trying restasis again- better this time

[sparrow]

To start off the new year, I decided to give Restasis another try. I tried it once about 2 months ago, but found the burning and itching too uncomfortable. This time though, the burning is pretty low level and I don't notice any itching at all. have only been using it for four days so far. One thing though, my eyes are still pretty red and irritated from a 19 hour drive (with heater on constantly) I did on Saturday. Can't tell now if my eyes are still red from that trip or if restasis is making them red, is redness one of the side effects of Restasis?

[neil0502]

Sparrow-

My first thought is to say: you've got a variable here (the 19hr drive with the heater on).

I'd say give it a day or two for your eyes to recover from that insult and see if things calm down.

The listed side effects from Restasis are:

The most common adverse event following the use of RESTASIS® was ocular burning (17%).
Other events reported in 1% to 5% of patients included conjunctival hyperemia, discharge, epiphora, eye pain, foreign body sensation,
pruritus, stinging, and visual disturbance (most often blurring).

http://www.allergan.com/download/RES...I_%20Feb04.pdf

[Steve]

Just sharing a trick

Sparrow --

I don't know if this is an approved tip or just a personal idiosyncrasy -- Please chime in, someone, if this is a bad idea.

I find that Restasis and Refresh Endura (which is virtually the same thing, from the same company, without the cyclosporine) both make my eyes sting faintly all the time.

But I can make that sting go away by putting a small drop of a simple water-based tear substitute just before the Restasis. It works best if I damp away the excess between applying the water drop and the Restasis. The water tear substitute can be a short-acting one with no special ingredients and pref. no preservative.