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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is now warning clinicians and healthcare consumers about a rare but severe side effect associated with stopping long-term use of oral allergy medicines cetirizine or levocetirizine. FDA reports that some patients ultimately develop severe pruritus that requires medical attention if they stop taking the medications, and the agency aims to update the prescribing information to raise awareness about the post-discontinuation risk. According to the FDA, pruritus symptoms resolved for most patients who restarted the medicine and in some who tapered off the medicine after subsequently restarting it. The daily oral drugs are available by prescription and over-the-counter (OTC).
Another reason to ask about OTCs: Cetirizine was approved for oral use by prescription in December 1995 under the trade name Zyrtec and shifted to OTC use after approvals in November 2007. Levocetirizine was approved for oral use by prescription in May 2007 under the trade name Xyzal and approved for OTC use in January 2017.