Lost eyelashes with Restasis - anybody have same? Did they grow back?

[mgshutterbug]

I was on Restasis over a yr ago for 3 mos. and it didn't work. Don't remember what all it did besides burn like heck. Now my new ophth is trying to qualify me for sclerals by having me jump thru hoops required by medical insur co who do not want to pay for sclerals. So she put me on Restasis again 4x/d for even more mos. After 3 wks, my eyelashes are falling out. I stopped the restasis; no way they can be a good thing if you lose eyelashes. They never helped before, and they burn like heck. If you lost lashes with Restasis, did they grow back?

[DCRdryeye]

I can say without a doubt I've lost eyelashes on Cyclosporine drops and they've thinned out dramatically. Having very heavy long and thick eyelashes, reduced down to sparse, vellus type eyelash hair since starting Cyclosporine drops.

Any eyelashes that have grown back are not in the correct direction or in line with other lashes.

[Guest]

I was on Restasis over a yr ago for 3 mos. and it didn't work. Don't remember what all it did besides burn like heck. Now my new ophth is trying to qualify me for sclerals by having me jump thru hoops required by medical insur co who do not want to pay for sclerals. So she put me on Restasis again 4x/d for even more mos. After 3 wks, my eyelashes are falling out. I stopped the restasis; no way they can be a good thing if you lose eyelashes. They never helped before, and they burn like heck. If you lost lashes with Restasis, did they grow back?

Just curious, is there any chance that the eyelashes are falling out due to rubbing your burning eyes? Just trying to figure out if it might not be the Restasis causing lashes to fall out, but rubbing of your eyes when they burn...

I can say without a doubt I've lost eyelashes on Cyclosporine drops and they've thinned out dramatically. Having very heavy long and thick eyelashes, reduced down to sparse, vellus type eyelash hair since starting Cyclosporine drops.

Any eyelashes that have grown back are not in the correct direction or in line with other lashes.

Do you have meibomian gland dysfunction also? I don't know of a way that Restasis could directly cause lashes falling out, but, if it caused a lot of burning and inflammation, that could worsen MGD which is notorious for causing eyelash loss and eyelashes that regrow all crooked.

[DCRdryeye]

I never rub my eyes, the only time I do that is when using SteriLid in the morning. I've also done a search for Restasis and eyelash loss and there seems to be quiet a few people whom claim the same. I've had MGD since 2007 and it's only been since the Restasis 2 yrs ago that the lashes have been falling out and thinning, twisting in the wrong direction (maybe those that have grown back). It's annoying when trying to get my Scleral lenses in, lashes get stuck underneath and have to remove them and start again lol. (A lady on a train said to me once, 'What a girl would do to have your eyelashes').

[Guest]

Hmmm... well, no way to know 100% for sure I guess - but you could try going off Restasis for several months and see if the eyelash problem stops or reverses itself. I just figured that Restasis has been around long enough between Europe and the U.S. that something like that would have made it's way into the product monograph by now... but.....

Now you've got me curious, and I found some interesting things...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22291642 (only a case report, so by no means a sure thing, but interesting all the same)

http://ndt.oxfordjournals.org/content/11/6/1159.long (note: this guy was taking it by mouth, rather than applying topically, but it certainly makes you wonder if it might be possible in susceptible individuals on topical cyclosporine eyedrops)

[DCRdryeye]

Wow, yes I took a look at the photos on those two references and my lashes look similar to the photos, especially the 'disproportionate' lashes. Quiet a few have elongated but thinned and I've had ingrowing fine eyelash hairs growing towards the eye ball causing redness. They were so fine only an optometrist were able to pluck them out. That's never occured before the Restasis. It's difficult to say, some people don't experience anything like that, other do. We all react differently. But certainly something to consider. I'm off the Restasis now and will see if the eyelashes normalize over next few months (it's summer here now so weather is better).

[NotADryEye]

My lashes grow every which way and I have that extra row of lashes that start in the eye lid margin. They are incredibly painful when they grow in. I was on Restasis for a few months in 2010/2011. Not sure if Restasis caused the problem with the lashes or just MGD. But it is definitely there. I haven't been on Restasis since. Also, my lashes do seem to fall out a lot. I think the normal number of lashes falling out per day is about 6 per eye or lid. Still, before Restasis, I don't recall I had a problem. Now it seems every other day I'm fishing a lash out of my eyes.

[Peppermint]

DCR-
Have you noticed any improvement in your eyelashes?