Cetirizine and Anxiety: What Users Say

• Nal...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• August 9, 2020

Cetirizine for Allergic Rhinitis "This medicine is absolutely awful. Please avoid! If you take it long term, you will experience the following: 1- weight gain 2- sleepiness 3- irritability 4- heart palpitations 5- severe anxiety 6- muscle twitches 7- hypertension 8- bloating 9- IBS. Those are serious side effects. I implore you to do everything you can to avoid taking this stuff. On a positive note, once you quit, all those symptoms will clear within a few days to a week. PS: when you quit, you may experience severe Pruritus, please wait it out and refrain from popping another pill, I promise you it will go away despite how miserable it can be. It is like withdrawing from a real drug, which is scary. It will subside."

• Jak...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 22, 2019

Cetirizine for Allergic Rhinitis "This has been the worst medication I have ever been on. My symptoms are EXTREME upper back pain, brain fog, memory problems, fatigue like crazy, anxiety like crazy, and just an overall feeling that something is terribly not right in my brain. I can’t even tell you how I feel. I feel drugged up, but in the worst possible way. My mom actually looked at me and said I seem off. This med worked great for my post-nasal drip, but I will never take this ever again or any long-acting antihistamine. I did not feel this way at first, it’s like this awful med built up in my body, and I’m noticing symptoms now, and it’s terrible. I can’t get it out of my body fast enough!!"

• Aan...
• March 13, 2021

Cetirizine for Allergic Rhinitis "I started taking Zyrtec for seasonal allergies. It seemed to help after a day or two, so I kept taking it. But then I ran out and didn’t take any for a couple of days, and that night became severely itchy all over my hands, head, and chest. I thought I must be allergic to my new cats. I got a new bottle and started right back up the next day, no more itching. I was sure I was allergic to the cats! Then fast forward a few months and I’m consistently feeling very tired, irritable, have horrible headaches, jittery, plus other symptoms, so I looked up the side effects of the medication, and sure enough, they are all listed. I then stumbled upon people talking about the severe itching when stopping taking Zyrtec, and I realized I’m not allergic to my cats, it’s a VERY common thing when you stop taking the drug. I was shocked. I quit cold turkey and am on day 10 without it and am still itchy. It’s been awful, especially on my hands, chest, and scalp. My body feels like it’s burning all over at times."

• Ire...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 2, 2020

Cetirizine for Allergic Rhinitis "I’d been taking Zyrtec for two weeks when I was suddenly hit with rapid, irregular heartbeat. I wasn’t doing anything much at the time, I’ve never had a heart problem. I’m 41, healthy, and active. I stood still and breathed calmly, drank some water, it got better, but I’d just taken the Zyrtec an hour before, so I was still at full dose for 24 hours after that. Zyrtec is the only drug I’m taking, and it was sudden and odd, so I checked. Tachycardia and cardiac arrest are indeed among the listed side effects for this drug. It’s now a few hours past when I should’ve taken my next dose, and I still feel a little jittery today. In retrospect, I’d been feeling jittery, impatient, and cloudy for hours before it happened, and I’d not been sleeping well for two nights. So I think if you’re feeling uncharacteristically jittery, it may be a warning sign. I was also having headaches two days before it happened."

• FPR...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• October 24, 2022

Cetirizine for Allergic Rhinitis "Been taking Zyrtec for 4-5 years. I started because I was having allergies, and I just continued taking it because I felt it helped, or maybe in my head it did. For years, I’ve had anxiety, depression, weight gain, and high BP. I have come off all other meds and still have these issues. My therapist found out I was taking it and said, 'You need to come off that right away, it’s not good for your anxiety or adrenals.' So I tried to stop taking it, and right away, I started itching like crazy. I googled it, and sure enough, a lot of people have this issue (Zyrtec withdrawal). People actually have gone to rehab to come off this and detox. So I decided to wean off slowly to hopefully help the itching. I went from a whole pill to half to 1/4. Each time I lowered, the itching started. Wheezing, neck ache, headache for days, anxiety, BP went up. The itching is less, but this is horrible. Today was my first day w/o any. I’m hoping this is over soon. I refuse to take it again."

• Ros...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 17, 2021

For Allergic Rhinitis "I tried cetirizine for possible dust mite allergies, as I have a few friends who use it daily for environmental allergies and swear by it. Unfortunately, the side effects were intolerable for me. I had a crazy amount of anxiety and really dark thoughts while I was on it. I was super irrationally angry as well. I do have GAD, but this made it about 100 times worse within a couple hours of taking it. I don’t think it helped the allergies much either. I was worried it would make me drowsy, but weirdly I slept maybe 1-2 hours a night for the few days I was on it! It was a pretty intense experience, would not do it again."

• Dan...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 11, 2020

For Allergic Rhinitis "I'm a 21-year-old female. The worst allergy medicine I've ever taken, next to Levocetirizine. Besides being sedated and anxious, I most recently have been waking up with hives, shortness of breath, swollen eyelids and top lip, itching and burning skin, and panic attacks. I discontinued this medicine after like 3 months of taking it almost daily, I was absolutely miserable. I will never take this garbage again. I'm on day 2 of not taking it, and I'm starting to feel better."

• AZJ...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• May 21, 2022

Cetirizine for Allergic Rhinitis "I had been using this several times a week for years. At the same time, I had strange gut pain, mild nausea, and generally, days where I just felt lousy. Many days with anxiety and fatigue. My eyes get extremely dry overnight too. I tried so many things, including many doctor visits, leading to CT scans and ultrasounds, nothing found. I would sometimes have some pretty good days, never realizing that the bad days occurred when I took Zyrtec. I use this site often, as I am very sensitive to all drugs and supplements, but never dreamed that Zyrtec could be the source of most of my issues. After reading the negative comments, I stopped taking it, and my gut pain went away almost immediately, as did the general malaise and anxiety. I had thought these popular OTC antihistamines were harmless! I tried Claritin and Allegra and they are no bargain either, but not nearly as bad as this nasty drug. Good old Benadryl works fine, but is not recommended for daily use."

• Fee...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• May 3, 2022

Cetirizine for Allergic Rhinitis "Zyrtec works great for allergies, but I was having terrible anxiety. I remembered my son couldn’t take it because it made him so anxious, so I stopped taking it, and most of my anxiety disappeared within a day. Be careful with this medication. It can cause anxiety and depression."

• Be ...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 1, 2022

Cetirizine for Allergic Rhinitis "Don’t take!!!! I started taking Zyrtec at the end of February due to fluid in my ears. My medical provider recommended taking it every day through spring. I started feeling very sad and thought I was just because of the long, cold winter. I was also feeling tired all the time and napping more than usual. I thought it was from starting work earlier at my new job. I had my annual physical yesterday, and my MD noticed I had an irregular heart rate, and an EKG verified this. She is referring me to a cardiologist. When I got home from my appointment, I remembered that the only thing that has changed is that I started taking Zyrtec, so I didn’t take it today, and I swear that I feel 10 years younger. My joints don’t ache, I have energy, and I feel less anxious…. I plan to see the cardiologist, but I would bet my house that my heart rate is back to normal without the Zyrtec…."

• Lau...
• January 13, 2018

Cetirizine for Allergic Rhinitis "I used Zyrtec D for some really bad sinus pressure. It makes you sleepy during the day and anxious at night, but it has a very strong decongestant, and it works. I would never consider using it for a chronic condition because the side effects are pretty heavy, but if you're just using it for a few days to help while you kick something, it works great."

• ELA...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 25, 2023

Cetirizine for Allergic Rhinitis "My 9-year-old took this for 5 weeks, and it increased his anxiety, made him angry, and he cried often. Like a different kid. I am so glad we figured out this was the cause. It was horrible, and I hope the small percentage it happens to links it as an effect of the medication, as his doctor had to look it up when I brought it up."

• joa...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 27, 2022

For Allergic Rhinitis "I took cetirizine or Zyrtec for 3 days, and on the first day, it really helps with my allergies, but I experience dry mouth, my tongue turns white, insomnia, and anxiety, the worst part. I stop taking it on the third day, but I am still getting insomnia and anxiety, the dry mouth is not severe now. Don't take this!!!!"

• Anonymous
• August 26, 2021

Cetirizine for Allergic Rhinitis "The worst drug that I ever took. Took it only twice, I wished I had read all the reviews before I took it. Made me so tired, all my body hurts for the whole week, exhausted that I had to call off from work. Gave me so much anxiety. Worst drug on the market, please don’t take it. Just handle your allergies in a natural way. This one helps a little bit, but you have to pay the price with all side effects."

• Anonymous
• November 17, 2021

For Allergic Rhinitis "Dreadful stuff. Made me anxious first, then depressed. Had no effect on my rhinitis."