Restasis burns/ Please help!

[Guest]

I would take antihistamine drops as a prevention if they were available without preservative. But from what I hear there is no such product. And the ones on the market have a decongestant in them too. That makes dry eyes worse.

In Canada, the non-prescription anti-allergy drops often do have a decongestant. However, the prescription anti-allergy drops do NOT have a decongestant included.

An example of non-prescription anti-allergy drops that do not contain a decongestant are those containing sodium cromoglycate. (Brand names include Cromolyn and Opticrom.)

As you mentioned though, there are none available here that are preservative free though.

[rooneyandfergie]

rooneyandfergie,

Glaucoma and dry eyes huh? Double whammy.

Hey Jasper, you are absolutely right. Big double whammy. I also have pretty red eyes a lot of the times. I have seen some encouraging reports of anti-vegf hope that would be available soon as a medical option. It's sometimes frustrating to me personally that we can send a man to the moon but we remain lacking in dry eye medical treatment.

I have been using Restasis for close to 2 weeks now. I have also been using eye ointments during the day as well and a new kind of eye drop called Hialid. All these has helped me to see some improvement in my dry eye condition though i dont know at this stage if it was due to the Restasis alone or the other eye products. I will update you on my progress as I go along. Hopefully that will give you some idea as to how effective it can be.

fundryeyes, you seem pretty informed and you mentioned about the doctor flipping your eyelid out to check for signs of allergies. I have done that before as i suspected i may be allergic to my glaucoma medication. I had like rashes or hives on the eyelids pretty often on and off. However the doctor says there is no sign of allergies. Does it mean that the hives is due to a more complex case of my immune system attacking the lacrimal glands and my eyelids?

[fellowresearcher]

Wondering if Restasis is right for me

Dear people who use Restasis, You said it burns to begin with and causes red eyes...BUT the question I wonder is, does it cause DRY eyes?

When I think about it, Sometimes I wonder if its the castor oil in it that causes the burning...But is this reaction harmful?

See in theory castor oil, isn't harmful to the eye ball...Its not going to scratch it or dry it out....but I do believe It would be responsible for causing a reaction that you all are experiencing.

If you haven't heard of using castor oil as a laxative, it causes a similar reaction in the intestinal track. Castor oil is an irritant to mucus membranes, Why do you think when you take it as a laxative it causes people to have to go to the bathroom.

This irritation is important though I believe...because it might be responsible for the healing of your tear secreting glands.

Why?

Well the redness an burning everyone experiences from so called, said reactions is an immune response.

In this immune response your body sends out chemical called as arachidonic acid to create other immune response chemicals.

One of them is Prostaglandins, they are responsible for dilating blood vessels and regulating hormones, thats why when your eyes are irritated, they get red because because the blood vessels swell and get engorged with blood from this chemical....This chemical is also responsible for regulating the hormones in the specific cells that are irritated such as testosterone or estrogens. Since Testosterone and estrogens are responsible for gland secretions...I believe that their increased quantity during this process helps you....Increase gland secretion...(AKA your tears) I wonder if that's why allergan choose castor oil as a carrier for their drug.

But theirs also cyclosporine in it though, I believe it is partly there to suppress this immune response, but I wonder if it only acts on the chemicals that could cause damage?

Such as the Leukotrienes and platelet-activating factor...? these chemicals are responsible for increasing white blood cells to the infected area, increasing mucus production an telling what the white blood cells what they should attack.

So maybe thats why they have it in there, to create the immune response chemicals, but prevent an immune response attack...

As for those chemicals that create the redness everyone experiences to be explained simply.....is really just a symptom of when your body is trying to heal itself...

So in all guesses.
I guess its really a trade off right now, increased tear production due to Different inflammation...or not being able to have more tears at all?

I honestly believe that the irritation caused by the castor oil, is the method to which more tears are formed. It is the irritation which increases an immune response which in theory hopefully doesn't damage the tissues due to the oils nature and causes more hormones to be produced in the irritated cells in the area...(the burning sensation)...since hormones are increased in the cells...more tears are produced in the lacrimal gland...thus increasing tear production.

You might ask allergan if thats really the theory behind the burning and redness but I believe it is.

[fundryeyes]

Researcher, I've heard that theory before. If the resumption of tears was due to irritation then surely just having a dry eye would make you form more tears. Or Varsol, or mouth wash. Stick that in your eyes and by your theory it should be raining tears! Cyclosporine inhibits the immune system and by doing that locally at the lacrimal glands it should improve the functioning of them. I have been helped by Restasis. My eyes went from completely dry to wet looking and reflective in 4 months. I'm definitely not 100% but it is now manageable. Another negation to that theory is the fact that people seem to be helped more by a 1% or 0.5% cyclosporine solution with the same concentration castor base. There will likely be more copy cat products on the market with higher cyclosporine concentrations.

[nitrodrops]

Hello Everyone,

I'm aqueous deficient (severe) and have tried just about everything. As I need to produce more tears I was really counting on Restasis to help.

When I put the drops in they felt fine ... almost soothing. Then a few hours later the burning would begin and last all day. It was unbearable. If I put artificial tears in my eyes would turn completely red (even more than usual) so I stopped using it after 2 days.

Is there any way around this? I have heard of some people that found the burning to become less and less after weeks of continued use.
There is no way I could make it that long. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

I am having the same sympton. After applying Retasis, say 3-4hrs later, i can feel the burning/stinging feeling the whole day. It got worse under a hot day or windy day.
Also dont know if this burning/stinging feeling is due to the side effects of Retasis or DES.

I am taking Retasis 4 times per day. Now I have 2 x lower plugs inserted, can feel the Retasis burning/stinging sensation even more. Going to reduce to 2 times per day and monitor it.

Btw, any kind hearts that experienced the same symptons :

I am having the same sympton. After applying Retasis, say 3-4hrs later, i can feel the burning/stinging feeling the whole day. It got worse under a hot day or windy day.
Also dont know if this burning/stinging feeling is due to the side effects of Retasis or DES.


Much appreciated for any kind replies.

Cheers
Nitro

[PotatoCakes]

re: Burning ... it's not uncommon for people to be allergic or sensitive to the carrier in Restasis: Castor Oil. You can get compounded Restasis, without the castor oil through Leiter's Pharmacy in CA (they do mail order). Your doctor calls them up and takes care of the prescription and then they will call you for payment and mail them out to you. Most insurance will not cover compounded Restasis but it is less expensive (I think) than the commercially produced stuff. It does require refrigeration once opened.

When I switched to compounded, I found that it made a real difference in comfort. I no longer had the extreme burning, redness and discomfort after application. Unfortunately, depending on how my eyes are doing, after about 4-5 months of use, my eyes are now becoming sensitive to it. I don't know if that's common or not. It does not hurt as badly as the commercial Restasis hurt but it's definitely more uncomfortable than it was when I first started using it. When I meet with my doctor next, I plan to ask about it and see what I should do from here. So far, it hasn't helped produce tears that I'm aware of so I'm not sure there's much in it for me to begin with but it does help some people so it's worth a try if you haven't yet. I was told by one doctor that it can take up to 6 months for Restasis to work so I'd really like to make it to the 6-7 month mark, if possible. Prior to the compounded Restasis, I was on commercial Restasis for a year or so and it had no effect so it's possible that I'm just not in that 15% or so that it works for.

Also, I was told by one specialist that many doctors prescribe Lotemax with Restasis because the Lotemax helps prevent the body's reaction that causes the burning, etc. I stopped taking Lotemax after about a year because I simply wasn't comfortable taking it but it's very possible that's when I started feeling discomfort after commercial Restasis administration.