How to Successfully Get Off Of Zyrtec

So,
  You or someone you know is trying to get off of Zyrtec I'm guessing since you've found this brief blog.  I'm here to give you my learnings and how I am managing to get off of Zyrtec with almost no withdrawal.

   Whether you read my back story or not, you likely know that withdrawal from Zyrtec is horrendous.  It is almost impossible to stop taking it because the intense itching prohibits you from removing it from your daily regimen.

   I have been researching and reading on how to get off Zyrtec for years now and found a solution. FINALLY.

First, over about 2 months, I dwindled my daily use from 1 full pill to a quarter of a pill.  This didn't lessen the extreme itchiness though if I tried to go cold turkey.  So, I still searched for a solution to battle the withdrawal, and I found an answer.

   The way to get off of Zyrtec is to replace it with another antihistamine, specifically Allegra.

Allegra is also an antihistamine, used specifically for seasonal allergies, but it does not have the withdrawal symptoms of Zyrtec.  By swapping Allegra into your regimen, it negates many of the itchiness symptoms, while providing the benefits of an antihistamine that led you to take Zyrtec in the first place.

For me, I also was able to stop taking Flonase as well (which was a substitution I made for Nasonex in my regimen), so I was killing two birds with one stone by switching to Allegra.

Here's the deal....it isn't perfect.  You will indeed still feel a small amount of itchiness.  But, there is a difference between a tolerable, small amount of itchiness, and a "The-World-Is-Ending-I-Want-To-Die" Itchiness.  The latter is what normally happens in the withdrawal process.

Why do I make this recommendation?

As stated above, I've tried about 15 times to get off Zyrtec and I've never made it past Day #4.  I'm here to tell you that as of today, I am on Day #10 of my "withdrawal period" and have minor itchiness symptoms at worst.  It is easily bearable with no creams, lotions, or pills and I've made it 6 days longer than ever before.

If I had to take a guess right now, I'd say i'll easily make it through the 6 weeks of withdrawal without any desire or need to use again.

If you are addicted to Zyrtec, try using Allegra.  It is literally the only thing that has worked for me after a decade and a half of trying to get off this garbage.  

To re-iterate, this isn't just slight relief from the itching symptoms, it's a serious, major relief, to the point of being able to actually bear it, get through the day and keep on towards getting completely clean from Zyrtec.  In fact, I've already thrown away my bottle of pills, in full confidence that I won't need it again.

Don't let yourself suffer on this stuff.

Try Allegra.

Get off Zyrtec.

I'll be back next week to give an update on my symptoms and if Allegra has continued to keep me free of the Zyrtec itch.

Cheers,
Taylor

My Zyrtec Addiction Story and Withdrawal

All,

• Have you been taking Zyrtec for a long period of time?
• Have you realized after forgetting to take it or trying to get off it, that there are SERIOUS withdrawal symptoms?
• Are you beyond itchy from head to toe and it seems like getting off Zyrtec is going to be impossible?

   The reason I am creating this blog is to share my story and my learnings as I have been going through the withdrawal symptoms of cutting Zyrtec out of my life.  If you're just looking for the solution, go to my second post.  If you're interested in my back story to see if you relate, please read on!

    So, my background.  My name is Taylor and I am 25 years old.  I have severe allergies to dogs, cats, seasonal, and to kiwi (go figure) and so I've always been medicated.  Around 6th grade or so, a doctor prescribed me Advair, Singulair, Zyrtec, Albuterol, Nasarel, and Doxycycline all simultaneously.  Keep in mind, it was about 7th grade when i realized that if i went without my Zyrtec for a day or so, I would get painfully itchy from head to toe.  Everywhere.  And if I took a Zyrtec, it would be gone in 20 minutes.  I didn't think anything of it, I just knew I needed to keep a supply so I wouldn't run out.  This was my drug regimen for the vast majority of my life, until about my junior year of college (Fall 2010).
     Around this time, I started developing severe sleeping issues, specifically night terrors, hallucinations, vivid dreams, and sleep walking.  I would start screaming and freaking out in the middle of the night, causing my roommates to get a bit worried for my safety.  I didn't honestly care that much about this until I started considering the ramifications of someday wanting to be married, and how this would affect my relationship with my future wife.  I had zero desire to wake my wife up on our first night together on our honeymoon with me screaming bloody murder in a hotel room.  That thought led me to start talking to people and seeking help.
     As I began to dive in and research sleeping disorders, it seemed that night terrors were primarily an issue with children and by adulthood, they would tend to disappear.  There also seemed to be no medication that specifically helped with this, other than sleeping pills with dependence risks associated with them.  And of course, I was already on half the medications available in the free world, so adding another wasn't high on my list.  I then began speaking with professionals, many of whom simply suggested a sleep apnea mask.  I didn't believe this was going to help, so I ignored them and continued my search.
   Around the Fall of 2013, I had moved from Texas to Cincinnati, OH and was working for P&G.  I'm not sure why it took me so long to get to this mindset, but I began considering this huge amount of chemicals I was taking to alleviate other issues and questioning the composition of those drugs.  I started researching each one individually.

...Wow.

....Drugs are not good for you.

....Everywhere I looked, people were having massive issues with many of these drugs!

My whole mindset was completely shifted.  I needed to get off all of these medications as soon as possible and see what would happen.  I immediately stopped taking Singulair, which seemed like a redundant drug, and Doxycycline, which i was using for acne, but no longer had issues with.  Nothing changed sleep-wise; these weren't the culprits.  That being said, I felt good that I was paying less for drugs and on my way to reducing my chemical intake.

About this time, I started reading up on corticosteroids, which Advair and Nasonex both are.  The next great experiment was to try to get off these, as well as my nemesis, Zyrtec.  Advair was replaced with Qvar, which is more or less, a simple inhaler that is not a steroid but would still help with my asthma, and Nasonex was removed from my regimen immediately.

Amazingly enough, my hallucinations stopped!  My sleep walking stopped.  The night terrors became far more infrequent.  I started sneezing a lot, but that was expected, being off my nasal spray.

I was making huge progress.

Now came the challenge:  Zyrtec.  If you have done any research at all on Zyrtec, you'll know that thousands of people suffer from withdrawal.  I knew that getting off this one would be very challenging.  4-8 weeks of painful withdrawal.  But, reports everywhere were showing that people were exhibiting all sorts of crazy side effects from this awful drug.  I knew I needed to fight hard and get off of it.  Keep in mind, I tried about 15 times over the years to get off of it, with no success.  In fact I never made it past Day #4 of abstaining from use.



That's the background leading up to today.  In my next post, I want to walk you through a glimmer of hope I found, what I'm doing now to get off Zyrtec and my progress.

Cheers,
Taylor