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 | Severe Allergies | Stomach ache, throat pain, and severe stomatitis | M | 7 | 3 days | 10/1/2007 | 5 | allergies | Nothing else gets rid of the headaches & runny nose like Zyrtec. It's great. | F | 55 | 5 years | 9/30/2007 | 1 | serve allergies | hard to wake up in morning, mood swings, irrational thoughts, crying, anti social | It didn't occur to me that my severe mood swings had anything to do with zyrtec until I realized how out of control I was behaving and I started searching for side effects. Now I have a reason for my weird dreams in the morning and the agitation I'm feeling. There hasn't been enough coffee in the morning to help me function. I was beginng to fear I couldn't do my job and my husband was beginning to believe I was a lunatic. | F | 59 | 31 days | 9/30/2007 | 5 | Seasonal allergies | This has worked great for me. I have started and stopped taking it regularly since starting it three years ago, as the peak allergy seasons come and go. You can't always trust anecdotal reports like this because there are many contributing factors to why people have the conditions and symptoms they do. I have never had itching or any of that when stopping it cold-turkey after allergy season. Don't ask me why. | I've not had any issues. It's worked great for me. I start taking it in the spring and quit taking it after fall each year. | F | 40 | 3 years | 9/29/2007 | 1 | allergies | Very tired, sad, and attitude changes | My normally happy six year old went from a sweet child to a child that was tired all the time, cried very easily, and out of nowhere had behavioral problems. It got to the point she was not pleasant to be around. I talked to another Mom and she gave me this website. After my child being off the drug for three weeks she is back to her old self. The side effects of this drug just aren't worth it. | F | 3 months | 9/25/2007 | 1 | allergies | 2 yr old boy has been coughing during sleep. Took this for possible allergies. Four nights and has been crying during day and yelling and tantrums that are not his usual self. | I would not reccommend this for children. | M | 2 | 4 days | 9/23/2007 | 1 | allergies | irritablity, sleepy | My son was prescribed Zyrtec for allergies. The second day he took it, we noticed a change in his behavior. I know toddlers are normally a bit challenging, but this was beyond his norm. He was having temper tantrums over things that normally didn't bother him. He was also having meltdowns over small things. I found this website and decided that he'll no longer be taking this medicine. If he was so ill behaved after two doses, I have no desire to see what would happen for a longer period of time. | M | 2 | 2 days | 9/22/2007 | 1 | Allergies: cats, ragweed, molds etc | Depression/PMS, fatigue, loss of libido, trouble waking up in the morning, feeling robotic, loss of motivation, loss of creativity | My story is very similar to a lot of people's who have posted on this board. I stopped taking Zyrtec last week to let things drain after a bad cold, and since then I am like a new person. (Thank goodness, no withdrawal symptoms.) I started taking Zyrtec in 2000 and there are a lot of things I am just now realizing must have been side effects, because they started soon after I started taking it: a depression diagnosis, not being able to write or have new ideas, and increasing fatigue that had me falling asleep at the wheel and in meetings, religious services, and more. I lost a job because I could not get up on time while taking Zyrtec. I blamed a lot of this on "my depression" (trying to be responsible and "own" my problem) or on getting old (I'm 36!). Like most people on this board, I would rather have an itchy allergy nose than be the sleepy, depressed robot I've been for the last 6 years or so! | F | 36 | 6 years | 9/21/2007 | 1 | Seasonal A;;ergy | Fatigue, Muscles pain, mood swings, tired all the time. I keep complaint to my doctors, but because I take a handful of other medications, I had to withdraw one by one to find which one was causing the problem. Unfortunately Zirtec was the last one that I withdrew. The muscle pain has gone, which was my major complaint. I feel more energetic. | I wonder why the FDA doesn't do a real thoroughly, investigation on these medications, before putting on the marketing. instead the need making the Pharmaceutic Companies ultra gazillionaires while we, the poor guineas pigs, have to go through the hard side effects, that sometimes not even the doctor who prescribe are aware of it. | M | 44 | 12 months | 9/17/2007 | 1 | year round allergies | My son has been taking it for 2 1/2 years! He had all of the same things that many of you are saying. He was having severe ANXIETY attacks and fits of rage. Our pharmacist rettired and we talked to the new one. He said he has heard of these complaints and told us to stop. I would rather he have allergies than the HELL our family has gone through. NOW I am convinced, we need to do something to get this stuff off of the market! My wife and I have been on it as well, and we have been severely depressed. We thought that it was from the situation with our child who had been happy now being in therapy, but since we have stopped taking it, we have started to feel like a cloud is being lifted off of the whole family!!! | Yes it works for allergies, but the side effects are far worse!!! Does anyone out there know of a good allergy meicine for kids. Claritin makes my son sick. PLEASE HELP!!! | M | 36 | 2 years | 9/16/2007 | 1 | seasonal allergies | tired all day, couldn't finish sexually, just wanted to sleep all day, facial tick | i've always had a slight facial tick growning up...it wasn't anything major except for the time of year that school went back in seccion.. it's great to finally find out that it's been the allergy pills all along...now that there really isnt any stress in my life i've come to the realization that it's always been the allegra..switching to zyrtec seemed to be the answer..well it wasnt..i dont recomend this drug to anyone..having sexual performance problems at 25 is a scary thing..thank god i found this website and found out it wasnt me! | M | 25 | 2 weeks | 9/13/2007 | 3 | allergies | My 2 yr old daughter was prescribed Zyrtec and she changed for the worst almost overnight. Our normally sweet, loving child became highly emotional, easy upset and whiny. She lost her appetite and would not eat ANY breakfast or lunch. It all went down the drain after reading some other comments here. | M | 48 | | 9/12/2007 | 2 | Allergy | Achy bones in neck/back, really sore eyes (sockets and lids). More itchines than origanally started with (on face), weird dreams/mood, sleepiness | Only two days on this drug and I wonder...why give a medicine to remedy an itch that can have side effect of an itch? Also I suffer from depession anyway and was not questioned my mental health at the pharmacy when it was suggested to try this anti hystamine, found my mood to be even more anti-sociable, but could be something to do with the swelling on my face. This drug seems to work for a short time for relief (3-6 hours)and uninformed persons would probably keep using it to see if the symptoms(both of the drug, and the cause)continue or get better, or in this case worse. Thanks for your insight everyone to give me an informed (by people who have tested, not what the drug co says) decision to stop taking this drug.NZ | F | 32 | 2 days | 9/11/2007 | 1 | allergies | waking up for no reason, temper tantrums, crying for no reason, stopped eating. | My 23 month old son turned into a nightmare. I have been thinking it was do to the fact he's almost 2 years old. But, after reading comments on here I'm not so sure it's the terrible two's! My son started by waking up super early, he stopped eating, he has turned from a sweet happy boy into a temper tanturm throwing nightmare child. The smallest thing sets him off and I end up w/ a child who screams and cries for 40 plus minutes. All this started last week shortly after his 2 second dose of Zyrtec. I had no warning from my dr. about side effects she made it seem like a wonder drug. Thank God for this site other wise I would of gone on druging my poor baby. | M | 2 | 2 weeks | 9/10/2007 | 2 | Allergies, Asthma | My daughter has been on Zyrtec for 2 1/2 years and has exhibited all of the horrible behavior problems other parents talk about on this site. We never made the connection. She was kicked out of a preschool; had a behavioral psychologist examination; was moved to private school and punished over and over again for poor behavior. I can not believe that pediatric allergists are continuing to prescribe this drug! | I can not believe that pediatric allergists are continuing to prescribe this drug. And if they are (because it does help with allergy symptoms) why aren't they asking the right questions at follow-up exams? Ask about behavioral changes? They always take careful weight and height measurements to ensure that steroid use for asthma is not inhibiting growth rates...why not ask about behavior issues? When I finally talked with our doctor about this site she did admit that some other parents were having problems and we should try something else. But we've lost more than 2 years during crucial brain development time. Is anyone suing? | F | 5 | 2 years | 9/6/2007 | 4 | My child's severe allergies | This medicine is great | This is the only allergy medication that in my opinion, saved my son's life. He no longer goes through asthma, itchy skin, sneezing, when he takes this at night. Plus he gets a good night sleep. | M | 7 | 1 years | 9/5/2007 | 1 | itching would cause bumps | After having contact dermatitis itching for a year, I was amazed how it completely got rid of the skin irritation from my scalp to my feet. BUT, the trade off was not worth it. I had trouble with any complex tasks. I had trouble doing routine things I do with no problem. I couldn't recall basic things that I should've been able. I slept all day, seriously drowsey. I would rate it a 9 on a one to ten scale on how drowsey it made me. I soon began to ask why I was so unmotivated, lazy, sleepy, completely introverted, and with absolutely no energy. My co-workers were really taken and worried about my personality change. My competitors were overjoyed that I lost my motivation. I realized soon, very soon, that I would have to make a tough decision; stay on this stuff and turn into a mentally dumbed-down potato or go back to the itching and deal with it another way. I decided to go with the itching and get my life back. In my job, not being creative, energetic, and sharp (money market broker) | I have learned it's true what people say; that all-body itching can be a stress reaction. Just go ride a bike, play an instrument, talk to people. You'd be surprised how it helps. I think it's terrible how a zombie drug like this can go on the market. This drug will make you seriously dead to the world. All you want to do is sleep, all day, every day. You wouldn't believe how much I just slept through my days. How can a government allow it's citizens to become so zombie-like? I know several people that have the same thing I had, they both say the increased histamine response is from stress. It's stress, and should should be dealt with in a more healthy way, not just by taking yet another pill that takes all your fun away. Keep your life, ditch this drug. Find a better way. | M | 45 | 1 months | 9/5/2007 | 1 | Severe allergies | I've been taking this for around four months, (10mg daily) starting a little while before the Summer began. From then till now, I've become extremely depressed to the point of being suicidal over the smallest things, very paranoid, feelings of worthlessness, had horrible, recurring nightmares of people being torn apart, (no joke) severe abdominal pain, (especially near my spleen) alternate between constipation/diarrhea no matter what I eat or how much fiber I get, (Colonoscopy and EGD came back fine.) have many bouts of nausea out of nowhere, (vomit sometimes) became an insomniac, never feel rested after sleep if I can get it, very irritable most of the time, get tons of extreme anger, (I used to be quite humble.) lots of headaches, muscle pain, lethargy, spaced-out feelings, can't concentrate, feeling withdrawn from reality, constantly lonely even around others, have barely any sex drive at all, been getting sick more than usual and doctors can't get a diagnosis, tons of swelling in | After finding this site, and another like it, I've seen that I'm not the only one who has been experiencing these sorts of things since they started this drug, and have stopped as of last night. So far, I've been having a lot of itching and feeling of being pricked with a needle over all of my body and head. I read a lot of people have these sort of withdrawals to Cetirizine. (Zyrtec) I stopped because I think this is truely the cause of my gradually ruined Summer and I am hoping to get all of those pieces of myself back, to stop being so depressed and irritable, and hopefully go back to how I was before and maybe even get some sleep. This is the only drug I've been on, so I don't think it is anything else and the descriptions here are too similar for comfort. Hopefully things will start improving. I just have to find something else for my allergies. The only OTC thing that works for me is Benadryl, but it makes me extremely tired and emotionally numb, so I save it for nights. I hope t | M | 18 | 4 months | 9/4/2007 | 1 | seasonal/pet allergies | Rage, hyperactivity, night terrors, loss of handwriting ability, complete personality change. | My 8-year old son discontinued the medication 12 weeks ago and he is still having outbursts of rage. Has anyone else had side effects continue for weeks or months after stopping the Zyrtec? Please e-mail me; I am frantic with worry. | M | 8 | 10 months | 9/3/2007 | 3 | itchy rash | The Zyrtec combined with a topical cream helped but I became agitated and irritable. I had trouble concentrating and had wierd dreams. I am taking 10mg tabs but will try 5mg then quit if I feel this way- it isn't helping THAT much. | Thanks for this site...I was wondering if anyone else felt this way. | F | 50 | 5 days | 8/30/2007 |