Psychological Changes, Mood Swings, Depression on Claritin?

Question

I would appreciate ANY stories from Claritin users who have experienced pschological changes, mood swings, or depression while using the medication.

While on Claritin I become temperamental and foggy. This includes mood swings, depression, weakness, sleepiness, paranoia and missing time. By missing time I mean I do not always feel conscious while on the medication.

Example: I yelled at someone and suddenly became aware I was yelling for a most ridiculous reason. I'm not sure how long I had been yelling before becoming aware of myself. There have been many moments like these for me while on Claritin. I reduced to half the dosage and they rarely occur now.

When I do NOT take the Claritin I do NOT have these moments NOR the other symptoms but then my allergies are so bad it's unbearable.

I feel depressed and overwhelmed while using the Claritin and cry several times a week. My husband is quite aware of the mood swings and other changes but has been patient thankfully. I've read very few comments about regular Claritin and depression or mood swings and psychological changes but the few I read made me realize I may not be alone in this.

I tend to be extremely sensitive to medications needing to take children's dosages to avoid bad reactions. Even children's zyrtec makes me pass out within one hour of taking it. By pass out I don't mean I get up and go to bed. I mean I seriously begin falling towards the couch pillows without a choice and sleep for 10 hours.

Any related stories would be greatly appreciated. thank you!

Answer

Both Claritin and Allegra worsen my anxiety, panic attacks, or stress. I&rsquo;ve stopped taking Allegra because the side effects are more severe than Claritin but I continued to take Claritin because of year around allergies. I&rsquo;ve stopped Claritin before and only used netipots which did help during spring time for allergies. With Claritin I feel slightly depressed and my mind is always foggy. After reading similar stories, I will definitely stop taking Claritin.

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I have been taking Claritin for several days, and yesterday I was so moody and almost depressed. I felt everyone I dealt with was incompent, my patience was at a zero level. I&rsquo;m never like this. I KNOW it&rsquo;s the Claritin. That&rsquo;s the only thing I&rsquo;ve changed - probably by never taking this again.

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I have same problem with Aerius and Clarinase. All of a sudden I start shouting and just want to quarrel and fight with anyone who comes in front of me. I think Aerius which is desloratidine and Clarinase which contains loratidine plus pseudoephedrine are highly mood changing tablets. Whereas, when I take only loratidine the effect is lower than desloratidine and Clarinase. I am suffering from nasal septum deviation and during winter can't even sleep without a nasal spray and antihistamine tablets. I wish some other form of antihistamine medicines could be found which does not have such side effect. I am on verge of losing many of my good friends and relatives due to my uncontrolled aggressive behavior.

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So happy to hear that I am not the only one who had major mood changes. I took one tablet of Claritin at night time a few days ago, and within an hour or two I had already startrr to notice mood changes. I felt down, I felt "different" in my head. I was out with friends and before taking the pill, I was having lots of fun with my friends. After taking the pill, I just wanted to go home. The next day I had crying spells, I was very irritable and angry. The next day it had gotten even worse. I had an upset stomach, depressing thoughts and mood, I wanted nothing to do with anyone or anything. I wanted to lay in bed and just cry, but I was scared to do that so I tried to keep busy. I was again, irritable, sensitive, and angry. I argued with my family, and got annoyed by the smallest things. Today, (4 days after Claritin), I still feel a little sad, nothing like depression though, just sad, I am still sleeping irregularly and I am still fairly irritable.

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I seriously wouldn't recommend this drug to anyone. I thought I was going crazy because I was so overwhelmed and my mind was constantly racing. I didn't even know who I was. I am hoping I can bounce back to my regular self soon, and I know I am working towards reaching that because with each passing day I feel a little bit better. Never again Claritin, never again.

Votes: +1

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I have huge problems with zyrtec. Same symptoms. I become lethargic, depressed, teary and angry. I havent passed out but my symptoms are severe. I haven't had a problem with claritin but I try my best to stay away from antihistamine for this reason.

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I have already responded to this question and agree wholeheartedly that this medication is a danger to the health and well being of many who take it. I feel certain that taking this medication destroyed a huge chunk of my life and almost destroyed me too had I not eventually made the connection. It concerns me that GP's, certainly at my medical centre do not take me seriously when I have mentioned this. I am sure if they checked through the medical history of their patients who suffer from depression/anxiety there would be certainly be some patients who are on loratadine whose lives could be improved I dramatically if they just tried a break from the drug to see if it made a difference. Problem is it seems like such an innocent little tablet.

Answer

Thank you for all your comments! Now it makes sense. Have been taking loratadine 10mg for a few days. It has helped wonderfully with my hey fever but yesterday I was incredibly down and depressed. It just didn't make sense. I am a counsellor and work with depressed clients every week, also I have worked through my difficulties in years of therapy as part of my training. I just know when something is not quite right... when the depression doesn't add up with how I have been feeling recently. All of a sudden I found myself contemplating all the difficulties of my life (yesterday), how everything is terrible and impossible. At the same time I reflected... could it be that my recent over usage of internet (wasting lots of precious time) has led me to feel so bad about myself? When I arrived in my office today morning it clicked: 'it may actually be the pills!!'.

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I am someone who discourages the use of medication such as antidepressants (unless the mood is dangerously low). Little would I have thought that a pill sold over the counter can also have adverse side effects, not very different from anti depressants.

A little note: I run out of loratadine 8 days ago or so but my wife had spare antihistamine tablets (ceritizine hydrochloride). I switched to those, I think I took one or two tablets in two days. I've felt very sick after that when walking to work+at work. Felt dizzy and things around me seemed to be moving. I had an upset stomach and felt a sense of nausea. I was VERY sick and almost felt like going back home. The sickness lasted for 24 hours or so. Probably shouldn't have switched to the other tablets. I came back to loratadine, thinking 'these ones are safe'. The truth is they are just as toxic, just in a different way.

I don't know about you but if I think of my depression, it isn't even a 'normal' depression. It doesn't seem to build up gradually as has normally been the case when I was depressed in my life. 'Normal depression' to me seems to arise little by little as a consequence of difficult events or repeated negative thoughts about ones self and/or life that become more and more unbearable as the day pass. The depression I had yesterday (and partly today) came out of the blue, hit me like a meteorite and doesn't make sense since the life challenges I currently experience are not more severe than those over the past couple of months when I wasn't depressed at all. It is a chemically induced depression without any doubt. And due to my drowsy feelings (caused by the tablets of course!) I didn't even realise until today what may be the cause.

I will avoid loratadine from now on, use natural quercetin (helps partly) and for the rest suffer through the pollen season. Better to sneeze, rub my eyes and blow my nose continually for the next two three weeks than messing up with my brain in this horrible way.
Best of luck to you all.

Answer

I took Kirkland Signature AllerClear 24 Hour 10 mg pills (Loratadine/aka Claritin) 1x day as directed for about 1 month for seasonal allergy symptoms. It wasn't until Memorial Day weekend when our plans were blown due to the way I was feeling, that on that Sunday I did some research as to why I was experiencing many of the symptoms others have described, and I connected it to the Loratadine! First of all, I am PISSED at the drug company for not disclosing these possible side effects. For starters, the bottle clearly states "NON-DROWSY", which is why it took me so long to connect this drug to my symptoms. I had been inexplicably 'dragging' and drowsy for about a month. Low energy, lethargic, just want to go to bed and sleep, etc. I also had become very moody, withdrawn, depressed, and angry, and had developed during that time quite the potty-mouth under my breath at many things.

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Over Memorial Day weekend I lost my temper with the neighbor boy (who was, granted, being annoying), but I called and left an angry voicemail that is unlike me. I cancelled our Memorial Day travel plans because I had NO ENERGY to even pack and plan and travel, and be with people. My brain had become foggy, and it was difficult to even follow recipes and plan meals at home, besides that fact that all Memorial Day weekend I just wanted to lay in bed and sleep! I made small mistakes at work. Other symptoms were lower back pain, dry eyes, and a dry cough. My last pill was Sunday morning Memorial Day weekend. By Monday afternoon I was beginning to feel better, but did not feel normal and back to self until today, 5 days since my last pill. Even this week I had a few meltdowns, anger, and real depression and tears. I tend to be sensitive to drugs anyway, so this doesn't surprise me that it took longer to get out of my system. What does surprise me is that I thought Loratadine was benign and had no side effects, and it was effective at controlling my seasonal allergy symptoms. Shame on this drug company. It took extensive research to find others, like on this forum, who were experiencing symptoms like mine. I will never take this drug again. I had recently purchased some Flonase, but for now am taking nothing, so that when I resume the Flonase, I can monitor any symptoms.

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I am 100% with you on this one. I took Claritin for years thinking it was an innocent medication. I suffered badly with rhinitis whilst on Bromocriptine for a prolactinoma. I took claritin at my gp's suggestion and thought anything of it. I was on Claritin from 1991 until 2016 and suffered severely with all of the symptoms you mention. It was only when I had a break from them fir a while that it began to add up. Still not quite making the connection I began taking them again for severe post nasal drip. Within about 30 minutes of taking the tablet I could feel my mood changing rapidly. My sister stopped them for the same reason. I have voiced my concerns to a couple of gps but was made to feel stupid. We are definitely not.

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Yes! This week I took Claritin twice, once on Tuesday and Wednesday after not having taken it for years. I am a teacher, and am generally pretty easy going, but I had two days of strange, almost uncontrollable anger and moodiness that scared me. My seventh graders are not having their finest hour now at the end of the year, but my level of anger over stupid things with them felt really strange. I also went home feeling despondent, bone-tired and almost weepy. I didn't take it today, and I feel back to my normal self again! Too bad, because it also relieved my hay fever symptoms as it was making me ballistically cranky.

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Claritin causes me drowsiness and  weight gain , and I have increased anxiety when taking it on a regular basis. I use Flonase now, instead of Claritin, for my allergies.

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I'm currently on a few prescriptions for a bacterial infection sort of like strep throat. This drug is called Loratadine?
It's for allergies like claritin is. And I'm having severe mood changes and depression and everything makes me want to habe a mental breakdown. I won't be taking this anymore since I was also prescribed an antibiotic medication. I'm so sorry to hear you're having those awful side effects.

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I am grateful that I am not the only one. When I take claritin or other medicines similar to it. I get depressed, angry it is like the filter that controls whatever comes out of my mouth is turned off.One time I ended up getting so angry that I cussed out my mom. Which by the way can be quite dangerous.I felt horrible afterwards; it feels like I'm going crazy because I can't control it. I honestly felt like I was the only one because when I asked friends if this had happened to them I was told it was all in my head plus everyone around me was not very understanding and had a hard time forgiving me for what I said and how I acted.

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I came to this post because im trying to figure out if antihistamines can treat depression. I have recently developed allergies so I had to start taking claritin and montelukast. For the past 5 years or so I have been in a horrible depressed funk. No motivation to clean my house. Bathe my child daily. Bathe myself for that matter. And since this medicine I have been on a schedule. My sleeping habits improved my mood. Everything. I cleaned my whole house that hadn't been cleaned in months. I know these aren't the answers you might be looking for. But I find it interesting that I found this post.

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Yes! I first noticed mood changes, including suicidal thoughts, about 10 years ago when I was taking Allegra. I've done research and found that many other people taking that drug was having and experiencing the same issues.

My doctor switched me to another antihistamine and I began experiencing very erratic emotions, like aggression. I have always been a very patient person but when taking any antihistamine my patience is gone.

Most recently I have been taking Claritin. When I take Claritin I get depressed and I'm very moody among other issues. I have told my family doctor and my allergist this but none of them seem to think that it is caused by an antihistamine. But I never have an issue unless I am actively taking an antihistamine. If I want the issues to go away I just stop taking the drug, the side effects will then fade away within a few days.

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So, I only take Claritin when I absolutely have to. I use a nasal spray called Dymista that keeps my allergies in check for the most part.

Thanks for posting! I'm glad to see that this is a known issue and not just something that I'm thinking up in my head!

Psychological Changes, Mood Swings, Depression on Claritin?

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