Zyrtec

My 12 month old used to take Zyrtec until I took her off of it. I took her off for a lot of reasons. I also noticed the attitude change. More importantly I feel as though it does not work. Her nose will not be running at all but as soon as I give her the zyrtec here it comes. It is awful. Singulair is a much stronger allergy drug so I chose not to have her on that. We just use a small dose of bennadryl at night time and we are doing great.

Both my children have used Zyrtec off and on for seasonal allergies. My children weren't quite that young, but my son was on it at age two. I haven't noticed any differences in behavior. I believe Zyrtec works well. Ofcourse, I realize each child is different.

My 2 yr old nephew is on both Singulair and Zyrtec, and has been for at least a year. He is very even-tempered and usually is in a good mood. I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary since he started taking it. Hopefully for you it was just an isolated incident, but if it persists, you should talk to his doctor.

We tried Zyrtec with my son when he turned 3 and it made him evil, so we used Claritin. The Claritin wasn't controlling his allergies as well when he was 4, so we tried Zyrtec, again, and it has been fine ever since. These meds have been known to change behavior, so find what works for you. Also, it will take 2-3 days for the medicine to get in his system and start working - it won't work perfectly over night. Also, keep him on whatever you decide on continuously. Don't skip it when you think he doesn't need it. FYI - It's my understanding that Singulair is used more for those with asthma.

When my 11 year old was about your sons age I took her to a pediatrician that did not like using antibiotics so she put my daughter on all kinds of antihistimines. I finally took her to a very good ENT (in Houston). He did an xray and said to stop the antihistimines and gave a very strong dose of antibiotics. She had been a monster and I had no idea that it was because of the antihistimines until she got off of them. I cried when my sweet little daughter appeared again. I had a Dr. in New Braunfels tell me she didn't need an antibiotic and I asked her to do an xray and she immediately called one in. I highly reccomend that you request an xray if your child is having sinus or allergy problems. Every year from Sep. to April my daughter gets sinus infections that cause her to have a bad caugh (because of the drainage affecting her bronchial tubes) and she has to have an antibiotic to clear it up. We are trying Claritin now as a preventive but once she starts coughing it is too late she will need an antibiotic. I don't know if any of this will help you but good luck. Just find the best Dr. possible.

K.

Hi Barbara,
My son has been on Zyrtec since he was 7 months old. He is now 2 1/2 so it has been a while. It did make him sleepy for a while but we do not have any issues with him now. He takes it during the day. Does he take the singluar and the zyrtec at the same time? As far as the mood swings, I have not heard of the medication causing that kind of reaction. Maybe you could try giving it to him for a week or two and if the symptoms do not get better call the MD and see if he can give him something else. Hope this helps !!
J.

My 28 month old just started Zertec about a week ago. He has also been in a bad mood now that I think about it. He was also up all night with a bad dream. That kind of wakefulness was very out of character for him and I was quite distressed. My sister says her daughter had weird dreams and hallucinations with Zertec. I noticed your e-mail is from October. How did your situation turn out?

I took Zyrtec myself one time, and I could hardly keep my eyes open, which probably made me grouchy since I was trying to work. Singulair never had any negative affects on my children.

Hi my son is 3 and his doctor just put him on singulair but after reading the side effects I decided not to give it to him. something about it causing hillusions I know i spelled that wrong but any way I think what works best for my son is just a little bit of benadrial and for really bad days when he has trouble breathing I give him just a little bit of the alburterall his doc gave him and if he is having trouble at night I really like the vicks nightquil and no I do not give my son this every day or night just when he really needs it. and it's not that often when he does need it. just try different things and see what works best if your little one needs to take something every day then stick with the zyrtec I just felt my 3 year old is just a little to young to get him started on something that strong. I think I will feel better giving it to him when he can really tell me what and how he is feeling. hope you and your little one have better nights.

I have 8 month old twins and both are on Zyrtec due to allergies. When they first started the medicine they both woke alittle grumpy - acting as if they where still sleepy. Now they are much better. My son is the happiest baby when he wakes up. Sister is a little grumpy but that follows her personality. The doctors have now added Singulair to my daughter's meds and she seems to be doing better. Hope this helps!

Zyrtec seemed to do very little for us, so was not worth the effort. Singular was a little better. Allegra helps my son best and when he stays on it at his worst time of year, he does not get sick like the rest of us! LOL

Claratin and others with the same base ingredient 'Loratadine'
do help but they seem to dull our processes. We are not sleepy or sluggish, but cannot think. We suddenly cannot do simple things like 2x11=22. We only take it when our allergies are absolutely getting the best of us.

The thing that my son took at your son's age was Rynatan. It was in a liquid form and he took day and night. It is a type of decongestant. It worked wonderfully for him and the only reason we quit taking it was convenience sake. When he got old enough to spend the night at friends houses, it was difficult to see that he got it. So we switched to pills and that is about the time all of these different allergy meds became so available and widely used. We went through several looking for one that would help him.

Good luck

I would first make sure it's the correct medication. My boss was supposed to be giving her infant son Zyrtec for allergies also and found out it was something else that is actually for heartburn. Luckily he was ok but you never know. Good luck!

My son got on Zyrtec when he was around 18 months old. The first night he took it, he passed out for about 12 hours! This drowsy effect seemed to wear off after a couple of days, and I have never noticed any other problems. We do always try to give it to him at night, just in case it makes him sleepy. Sometimes I wish it still did!

My daughter takes Zyrtec and has for about 6 months. What I've noticed is that it gives her VERY dry mouth, so she's very thirsty. She does get very sleepy, but will wake at night asking for a drink of water (she's 25 months). We sometimes just leave a sippy of water on her nightstand for her to take a drink if she needs one at night. I have not noticed any mood changes, but this is the only allergy medicine she's been on. Maybe it's a reaction from his body switching meds? Best of luck - let us know what happens! :)

I have a 15 month old and a 35 month old on Zyrtec. It makes both of them sleepy, and if I give it to the older one too far before bed time, she is a grouch. However, when given 30 minutes before bed time, she does fine. I have never had her wake up in a bad mood due to the medicine. She's been on Zyrtec since June 2007. The 15 month old was just put on it last month. He has many, many other health issues, so it would be very difficult to determine which medicine causes a mood change if there were one. I hope your precious one adjusts. He doesn't enjoy being grouchy any more than you. :)

I also have 3 children on zyrtec my 11yr old has been on it for about 3yrs now and they say to give at night because it makes you sleepy. About 4months ago my other 2 children started on it.I found out that 60% of people in this San Antonio area have some kind of allergies (we moved here a yr ago from Il.) and neither of them had ever had allergies before, but they seem to be okay w/it. hope this helps

Hi Barbara,

I have a 2 1/2 year old son that took Zyrtec as well for allergies. The first and only dose we gave him made him very sleepy and almost zombie-like. He was a limp little boy that just stared off into space like he was in some kind of drug induced state. He's usually a happy little boy who talks to everything before going to sleep. That night we didn't hear a peep out of him and he had a hard time waking up. We opted not to give him any more of it. That one dose cleared up whatever was going on allergy wise but my husband and I weren't comfortable giving him any more of it.

Have a great day!
A.

My son has really bad allergies to dust mite, egg and cats and we haven't given him any of the medications the doctors have prescribed because we've seen too many of these cases where the child suffers from terrible side effects like being hyper and sleepy ect. Anyways we got our son tested for allergies and now that we know exactly what his allergic to we shop at wholefoods and asked the person in charge of the natural remedies and we where recommened to give him some homeopathic drops (specifically for his allergies) daily even when he has no
symptoms and that seems to work very well.

I hope you get a chance to look into this because it is worth the while.

My almost 9 year old son has been on zyrtec since he was a year old. With his age and weight now he takes 1 tsp every night and an additional teaspoon in the morning on days when his allergies/asthma are really bad. He doesn't have any side effects at all from the zyrtec. Maybe you could try giving it to your son for a few more days and see if the tiredness goes away. You might also try giving it to him an hour or two before bed so that he can sleep off any drowsiness it does cause. If it is still making him tired and cranky after a few days I would call the doctor.