2009 | 2 | allergies | My 4 year old son was placed on this medication for his allergies. Almost immediately he became a different child. "Possessed" comes to mind. He was extremely aggitated and irrational. | He will not get another dose. I'm glad I came across this website. | M | 4 | 1 days | 4/23/2009 | 1 | allergies | abdominal pain, vomiting, clingy, excessive crying, sleeplessness | I gave this to my 1 1/2 year old for allergies, after it was prescribed to her by her allergist. What a horrible drug! She ended up at the ER for abdominal pain and vomiting. If I had seen this website before giving her the medicine, I would definitely not have given it to her. | F | 1.5 | 3 days | 4/23/2009 | 2 | Chronic Hay Fever | Wired, anxious sleep, drowsiness, apathetic mood. | ZYRTEC was effective in stopping my allergy symptoms, but after 3 days on this medication, with very little sleep, and the sudden apathy, I stopped, and returned to "normal" within 2 days. There should be more extensive warnings for this allergy medication, and it should be taken off the shelf. I will go back to taking Claritin "D" full of pseudofed which makes me wired also, but with no mental side effects--and I can't take that for more than 1 or 2 days! | M | 61 | 3 days | 4/22/2009 | 1 | cholestasis of pregnancy | extreme grumpiness and anger, tiredness, confusion | I took one tablet for the first time last night and will NEVER take another. I have not felt this disgusting for years. I am feeling extremely angry and disgusting, as if I have a massive hangover and very jumpy. It should not be on the market | F | 35 | 1 days | 4/21/2009 | 1 | Seasonal Allergies | Became agitated, depressed, irritable...violent thoughts. Normally I am very laid back and happy. Did not know this med could cause such mood problems. Worked well for allergies but not worth the problems it caused. This stuff is dangerous... | M | 38 | 7 days | 4/21/2009 | 1 | seasonal migraine headache control | 5 pound weight gain after just 5 days of medication! cognitive impairment, vivid dreams | F | 54 | 5 days | 4/20/2009 | 1 | seasonal nasal allergies | Right sided cardiac failure and hypertension. I experience "cardiac asthma" ie.wheezing after exertion with difficult breathing | This should not be over the counter. Who knew, from the sweet little TV ads that this drug could have killed me. | F | 58 | 2 weeks | 4/19/2009 | 2 | Allergies | As others have listed, the first two days of using Zyrtec were "Very foggy"- My mind was in a complete haze. After day four came the aggressive behavior and mood swings. After a week came the depression. Zyrtec did work very well in stopping the allergy symptoms, however, the side effects frighten me. I chose to suffer the allergies. | M | 38 | 2.5 weeks | 4/17/2009 | 3 | SEASONAL ALLERGIES | ANXIETY, AGGRESSION, AGGRAVATION | Started taking Zyrtec after my claritin failed after 10 years. This Zyrtec absolutely gives me allergy relief but I am not quite certain the people around me are happy about that. I feel a change in my demeanor and attitude about an hour after taking the pill. I am less than tolerant of everyone at this point and absolutely see a change in my mood. I am still trying to decide which is the lesser of two evils...my happiness from allergy relieve or my co-workers' happiness from having me stop the medication! | F | 42 | 5 days | 4/14/2009 | 1 | allergies | Almost immediately experienced extreme irritability and a racing pounding heart. | I tried taking Zyrtec two different times; when it was prescription only and when it came out OTC. Both times I had the same experience. At first I felt very irritable and foggy headed then after a day or two began to have an extreme pounding racing heart. You could see my pulse beating in my neck and I felt as if I was going to have a heart attack or something. I really can't believe that this medication is available over the counter. I see others have experienced the same thing. | M | 45 | 4 days | 4/13/2009 | 4 | Allergies (pollen) | Overall I've experienced less side effects with Zyrtec than most other over-the-counter medicines. Benadryl works great, but leaves me mentally on another planet. Tylenol Allergy works fine for a couple of hours, but within 4 hours it's wore off. Claritin has no effect on me at all. Only Zyrtec zaps out most of the symptoms. Dizziness however, does occasionally occur. | I find that the "3 days on, 2 days off" approach works great for stuff like this. Take it for 3 days, and then go OFF of it for 2-3 days. This SEEMS to lessen any side effects and keeps it effective, as taking it continuously will over time cause you to develop a resistance to just about any drug. Dizziness does sometimes kick in when you make sudden turns or bend over, so be prepared. I experienced no other side effects other than that one. | M | 43 | 3 weeks | 4/12/2009 | 4 | chronic allergies | brief sluggishness, dry mouth. | Nothing ever worked for my allergies. Claritin had no effect. Allegra helped a little, but upset my stomach. Zyrtec is (in my opinion) the best. After reading other posts I had to jump in and sing some praises. I've had no change in sex drive. I've had no change in sleep patterns. I was foggy for a day or two when I started taking it, but that passed. The dry mouth went away also. I think its a matter of body chemistry and specific allergies. For my scenario where everything makes me itch and sneeze, zyrtec works. I've been on for 2 years, and was on a few years prior to that... there was a lapse of time where my insurance didn't cover it and it wasn't OTC yet where I suffered. | M | 29 | 2 years | 4/8/2009 | 1 | Seasonal Allergies | My 4 year old has been on Zyrtec for 2 weeks. Irritability, mood swings, extreme fatigue, acting out, defiant, sad, etc | My son's behavior changed so dramatically on this medication, it was scary. He became a different person. My husband and I kept trying to pinpoint what was causing the changes and by chance I googled Zyrtec side effects and found this page. Thank God. I absolutely believe this is the cause and he will NOT be on this medication again. | F | 37 | 12 days | 4/8/2009 | 1 | seasonal allergies | extreme itching of hands and feet when I stopped taking zyrtec. The itching becomes painful at times. Occasional itching of shoulders, legs an ankles. | My Doctor perscribed Zyrtec for me 10 years ago for seasonal allergies. I was becoming increasingly tired, I asked to switch to something else and within two days of being off Zyrtec I had intense itching. I went back to my doctor and was told to take the Zyrtec again. I requested a referal to an allergist. I saw an allergist within a week.I was still itching. I had testing for every allergy you can imagine.To my utter surprise I have NO ALLERGIES. My allergist said The itching I am experienceing is a possible withdrawl from zyrtec. I am now 11 days off zyrtec and I still have occasional intense itching. My advice to anyone whose Doctor prescribes allergy medicine, see an ALLERGIST FIRST. I was shocked that I didn't have allergies and had taking that medicine for so many years. | F | 44 | 10 years | 4/8/2009 | 1 | seasonal allergy | I Purchased OTC Zyrtec for my daughter as per her doctor, she took the Zyrtec for a little more than 2 weeks. The caughing and sneezing became worse with asthma like symptoms. She was having a reaction to the medicine. I took her off Zyrtec and within a day the asthma symptoms started to clear up. Her breathing became better and the caughing subsided. | If symptoms for taking Zyrtec do not get better in a few days, but seem to get worse, consult your doctor right away. My daughter was on the edge of having a severe asthma attack while on Zyrtec. | F | 15 | 2 weeks | 4/7/2009 |