Zyrtec Allergy Medicine Review

I have tried just about every allergy medication on the market in my time and Zyrtec (cetirizine HCL) is just one in a long line of oral allergy medicines that I've taken for long periods of time. I started taking Zyrtec a few years ago before Claritin went over the counter, just because my doctor preferred prescribing Zyrtec over Claritin. Since then I've taken it several times, on and off, for various reasons.

About Zyrtec
Zyrtec is a non-drowsy allergy medication manufactured by Pfizer. It's available in 5 or 10 milligram doses, as a regular tablet, a chewable, a flavored liquid and an extended release tablet. Dosage is usually one tablet every twenty-four hours.

Zyrtec's marketing is a mystery to me, and the best I can figure is that they're trying to find a way to distinguish themselves from Claritin. The makers of Zyrtec hype that it's good for "indoor and outdoor allergy symptoms", implying that it's one of the few allergy medicines approved for that use, which is ridiculous. Claritin works just as well.

Zyrtec also claims that it works on hives, and in fact my husband was prescribed Zyrtec recently for this very reason. He found that Zyrtec worked no better than Claritin at reducing his hives.

Cat's Bottom Line
I've used Zyrtec on and off for the last five years, and my husband has used it as well. Our experience is exactly the same: Zyrtec works very well on standard allergies (yes, both indoor and outdoor), and it doesn't work that well for clearing up hives. A single 10mg dose each day keeps us from sneezing and sniffling, but the key is that for us, Zyrtec has never worked better than Claritin, which is now available over the counter. Yes, you can get a prescription from your doctor and get it filled for Zyrtec, but why would you when you can just grab effective medicine off the shelf at the drugstore? I recommend Zyrtec, but only if you've tried Claritin, or its generic form Loratadine, and have found that it doesn't work well for you.