Itching Withdrawal From Cetirizine Or Zyrtec (Page 35) (Top voted first)

I want to know how many are suffering from withdrawal from this drug that causes itching all over the body. At the people's pharmacy there is an article about this very problem, yet Zyrtec doesn't list the information on their web site. This is my third attempt to get off of this med and I'm going crazy from the itching.

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Re: Chet (# 693)

You are welcome!
A heads up on sporadic symptoms after successfully discontinuing Zyrtec. For about six to eight months after discontinuing the medication, I had itching only after hot showers or changing clothes after work. It was always short lived, but a reminder of the long term effect medications can have on the body. I thought it would be like that forever, and then gradually it just faded away. With it, my seasonal allergies almost disappeared also. For the occasional jog in the woods at the peak of pollen season I will use nasacort nasal spray and take a vitamin C prior, but that is about it.

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Re: EC (# 694)

I agree from my experience, at this point. I use Nasacort also, occasionally due to nasal allergies, but that is it. Thanks so much for your helpful advice.

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Re: EC (# 694)

So glad to hear your itching has finally faded away!!! This gives me hope that my son will be ok once he discontinues his antihistamine.

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I am so happy to have found this forum! I have spent 2 months going from Dr. To Dr. Trying to determine the cause if my hives and itchiness. I was really starting to think I was going crazy!
I have been taking 1/2 a 10mg tablet every night for 5 years. I guess I will have to try a taper schedule and see if that helps reduce the itch. I stopped cold turkey in May and even now I am covered in hives and have intense itch so I think I can continue to fight through cold turkey.

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My son has tapered down to 1ml per day of loratadine. Now his seasonal allergies have kicked in. His nose is always runny. Need something besides (or in addition to) Flonase to help seasonal allergies. He has asthma & the runny nose is making it worse. Over the past couple months, quercitin has helped his runny nose, but the next day he has some hives. Claritin/Loratadine has really messed up his body. Ready for him to be off this drug to see if his body can heal & not be on histamine overload.

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Re: LG (# 698)

Try ester C vitamin C 1000 mg every morning plus Jarrow formulas NAC 600 mg daily. I get mine from Amazon.

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Re: EC (# 699)

Thanks! Haven't heard of NAC. I started to research it & it looks like it can help lots of things.

So my son's down to 1.0mL daily. Most days he's itch free. But today at school he started itching. He said it lasted for over an hour. I had told him in the past to get an ice pack from the office. Ice helps the pain (he says the hives feel more like painful ant bites than an itch). But he didn't get the ice, he sat there & scratched til it went away. He couldn't concentrate in class & said it was a bad day.

I was so discouraged. Part of me wanted to stop tapering & put him back on a full dose so he wouldn't have to go through the withdrawal process anymore. It's torture for both of us. But I want to give him a chance to get off the meds & see what happens. I'm praying that he'll be itch free when this is over.

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EC (# 693) --

Need some advice. My son has tapered down to 0.4ml daily. My plan is to discontinue at the start of his Christmas break so he can have a couple weeks at home to withdrawal. But he's been having a lot more break through itching this week. Sarna helps while he's at school. But this week his scalp has been itching & he needs to put an ice pack on it. He checked out of school today bc the itching was so bad. At this point, I wonder if it'd be better to discontinue at thanksgiving break (in 3 weeks). He'll only have 1 week of vacay to withdrawal at home. Then he's gotta go back to school. He's got finals & the ACT test in Dec. I hate to have him withdrawal during those tests.
I guess my question is - how did your withdrawal after discontinuing compare to the break through itching while you were on the meds? I feel like waiting til Dec to discontinue is like pulling the bandaid off slowly. I want him off the meds, but I want him to be able to function. Help!

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Re: LG (# 701)

I hope your son getting off went better than the experience I had. I never could get the itching to stop.

If you have success... please post back here... I would love to hear of someone actually weening off, rather than a lot of take all these vitamins, costing a lot of money, leading to just taking the Zyrtec to stop the itching, hair loss from scalp itching, weight gain, did I say itching?

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Re: Snoopy (# 702)

I have successfully been off Zyrtec about 8 months now (so it is possible!). It was very difficult for about 2 months but now I very rarely have the intense itching. I gradually reduced my pills from 10mg to 5mg and then down to 2.5mg over the course of about a month before stopping entirely. I also took Quercetin, Bromelin, Vitamin C, and Fish Oil which all seemed to help with the itch. If my allergies get really bad, I'll take an Allegra which my allergist said suppresses allergens differently than Zyrtec. I'm still terrified of becoming dependent on allergy meds again so I only take a pill if its absolutely necessary (2-3 times a month). I hardly every have that internal itch that I used to have. Occasionally my scalp itches but again, this is all a million times better than how it once was. Good luck everyone!

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Re: LG (# 701)

Hi, when I discontinued the medication altogether, I had been on 0.1 mg/day for one or two weeks. There was not much difference in the actual withdrawal as in the occasional breakthrough during tapering. Two times it was bad enough that I took a swig of children’s Benadryl with immediate relief. I highly recommend that your son be on 1000 mg ester C vitamin C daily and N-A-C sustain release daily as he gets close to withdrawal. It will greatly ease the transition and allow him to function. The other great help is just keeping a heating pad plugged in while at home and applying the heat to any itchy spot. The relief is almost instantaneous.

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Re: Allie (# 703)

I tried all of those natural remedies for six months or more, all to a lot of expense, and no relief :( I'm angry at this and especially upset that I may have to take this pill and suffer these horrible effects forever :(

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Re: Amy (# 20)

I am in the same itchy boat from Allegra... ?? I'm on 48 hours without taking anything and I'm miserable.. I will never take another antihistamine as long as I live

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Re: Allie (# 703)

I'm currently having massive itching withdrawal from allegra... So I would be very sparing with it.. Just thought I'd let you know..

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Re: EC (# 704)

My son is down to 0.25ml. He takes it every morning ab 7am. He has breakthrough itching everyday. It's tolerable but uncomfortable. Tomorrow he's taking an ACT prep class from 9a-12p. I don't want him itching during the class or he won't be able to concentrate. I was thinking about sending him w half of a Benadryl (12.5mg) to take if he needs it. If he takes it, that means he will have taken the Claritin just hours before the Benadryl. I hate to double up on antihistamine, but I need a guarantee that he won't itch. Or I could skip the Claritin tomorrow morning & just give him a whole pill of Benadryl at 7am. What do you think would be best?

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Re: LG (# 710)

Sorry about the late reply!! The Claritin may well be throwing a wrench into your son’s ability to withdraw from Zyrtec. This is just my opinion, but I think that chronic use of all these antihistamines eventually backfires and makes the body hypersensitive/hyperreactive to any allergen exposure. In other words, they end up having the opposite effect of what was intended. Would work on SLOWLY weaning off the Claritin with the help of Ester C, omegas, NAC, etc. Occasional Benadryl for intolerable breakthrough probably ok, though I could only take it in very small amounts because it made me so sleepy.

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I can thankfully say I have overcome those horrible effects of going off zyrtec cold turkey. For those of you still suffering, please hang in there and consider taking some of these steps for at least a month as you go off anti-histamines.

- Start healing your gut and stay away from eggs, dairy, processed sugar, processed meats, fermented foods, and gluten as much as possible.

- Eat freshly prepared foods as often as possible, and eat more vegetables.

- if you can, drink celery juice every morning for this period. It is a great healing food that helps to reverse inflammation.
- Take 1000mg of ester c twice daily (morning and night) for immune support.

- Take Mullein leaf and/or Stinging nettle leaf supplements twice a day, then taper down to once a day when you feel better. They are absolutely great for sinus health.

- Take Oil of Oregano. You can mix 6 drops of this in water and use it to swallow your supplements. It is a wonderful seasonal support supplement.

- Finally, I'd also recommend MSM powder or supplements. The sulfur helps to block the receptivity of histamine and may also rid the body of Candida, a fungus notorious for contributing to sinus and allergy problems.

-You can also help your liver by drinking dandelion tea with your meals.

I wish us all well as we pursue good health and wholesome lives.

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I am on week 4 of the horrific withdrawal itching , burning and pure torture. It is gradually getting better . The past week it has gotten better to the point I’m having the red hives now only about once a day if I scratch the itch. Painful Red streaks have been appearing when I scratch . It has been terrible. I will never take this poison again . I tapered down for months before stopping taking it but it did not seem to help with lessening the withdrawal because when I stopped the medication the severe side effects started exactly 2 days later with vengeance . I am praying that within another 2 weeks the side effects will be gone but that will be 6 weeks. You will just need to be strong and mind over matter . Hot showers would help when it got terribly out of control . Ibuprofen seemed to help some also .

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How can you class action this product. The manufacturers of Zyrtec are only one of many companies who sell cetirizine hydrochloride allergy meds.

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Hello Everyone. I can't believe what I'm hearing about Cetirizine Hydyrochloride!! I have EXACTLY the same symptoms...Itching, sharp stings, and crawling sensations, EVERYWHERE THAT HAS SKIN ON IT. Drives me nuts. Told my doc she won't look me in the face, and doesn't give me a strait answer. Pattern:"arr got the itch" take 10mg cetirizine, relief.. 2days later same thing for 4 years! Still itch. But now because of your experiences people, I'M GOING COLD TURKEY. THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH.15days of itching is worth no more itching. I'm VERY suspicious of this drug. People if you can, go herbal!

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