Is depression a side effect of Loratadine (Claritin)?

Yes, it can be in a few cases:
https://www.drugs.com/loratadine.html

I suffer from depression for the pass 16 years after losing my 17year old son and never took any antidepressants to deal with it for they did not agree with me. With COVID-19 l experience very bad allergies itchy watery eyes etc my doctor put me on Loratadine for this which clear it up but when l try to stop taking them the allergies came back. I’ve been on them now for 5 months and am having episodes of feelings very low depressed and l can only think it’s down to these tablets. I’ve been reading on this site they can cause depression. Should l stopped them now and just put up with my allergies for I’m struggling with my mental state now. Any advice welcome. Thank you

I've been very aggressive towards my husband and crying like a baby all days long recently because I felt like my life was over. I've also been getting a pretty bad headache. Then I prayed to God to please tell me what was wrong with me because I just don't want to die like that. Then, I heard in my head "Claritin" and quickly ended up here. I've been taking Claritin for 1 week. Well, of course, I am very sensitive towards many things but I always thought of allergy medication as safe and it never even crossed my mind. Thank you, Lord and all of you who left feedback. Never again!!!

I have been on anti-depressant medication for years -- after taking Claritin for a week or so, I noticed the depression returning... I even got a panic attack which I never got after being on my Zoloft... I just do not feel like myself... so after reading these posts, I am going to stop the Claritin tomorrow and I will report back here with the results... but if it is Claritin what am I going to take for my bad allergies?

Yes! With me it felt just like PMS. At first I didn't even make the connection that it was the Claritin which was causing me to feel this way. Luckily this side effect wore off after taking Claritin for about 4 days straight.

Yes I believe that it does. I was wondering what had been going on with me my mood has been changing Annd I legit almost 201 'ed myself because I was just so confused and overwhelmed and anxious that I really didn't know what was going on. I even had to start taking a half benadryl to fall asleep. Until I Googled Claritin and possible drug interactions and side effects and voila there it was. I will stop taking it for a while and report back.

I was put on Loratadine about 1 month ago. I soon felt depressed, irritated and confused. I couldn't work out why, as I could not think of anything else that would have contributed to this. I was very short in my answers to people and snapped at everyone. I felt weak, literally sick and very down.

I also had blurred vision and severe migraines with stomach cramps.

I decided to stop taking the Loratadine and guess what. I feel 100% again!

I found that I became depressed also. I don't typically get more than blue occasonally so it snuck up on me. Then I realized I didn't want to do anything I would typically enjoy and when a friend who is a physician emailed to see if I wanted to go to a concert and I said no - i justed wanted to go home, it finally registered that I was not behaving like myself. I emailed him back just to see if depression could be a side effect even though I couldn't find it on a website and he said 'STOP TAKING NOW'. He knew me too and turning down music to go home to bed just wasn't me.

I took loratadine for more than two years (2009-2011). I lost my friends (they think that i'm crazy for sure) and almost ruin my marriage(thank god my wife such a strong woman, alhamdulillah).

So the answer to the question about loratadine is yes it'll make you depress, paranoid, weak, confuse, your mood swing is crazy etc. I really thought that i was going nuts, i thought that someone hocus pocus me because it felt like someone else was in your body and you cannot control whats going on in your life until i stop taking the pills for few weeks then i felt so clear for after more than two years taking it. I never thought that small tiny pill can make you want to kill yourself.

I wish i can tell the whole stories about my experiences with this medication.

I lost more than two years of my life being worry about i don't know what because of left blockage nostril.

Pardon my english.

By the way i'm 37, male from Brunei Darussalam.

I can only speak from an experience I had some years ago. A coworker gave me a Claritin, and after about an hour, my vision got super clear and definative, colors became more brilliant, like I put on a pair of "super" sunglasses, but along with these side effects, I became extremely depressed. It was as if, the weight of the world was on my shoulders. It was all I could do to maintain, knowing that the pill was the reason for it all. I remember driving home that afternoon and having to pull over and just cry... yes cry! Grown male, around 28 years old, on the side of the road, sobbing for no reason! Never again, Claritin

I found this to be so. I started to feel "down" for several days, for no apparent reason. When I discontinued Claritin, my mood returned to normal again!

i am not so sure that taking claritin can cause depression i am weening off paxil,and taking claritin the only affects i am feeling is the withdraws of the paxil.

Interestingly enough, depression is listed as a side effect in the PDR info
https://www.drugs.com/claritin.html

... the following adverse events have been reported in at least one patient in CLARITIN clinical trials in adult and pediatric patients:
... Psychiatric: agitation, amnesia, anxiety, confusion, decreased libido, depression, impaired concentration, insomnia, irritability, paroniria. [?][?]

Thank you for the information. I contacted the company that makes this drug and their contact there assured me that depression was NOT a side effect. I guess they do not have the correct facts, which could be dangerous to someone who is already subject to depression before taking the drug.

PAQ

Yes depression can be a side effect of Claritin. I read this in the nurse's Drug handbook. It is listed under the common side effects along with many others. When you pick up your Claritin it may also tell you this under the side effects.