Good Morning from PA.

[awalmommy]

Hi Everyone,

I have been lurking around the forums since September when I was first diagnosed with DES. My name is Stephanie, I am 33 years old. My dry eyes started before September of this year but I didn't know what it was. I would wake up in the middle of the night with alot of pain and watering in my right eye. It wouldn't happen every night so I continued to put it off until September when I got a corneal abrasion. Since Sept. I have tried different over the counter drops and gels with some help. It seemed that once I got into a system with one thing after about a month or two it would stop working and I would have flare-ups again. I was preganant at the time so my opthamologist wouldn't put me on Restasis. I unfortunately miscarried in Oct. and then was put on Restasis around Thanksgiving. The Restasis had worked wonderfully up until this week and I have been having problems again. Is that normal? Does medicines work for dry eye and then not work after a time? I'm very frustrated since the Restasis was working really well. My dry eyes are only at night but carry over into the day with a blurry right eye if I have had a problem the night before. Also has anyone been on Restasis while pregnant? My opthamologist said I could take it when we start trying to get pregnant again but I'm nervous about it since I miscarried in October. Thanks for any advice! I go to the eye doctor on Tuesday to find out what to do next since the Restasis doesn't seem to work anymore.

[Guest]

Restasis during pregnancy

Hi Stephanie -- welcome to DryEyeTalk! I hope you find the help you're looking for.

You've probably seen this recent thread, where "Green Eyes" reports her doctor warned her not to take Restasis during during pregnancy.

If you search all the DryEyeTalk forums (click ">>>SEARCH" in the uppermost dark blue bar) for "restasis pregnancy", you'll see it's been mentioned quite a few times. Doesn't seem like there's been definitive word on this subject, however. Some doctors have reportedly approved restasis during pregnancy.

I Googled the same terms and found the Restasis mfr's prescribing info. It confirms that Restasis is a pregnancy category-C drug, which is defined as follows: "Animal reproduction studies have shown an adverse effect on the fetus and there are no adequate and well-controlled studies in humans, but potential benefits may warrant use of the drug in pregnant women despite potential risks." Under "Precautions," we are told that while blood concentration of Restasis is undetectable after topical application, no studies have been done regarding the effect on infants of topically-applied Restasis secreted in breast milk.

So, pregnancy is not a contraindication for topical Restasis, but the cat-C classification suggests caution.

Some folks (including me) tend to take a cautious approach to any drug, most especially regarding pregnancy, since the mfr's testing can only reveal information they are looking for. Also, there are several unfortunate historical precedents of drugs initially being deemed nominally safe during pregnancy but later, after the collection of, er, further data, were determined to be harmful. However, as the cat-C definition states, it's up to the individual to weigh the potential risks against the potential benefits.

One suggestion: if you post more details of your diagnosis (any other problems identified besides the abrasion?) and treatment regime (supplements? drops? eyewear? lid scrubs? plugs? etc.), some of the DryEyeTalk veterans could probably suggest some other approaches toward improving your situation. Perhaps your dry eye can be managed without Restasis.

Also, if you haven't already, I'd poke around the main DryEyeZone site, where you'll find a lot of additional resources.