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Allergic rxn to Freshkote; how to fix?

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  • Allergic rxn to Freshkote; how to fix?

    Hi Folks,

    I've been maintaining my dry eyes with Optive Refresh Sensitive during the day. At night, I'll put a drop in each eye, then add Refresh pm (which is the mineral oil and white petrolatum). The nightime goo seems to help keep the Refresh drops in contact with my eyes longer overnight, and also seems to provide extra lubrication even for the next day, as I think a bit of it stays on in the lower conjunctive throughout the day.

    Anyway -- finally got Freshkote yesterday. Used four drops throughout the day, but the last one was before I put the Refresh mineral oil in. The day drops seemed fine, but the last one, of course, stayed around in contact with my eyes becauseof the last six hours of sleep. Dummy me. I woked up today with extremely painful, burning, very red, swollen, photophobic eyes, which I assume was due to the Freshkote, maybe the preservative.

    Anyway -- now what? After rinsing with the Optive refresh drops, and trying to create reflex tears as well to flush my eyes out, took some Ibuprofen, and added a benzo to try and sleep off some of the pain -- woke up, my eyes aren't burning as much or in as much pain, but the redness is still there and of course there's lots more discomfort. My eyes look terrible.

    Do I simply keep flushing and wait it out? If you get an allergic response to any of the eye meds, what do other people do? Is a steroid drop supposed to help?

    Needless to say, I'm leery of any new drops right now, and am trying to stick with the tried and true Refresh drops. It's been less than 24 hours, and at least the pain is a little less.

    Also -- I wouldn't judge the Freshkote drops on this post -- it may be that used as one drop 4 X per day would be fine -- just not continuous contact with the eye overnight the way I used it (yeah, I was dumb . . . . ). In fact, I'm willing to try it as such, if my eyes ever get back to the way they were!

    Any wondering how other people have handled these allergic reactions to eye drops?

  • #2
    Are you sure this was an allergic reaction and a sensitivity or just increased dryness? Allergic reaction usually involves itching. My doc said I had a sensitivity to the Fresh Kote as when I used it, my eyes felt generally drier and more uncomfortable. They were also a bit more red than usual. There is a difference between a true allergy and a hypersensitivity. Why were you using it 4 times a day? My doc prescribed it twice a day.

    I would suggest using your regular dry eye drops frequently and apply cool cloths to your eyes until things quiet down. I would be careful of oral medications as many of them can have drying effects on the eyes including benzodiazepines and Ibuprofen. See this list of meds that can have eye drying effects: http://www.dryeyepain.com/Practical1-Med_Surg.htm
    Every day with DES is like a box of chocolates...You never know what you're going to get.

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    • #3
      what to do about an allergic reaction

      The basic premise of dealing with an allergic reaction is the following:

      Remove the allergen (wash it out with preservative free saline rinse)

      Decrease the inflammation - steroids are definitely effective for this, anti-histamines are also effective, mast cell inhibitors work much slower like weeks. (by the way, ibuprofen is an NSAID - these are not effective and can even worsen allergic reactions)

      Avoid the allergen (no more Freshkote)

      Good luck!

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