Hydroxyzine and Dry Mouth: What Users Say (Page 2)

• Mim...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• March 26, 2022

For Anxiety "I’m prescribed this medication for generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, and borderline personality disorder. While this medication isn’t great for day-to-day anxiety in my experience, it works really well on an as-needed basis. When I take it daily, it just… doesn’t do anything. It is an antihistamine after all, so all it does is make you sleepy. I find it also works great on an as-needed basis for insomnia, or nights when I have issues sleeping too. I take other medications to manage my mental health conditions, but hydroxyzine works great when my anxiety is high in the moment and in moments where I need something to calm me down. Besides sedation and dry mouth, no other side effects or problems."

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 8, 2019

For Anxiety "Took half a pill of 25 mg Hydroxyzine HCL around 1 pm. Knocked out at 6 pm. I heard my baby crying (waking up), and I couldn't even open my eyes or move. It's like my body was too knocked out to get up when I wanted to. Upon forcing myself out of the deep sleep, I guess is what gave me that groggy feeling. The mini hangover as if I needed to hydrate myself. I'm going to try it again today, but I'm only going to take half of the half of a pill (yip, that's a quarter of a pill). Thank God I didn't take the whole 25 mg. Idk what would've happened to me. It did help my racing thoughts but nothing the nervousness and knots in my stomach, but I will keep trying as a small amount then maybe build myself up. Benadryl works way better than this for me, and when it does knock me out, I'm able to get up when I want to, but Benadryl severely dries me out and dehydrates me and gives me a dry mouth."

• dig...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 20, 2024

For Anxiety "Long story short, the hydroxyzine helped me get back to normal somewhat after having severe panic physical manifestations during the course of this summer and fall. It helped me wean off of clonidine, which was making my panic worse. I take it in the morning. At first, I had severe dry mouth, but that subsided. It does make me very tired, makes me yawn a lot, and I feel the medicine really kicks in after 6 hours after taking it. I sleep well with vivid dreams. This is the only thing that has helped. There are still some situations that I get the panic, adrenaline rush, but they become manageable with some effort."

• Tee...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 3, 2017

For Anxiety "Well, I have started this medication not too long ago. The first few days, it seemed to have made my body numb and sleepy, which made me sleep a lot. It didn't really help me stay asleep because I still woke up several times at night. Nowadays, when I take it, it makes me extremely drowsy, and I have a dry mouth and don't eat as much. I feel as if though I'm always on the edge. I don't think it got rid of anxiety, and for sure, I am terrified to even go out to places, fearing a panic attack episode. So, this medicine doesn't make me feel safe as I'd wish it to."

• Ash...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 20, 2015

For Sedation "My doctor prescribed 25-50 mg of Hydroxyzine with Lexapro to help me sleep. I've had panic disorder, social phobia, and severe anxiety for 20 years (I'm 30). I've been taking Hydroxyzine for a week; the first night I did 25 mg. It knocked me out but kept waking up every 2 hours. In the morning, I had severe dry mouth and felt hungover. For each night since, I'm still waking up every 2 hours but not having dry mouth or feeling hungover. My anxiety, however, is greatly reduced. Tonight I will try 50 mg and see what results I get. Overall, it's a great drug, but my rating would be higher if it did the job it was intended to do."

• Don...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 18, 2022

For Anxiety "This is a nightmare medicine. It makes you feel suicidal, makes anxiety worse in every way. Nobody should have this. My nightmares are crazy, mouth dry, can’t concentrate or stay up. Please don’t take this awful medicine."

• Ste...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• March 2, 2021

For Anxiety "I was prescribed 25 mg hydroxyzine for anxiety. It has been amazing at night. It helps me to fall asleep. I can still wake up if my baby cries or if I need to use the restroom. I am a little groggy in the morning, but I prefer this as I used to have bad morning anxiety. It's nothing unbearable, and you can still get up and get dressed. After a few weeks, you won't feel as groggy for as long. I did gain 6 lbs on this medicine (over 6 months of use) because, for some reason, I get snacky after my dose. I suppose if you don't eat after your dose, you'll be fine. But I don't mind the extra weight since I feel so much better. I do get dry mouth on this medicine (at night), but nothing a bottle of water by the bed can't fix. I would highly recommend this medicine for anxiety and insomnia. It works just as great as my Xanax did, without the risk of withdrawal or addiction."

• Tim...
• September 27, 2015

For Anxiety "I took 2 25 mg pills last night. Woke up today with a bad headache and dry mouth. I had some bizarre dreams on the stuff and felt a bit of an antihistamine hangover. A few convulsions in my sleep. I think next time I will try 12.5 mg's. I have a tolerance to everything except antihistamines for some reason. I did not care for the crappy side effects I experienced upon waking up the next day. Dehydrated, sluggish, dizzy, depressed, dry mouth."

• Kst...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 17, 2021

For Anxiety "I was prescribed this and Zoloft back in January for GAD and debilitating panic attacks. I take 50 mg of Zoloft daily, but never took a single hydroxyzine pill because of the cardiovascular warnings. I took my hydroxyzine pills with me while on vacation in case I needed one while flying (I’m afraid of flying), but I didn’t need any. I left the bottle and my Zoloft bottle on the counter when I got home last night, and when I went to take my Zoloft this morning, I was distracted and accidentally took a 25 mg hydroxyzine. I didn’t realize it until a half hour later when I was at the grocery store and felt an immense wave of drowsiness and calmness. I could barely drive home. It’s been 12 hours and I’m still drowsy and feel out of it. I also have massive dry mouth like when you first start Zoloft. I believe that this would definitely work for someone in the midst of a panic attack, it feels like it has the same effect as Ativan but compounded with a sedative effect."

• Anonymous
• May 3, 2023

For Anxiety "While not as effective as benzodiazepine medication, this works reasonably well. It is vastly superior to some of the neuroleptic medications such as quetiapine, which some doctors prescribe for similar effects. It can help with muscle tension, aches, and pains associated with stress and anxiety. It is relatively sedating when sufficiently dosed. IE 50 mg may not be enough, while 100 mg might be. I am sensitive to side effects but found this medication to be reasonably tolerable. Also, unlike something like quetiapine, which I have little regard for, it is less likely to cause a hangover when taken at night for sleep. It is also very preferable to something like Benadryl, which can cause distress from anticholinergic symptoms such as dry mouth."

• Gad...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 4, 2018

For Anxiety "My update from last May, actually. I was given these to take almost the same time last year for anxiety/panic and breathing issues. I took them for about two weeks as needed, but only 10 mg because they knocked me flat on my back for hours on end and I suffered extreme drowsiness and dry mouth afterwards. While they seemed to help my anxiety because I was either asleep or almost paralyzed in bed. I couldn't function and was agitated because of how they made me feel. So, I stopped taking them, and it's almost a year later. The weather has just recently gotten warmer where I'm at, and I'm short of breath again and anxious again and panicking again! Weird... allergies IDK. While I didn't care for them, I don't know fully because I couldn't take them for long, the side effects were too much. I'd give them a try though, everyone is different."

• Ted...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 6, 2022

For Anxiety "My doctor wanted to avoid prescribing me Xanax for aviophobia, so gave me this instead. She told me to only take 25 mg. This medication did not stand a chance against my panic. I just ended up getting off the plane before it took off and experiencing dry mouth for the rest of the day."

• y1o...
• March 25, 2018

For Anxiety "Got prescribed this medication by the family doc. Took 50 mg a day (based on my weight). So half a pill in the morning, half a pill during lunch, and a full 25 mg pill in the evening. It did NOTHING for me. The only thing... made my mouth dry and my concentration decreased. The good thing is that you can take this medicine whenever you need it. However, I think it would be nice if it worked for the anxiety."

• Dan...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 10, 2020

Hydroxyzine for Anxiety "This medicine, Atarax, is useless for anxiety. All it did was dry me out. I have Sjögren’s syndrome, and this is not a medication to be taken if you already have that immune system disorder."

• Jra...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 9, 2021

Hydroxyzine for Anxiety "Awful dry mouth, did absolutely nothing for anxiety."

• Ang...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 19, 2019

For Allergies "Was given this hydroxyzine for poison ivy rash and now, the second day in, I can't walk or do anything, complete garbage. Worst case of cotton mouth ever, middle of the night barely made it to water."

• Jan...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• June 12, 2018

For Allergies "This med made my mouth so dry that I could not talk or swallow easily. I have stopped taking it. A relief to feel moisture in my mouth again."

• Cca...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 1, 2017

For Anxiety "Was given this medication for anxiety. Didn't help. Made me sleep all the time. Bad case of dry mouth and extreme mood swings. Had to stop taking it."