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Overview
Zyrtec is a relatively new antihistamine used to treat allergies such as hay fever. It alleviates symptoms of runny nose, itchy, red, watery eyes, and sneezing.
Zyrtec has also been found to be helpful against hives and itching of the skin.
Unlike Seldane and Hismanal it does not appear to interact with other drugs or cause heart rhythm irregularities.
Side Effects and Interactions
The most common side effects of Zyrtec include drowsiness, dry mouth, fatigue, and dizziness. Rare side effects may include nausea, headache, tremor, digestive upset, increased appetite, weight gain, ringing in ears, muscle pain, skin rash, hair loss, and liver enzyme elevations. Report any symptoms to your physician promptly.
Drug interactions are apparently uncommon, though alcohol and nervous system depressants could add to the sedative action of Zyrtec.
Special Precautions
Older people and those with kidney or liver problems may not eliminate Zyrtec efficiently and will likely need a lower dose.
Because this antihistamine may cause drowsiness it could make driving dangerous. This is also true for any task that requires mental alertness.
Do not drink alcohol or take other sedating drugs as it could add to this effect.
Taking the Medicine
Food has very little impact on Zyrtec absorption and consequently this medicine can be taken once a day at a time that is convenient.
Our 10 year old daughter has been on Zyrtec for approximately 2 years for allergies and to control her asthma. She has had 3 injuries in the past 10 months with an increased sensation to pain. Could her unusual feeling of pain be related to her use of Zyrtec?
I recently had to take a generic Zyrtec for allergies. I stopped taking it a few days ago, when the pollen count went down. With other allergy meds, there were no after effects. This generic cetirizine seemed like a wonder drug to me. Until -- one day after I stopped taking it, I had itchy skin with small red bumps. I've never had hives, but I've heard about them, and I'm pretty sure that's what I have. I cannot sleep in my bed because lying down seems to make it worse. I itch twenty-four hours a day. After eliminating everything else I could think of, I thought about my new, wonderful allergy medicine. I did a search on the web to see if others had the same problem, and many posted comments that echoed my complaints. Some resumed the Zyrtec and their symptoms immediately disappeared. Have you heard anything about these withdrawal "pains" of Zyrtec and its generic equivalents? I used the Equate brand ceterizine from Walmart. Today is Day 4 since I stopped, and I'm still itching. I am determined not to go back on the medicine, but I am basically a miserable insomniac right now. I will be calling my doctor tomorrow to see if there is something other than Zyrtec that I can take to eliminate the symptoms. Please comment. Thank you.
I have been taking Zyrtec for years and recently bought the Walmart Equate equivalent. After taking this one time, I immediately noticed that the inside of my mouth felt like it had a coating and when I eat anything salty, my lips, inside and out seem to burn and the inside of my lips are red and covered with small bumps. I know the active ingredients are the same in this Equate brand as in Zyrtec but I'm wondering if whatever the Equate brand uses for fillers could be the culprit to causing my problems. I quit taking the Equate and am going to purchase Zyrtec today. The Zyrtec's a few more dollars but it's worth it to me to not have to deal with the side effects. Please email me with any thoughts regarding the issues I've discussed. Thank you.
I have had the same withdrawal symptoms from Zyrtec. I haven't been able to get past 36 hours without taking it again due to the extreme uncomfortableness of the itching and skin welts. I'm trying to ween myself off of it after years of daily use. I'm looking for any herbal remedies to assist with the withdrawal symptoms - someone HELP!!!
Found an awesome blog on this at http://zyrtecwithdrawal.blogspot.com/
I was told by my allergist that if you stop taking zyrtec "cold turkey" if you will, symptoms like that will occur. You need to ween yourself off of it.
I decided to stop taking Cetirizine 10mg on Friday 24th Apr 2009. by the end of the day my hands and fingers started to itch. I persevered through Saturday, after a sleepless night. I have now resumed taking this tablet on Sunday 26th Apr 2009, it is now 19.15 BST and I feel much better. The question is why can a tablet have this effect? In 1967 I was introduced to Librium et al this plus the other diazapim regime ruined my life. Who monitors this? posted 19.25 bst
I have been taking Zrytec for several days now and I am experiencing strange side effects. Besides the drowsiness, I wake up with severe back muscle pain. It started immediately after taking this medicine and I have not worked out in a week so I can isolate what caused it. I take it at night before going to bed hoping the drowsiness disappears but I still wake up and feel as if I had not slept the entire night.
The only good thing is that I have allergy induced asthma and it has helped me tremendously with that but the side effects make me so miserable I don't know which is worse. Is anyone experiencing muscle pain?
I took Zyrtec "as needed" - it cause me to sleep up to 12 hours so soundly that I would have died in a house fire - felt 1/2 comatose the next day. Mental and physical sluggishness were so extreme I felt I could die (no exaggeration!) Actually fell asleep at the wheel once at 2:00PM the next day - thankfully at a stoplight!!!!! Dr. suggested I try Children's Liquid at 1/10th dosage.
I was able to stay awake the next day (slept overly soundly with some wild dreams still), but found within 5 or 6 days that I suddenly became nearly incontinent! I'd have 15 seconds warning to be ON the toilet. I've never had ANY kidney or bladder problems in the past. The box only warns Older Persons who already have kidney disease, not the rest of us that it might CAUSE problems. I would recommend throwing this medicine out!! CANNOT get my Dr's to report these symptoms.
I made the same mistake as many of the readers here. Equate from Walmart is NOT the same as Zyrtec. It's the same as Claritin which keeps me up all night. I realized my mistake and bought the right generic and was able to sleep again.
PEOPLE'S PHARMACY RESPONSE: IT IS IMPORTANT TO CHECK THE GENERIC NAME ON THE PACKAGE, EVEN FOR OTC DRUGS. CLARITIN IS "LORATIDINE." ZYRTEC IS "CETIRIZINE." THEY ARE DIFFICULT TO SPELL AND REMEMBER, SO IT MAY BE WORTHWHILE WRITING THEM DOWN. EQUATE IS WALMART'S HOUSE BRAND NAME FOR ALL ITS OTCS.
There is such a thing as Zyrtec withdrawal!!!! I'm having a hard time stopping this medication (extreme itchiness still after 11 days without Zyrtec) If you have problems go to www.fda.gov and post your symptoms/problems with certain medications. And check out this site, it's where I learned there are many other people out there experiencing the same thing I am and gives me hope this will pass: http://zyrtecwithdrawal.blogspot.com/
I'm so glad i found this, as I've been imagining all sorts!
I started taking cetirazine (zyrtec) 4 years ago, and have taken it daily ever since.
however, at the weekend, as my prescription was getting low, I decided to withdraw instead and cut the dose from 10mg to 5mg.
Initially, there were no apparent reactions, although I did notice that my elbows felt as if they had insect bites on them, which, if scratched, itched even worse.
Then last night, I got up in the middle of the night for a couple of hours and noticed I had a really itchy forehead, which I kept scratching. After doing this for a while, I suddenly felt these lumps, two of them, and began to panic! I went back to bed and when I woke, the lumps had become one big lump, both tender and itchy.
I called my GP as soon as it opened, but they wouldn't see me, so I went about my day trying to let my imagination run away with me.
I took the "zirtec" as soon as I began to suspect a connection, but am still waiting for it to work. Right now, my head and body feel as if they have things crawling over!
One of these days I want to completely stop this drug, but the thought of having to go through this again at some point is NOT a welcome one!!
Oh God, I'm so glad I found this. I've been imagining terrible things, like diabetes or RA. Several months ago I ran low on money and had to switch from brand-name Zyrtec to Target brand ceterizine. I have severe allergies and asthma, and have been on Zyrtec for years-it's been a lifesaver. Not as good as Seldane was, but far better than Claritin.
Anyway, within a day of taking the Target brand, I started having severe allergy attacks... just regular old allergy attacks with lots of sneezing and itchy eyes and post nasal drip, like I wasn't taking an antihistamine at all. Within a couple of days I was almost incapacitated. To start with, my skin didn't feel "right." No hives, but my skin felt like it was crawling with ants... I could not sleep, I was convinced there were fleas in the bed. I could feel them jumping from point to point on my legs. My eyes felt really weird, like there was sand in them.
This progressed to palms and feet itching so intensely that I ended up taking the back of a scrubby sponge to them to scratch them. I have never, ever experienced joint pain in my life, but after a few days I was in such severe pain that I could barely move. In tears, I finally told my husband that I thought I might have RA, and he essentially called me a hypochondriac (thanks, dude).
I was about to call the doctor anyway when I got paid and was able to get the name brand (I thought the Target brand wasn't working due to the sneezing and eye itching---not the other symptoms). Within a few hours the generic sneezing/itchy eyes were gone. It took a couple of days, but the rest of the symptoms also mysteriously disappeared, I forgot about them, and never did get to the doctor. Well, I ran low on money again a couple of days ago and was out of Zyrtec, but I found the bottle of the Target brand.
I thought it was a sweet score because it meant I wouldn't have beg my parents for money to buy Zyrtec. Yesterday I remembered why there was an almost-full bottle of Target brand left. I've been having terrible allergy attacks, my eyes are starting to feel weird, my fingers are aching and my palms are itching like crazy. I just went to the store and used my last 10 dollars to buy a 5 pack of Zyrtec which, thank God, will be enough to last me until I get paid again. I'm so going to report this to the FDA.