I just found out about the hives issue when going off Zyrtec. Th...

sivies, I went on Zyrtec for hives too and in the end it was making them worse. The withdrawal effects give the appearance that the Zyrtec is working (ie. you stop Zyrtec, your hives get worse hence you assume that Zyrtec is doing wonders and keeping your hives at bay when it is acutally the withdrawal from Zyrtec that makes them worse when you stop it). Hang in there - the withdrawal can be a long process but it is worth it. I control my hives via diet (I have worked out that I get hives when I eat foods containing salicylates) now and have much better results than with any anti-histamine or therapy designed to mask the hives (as opposed to finding the reason for the hives in the first place). I will include a post with information on withdrawals that I have posted elsewhere:

To those trying to get off Zyrtec - hang in there. The withdrawals are horrific but it is totally worth getting off it!! It was exactly a year ago today that I stopped taking Zyrtec - the initial 6wks of withdrawals were some of the worst weeks of my life but the other 46wks since have been fantastic! No more depression, no more itching, no more menstrual issues etc, etc, etc. The website Askapatient has a lot of people sharing their experiences both being on and getting off the drug. There are also a couple of blogs written by people who have managed to get off Zyrtec: zyrtecwithdrawal (lots of advice on how to handle withdrawal and lots of feedback from people in the comments) and zyrtecsideeffects (my story in full) are both Blogspot blogs. I will include direct links at the bottom of this post but don't know if they will be allowed. Try googling 'zyrtec withdrawal' and following various links. The information and support is out there it is just a bit tricky to find. Good luck!

http://zyrtecwithdrawal.blogspot.com
http://zyrtecsideeffects.blogspot.com/
http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=19835&name=ZYRTEC

My whole body swells up with the hives too! Yesterday I went for a walk and felt like The Incredible Hulk. My shoes felt too small and my fingers felt and looked like sausages! Yesterday was day three (again) without the Zyrtec and a friend came over last night and my left arm swelled up and had wheals the size of fingers sprouting up. When it gets to that point the itch subsides to a burning sensation...It hurts more than itches. I couldn't take it and popped another Zyrtec. I was diagnosed with dermographism and was told that antihistamines was the only route. I've had allergy tests (both skin and blood). I changed my diet but now I guess I don't know if any of those things I tried while taking Zyrtec worked because of the drug itself. Has anyone tried cromogliclic acid? It's a mast cell stabilizer. Thanks!