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 | seasonal allergies | Apathy, sadness, depression, feeling detached from my family, very irritable, can barely keep my eyes open. | I took this drug for the first time last night, slept poorly and woke up an angry, sad, zombie. I literally went from being a happy stable person, to not caring about anything, literally overnight. I've never felt this way before. I knew I would be tired as I am very sensitive to antihistimines. The dry mouth is horrible--no amount of water seems to make it better. I couldn't imagine that all these disturbing symptoms could be from something so benign as an allergy med (I was on Claritin for awhile and it did nothing for my allergies, and I had no side effects that I am aware of). I take no other medications, so it can't be something else. My husband keeps asking "what's wrong?" and I keep saying that I have no idea. Thank God I thought to just check out others' experiences with Zyrtec. My son has been taking zyrtec off and on for a few months when he has problems with his allergies--I'll be taking both of us off this immediately. He's only 4 and I haven't seen any | F | 44 | 1 days | 8/23/2008 | 1 | pet allergies/allergic rhinitis | aggressiveness, irritability, drowsiness, extreme anger and mood swings, very emotional, excessive crying | My 4 year old son has taken Zyrtec and Nasonex on and off for the past year after his dr. prescribed it. While it worked great for his allergies, I feel it completely changed his personality. Like many other parents on here have said, my once sweet loving son turned into a demon child. Hitting other kids, throwing toys, becoming very angry over mild situations with other children, very defiant, just a real nightmare. We stopped giving him the medication because we were just scared of the way his behavior had changed and we saw improvement for the most part. Of course we were still giving it to him on and off as needed when his allergies would really act up so I think that's why his behavior never really improved fully. I decided to give it to him last night because his allergies were really bad and today was the worst day I've ever had with his behavior. I googled zyrtec and irritability and this site popped up. It didn't pop up a year ago when I researched zyrtec side effects. | M | 4 | 1 years | 8/21/2008 | 1 | Severe allergies | I have been taking zyrtec for 2 years, it has worked well for my allergies. However, the side affects are terrible. I thought something ws wrong with my heart but now I know it was the drug. The withdrawal symtoms are the worst. I feel like I am going to itch myself to death. I feel like a drug addict going through withdraw! | Getting of Zyrtec sucks! The itching will drive you crazy. | F | 36 | 2 years | 8/19/2008 | 4 | Year-round Allergies Food and Envio | Slightly drawsy - take it at night just before bedtime | My 8 yr old has been or Zyrtec (RX) for about 3 yrs (now on the over the counter). RX worked much better. It works wonders on her allergies, and other than being a bit sleepy she has NO side affects what-so-ever. I've never noticed any behaviour changes. In fact, she is actually MUCH improved because now she actually gets a full night of sleep with her allergies under control. Without Zyrect she used to wake up several times each nite itching and sneezing. We tried all other meds before Zyretc and nothing worked for her as well. She also doesn't have any of the "withdrawal" sympthoms that some people describe--after reading some of the reviews and I took her off Zyrtec for awhile. But with nothing else working well on her allergies (she has both indoor and outdoor allergies) I had no second thoughts about giving her Zyrtec again. | F | 36 | 3 years | 8/12/2008 | 1 | seasonal allergies | My 3 yr old son exhibited hyperactivity and tantrums while taking the recommended dose. I am throwing it away! | M | 3 | 2 days | 8/11/2008 | 1 | Sneezing & runny nose | About two hours after taking I have hives on both my hands. This is the second time I took it and this happened before but I thought I was mistaken about it being caused by Zyrtec. If it is doing this, what else is it doing inside? | F | 55 | 1 days | 8/11/2008 | 5 | year round allergies to everything | sleepy | zyrtec has been great for me. i take it every day at night. but now that i am reading about everyone gaining weight.. and that i am over weight... i think ill try going off of it. | F | 27 | 3 years | 8/10/2008 | 1 | Allergies | I posted here almost a year ago that my son was experiencing horrible bi-polar type violent episodes since taking Zyrtec. We took him off Zyrtec the day I found this site. At first the behaviors subsided within 24 hours of stopping the medication. Slowly, over time and now a year later, the same behaviors are back in full force again and he is on NO allergy meds, except for occasional Benedryl. He's has been recently diagnosed with ADHD and is on Ritalin, that's not helping much. He is soon to be tested for bipolar disorder and oppositional defiant disorder. He's not had any Zyrtec in almost a year. My 6 year old, first grade son has said he wanted to kill himself. He's been in therapy over a year. | I firmly believe that the Zyrtec did permanent damage to my sweet bright, little boy's brain. He is now classified as "special needs". DON'T GIVE THIS DRUG TO YOUR CHILD, AND TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW DO NOT GIVE THIS TO THEIR CHILD! I fear my son will never be the same. I believe Zyrtec poisoned him. | M | 6 | 7 months | 8/10/2008 | 1 | seasonal allergies | The allergy symptoms are gone, but I'll stop taking this medication because of the negative side effects. I've had headaches, dry mouth, cold sweats, nausea and extreme sleepiness. Didn't feel it would be safe to get behind the wheel of a car, as I could barely keep my eyes open even after a good night's sleep. I take the Zyrtec at bedtime. | I'll either suffer through the allergy season or seek a prescription for Flonase again. | F | 55 | 6 days | 8/8/2008 | 1 | for allergies | Used this drug for about 60 days and my general health continued to decline. Although my allergy symptoms are reduced, the side effects are horrible | This is the drug from Hell. The side effects included: Extreem fatique,sore joints and mucles,rise in blood preasure,dizzeness,and overall lethargic feeling. Would never recommend this drug and I can not believe it is an over the counter drug. Over all rating (mean & nasty) | M | 75 | 60 days | 8/7/2008 | 1 | sinus drainage | burning and dry eyes, headach, fatigued and anxious, body felt heavy, depression, wanted to sleep more than usual, people noticed a change in my attitude and disposition | I thought something else was wrong with me until I read this link and realized my symptoms were validated by others taking this drug. I stopped taking Zyrtec 4 days ago and I'm experiencing withdrawal symptons of itchy skin mostly on the back of my neck and arms. Side effects of taking this drug are just not worth it. | F | 45 | 2 months | 8/7/2008 | 3 | Seasonal Allergies | Been experiencing major fatigue, lethargy, depression, major weight gain, mood swings. | I took it for one week straight, then stopped for one day. That one day was terrible, have very sharp back pains and knee pains, migraines, terrible weakness. While on it, I have terrible thoughts, increase of sexual desire, urge to hurt someone. Will definately stop taking it. Do not give to kids/teens. | M | 14 | 1 months | 8/6/2008 | 1 | Allergies, sinus congestion | Took at night as directed--had really disturbing dreams and a feeling of panic upon awakening. Also felt very sluggish...through process of elimination decided Zyrtec must be the culprit and discontinued, as there were no other medicines, foods or events in my life to cause this reaction. An ENT DR I saw soon afterwards said it crosses the blood/brain in about 1% of the population. My daughter-in-law and her mother reported that they had the same reaction to it. | I never experienced anything like this before with an antihistamine--drowsiness, yes, but not an overwhelming feeling of doom and panic. How can they make this an over the counter drug? It could send someone to the psych ward! | F | 59 | 1 days | 8/4/2008 | 1 | Prescribed by allergist | Severe mood swings, aggresiveness, night terror, fatigue. | My two year old has severe asthma and allergies. His allergist prescribed Zyrtec about six months ago and he takes it every night, which was suggested. I noticed right away, he cleared up, but I also notice that almost every night since then, it is a chore to get him to sleep. He has severe tantrums, will not sleep and when he finally does sleep, he wakes up in the middle of the night several times screaming. I kept thinking that is must be because of his 'terrible two stage,' but the more I read, the more I feel like I have been poisoning my son for 6 months now! What are other parents doing for their kids allergies? I know he needs to take something to clear him up, but Zyrtec is not the answer. | M | 2 | 8 months | 8/3/2008 | 2 | Allergies | Some drowsiness and trouble sleeping while on pill. When off of pill had extreme itching, sneezing, and some drowsiness | It works great against allergies, but when off of pill the side effects are unbearable. Only take this pill if you have no desire to stop it. The itching makes you want to scratch your skin off to stop it. I am going off of the pill now. | M | 14 | 5 years | 8/2/2008 | 1 | For seasonal allergies, dogs | My three year old daughter has been taking Zyrtec for a little over a year. We were having escalating behavior issues with her and thought it was something internal or what we were doing as parents. We even took some time off to spend with her to be more strict and work with her on her "anger management". It helped about 10%, even with our extra time and consistency. She was having fits, couldn't calm down when upset, was constantly getting in trouble at day care and turned into a child that we did not know. I happened to talk to my sister about the issues and without telling her about the medicine, she asked if she was on Zyrtec because it caused behavior problems. We took her off immediately because we were so desperate for a solution to her behavior problems. Within two days, she was back to normal! We have gone from literally 10-20 tantrums and fits per day to maybe one. If she has a tantrum now (off the medicine), she can calm down immediately and apologize. We | If your child is having fits of rage and they are on Zyrtec, take them off!! | F | 38 | 1 years | 7/30/2008 | 3 | Year round Allergies and hives | Very tired in the morning after taking it before bed. Feel like I'm in a fog all the time. Drinking alot of coffee just to wake up in the morning. Not sure if the zyrtec or the coffee is causing my stomach gurgling/heartburn(?) Lots more aches and pains than before. Weight gain, water retention in hands and ankles. Eyes burn more than usual and I thought it's supposed to help with that if you have allergies (?) Very very very moody and irritable. Feeling depressed too which is not good. I also take Singulair. | Very interesting to hear such similiar complaints. I can't believe that it's all just related to the type of individuals that have impaired immune systems aka have allergies. Some of this must be related to the medicine. I just can't keep feeling like this. Hard to think straight. I am going to go back to Claritin D and see if I notice improvement in any of my symptoms. | F | 45 | 3 years | 7/25/2008 | 4 | Seasonal allergies | Weight gain! | I started taking Zyrtec in April 2008 and it is now July 2008. I have gained 20lbs! I know it is not due to poor diet. I eat lots of fresh fruits and veggies and exercise regularly. Zyrtec is the only new thing in my diet. I am going to the dr to rule out anything else. After reading the side effects on here I think my constant 'pms' may be part of this. I am extremely angry and I don't remember being like that. I am still angry about someone who cut me off driving 5 days ago. | F | 24 | 4 months | 7/23/2008 | 5 | urticaria & angioedema | Dry mouth, receeding gums & fatigue | It's a trade off, I could not live the way I was, it's an effective drug with some side effects just like any other drug, I'm willing to take those. | M | 43 | | 7/19/2008 | 3 | Allergies | Severe body aches, dry mouth, heart palpitations | I've been on Zyrtec about 2 years now. My severe body aches (to the point that at times it's very painful to move much) started a few months after I began the drug, but I never connected the two until now. My allergies are now nonexistent, though. I've missed a pill now and then and have never had any withdrawal problems. | F | 53 | 2 years | 7/15/2008 |