An FDA warning has been issued on a new paralyzing side effect of allergiedrugs that are taken by more than 60 million people worldwide.
The FDA says that it has received complaints from patients suffering from severe itching after stopping the oral allergy medicines Cetirizine and Levocetirizine – sold under the Zyrtec and Xyzal brand names.
These drugs are available in prescription and freely available forms.
The itching, also called pruritus, has been reported to patients who used these drugs daily, usually for at least a few months and often for years.
Patients have not experienced any itching before they started the medication.
Itching in the most severe form can cause skin damage and open ulcers, in which patients report problems and have difficulty sleeping.
Health officials said that the cases ‘rare but sometimes were serious, in which patients experience widespread, serious itching that required medical intervention’.
As a result, the government agency revised the Cetirizine and Levocetirizine prescription prescription information to include a new warning about this risk.
An urgent warning has been issued on a new side effect of allergiedrugs taken by more than 60 million people worldwide
Manufacturers will also be obliged to add a warning about pruritus to the OTC versions drug facts label.
An estimated 62.7 million packages of OTC -Cetirizine and Levocetirizine products were purchased by consumers in the US in 2022.
Both drugs can help relieve symptoms such as sneezing, runny nose, itchy nose and watery eyes caused by pollen and other seasonal allergens.
They can also be used to manage allergy symptoms throughout the year that are activated by dust mites, dicks of pets or mold.
Cetirizine was approved for oral use by recipe in December 1995 under the trade name Zyrtec (no longer sold as a prescription medicine) and approved for OTC use in November 2007.
In the meantime, Levocetirizine was approved for oral use by recipe in May 2007 under the trade name Xyzal and approved for OTC use in January 2017.
Patients are advised to contact a healthcare provider if they develop severe itching after stopping recipe or OTC -Cetirizine or Levocetirizin pills.
Those who reported the uncomfortable side effect said that the itch was typically taken within a few days of stopping the medicines.
In general, the FDA says that it has identified 209 cases of pruritus worldwide, coupled with cetirizine and Levocetirizine.
This number only contains reports that have been submitted to the FDA, so that experts suspect that there can be extra cases.
It notes that it is not certain why the drug causes itching, but ‘many reports described widespread itching that required medical intervention after stopping these drugs, with a large number that describes a significant and continuing impact on the quality of life and the ability to function’.
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