Restasis dont burn anymore??

[ugly-eyes]

Hi
I started on Restasis for about a month ago. They burned and eyes were very red. I stopped using it. Tried many other things in the meantime. Nothing helped me. I have very dry eyes 2 and 3 on each eye.

A week ago I gave Restasis another chance. Now the burning is completely gone. What happens after I drip Restasis a while later eyes become wetter, but seems there are reflex tears. Read somewhere if Restasis does not burn it has no effect at all.

What do you think? I'm so afraid to become blind've heard you can get blind if you have dry eyes.

[ugly-eyes]

nobody? iam so afraid to be blinddont know what to do anymore.

[dave25]

What about the side effects of RESTASIS®?
The most common side effect is a temporary burning sensation. Other side effects include eye redness, discharge, watery eyes, eye pain, foreign body sensation, itching, stinging, and blurred vision. If you develop these or other side effects, contact your eye doctor immediately concerning the continued use of RESTASIS®.

I grabbed this from the Restasis website. So the burning is only a side effect, it is not an indication of whether it is working or not. In my experience if the drop doesn't burn that is usually a good thing. As far as dry eyes causing blindness, I have also talked to my doctor about this and he told me it is very uncommon for this to happen. It is always best to ask your doctor these questions for the best answers. It is also important to find a good eye doc if you don't already have one.

[Faith1989]

I just started using Restasis again too. I stopped for the same reasons you did, realized my eyes were way drier without it and started about a week ago with no burning (a little redness still) but nothing like before! I am using serum tears though now so maybe thats why my eyes dont burn nemore..who knows? lol I'm sure its a good thing its not burning, not a bad thing! And although dry eye can affect vision a little (I mean if its pretty severe I supose), I doubt you are going to go blind.

[farmgirl]

My dry eye is severe but I manage to keep my corneas healthy which is the key to preserving your vision. My Dr. has told me I will never go blind over it...F/G

[surya]

When you start on restatsis it burns due to the inflammatory cells (activated T cells) present. Restasis, if it works, prevents these cells from getting activated. Restatsis only prevents..... it wont do anything to the already activated cells. Once activated, these cells remain in that state for approx 4 weeks. Once you have less no of activated cells the burning should go down.

[ugly-eyes]

But when it is not burning what does that mean? It burned like hell when i tryed it in desember i stopped after 3 days. Tryed again now in feb and the burning its all gone.

[surya]

Restasis has castor oil or some other inactive ingredient in it that irritates eyes for some people when they are inflamed. May be your eyes were more sensitive and inflamed at that time and your eyes healed a bit in the mean time. Burning has got nothing to do with whether it is working or not working. I don't think you need to worry about that.

[ugly-eyes]

ok thanks surya.

[billy123]

Hi
I started on Restasis for about a month ago. They burned and eyes were very red. I stopped using it. Tried many other things in the meantime. Nothing helped me. I have very dry eyes 2 and 3 on each eye.

A week ago I gave Restasis another chance. Now the burning is completely gone. What happens after I drip Restasis a while later eyes become wetter, but seems there are reflex tears. Read somewhere if Restasis does not burn it has no effect at all.

What do you think? I'm so afraid to become blind've heard you can get blind if you have dry eyes.

Hi where did you buy the restasis? It doesn't seem to be available in the uk

[littlemermaid]

Billy, We can get cyclosporine formulations from Moorfields Pharmaceuticals on prescription. Here's the info I got from their excellent enquiry service:

'Optimmune 0.2% ointment has a base of Maize Oil and Lanolin Alcohol.
Ciclosporin 2% eye drops contain alcohol (a trace) and Maize Oil.
Ciclosporin 0.06% eye drops is more of an aqueous (non-oil) gel like formulation. This product would be the one most similar to the Restasis formulation.'