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For years I have been giving my 12 year old son lots of different allergy drugs, including Claritin, Tylenol, Zyrtec and others. None of them really worked and they all made him very tired and drugged out. Recently, I saw Dr Hansen on our morning news show here in Arizona as he was talking about a natural allergy product named Flavinox and explaining how it works and it really made sense to me. I drove over to his Scottsdale office that morning to get a bottle and went directly to my sons school to start him on the capsules. When he came home from school about 3 hours later he was like a different person than when he left that morning. I could see it in his face and eyes. He was feeling 100% better and he told me about an hour after he took the capsule he could feel the difference and he kept feeling better as the day went on. Since then I have been giving him about 3 capsules a day and he’s a baseball player so sometimes before a game I give him an extra one and I am truly amazed
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My child had been taking Zyrtec for 3 years. It was a fluke that we discovered her behavior was related to her taking zyrtec. We had run out and skipped a couple of days. Over the last year, we had been having problems with her at school/home with defiant/violent behavior. She’s such a sweet child. Most of the time she didn’t know why she was doing what she was doing. She began to tell us she hated herself because she couldn’t “be good”. It broke out hearts. We had been taking her to a counselor and were getting her screened for ADHD. Don’t give this drug to your children! My beautiful little girl is back to being her sweet self. Is anyone suing???? I can’t believe something isn’t being done. My poor baby suffered for 3 years!!!
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My 10 year old son had been taking Zyrtec for the better part of 5 years. He developed intermittent facial and body tics. If we were ever late on picking up his refill for Zyrtec, his tics would stop. Upon restarting the medication the tics would reappear. Although this medication worked wonderfully for his allergies, I don’t think it’s worth any risks.
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My 5-year-old developed an extremely volatile mood tending toward tearfulness, depression, erratic sleep patterns. This occurred on the day I started giving him Children’s Zyrtec and ended the day after he ceased to take it.
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My 7 year old daughter took this for 1 1/2 weeks. I am sorry that I ever put her on it. She is a sweet, loving child who behaves very well. She turned into a demon child. She lost her appetite and would not eat anything at all. She complained about stomach aches and dry throat. She was afraid to eat or drink because she said her throat felt as if it would close up. This product should be taken off of the market immediately. I spoke to several moms tonight at a PTA meeting and they had the same complaints about their children. My daughter would scream at me and tell me that I don’t understand her. She would wake up and just start yelling at me. My daughter usually wakes up sooo happy every day. She was not herself in anyway. I took her off of the Zyrtec and within 4 days her appetite came back and my sweet, loving, caring child came back. It breaks my heart that I put her through that grief. Never again.
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Zyrtec was prescribed years ago by my ENT Doctor and I said I’d never take it again because it made me very drowsy… I did. I really made a bad mistake. In December 2008, it made me act worse than having had several drinks. My friends stayed away from me. Eventually, I passed out. It made sense if years before it made me drowsy, passing out seems like a logical step. I dumped the pills. My perspective: DON’T TAKE IT. We’re inundated with side-effects from drugs so we think, what the heck, they all have side-effects. BUT THIS IS WORSE THAN MANY. You can also forget what the FDA approves or doesn’t and you know how effective governmental oversight has been for years. People taking the drug know best.
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http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=19658&name=CLARITIN
| 1 |
Allergies,Fluid in ear,Lightheaded |
Paranoia, extreme fatigue,nightmares,very moody. Can’t “let things go”,anxiety,depression,irritability. I did not think it was Claritin until I read everyone having the same symptoms as me. The sniffles went away but lightheadedness is just as bad if not worse. |
I am a recovering alcoholic/ addict with 24 yrs of recovery and this stuff is horrid. I could not believe the change in my attitude. This is unacceptable for me. I have probably lost several friends from my actions while on this drug. I will live with my symptoms before I take Claritin again. |
M |
48 |
7 days |
3/4/2009 |
| 1 |
Seasonal allergy symptoms |
My biggest complaint is a dry cotton mouth. After two weeks, I noticed I was constantly sucking or chewing on my tongue or the inside of my mouth! I increased my water intake, but to no avail. Taking a whole dose once a day made my mind race and turned me into a crazy woman. I couldn’t think straight. So I tried taking a half tablet twice a day. I did that for two weeks. I, too, experienced sudden flashes of anger which came out of nowhere. They were fleeting (and didn’t happen every day) but they were frightening. Shortness of breath slowed me down. My husband wasn’t thrilled with my loss of libido. I do have one positive thing to say about it — it DID help with clarity — my brain didn’t feel so fuzzy when I was on it — but it’s not worth the tongue-chewing, dry mouth! I stopped taking it two days ago and got my energy and libido back. My husband is smiling 🙂 I’m still sucking my tongue, though. It’s quite annoying. |
F |
55 |
1 month |
3/4/2009 |
| 1 |
Extreme post nasal drib |
Blocked Eustachian tube, dizziness, painful headaches in the morning but they go away pretty fast after I get up and take a Claritin. Increased blood pressure. Sometimes ringing ears. |
After 6 months of taking the daily pill and a benedril at night, I didn’t take them for a couple days and my right Eustachian tube blocked – voices sounded like they were far away down a tunnel, I thought it was excess wax. I went to the doctor and was told that I didn’t have excess wax, the problem was in my inner ear and something to do with a reverse vacuum and to take Claritin and it would be fixed! Doctors know this fixes the problem but don’t tell you that going off of it can cause the problem! But now whenever I try to stop taking Claritin in just one day my ear clogs up again and this doesn’t work for my job that includes a lot of meetings! I am going to try taking the 12 hr kind once a day to slowly get off of it! Benadryl may make me sleepy but coffee helps counteract it and I don’t have side effects when I don’t take it. I don’t take any other medications daily and don’t want to be addicted to Claritin either. |
F |
53 |
6 months |
3/2/2009 |
| 1 |
For a runny nose |
Every day i took the drug i’ve gotten a bad bloody nose (im 20 and haven’t had a bloody nose since i was 11) |
I do not plan on taking the drug any more I’d rather have a runny nose than a bloody nose |
F |
20 |
2 days |
2/18/2009
Email |
| 1 |
Allergies, likely tree pollen |
Foggy head, inability to complete fairly simple tasks, sweating, not feeling like myself. Possibly also caused bouts of short temper and snapping at my family. |
Cleared my sinuses but did not help with coughing. Spending time in a retail store with superb a/c and ventilation did a better job of stopping symptoms temporarily than Claritin did. Agree with other reviewers this drug should not be OTC but SHOULD require Rx. There should be a very clear warning about possibility of ‘foggy head’, and depressive symptoms in particular. IT IS IRRESPONSIBLE TO MARKET THIS DRUG AS NON-DROWSY as it easily leads the consumer to believe there is little danger of not being able to function normally at home and at work, NOT TO MENTION DRIVING A VEHICLE. BE VERY CAUTIOUS WHEN TAKING THIS DRUG. I would start taking it over the weekend or when you can stay home for a couple of days to be able to asses what side effects you may experience. Also, if you have family, it would be good to have another grownup around to care for the kids in case you feel foggy or have depressive symptoms. DO NOT GIVE CLARITIN TO KIDS WITHOUT CHECKING WITH YOUR DOCTOR FIRST. |
F |
39 |
4 days |
2/14/2009
Email |
| 1 |
Seasonal allergy |
Our 7 year old son had been prescribed claritin for his seasonal allergy. He had been off the medication since last spring and had been a typical fun loving happy boy. I started him back on claritin towards the end of October and I did not put the connection together until tonight as I read all the posts. He has been very irritable, mean, saying he hated himself and he was going to die, he has been having horrible nightmares screaming that big bugs were going to get him and he has been having such drastic mood changes and meltdowns several times a day. We have been so worried, yet at wits end trying to reason with him, Now I feel so bad , as an RN I had not even thought it could be his claritin! Needless to say I just tossed it all down the toilet. I would not recommend this medication for any child! |
M |
7yrs |
21 days |
11/12/2008
Email |
| 1 |
Seasonal allergies, rhinitis |
Anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, paranoia, muscle aches, joint pain, backache, neck and shoulder aches, fatigue, listlessnes, disorientation, aggression, thirst, bloating, weight gain, acid reflux, abdominal cramping/pain, gas |
I didn’t make the connection that this medicine was causing all of these problems until I came across this site. There was no mention of all the side effects on the packaging. I thought I had some other health problem causing all of this. I ended up at the doctor’s frequently and eventually I was hospitalized. I thought I was becoming mentally ill. I realized that all this started happening after I started taking this medicine on a daily basis. It took me this long to figure out that I was poisoning myself taking this medicine. I would rather suffer with allergies than go through this hell. |
F |
31 |
5 months |
10/16/2008 |
Allegra and Allegra-D (with pseudoephedrine)
http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=20625&name=ALLEGRA
| 1 |
Sinus infection |
EXTREME anxiety, depression, sleeplessness, heart beating out of my chest. (P.S. I have NEVER experienced any anxiety or depression in my lifetime before this medication. I now have a different perspective of what people who are depressed or suffering from anxiety must have to deal with.) |
The Allegra D worked extremely well for relieving the nasal congestion, but within 2 weeks I was not sure if I would live. This drug should be banned. My physician only prescribed 2 weeks worth and he stated that Allegra D should not be taken on a regular basis. It’s prescribed use is for a temporary relief such as congestion from a cold, whereas standard Allegra can be taken on a regular basis. |
M |
46 |
2 weeks |
12/19/2008 |
| 1 |
Allergies |
My son is 6years old. At the beginning of the month we started him on allegra, due to severe allergies. With in a matter of days his personality changed tremendously. He has always been a high spirited little boy, but rarely got in trouble at school. Within the last two weeks since starting Allegra he has been acting out in class, and acting very strange and silly. the only changes in his life, has been the starting of Allegra. I can say it worked to clear up his allergy symptoms, but it drastically changed his personality. I took him off this weekend and it was the best thing I have ever done. |
M |
6 |
3 weeks |
11/17/2008 |
| 1 |
Chronic Sinusitis |
Craziness, Headaches, Dizzy all the time, Nightsweats and major sleeplessness nights. |
This durg SUCKS! Who ever approved this to go on the market should be put in jail. As I read through the comments from other poor souls taking this shit I find everyone is saying the samething. It almost destroyed my life. I HATE Allega-D and the company that makes it. I see a law suite coming! |
M |
48 |
7 days |
11/14/2008 |
| 2 |
Allergies |
Extreme anxiety, panic attacks, hopelessness, depression, crying, general paranoia and feeling on the brink of craziness. |
I wish I had found this site earlier – I have had the most horrible 7 months (emotionally) while taking this drug – the only time I felt like “myself” was when I was not taking it, but since it is an allergy drug I never made the connection. It works wonderfully to deal with allergies, but it seems to amplify all sorts of emotions to a dangerous level (for some people). Wow, after seeing other similar reviews, I am stopping IMMEDIATELY. |
M |
29 |
7 months |
11/1/2008 |
| 1 |
for nasal stuffiness and sneezing |
My heart is pounding , I am experiencing tachycardia, restlessness, EXTREME anxiety and worst insomnia. |
I took this drug to relieved my nasal congestion, runny nose , frequent sneezing and headache. However the result are extremely bad, right now I am suffering due to lack of sleep, it’s 2am, I am wide awake with my heart pounding right out in my chest.. I feel horrible and so wasted . |
F |
26 |
2 days |
2/19/2009 |
| 1 |
Severe Allergies & chronic snoring |
I started taking Allegra generic 10 days ago to alleviate the constant stuffed head and snoring as a result. By day 8, I found myself irritable, irrational and emotionally depleted finally resulting in screaming at my husband! The only thing that has changed is taking the allegra, so I did some reading on line and luckily, found this blog. It’s very obvious to me, particularly after reading so many reports on this blog, depression can be a side effect of Allegra. I stopped taking it and it’s been 48 hours since my last dose. I’m beginning to feel better. I’ll take the snoring and sniffling over depression any day! |
F |
46 |
10 days |
2/15/2009 |
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