Think Restasis makes skin round my eyes itch

[yoganut]

Been taking Restasis for about 6 weeks now. Last couple of weeks I've noticed that when I remove my makeup (and then put Restasis in) the skin round my eyes has been very itchy including eyelash base, so I've been removing my eyemakeup with baby shampoo thiking it would be less of an irritatant, last night my eyes itched slightly but this morning when I put Restasis in my eyes, some of it seeped out despite my best efforts and collected on my lashline, under my eyes and on my upper eyelid, 2 mins later the skin round my eyes was extremely itchy.. this leads me to believe that a large part of this problem is the Restais pooling round my eyes.. does anyone else encounter this? Thanks.

[Stanza]

I've not tried removing make up with baby shampoo but does it come off easily? If not you might have to invest in a better remover, I'm using Lancome for sensitive eyes, at the moment, it's pricey admittedly but you don't need much and you don't need to rub at all. I know people do scrubs with the baby shampoo but maybe you should do that after getting make up off gently?

[yoganut]

Actually baby shampoo takes off makeup really easily

You don't need much and its better IMO than a lot of eye makeup removers
out there.

[kitty]

I had severe itching in my eyes and my eyelids while using Restasis. Patenol, an eye allergy drop, stopped the itching instantly. This led me to believe I had some sort of an allergy to Restasis. Unfortunately, the Patenol contains a preservative which is bad for DES. I could not comprehend any benefit from Restasis if I had to use a med with a preservative to counteract the side effects.

[yoganut]

Thats very interesting. I'm glad I'm not the only one who experienced this. Do you still take Restasis? I'm considering give it up for this reason alone. Currently trying wiping a small amount of olive oil round my eye area, yesterday I tried it and didn't need eye drops at all.

[sai1930]

Been on Restasis for 2 months now, have the same itching problem. But Restasis has started working for me, So i wouldnt think of quitting, despite the itching.
I'd rather deal with the itching rather than the pain.

[NYer]

Yoganut, you just put olive oil around your eye area and didn't need any drops at all? I'll try that tonight. By the way, olive oil is a good makeup remover, too. The only problem is the oily residue.

[Rory]

Been on Restasis for 2 months now, have the same itching problem. But Restasis has started working for me, So i wouldnt think of quitting, despite the itching.
I'd rather deal with the itching rather than the pain.

can i ask how restatis has been working for you? I didnt think that it worked for anyone... Can i ask is restatis all that you are using or doing to improve your symptoms?

[yoganut]

I've abandoned the olive oil theory.

Since using baby shampoo to remove facial makeup (including eye) and using foaming lid scrub eyes seem to have improved slightly. Haven't taken restasis for about 2 weeks. I found Natures Tears yesterday at my local supermarket and thought well, tried everything else, its just pure H20, its quite soothing sprayed on my eyes, I'm wondering if I'm sensitive to a lot of preservatives in eye drops as this is the first thing I've used that doesn't make my eyes sore afterwards (optive is a bad one for me, so is genteal and soothe). I'm also thinking of trying Tears Again Lipisome Spray, its pricey but I've already spent a small fortune on eye drops, I could hold a yard sale with the stash I've collected.
Also started taking Carlson Moistur-eyes, they smell awful but I dont' get the fishy aftertaste. Just hope they don't break me out like I did before when taking 'cheap' fish oil.