Itching Withdrawal From Cetirizine Or Zyrtec (Page 21)

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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I absolutely agree with Dover. It's been 6 months since cold turkey for me. The first month was the worst. Second month wasn't great either. At six months i still get itches but they are nowhere near as bad and they are easier to "just not scratch." My primary doctor believed me. My Allergist told me to take antihistamines. It's not well understood and it doesn't happen to everyone. If you don't want your life to revolve around Zyrtec, you can be free.

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I have not taken any antihistamine since the end of October. I have had maybe three days with hives, but they were all very mild. I had one day where the hives were pretty intense, all of both legs and my stomac and sides, completely covered. I had a neal that nihht night that had a large amount of Asiago cheese, and I wonder if it was the antagonist. Anyway, I took a claritin at about 2am, the hives were gone by 4am. The next day, no hives, and none since then, been about a week. I feel like I have finally been freed from the hives getting me every night.

The things I have to continue to watch are high temp and tight clothing. They both get me itchy and light hives and after about 15 minutes of removing them, yhe itch and hives go away. I am going to try the Asiago cheese again some day to see if it results in hives, so I will post more when I do that.

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Your definitely not thinly one I am going threw it now soon horrified . almost went to the er then found a lot of people have withdrawals from it !!

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I have been taking Zyrtec once per day for about 4 years now. I began taking the medication. When suddenly my whole body broke out in hives and Zyrtec calmed the symptoms. My new allergist wants to do tests sonI am off of it for a few days. It is not the end of day 2 and I am absolutely miserable!!

I would say . . . Of course you itch when you get off the medication. It is intended to block histamines!!

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I did the same thing and after the 7th day of being miserable in the worst of ways, I decided to lower my dosage to taking a half tablet of the cheaper brand that Walmart sales. I am now taking only half a tablet every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I hope to be only be taking it on Mondays and Thursdays soon. Good luck

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What is the longest that anyone has had this continual itching from getting off this pill? I was prescribed hydroxyzine hcl 50 mg (Atarax, something very similar to Zyrtec) and was on it for almost 10 years. I only needed to take this pill about once every 3-4 days. After reading up on the symptoms on this site and others, I decided to go cold turkey. I haven't touched a pill since 6 September (135 days and counting) and still itch. The first week was definitely the worst, but I still do occasionally get the super painful and annoying itches. I hope in the coming months this itch will simply disappear.

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I really can't tell you how long it took; I should have kept notes. It does go away. It took my body several months to adjust.

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It took me 6 months of hard deep itching and another 6 months of frequent "ghost" itching, so a year until I was free of it. I don't think this is typical. Some say two weeks, 3 months, etc. So it varies.

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I'm on day 10 of the Zyrtec withdrawal. It has been a nightmare. I'm constantly itchy and sometimes have to take Benadryl just to get it to stop. It's mainly
My hands and feet, but sometimes is my arms and scalp also. I did find that if I ignore the itch on my hands it will go away. I'm hoping the symptoms will subside soon. I will update this thread when I get further and hopefully the itching stops. I took it for about 5 years so we will see how long it lasts!

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Stopped taking Amitriptyline Feb 8 th. Itching on feb 16 then I stopped with Omperozole n Pravastatin now i m itching Help me lol So i m taking Benadryl .Hopefully it work ??

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look at a suppliments called quercitin and bromelain, they helped me a bunch.

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I must report I surrendered and have chosen to take a half of an allegra every morning, I simply couldn't persist with the itching and often taking a benadryl, which I figure is worse than the allegra.

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I am updating a previous post I made. I was taking 1/2 Zyrtec every other day, which was enough for me not to itch to death. So I am now taking 1/2 a pill every two days. That equivalates to only 1 and a half pills a week. I do have a few times during the two day expansion that I notice minimal itching. I eventually will have to lower my dose to nothing.

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I am on day 3 of itching withdrawal from Zyrtec and I was looking to see how long it took others for the itching to stop. I went cold turkey. The itching starts from my scalp all the way down to my feet. Ugghhhh!!!! I cant sleep, and i have a one week Phd comprehensive exam starting on the 7th. Maybe this was not a good time to cut off this Zyrtec. I was taking it daily for my year round allergies.

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To Gloria, my thoughts are to take another antihistamine, not Zyrtec but one of the older ones like Claritin or Allegra to get you through exam period. Reason I say this is that I know how distracting and exhausting this withdrawal is (not to mention painful and crazy-making). For what it's worth. Good luck on your exam.

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It's day 4 today, and i couldnt sit still long enough to read a page without itching. As suggested by joey, i went out and got some benadryl which helped alot. Thank you Joey.

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I had to wean off very very gradually. I was down to grains on a tea spoon which I would dip the end of my finger in and have a tiny tiny amount each day then my husband washed the spoon and I wasn't going to grind anymore. I still had terrible itching and rash but not all over like when I went cold turkey (thought I was going to die). I took it initially for Urticaria (hives) in the first place and was advised to take a Zantac (ranatadine not sure of the spelling) its an indigestion medicine. This works on the histamine in the stomach (H2) which in turn helps the skin. I found this to be invaluable during my illness and I found it useful during withdrawal, it reduced the itching a lot. You can buy Zantac over the counter. I advise you try it if you are suffering.

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So I took Xyzal/Atarax (similar to Zyrtec) for 7-8 years as a result of some itching episodes. I soon reduced the intake to half a pill (2.5mg) every two or three days.
I took my last pill a week ago and two or three days later it came back and I decided to not take it again.

The first two days of itching were bad but I took an Aerius and did some hot baths, had one last episode leaving the shower and never had it again.

I think my fast withdrawal came from having only half a pill for so long.

Two things I started noticing:
-I have more energy than before (though during withdrawal I was jittery)
-I have less appetite and can control portions better. Definitely looking forward to some weight loss.

Hang in there people, you can do it.

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Oh man this post is shocking to me! I looked it up because I recently heard something about a rebound effect of Zyrtec, which I have been taking for 2.5 years. I initially started taking it for hives I developed while doing hot yoga. But every time my Zyrtec wore off, my hives returned, and my allergist said my body just thinks it's allergic to something that isn't really there. So I took the pill daily. Finally decided a few months ago to come off the medication to find out what I'm allergic to. At the same time, I started taking a bunch of histamine reducing vitamins like C and B12 and Quercetin with bromelain and expensive DAO pills. My hives were few and far between after a week and I felt great. But I felt like I had histamine issues, if I ate the wrong foods. Then after a few months, I took Zyrtec again for 3 days because of strong hay fever allergies. Went on vacation and didn't bring all my vitamins along, since hives were no longer a big issue. But when I didn't take my Zyrtec on day 4, my hives came back with the worlds biggest itchy vengeance. Especially on my scalp, neck, palms of my hands and feet. Day 5 was worse, and so was day 6, until I finally took another Zyrtec and I was better within the hour. Now I find this page! I'm going to go off the meds again but take all my vitamins along with it. I think the Zyrtec really screwed with my DAO production and my histamine production. I will have to watch my diet and stay away from my triggering high histamine foods and keep my stress levels managed and also make sure I don't take very hot showers or overheat. Hope this next withdrawal attempt goes better.

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I have posted my same effects on this site as far back as August 2015, telling my story of Zyrtec nightmares. The vitamins you mention worked for me, too. Finally, if I have a bonafied alergic reaction to anything bringing on hives, I take Claritin, and I do not have any rebound effects.

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