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 |
| 2 | nasal allergies year round | I had noticed my mood change drastically. I felt like I was PMSing all month long. EVERYTHING got to me. I was in a rage over any little thing. I am normally not like this at all! I tested to see if it was the zyrtec (stopped, symptom went away, started again, symptoms started, and so on). Went back to Claritin and am fine...for now. The same symptom was with my 4 year old. His pediatritian prescribed it for him and I trusted it was ok. Immediately had to stop. My son changed overnight! | should mention this side effect in their product labeling | F | 35 | 3 months | 4/16/2007 | 1 | sinus issuses | My son started this med about 2 weeks... he was JUMPING off the walls....so hyper...wouldnt calm down... I didnt understand why... Now, my son is peeing blood? Possible side effect of this med? PLEASE let me know if anyone has gone through the same problem? Im so worried about my son.... going for more tests tomorrow... OFF THE ZYRTEC! | F | 30 | 2 weeks | 4/16/2007 | 4 | Seasonal Allergies | No noticable side effects when I am taking Zyrtec, but when I stop taking it or skip too many doses, I get a light skin rash that covers almost my entire body. This typically clears up in a few days (or when I restart the Zyrtec) and is not so bothersome that it would cause me to stop taking Zyrtec altogether. It has been a miracle drug for my seasonal allergies. | F | 25 | 6 months | 4/10/2007 | 3 | Hives | Itchiness after quitting the medicine. | I began breaking out in hives about 1 yr. ago I have had 4 episodes... the cause of which is guessed to be heat/anxiety. My Dr. put me on Zyrtec and told me to see an allergist. The allergist said I didn't need to be on it every day, just the days I break out (which has been once every 4-5 mo.) I am now off Zyrtec (for one week) and am itching like crazy. My scalp itches, if I sit on my leg or put pressure on my arms they get hot itchy spots. I called the pharm. and she said it is not a withdrawal from zyrtec that the medicine must have been hiding some other illness. (Which from reading these posts I don't believe) I have called the first Dr. and his secretary told me the same as the pharm. I am now waiting on a call back from my allergist. I just wondered if anyone knows how long this itchiness spell will last. I assume since the zyrtec has been blocking all histamines for the last three months that my body is not used to them now. If anyone has any info. it would be appreciated! | F | 23 | 3 months | 4/10/2007 | 2 | seasonal allergies | To all parents of young children--my 6 year old experienced the SAME behavior problems on Zyrtec. I contacted his allergist today, and he said Zyrtec crosses the blood-brain barrier (as do most anithistimines), and therefore could defintely cause behavioral changes. His allergist prescribed Allegra for children (which is NEW spring 2007), and Allegra DOES NOT CROSS THE BLOOD-BRAIN BARRIER!!! Will start this in a few days with my son...hopefully will work! Good luck, and get your kids off this terrible medicine! | M | 6 | | 4/10/2007 | 2 | seasonal allergies(spring only) | My 6 year old son took Zyrtec for two spring seasons since he experiences severe allergies to spring pollen and grass. The drug did wonders in clearing his allergies, but caused him to manifest behavior problems. When he first started taking Zyrtec in late March when he was 5 years old (right when seasonal allergies begin), his teacher started calling me from school telling me that he was breaking down, crying easily, and throwing tantrums. She said that if she didn't know him from the previous 7 months in her class (when he wasn't on Zyrtec), that she would have thought that was just the way he was. I did not make the connection, and so the poor kid spent 3 months screaming at school. The end of summer came, and I took him off his allergy meds. All is well at school, and then March rolls around again, and I start him on his Zyrtec. Sure enough, I get a call from the teacher (different teacher, by the way) reporting the same exact behavioral problems. This teacher, who is excel | M | 6 | | 4/10/2007 | 1 | sinus infctns due 2 seasonal allerg | 6 year old daughter has been on Zyrtec off and on due to seasonal allergies since she was 2 1/2 or 3 years old. We recently started up again (been about 2-3 weeks now). She has been completely irrational and out of control emotionally. Extreme meltdowns at the least bit of disappointment. As many parents before me have mentioned, my child acted as if possessed. We too had started checking into psych coucil thinking that something had to be going on with her. She experienced extreme rage that was scary to us. If we would start to ask her to do something like put her bike away etc she would start screaming I know I know I am a bad girl and you hate me and on and on and on. There was no consoling her. She also developed what has appeared to be an involuntary tic with what started as rapid blinking of her eyes. Now she appears to be winking rotating from eye to eye. I just today found that numerous studies have shown that a rare side effect is orofacial dyskenesia which is invol | Has not adequately been proven safe for children. Parents do your research before adminstering to your kids!!!!!! Watch for involuntary facial movement. It is not fare that our children have had to endure disciplinary action due to side effects of a drug that I feel should not be prescribed to children. | F | 6 | 3 weeks | 4/10/2007 | 1 | Allergies | I can't believe that I am not the only one who has experienced this. This is both reassuring and disconcerting at the same time. I actually got very emotional when I started to read all of the comments, especially, those parents with 4-5 year olds taking these meds. My 4-year-old daughter has been taking Zyrtec for the past four months. A wonderfully sweet child transformed into this terribly-aggressive and noncompliant pre-schooler. Further, she became extremely emotional, aggressive towards me, my wife, and her brother, and catatonic at times. She started tantrums, talking to herself, destroying her toys and her room. In fact, she started a new daycare two weeks ago because she was dismissed from her previous pre-school because of uncontrollability. We immediately dismissed the notion that our daughter should be tested for ADHD. I feel so bad for our daughter because we also have taken so much from our daughter in attempts to correct her behavior -- toys, early bed, no snack | I agree with others that this information needs to be more readily available. My wife and I have had many sleepless nights worrying about our daughter. We really have to find a way to get this information out to others!!! | F | 4 | 4 months | 4/9/2007 | 1 | allergies | My daughter has allergies and was prescribed zyrtec to replace claritin after having pneumonia twice in two months. I was told to give her the Zyrtec at night because it can cause drowsiness. I usually did that but occasionally when someone else would keep her overnight, they'd forget and give it to her in the morning. Her behavior was terrible -- aggressive and unpredictable and she's usually very sweet. I couldn't rule out the fact that she was with someone else when this happened. For the last two weeks, I ended up giving her the Zyrtec in the morning because we forgot one night and just got off track. My daughter's behavior has been awful -- to the point where her teacher even asked if she was taking something that might make her behave so differently. I decided to see if I could find some link between aggression/irritability in young children and zyrtec. I am so grateful to have found this site. We will go back to Claritin today. | F | 4 | 6 days | 4/9/2007 | 1 | Allergies | Extreme tiredness and seemingly little relief of symptoms. Daughter also taking it and getting stomach upset as well as tiredness and crankiness. | Ack, the itching! I am sooo glad I found this site and can see that I am not alone. I stopped taking this a few years ago because it seemed to be doing nothing for me. But then I broke out head to toe in hives. We had just moved from CA to NY and I assumed I was more severely allergic to something there in NY and that the med was in fact doing something for me. So I continued to take it. Then I had to do without it for a few days when my pharmacy ran out and were slow to restock. Again broke out in hives. Moved to WA and noticed that I was getting more and more tired to the point of being non-functional. Found this site when looking up side effects of another med and decided to look up all the ones I was taking. Was astounded to read that the itching was a withdrawal symptom of stopping the med. Decided just to stop it and tough it out. It has been a week now. Still get periodic bouts of itchiness but it's mild compared to what it was at first. After about 24 hours of | F | 47 | 7 years | 4/8/2007 | 1 | allergies | My 5 year old daughter has been taking this for years. She has been having emotional meltdowns. I will tell her to brush her teeth or get dressed and she will start screaming and crying. This can go on for up to one hour, she can not stop. When I ask her why she is acting like this she says she doesn't know. Lately she has talked about wanting to hurt herself. She says that we hate her and don't love her. This child is so loved and gets lots of attention. We had even made an appointment with a therapist. My husband mentioned her medications and when I googled on side effects of zyrtec I found that we are not the only ones going through this. I have contacted my daughters doctor and we are stopping the zyrtec! | F | 5 | | 4/7/2007 | 1 | Allergies | I took Zyrtec for a few years with pretty good results (or so I thought at the time), but when I tried to get off the drug, it was nearly impossible becuase of the hives, the "heavy head" feeling and the overall tiredness. It took me about 2-3 weeks to get over the side effects of not taking it anymore. I haven't taken Zyrtec for over one year, but a month ago when Spring hit, I was miserable took Zyrtec and it seemed okay for the first few days, but I have gained ten pounds in one month and I am depressed and irritable, and it's very hard to get up in the morning. After reading all of your posts, I will get back off the drug once and for all! I am not looking forward to getting the hives and other side effects after I stop taking it, but I know from experience that it will eventually end. I have used a homepathic remedy that works pretty well and I am going back to using it (without ANY side effects), but you will still have a few occasional allergy symptoms, as nothing work | It is worth the symptoms to get off of the drug!!! Don't delay, get off of it now before it become even more difficult! Every day you wait, the harder it will be! | F | 41 | 30 days | 4/5/2007 | 4 | Chronic allergies | I've been taking it for more than 5 years. I also use rhinocort and an albuterol inhaler the three of them improve my life significantly. For the last couple of years, I've been taking them every other day as opposed to every day. Recently, I've been getting hives and severe itching spells. I went back to daily, and initially the hives became less severe, they now are getting worse again. | A lower dosage is an over the counter drug in Canada and theres's a generic form of it as well - in Canada. | M | 45 | 5 years | 4/4/2007 | 1 | Allergies | After being extremely congested and Claritin not working my doctor prescribed Zyrtec. I took 2 doses on one day, woke up the next morning feeling very dizzy and lightheaded, my head feels huge and just disconnected. It's been 3 days and I'm still not feeling 100% normal, still nauseous and a little lightheaded, I have NOT taken Zyrtec since that first day and will NEVER take it again. The side effects are absolutely HORRIBLE, not worth it at all!!! | Please Please be careful when you take this drug, with just 2 doses my whole life has been turned upside down, I feel horrible and can't wait for this drug to get out of my system for good. | F | 32 | 1 days | 4/2/2007 | 1 | allergies & asthma | Uncontrollable coughing, vomiting, drowsiness. Taken a night as Zyrtec manufacturer recommended. | Our son is 5 and our doctor wanted to try something other than Loritadine which we've taken for 2+ years to see if it would increase allergy symptoms. He's been on Zyrtec for 3 days (taken at night) and all three nights has had uncontrollable coughing until he throws up. We have done albuterol to try to control the coughing, Benadryl to help dry him out, and nothing is working. To use the nebulizer he can barely hold his head up in the middle of the night. I don't recommend this drug for anyone, especially children. I doubted the medication before I found this website and now I'm afraid of it. It's amazing how fast the negative effects of this medicine affect his little body. (Also on Pulmicort, Benadryl, and Singulair). Going back to Loritadine, sent this site to our doctor, FLUSHING THE ZYRTEC. | F | 32 | 3 days | 4/2/2007 | 4 | Food Allergies | Weight gain - Stretching and bending exercises become difficult because the omentum packs on pounds. My belly has gained girth, but not my chin or any extremities. Frankly I have to stop because I need to breathe. Antihistamines in general seem to make people pack on pounds. I know very few habitual hayfever sufferers. Threshold itchiness - it can feel like you're about to get hives all the time, but you never do. It feels like electricity to some people I've talked to. Lethargy - While I don't feel tired, I notice that my day ends considerably sooner than it did before I started taking Zyrtec. My already considerably short attention span is even shorter, and I find that my attention to detail is easily side tracked, and end up doing stupid things of little use or consequence. Ironically, I fall asleep as soon as I take Zyrtec at night, but find myself staring at the ceiling with my mind racing | I started taking this because everything I ate was causing me to break out in hives and fall asleep. Zyrtec stopped that enough so that I could function during the day, but the beneficial effects are wearing off now. I'm tired again after I eat and am beginning to get itchier. After ceasing Zyrtec for a few days, I've noticed that I feel pretty itchy all the time, so I try not to scratch. I am wondering if this particular antihistamine might have been blocking some itchiness it would have been better to be aware of. In fooling the body into not reacting for some things, it may fool the body into not reacting for important things - like yeast infections. This is not good. Frankly, I don't think this should be given to children. It seems to make me not care about some important things. Childrens' bodies are too formative to be exposed to something that could have lasting or permanent effects on their bodies, brain chemistry and social wiring. | M | 42 | 7 months | 4/1/2007 | 2 | allergies | I am supposed to start taking Zyrtec... I wasn't able to pick up my prescription yesterday and now have to wait to Monday. I was curious about this drug and found this website. After reading about all these horrible experiences I must admit I am terrified to start taking this. I have allergies and eczema, no other medications have worked for me and zyrtec is my last option. Is it worth it? Will I experience all these terrible things? | F | 27 | | 3/31/2007 | 2 | seasonal alleriges; red, itchy eyes | Extremely lethargic all day after taking before bed. Experienced hallucinations as well. Yelled at my son for something that didn't really happen. | I will not be taking this drug again. | F | 38 | 2 days | 3/31/2007 | 5 | Allergies | I loveeeeeeeeeeeeeee this stuff. I can't belive people have side effects at all. But then again if you read above a lot of them are so called "parents" feed this stuff to kids under like 8. Stick to bendryl for the little ones. The less meds they take the better. WAKE UP! For everyone else over the age of 8ish and not a parent there are truly few side effects to it. If you get a little lightheaded that little label on the bottle tha says dizzy explains why. Take the stuff with food or go back to bendryl. Stay inside more and change your filters in your house. There are a lot of things that dont require medicie look into them before taking anything. | I only take it when i NEED it. AKA im about to totaly pass out bec i can't take it anymore. otherwie dont take it. let our body learn to deal! | F | 22 | 2 years | 3/29/2007 | 1 | Allergies | WORST MEDICINE EVER. I am so glad that I found this website, although I had to search google to find it. I have been giving this to my 5 yr old daughter and I will stop immediatly. She has been crying when she goes to preschool for no reason. She has been having temper tantrums and just so moody. I feel so bad that I've been punishing her for her bad attitude, taking away cartoons, early to bed, taking away toys, etc... She tells me the reason she cries is because she is afraid that her grandma isn't going to come back and pick her up. I was so confused by this. She has been in preschool for over a month and hasn't ever felt this way. She didn't go to school on a Monday due to having the flu over the weekend and I took her that day to the doctor to deal with the allergies she has been having. My husband takes Zyrtec and it has worked well for him, so we started my daughter on it. I started on Monday evening. On Wed morning at preschool is when the crying started. This has been happenin | F | 5 | 2 weeks | 3/28/2007 |