Stopping Zyrtec IMPROVED my CSU
Hey all. Some quick background: I’ve had Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria for 10 years. No idea what caused it, so I’m considered idiopathic (although I personally believe it was somehow triggered by having a test that used contrast dye since that was my first experience getting hives). I do not have reactions nearly as bad as so many of you who are covered in hives (I’m so sorry you go through that!) but enough that I started taking Zyrtec here and there years ago, first just once a month, then once a week, then daily as my need for it increased along with the hives occurrence…
I then recently read how it can be really hard to withdraw from Zyrtec with respect to that chronic itch reaction some people have, so I decided to taper myself off. Thankfully, I did not get the crazy itch! But, I expected my hives to come back at the level they had been showing up before and… they just haven’t. I do have some random itchiness and small hives (usually due to compression) and sometimes feel small little sections of my body are almost sunburned, but I haven’t gotten any of the large hives I was getting previously (I’ve been off Zyrtec fully for about 3 weeks now). So, diagnostically, I would say I am not fully in remission since I do still have some itchiness, but it really seems like my entire system has calmed down after stopping antihistamines altogether… My theory is that I had become too dependent, so when my body was expecting a pill and I hadn’t taken one, the reaction was a rebound/bigger than it would’ve been if I was fully off the pills…
Has anyone experienced something similar?? (I’m not a doctor and am not suggesting anyone else stop, but I’m just curious if anyone with a more mild case like myself has gone through a similar situation). At this point I do not plan to ever take any more antihistamines since they seem to suppress my body’s natural abilities to regulate — and if I do, I’ll take one that’s generally considered a little tamer, like Allegra… Would love to hear similar takes. Thanks!
ETA: The first 10 days or so I did have rebound itching and hives for sure and thought I was in for a rough time, especially at night, but I still stayed away from the antihistamines and luckily things calmed down.