Zyertec and Behavior Problems

Hi F.,

I had behavior issues with my son when he was on Zyrtec. I now have him on Claritin and he is fine. My son is 20 months.

Hope this helps :)

L.

My son is a very mild mannered child. I have tried him on Zyrtec twice. Both times I noticed a "rage" in him. He is very well-behaved, even tempered. He would just have fits with a scream that was bone deep anger. Each time I took him off of it, they stopped. I will never give him Zyrtec again. I have however taken it on occasion and don't seem to have any problems. I may and my husband attributes it to PMS or something. But I definitely see a change in my son and will never put him back on it again. Miserable allergies would be easier to live with than to see a child feel that angered. It broke my heart.

My daughter was much younger than yours is now...but she had severe reactions to both Singulair and Zyrtec. Unexplained, uncontrollable tantrums; night terrors; inability to fall asleep. At first I chalked it up to early "terrible twos" but then started doing some research (since the doctor was dismissive) and decided that it wasn't worth it for me or her.

Before I got to the part about where you said..."I'm wondering if the medicine is making her hyper?" I was thinking to myself that this sounds like my son who has ADHD. I'M NOT SAYING YOUR DAUGHTER IS ADHD INSTEAD OF HAVING A REACTION TO ZYERTEC.

The thought that I was getting is this...Zyertec warns that it can make you drowsy. Her squirming and getting up out of her seat may be caused by her being drowsy and her brain is trying to combat it and stay awake.

Before I learned about ADHD when I heard it, I thought people with it were hyper. They are not actually hyper, per se. ADHD is cause by inactivity of the brain and your body trying to combat your brain always wanting to go into "rest" mode. Therefore, a person with ADHD is squirmy, can't sit still, can't concentrate as well, etc.

Lots of good information regarding side effects of Zyertec at drugs.com. Check there. My Granddaguther uses it but only when needed. She seems to do well on it. I do read where it can cause nervousness. I was advised to only give it to her during the worst allergy seasons. As always, check with her pediatrician however they are not always knowledgeable about "side effects". Your pharmacist, knows more about this end of it.

My son had behavior problems on Zyrtec, I actually took him to the pediatrician because he just "wasn't himself", and they said "have you changed medications?". When I told them we had switched antihistamines they told me that antihistamines(can happen with any antihistamine) commonly create behavior changes. He had us go off of the Zyrtec for two weeks, and then we re-started Claritin.

He was so irritable, having tantrums, night terrors, and frequent urges to urinate, without actually urinating. He was MUCH improved after a week off of the Zyrtec. I also have a friend that told me her daughter was the same way. The good news is, this is an easy "fix" without any lasting changes if this is truly the problem. Good luck!

My daughter has allergies as well although I cannot remember if there were behavior issues with her perscribed allergy medications but nothing seemed to work to keep her from sinus infections and ear infections and what not so we went looking for other options. Keep in mind that each individual could have different side effects from any medication that chemically alters the body. I have heard of some children reacting the same way to benedril. So here's what we found.

We went to NRG Wellness center and emma gets drops for her allergies that she takes every night sublingualy. The drop are mailed to us every month. They are made with a synthetic form of the specific antigens her body needs to fight off her specific allergies. We have not had any side effects and this option seems to treat the cause rather than the symptom or effect. If you google NRG wellness the website should have a link for the Allergy people that work from the clinic. Hope this helps

My 9 y/o son has allergies and was on Zyrtec for a while. I noticed that it made him very cranky even when I was giving it to him before bed. I think it made him tired more than anything else. After talking to his Dr. about it he was switched to Claritin. We haven't had any of the irritability/tiredness issues with Claritin. He's happy and his allergies are under control. My 7 y/o daughter does better on Zyrtec. The Claritin wasn't strong enough to control her sinus allergies. She does fine with Zyretc.

I would try switching to Claritin to see if that will help. Good luck! Allergies are not fun!

I've had personal experience with Zyrtec. When I was about 34 I tried it. After 3 days my husband said I needed to get off of it. I was crazy! Like super duper PMS. I was a monster. Apparently a big one if my husband said to get off of it!! I don't know the effect it has on children but I would assume if could have the same kind of effect. I found relief from my allergies by doing the protocol for allergies from the book Eat Right for Your Blood type. I did the pills and the tea and then I ran out of pills and just continued on the tea. I still drink the tea. I found that solution in preparation for being pregnant when I knew I wasn't going to be able to be on medication 24/7 and be pregnant-or I did not want to be on meds and be pregnant. It worked for me. It's worth a try. I hate to hear little kids being on such strong medicine. See if you can find another way. There is a brand out there called Hyland's that carries allergy meds and it's all 'natural'. The tea is Yerba Mate and the best brand is Nature's wisdom (I think that's it) and I found it at The Vitaminne Shoppe. It's worth a try anyway.

I also give my little boy Zyrtec...I give it to him at night before he goes to sleep and he hasnt displayed any problems.. Before I was giving it to him in the morning before school and his teacher kept telling me that has was acting like he was lethargic and unwilling to do anything and it took me a while to connect that med to his issue..It might have different effects on different kids...I am interested to see if anyone else has repoted issues...We have tried other allergie meds to help him and all of them were really not working...hope this helps, maybe ---good luck

My daughter definitely has a weird reaction to zyrtec, hyper for a bit, then really tired (but without wanting to sleep), and frustrated in-between. I get a similar reaction taking benadryl. I would try reducing her dose by 1/2 or giving a half dose twice a day instead of one large dose (and give the medicine right before bed instead of in the AM) and see if that works. If not, there are plenty of other allergy medications you can try. If reducing the dose or taking her off entirely doesn't help, you'll know within a few days and can put her back on, but I think it is worth a try. As a side note, over the counter "jr" Zyrtec comes in a 5 mg dose, but the generic "jr" type comes in a 10mg dose!! I was fooled by this and was giving my daughter twice as much as she needed in the generic, but the correct dose in the non-generic. Probably why I was seeing 2 different reactions (sometimes really tired, sometimes hyper). So be sure to check the dose!

I gave my 2 year old son zyrtec for the first time on Monday, and it made him CRAZY! Some children react the opposite when a medicine says 'may cause drowsiness' My son was bouncing off the walls and running in place when I held on to his pants. It was worse than the sugar high he get on Halloween.

We have been through a very similar experience with our 7-year-old son and Flonase, however I did not make the association with the medication change. We had him see a child psychiatrist who suspected OCD, but was very specific in his questioning about medications. He told us that some children are very sensitive to stimulants. The Flonase was pulled away and after a few weeks our little guy was back to normal. I suggest talking with the pediatrician about the behavior change in your daughter.

Updated

I forgot to add that we were warned that many AD/HD medications are stimulants and should never be prescribed for our son. Such medication had been suggested by someone without medical training and I'm SO glad we didn't go in that direction. He is taking no medications now and is doing very well.

i take Zyrtec and don't have any side effects whatsoever, but when my husband, mom or daughter have taken it, they almost become zombie-like. It's makes them all very tired. Everyone is different. Ask your pediatrician about switching to a different antihistimine. It can't hurt to try.

My son took Zyrtec for about two weeks. It was horrible. He couldn't sleep at night and would fidgit for hours on end. Restless sleeping when he did actually sleep. During the day he would scream and cry at everything little thing i.e, dropping a toy...he is normally not like that. I didn't give him his dose yesterday and wow, he slept last night fairly well. He did have a similar but more milder reaction to Benadryl but nothing like he did with Zyrtec. I will never give that to him again. Maybe we will try Clariten next.

I'm sorry to hear that your daughter is having that reaction, I do believe that can be from the Zytek. I'm a mom of two little girls and my first daughter suffered from severe hives and allergies when she was very little. We went to the doctors several times and had allergy testing and they could never really give us answers and would just tell us to medicate her. We were told to keep her on Zytek daily and they said it could be for years to come. Well I was not o.k. with that. We then learned that many doctors and researchers are linking the chemicals found in our everyday products to the increase in allergies, asthma, eczema, cancer and more. We found out about the chemicals in many products and we switched to shopping at an amazing wellness company that has been in business for 24 yrs. They offer products that are much safer for our families and the environment and I love that we get them at wholesale cost, so we save money! We also save time because they are shipped directly to our door. After switching out our everyday products my daugther no longer gets hives or suffers from allergies. This allowed me to get her completely off the Zrytek! It has helped so many find great relief! I would love to share the full details with you and help your family like mine has been help. Feel free to visit this site and request more details and I will give you a call so we can discuss finding some relief for your daughter and protect her from the side effects of Zrytek or other medicines. http://www.livetotalwellness.com/freedom

Wishing you the best,
M.

My daughter has been on Zyrtec for T. yrs now. She does not have any of the issues you mentioned. My daughter is also 7 yrs old. Everyone is different though. Call your daughter's Doctor and see what they think on this matter.

The best of luck,
Elisa M

My son takes Zyertec everyday as well, but I give to him before bedtime and he seems fine. He is always in good spirit so I cannot tell if the drug has anything to do with his behavior.

I give my boys claritin when they are having allergy issues, which is very rare. Meds can cause hyperactivity, so it is quite possible that her behavior is medication related.

my experience w/ zyrtec is that it made my 2 year old crazy! I decided her allergies were not that bad ever and we would just stick w/ benadryl when needed.

F.,
My oldest daughter has terrible allergies, including asthma from her alergies. she was getting constant infections, respirorty (sp) probelms and was switching from zyertec, to clairtin and many others. I HATED putting so many drugs in my baby. So i started researching, and found out that locally grown raw honey CURES allergies... and it seriously worked. she has not had an infection and has not been on any allergy medicine in over 2 yrs. she LOVES the honey cure, the closer you can get it to home the better. I feel much better not putting so much medicine in her. YEA... she just takes about a spoonful each morning, the first round it took a few weeks to see the difference... but it truly works. Look into it... it helps.

Updated

I forgot to add on my post that my daughter has also been fine going camping, now taking the honey.

My son has allergies too and misbehaves in school. I was wondering if Zyrtec or some other allergy medicine would make him feel better and therefore behave better, but now after reading your post I guess not! I give mine benadryl before bed, but it doesn't work all that well.

My son has ADHD, and none of the different allergy meds cause or prevent him from being hyper. He is currently taking Zyrtec. I take it too, before bed. I find that if I skip a day of it, I have trouble sleeping. Every few weeks, I try having my son skip a day. If he wakes up sneezing and coughing, then we put him back on it. We've also tried steroid nasal sprays but I was worried about about the side effects. The doctor said don't worry, that untreated allergies are actually worse for stunting growth than the steroids.
It wouldn't be that hard to stop the Zyrtec and try Claritin or Benadryl instead. See if the teachers notice a difference that week. I have done this with my son before, just letting the teachers know that he's taking a different medicine, but not tell them what it is or what it's for. That way they would be on the lookout for new bad side effects and wouldn't be biased when they told me told me how it affected my son's behavior. The one that worked the best for us was Rhinocort Aqua which is a steroid spray. It didn't help the allergies as well as other meds did, but it really improved my son's behavior. Then my insurance stopped covering it.

My son also has allergies, and he was on Zyrtec before bed for a little while. It made him super-hyper. He would thrash around the bed and not be abe to fall asleep. As soon as he went off the Zyrtec he was able to sleep again. He has been on Singulair and Clarinex at different times and we didn't have the same problems. Every child is different, but it's worth talking to your doctor.