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 | eczema itching and allergies | Unbelievable change in behavior for 6 weeks now. And it finally hit me that all of this started with the Zyrtec. We have been miserable with tantrums, aggression, problems playing with the other children in school and he seemed to not hear anything said to him. | We will go off immediately and hope for changes. I think that doctors should inform patients to stop if these mood changes are noticed. You have all given me hope. | M | 3 | 6 weeks | 10/26/2007 | 3 | Allergies, Env & cats year round | we endured her almost getting kicked out of preschool for basically torturing another child - extremely bad irrational behavior extremely bad outbursts - very unlike her - back to soy milk we went - some of the negative behavior subsided - however as she has grown her dose of Zyrtec has increased - 5 mg chewable each morning. She struggles not with drowsiness; but performing fairly simple tasks - and when failing that completely sobbing meltdowns. | I have said some of the same things "Where has my daughter gone?" "Please give her back" "Please go to bed and wake up as my sweet little girl" My daughter is 6 now, has been on Zyrtec 3.0 years for year round environmental and cat allergies. When she was 4 she had her tonsils removed - we thought she's be able to stop her medications - not true - she was worse with her behavior after that surgery - which at the time we switched her from her usual soy milk to cows milk - allergy tests showed only intolerance not allergy to milk - we endured her almost getting kicked out of preschool for basically torturing another child - extremely bad irrational behavior extremely bad outbursts - very unlike her - back to soy milk we went - some of the negative behavior subsided - however as she has grown her dose of Zyrtec has increased - 5 mg chewable each morning. She struggles not with drowsiness but performing fairly simple tasks - and when failing that completely | F | 6 | 3 years | 10/24/2007 | 1 | allergies | Weight gain, extreme moods, I became very angry very quickly (not my usual temper), I was not quite in a fog, but I wasn't all there either. | I gained 10 pounds in three months, I was tired all the time, and my family kept asking me what was wrong. They said that I always seemed unhappy. After thinking about it I realized that I wasn't unhappy, but I wasn't happy either. It was a strange mood kind of hard to explain unless you' ve been there. I wouldn't recommend this drug for anyone. | F | 3 months | 10/24/2007 | 5 | year-round allergies | none | Once had to go off it for 10 days for a thyroid test of some type and experienced really bad itching everywhere. My doc said he couldn't explain that, but within months the drug became recommended for hives. Now I'm afraid to ever stop it, but it really does help my allergies. | F | 50 | 5 years | 10/19/2007 | 5 | Allergy symptoms leading to asthma | fatigue, weight gain, feeling nervous and "fluttery" when I first wake up. | I went through a series of perscription allergy medicines until I was perscribed Zyrtec. It stopped my onset asthma because it controlled my allergy symptoms. My body does not react as strongly to the side effects, so I am thankful for that. From what I read, this should be a "last resort" medication for children when uncontrolled symptoms are causing a serious health problem. My side effects list also says that it should NOT be given to the elderly. But for me, Zyrtec halted the development of asthma, and the side effects are tolerable in my system. | F | 49 | 1 years | 10/19/2007 | 4 | occasional seasonal allergies | Side effects: Feeling a little "out of it", sleepy, dry mouth, typical "old school" allergy side effects. Also, this weird thing with my heart that seems to skip a little when I go off the med - but that may be because I take Zyrtec-D (has pseudoephedrine in it) | Zyrtec-D works for me for about 3 days at a time - I generally don't take it for longer than that and not very often (maybe 3 days out of a month I'm having sinus and allergy issues, like now). I think it is a strong medication. I wouldn't give it to children. | F | 41 | 6 months | 10/19/2007 | 3 | Severe allergies:grass,mold,pollen+ | Not sure if they are side effects but after reading this. Anxiety, some OCD tendencies, weight gain, tired, lazy, upset easily, "out of it"-stopped taking 1-2months ago and lost almost 25lbs w/o trying-have tried while on zyrtec and never lost weight | It worked great for my allergies but after recently trying Respa A.R. samples from my doc to help with post nasal drip I switched off the zyrtec-if the comments on this page are correct it explains A LOT of ABNORMAL health issues and behavior I felt while on zyrtec | F | 27 | 4 years | 10/19/2007 | 4 | Seasonal Allergies | A touch of anxiety upon initial usage | 10mg daily, Works great, it does take a bit of adjustment, however the pros outweigh the cons. Also prescribed Elestat (which suprisingly makes me feel a lot more strange than the Zyrtec) and Nasonex (this stuff works great). If you have seasonal allergies I would definately recommend this combo, only problem I notice is a touch of eye redness/itching (but rarely during the day). This is definately not for kids, and for sure exaggerates any existing conditions. If you are taking a bunch of other meds and already have psychological problems/tendancies you should lay off the pharms. | M | 25 | 30 days | 10/17/2007 | 3 | bad allergies/prevent ear infection | My son is having rapid cycling mood changes, to the point of non-provoked violent outbursts, anger and not being able to get him up in the morning, to at the snap of a finger, sweet as pie. He also is ravenously hungry all the time. Eyes dialated, says no one loves him, says he hears "a bear growling in his head". We are trying get him assessed by a psychiatric doctor for bipolar disorder or some other explanation for his extreme behavior and moods and help. After reading this forum, I am taking him off TODAY, however he suffers from chronic painful ear infections. This medicine is the only one that has helped him and we've tried them all. His doctors say it can't be the Zrtec that is doing this to him. I don't know what to do now...:-( | M | 5.5 | 6 months | 10/16/2007 | 3 | allergies - pollen, dust mites, cat | dizziness, fatigue, weight gain | i was checking the web for side effects of zyrtec because of the almost daily vertigo. I was shocked at the MANY postings related to weight gain. For the last two years, I have expressed my dismay to close friends and family re: unexplained weight gain - despite sensible diet (approaching restrictive at times) and INCREASED exercise. I attributed this to my changing (aging) body. After reading this site, I realize that the weight gain may have another explanation. I am ending my use of this drug today, and will post again if i notice a change in the next six months. Unfortunate, really, because zyrtec controls allergy symptoms very effectively. BUT - tiredness, dizziness and, now i learn WEIGHT GAIN!! You cannot imagine (or perhaps some of you can) how mystified and unhappy i have been over this change in my body. I gained twenty five pounds in two years, with no significant change in diet (vegetarian, MANY fruits and vegetables) and a very deliberate increase in exercise. | F | 47 | 4 years | 10/15/2007 | 3 | Allergies | No side effects while on drug. Terrible after-effects. If I'm one hour late (over 24 hours) taking the pill I get severe itching/burning over entire body. I've tried to stop taking it and have had these symptoms continuous for a number of days now. Based on what I've read, it may be many more days until I'm over it. Complete misery. | Best drug I've found for relieving allergy symptoms. Too bad you can't stop taking it without major suffering. | M | 35 | 6 months | 10/9/2007 | 2 | allergies which induced asthma | anxiety,inability to cope with frustration, not eating/excessive eating, fast emotional meltdowns, hives when missed dose, excessive thirst, now a kidney stone in a 7 yr old | My son is almost 8 and has been on this since age 4. We felt we had no choice as his allergies were contributing to emergency room level asthma episodes. It did help with that tremendously. But at what price? We have another child w/out allergies, very easy going. This little boy is very touchy emotionally, will rage over small things, has been in occupational therapy in school for 2 years for anxiety, etc etc.Will not eat for time periods and other times will eat excessively--not just "treats" but things like chicken cutlets. Also, having trouble concentrating on schoolwork, hard to read his writing. When we rarely forget to give it to him, he gets hives which we blame on allergies. Now he has a kidney stone, I have a bad feeling this may be related--has anyone else's child had this? I will be getting him off of this as safely and quickly as possible. | F | 43 | 4 days | 10/9/2007 | 1 | allergy dog/cat | vomiting right after and screaming fits. Notice a runny nose. | can't believe all the comments I feel the same way, noticed my daughter was not the same screaming banging her head staring off into space. When stop using ZYRTEC she will scratch til she is covered in blood. Tonight I looked up side affects after I looked at my shoulder her face and her PJ's,'s, all covered in blood. After reading I am feel awful, and can't believe this. At night she will lie in bed and whimper and whine all night long. | F | 1 | 2 months | 10/9/2007 | 1 | Allergies/Eczema | My daughter (21 months) was prescribed Zyrtec about a month ago for allergies. She's a very happy, sweet, loving child with the normal toddler challenges, but never anything unusual, nor aggresive. Well, that had all changed in the past month. We just kept telling ourselves that it must be the terrible two's - but this was bad, she would cry at the slightest thing, she almost stopped eating, she'd wake up crying at night and it would take hours to console her. She became aggresive (slapping, biting) and she was never like that before -- it finally hit me last Friday when she'd bit another child at daycare really hard that this just can't be normal and I can't say why I thought it, but that night I wondered if it could be the Zyrtec - it was the only change in her normal diet - so I went to web and typed in "Zyrtec & Mood Swings" and found this site - what a relief. we stopped her Zyrtec and by late yesterday (2 days later) she was back to her sweet self again. I'd rath | F | 2 | 30 days | 10/8/2007 | 1 | allergies | i took zyrtec at the age of 8. i started getting heart palpitations and stopped taking it that same week, after going to doctors who all insisted they were caused by zyrtec. At 13 i had an episode where my heart was racing 250 beats per minute and i found myself in the emergency room where i was given Adenosine, which is a drug that basically resets the heartrate and causes extreme chest discomfort. Im now 16 and i've had to go to the emergency room about 5 times since then, my heart rate reaching about 260 beats per minute. All because of palpitations zyrtec was causing when i was 8. | Now i have to get heart surgery. thanks zyrtec, ha. | F | 16 | 1 weeks | 10/3/2007 | 2 | allergies | fits of intense anger | I've been taking zyrtec for a while and it works alright with my allergies - nothing ever gets rid of all my symptoms. But the symptoms were bearable. I began getting really upset about things and having boughts of anger where I would yell, slam and hit things - not usual for me. My boyfriend said I needed to stop taking whatever "drugs" I was on and the only things I'm on is my birth control - same for the last decade - and the Zyrtec. It only then occurred to me that maybe the Zyrtec is the problem so I am going to stop taking it for a while. | F | 29 | 6 months | 10/2/2007 | 2 | Chronic sinusitis | Extreme irritability, drowsiness, itching in hands and arms, very hungry in mornings and no appetite later in day. | Went on this drug for sudden onset of allergies and sinusitis. Experienced some minor relief at first, but then symptoms got much worse and other problems, such as extreme irritability, started happening. Very strange that suddenly my appetite completely changed, starving in the morning, and then no hunger and almost nauseous in the evening. I took the medicine at night. | M | 52 | 30 days | 10/2/2007 | 1 | allergies | I took zyrtec and starting get hives that looked like ringworm. They didn't itch but looked horrible -- huge, raised welts. I thought it was an allergic reaction to food. I was tested for food allergies and was negative. Then I thought it was the zyrtec; I quit taking it and and the hives went away. I'll get a few hives every now and then but I think they're stress-related. | Everyone I know who takes zyrtec loves it, but I'll stay with Benadryl. | F | 45 | 1 days | 10/2/2007 | 1 | Allergies (year round) | Needed 9 -10 hours of sleep a night. Lethargy, couldn't concentrate at work, heart palpitations, heart thumping, dry nose. Now that I'm w/drawing - can't sleep past 3 am, migraine, dizzyness. | I've been off Zyrtec for a week to 10 days, and I was hoping to find some information on how to deal with the w/drawal symptoms. I've tried several times over the years to withdraw but after 3 days, the itchy sneezy nose would return with a huge migraine. Since being on shots for 3 years has helped I thought I'd try again and found that not only did I get multiple days of migraines (in spite of taking Rx for it), I can't sleep past 3 am. But I'm tired all the time, exhausted. For several days, I was extremely dizzy to the point of falling if I tried to stand. I'm worried because I have 3 kids on this drug, and wondering if they should come off, esp since one has depression and is on meds for that. This site has helped a great deal. But I still don't know what to do about the withdraw symptoms. If anyone has gone off with success, I would like to hear about it. Thanks! | F | 47 | 7 years | 10/1/2007 | 1 | allergies | eye dryness,sleepieness | Thought I must have scratched eye so went to opto doc,had dry eye so drops helped.Then was seeing designs in vision,tingly fingers,tiredness,heart pulpitations,dizzyness,finally awoke one night thinking heart attack. Doc sent me to Cardio doc ,did extensive testing to find nothing wrong with heart.Stopped Zyrtec!! and VWELLA.. All troubles are gone!! HMMM ZYRTEC?? | F | 48 | 1 years | 10/1/2007 |