Formerly prescription-only in the US and Canada, cetirizine is now available over-the-counter in both countries as Zyrtec and Reactine respectively. Zyrtec was the top new non-food product of 2008 in the US.
Zyrtec is an antihistamine used to relieve the symptoms of allergies, eczema, hives and itching and other allergic skin reactions. Furthermore, Zyrtec in hay fever and allergic conjunctivitis induced be taken. Among the newer H1-antihistamines cetirizine, loratadine, in addition to the substance, probably the most widely used anti-allergic agent in tablet form.
Like many other antihistamine medications, cetirizine is commonly prescribed in combination with pseudoephedrine hydrochloride, a decongestant. These combinations are marketed using the same brand name as the cetirizine with a “-D” suffix (Zyrtec-D, Virlix-D, etc.)
Formerly only available by a prescription, both Zyrtec and Zyrtec-D are currently available over-the-counter in the United States.
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