The maximum dose of Claritin (loratadine) is one 10 mg tablet per day for adults and children 6 and older. That’s one tablet, one capsule, or two teaspoons of liquid, taken once every 24 hours. Taking a second dose in the same day won’t make it work better and increases your risk of side effects.
Standard Adult and Child Dosing
Claritin comes in regular tablets, chewable tablets, dissolving tablets, liquid-filled capsules, and liquid syrup. Regardless of the form, the dose is the same for anyone 6 years or older: 10 mg once a day. For the liquid version, that’s 10 mL (two teaspoons).
Children ages 2 to 5 get half the adult dose: 2.5 mL of liquid (half a teaspoon), which works out to 5 mg once daily. Claritin is not approved for children under 2.
Why You Shouldn’t Double Up
Loratadine stays active in your body for a full 24 hours, which is why once-daily dosing works. If you feel like your dose isn’t helping, taking a second tablet won’t speed up relief. It will, however, increase your chance of drowsiness and headache.
If you accidentally take two tablets in one day, you’re unlikely to experience anything serious. Poison Control reports that even very large overdoses tend to cause relatively mild symptoms. In one documented case, an 18-year-old woman took 300 mg (30 times the normal dose) and developed elevated blood pressure, a rapid heart rate, and flushed skin. A 6-year-old boy who took the same amount had only a slight bump in blood pressure and heart rate, with no significant treatment needed. That said, those cases required medical observation, and you shouldn’t treat them as proof that overdosing is harmless.
Claritin-D Has Different Limits
Claritin-D is a separate product that combines loratadine with pseudoephedrine, a nasal decongestant. Its dosing rules are stricter because pseudoephedrine raises blood pressure and heart rate.
- Claritin-D 12 Hour: One tablet every 12 hours, with a maximum of two tablets per day. Each tablet contains 5 mg loratadine and 120 mg pseudoephedrine.
- Claritin-D 24 Hour: One tablet per day, no exceptions. Each tablet contains 10 mg loratadine and 240 mg pseudoephedrine.
Claritin-D is only approved for adults and children 12 and older. If you’re confusing regular Claritin with Claritin-D, check your box carefully, because the dosing schedules and risks are not interchangeable.
Dosing With Liver or Kidney Problems
If you have significant liver disease or reduced kidney function, loratadine clears from your body more slowly. The FDA label recommends that these individuals take 10 mg every other day instead of daily. For children ages 2 to 5 with liver or kidney issues, the adjusted dose is 5 mg every other day. This lower frequency prevents the drug from building up to levels that cause more pronounced side effects.
Pregnancy and Breastfeeding
Loratadine is one of the antihistamines generally considered acceptable during pregnancy for managing mild allergy symptoms. The Mayo Clinic lists it alongside cetirizine (Zyrtec) as an option that healthcare providers commonly recommend for pregnant women. That said, sticking to the standard one-tablet-per-day limit is especially important during pregnancy, where the goal is always the lowest effective dose.
What to Do If It’s Not Working
If one Claritin tablet per day isn’t controlling your symptoms, taking more isn’t the answer. Loratadine works best for mild to moderate seasonal allergies, specifically sneezing, runny nose, and itchy eyes. It’s less effective for nasal congestion, which is why the Claritin-D formulation exists.
Some people genuinely don’t respond well to loratadine. Antihistamines vary in how they work from person to person, and switching to a different one (like cetirizine or fexofenadine) often produces better results than increasing the dose of the one that isn’t helping. If you’ve been taking Claritin daily for a week or more without noticeable improvement, a different antihistamine or a nasal corticosteroid spray is a more effective next step than doubling up.