Children's Zyrtec- Major Side Effects????

This is typical for young children and allergy medications. Bear in mind, J., that what you don't read is the many families whose young children tolerated the med just fine, because people rarely ever post about something when it's not a problem.

You may want to get a referral to an allergist to find out what exactly your son is having a reaction to environmentally (unless you know already) and see if there is another method for helping him. It may also be that Benadryl would be a better choice for younger children.Please consult a doc or advice nurse line to be sure if that would work and the dosage. (When my son was about this age he was stung by a bee and his ped. suggested Benadryl; we had no ill effects.)

Different people (adults and children) react differently to different meds. It doesn't mean there's anything wrong with Zyrtec per se, just that it doesn't seem to be right for your child. Call the 24 hour advice line and talk to your doctor, or the doctor/nurse on call. It's likely that another medication will be suggested. Since this is over-the-counter, you can also talk to your pharmacist who also knows what else your child has taken with or without problems. That will give you advice from 2 different sources.

Talk to your doctor. There are other antihistamines that he can try if you think he's having a bad reaction to that one.

For my son, Zyrtec just makes him tired. So I can't validate what you observed, but every person is different so that doesn't mean much.

Did you call the pediatrician's 24 hour nurse/advice line and speak to them?

Yes. OMG! YES!

When our doc put our grandson on allergy meds he went basically nuts! He was running amok, crying, clingy, acting like he was sick, it was awful.

I checked out the known side effects online of that med and there wasn't anything about behaviors like this. So I went to the pharmacy and asked the pharmacist.

He told me that his #1 complaint of giving kids allergy meds is crazy behaviors.

He said that he'd asked a few of the older kids what they felt like when on it and some said their ears didn't work anymore (Clogged tubes), their noses hurt inside all the time (Dried out sinuses to the point it's like a dry socket after a tooth extraction), and that they'd hurt all the time on their face (high sinuses hurting due to the drying).

Kids who're having real allergies often do need a medication to STOP the CLEAR runny nose, itchy eyes, itchy ear canals, drainage from their nose, ears, or eyes, odd rashes, and serious allergic reactions.

Kids who have a cold or clogged nose they can't breathe through or are having anything except clear mucus and stuff need a decongestant. Treating an allergy when you're all clogged up only makes a solid plug up in there that hurts. They need to make their noses more runny to get the infection out, to get the drainage moving where they can blow it out or wipe it off.

If he was truly having an allergic reaction to something then give him half a dose. He's getting way too much medication.

When our kids have an allergic reaction to something their suggested dose of Benadryl is 2 teaspoons. I give them half a teaspoon. If that works then why would I need to give them more? It would be excessive.

If half a teaspoon doesn't work then I give them another half. That almost always works. If that doesn't work we change our environment. Like going inside, showering, changing clothes, washing the sheets and bedding, changing the filters in the AC unit, etc...making the air cleaner and less likely to make him react.

I caution you though. Please speak to the pharmacist like I did and get their input before you do anything that might not work with the medication he's getting. If it's time release it can't be broken or changed dosage way. It could have potentially dangerous side effects.

The pharmacist will be your absolute go to person. They are the PROFESSIONALS when it comes to medications. They know triple what your doc knows about it.

The doc says "Oh, allergies. Here's a list of allergy meds that pharmaceutical rep gave me that they sell. Let's try this one."

The pharmacist will go "That med has shown to be ineffective/excessive/have bad reactions to watermelon/etc..." They know meds.

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This is an easy one to Google.
If you think your son is having a bad reaction to the drug, then talk to your doctor - he might have you stop giving it to him right away.

This is something you need to consult your Dr about. Your child may need a different medication.

i didn't notice any behavior changes with either of my children. i have one that takes claritin for the allergy season, and one that takes zyrtec. the claritin kid gets no allergy relief from zyrtec and the zyrtec kid gets no allregy relief from the claritin. so if i were in your shoes i would talk to the dr and see if switching to a different allergy med will help the side effects (they are different active ingredients after all)

My son, now 18, can't take Zyrtec or Claritin or Allegra. They turn him into a mean, aggressive, angry person. We learned this when he was 6 and started taking allergy meds for seasonal allergies. The only one that works for him, without making him unbearable, is Benadryl. Of course that makes him sleepy, so it's still not ideal. Ugh.