Restasis is the #2 most widely used prescription in the USA and most people are post menopausal females. Over 4-6 months it works to make a younger more effective tear and reduces inflammation on the surface of the eye.. My wife is on it and has had tremendously improvement as has several of her friends.
I used Restasis (which is prescription) because the over the counter Systane was not working all by itself. I used the Restasis when I got up in the am and before bed. In between I used Systane. This worked well and I had no trouble with my eyes during treatment (before starting on Restasis it felt like I had sand in my eyes all of the time.
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Both my wife and I have moderately severe dry eyes. Both of us are on restasis with complete success. She for 6-7 years and me for one and a half year. IT WILL TAKE 6 MONTHS BEFORE YOU SEE THE FULL BENEFITS OF RESTASIS SO DON'T STOP THEM. Restasis eye drops does not cause cancer if it did neither my wife or I would be taking them.
I personally would not have plugs put in. they fall out, they can scratch the eye. If you're not on Omega 3 I would start them.
Initially ophthamologist told me my symptoms are from dry eyes, I have used, systane, refresh, restasis, steroids, dry eye multivitamins, fish oil, and now I have punctal plugs. I have tried antiglare coating for glasses, nothing takes the glare, starburst and halos away. Symtpoms are worse at night.
I never had any kind of eye surgery done, used to wear contacts, but discontinued contacts 6-7 years ago.
I do not know if any one has any clue, regarding what could be the potential diagnosis.
My Eye Doctor suggested I keep Restasis in the fridge to make more comfortable and reduce the burning and to keep using ir for 2 days. Does Restasis lose its effectiveness when placed in the fridge. Also when are results typically seen? I have a TBUT of 5 and hoping to see an increase if ues consistently.
The compound is 1% cyclosporine with corn oil. I get from my vet it's $39.00 for 10 ml. 1 drop in each eye every 12 hours (twice a day). It also comes in a 2% strength. It's not called optimmune, it's a compounded medicine from a company called Wedgewood. My vet said they have used this drug for animals for years, and just recently made "restasis" for humans. Restasis is way more expensive and not the proper strength for dogs. My vet advised against it.
If you eyes are that dry and you are on steroids then its likely you need to go on restasis or Xiidra. The latter is very expensive. If restasis is used in vials, not multidrop bottle, it is not that expensive. I have said many times on this forum both my wife and I have very bad dry eyes and we both are on restasis her for about 6-7 years and me for 3 years with excellent results. Restasis is twice/day for the rest of your life and it takes 4-6 months to fully become effective.
I'm on restasis, my wife is on restasis, I use restasis in my practice. the medicine does not cause floaters. Floaters can occur at any time. If they start and you are doing something else like mowing the yard, reading a book or starting restasis the relationship is COINCIDENTAL. On the other hand if you are hit in the eye with a fist and note floaters the relationship is CAUSATIVE.
I'm 35-year-old male in otherwise good health (I did have Lasik 10 years ago with no problems other than some dryness). 9 weeks ago after the birth of my second daughter, I started having some discomfort from dryness in my eyes, and then one day after a panic attack (my wife had complications post delivery and we had to rush her to ER), my vision went blurred and it has not returned to normal since then.
I’ve visited 4 different clinics, several times so far and they can not find an answer to my case. So this is the perfect time I ask for advice here, where people across the world share information, knowledge and experience. I notice that ophthalmology here is not as advanced as it is in the US for example. This is another reason to ask here.
I am a foreign IT guy who just lost his job and all his money due to the eye problem that began occurring through the past year.
The likelihood of you continuing CTL is not good. your fitter can advise you and you can use the search feature on this page to pull up discussions of contacts and dry eyes.
Your best options are glasses or lasik.
If after a 9 months the person is still symptomatic on restasis twice per day and preservative free artificial tears 2 to 4 times/day than I switch from restasis to Cequa, which is the same medicine as restasis (cyclosporine) but twice as concentrated and is said to penetrate deeper into the cornea. Cequa is more expensive. For restasis I personally use the preservative free drops and use up the entire dropperrte before opening a new one.
My dry eye is quite serious and it did cause a lot of pain.
The artificial drop can only stay in the eye for less than 20 minutes.
I never went to see an ophthamologist but just saw my optometrist, who only used the dye drops in my eyes and did no other tests. She did find dry spots on my eyes. I have been on Restasis for 2 weeks.. WILL the Restasis help with the sensitivity to the lighting and computers? I have heard of Melanin tint glasses. Do those help or will the Restasis "eventually" take care of this? Thank you.
m wondering about the side effects of Restasis as I have to use it for 6 months. I know it is an immunosuppressive drug and I really don't know what that means? Does that leave my body open for other diseases because it suppresses my system so the eyes can make the tear film that was partially lost when the nerves were cut during the cataract operations? I don't want to be dependent on drugs for the rest of my life.
Dear Dr. Hagan: Thank you for the thoughtful (and hopeful!) comment and the referral to your blog. It sounds like I went off the Restasis too soon. I tried one temporary plug which did not benefit but will look into longer term use based on your suggestion. Best regards.
In one situation, the patient simply does not make enough watery tears, and for this, Restasis is a help; in the other, the little oil glands at the base of the eyelids start producing oil that is thick and does not spread well, and the result is that tears evaporate too quickly.
Refresh used to make a product called Endura that had a special kind of castor oil in it, but perhaps for commercial reasons, they pulled it off the market some years ago.
My wife and I are both on restasis. Surely you don't mean you're paying $420/month for restasis. That surely is for all your medications. You can buy restasis for cash, no insurance for much less than than and also there is a discount coupon available from the manufacturer. You can also buy on internet from pharmacies e.g. Canada. MOREOVER if you use one vial up completely it will last 2 days. If you used as directed you would use 4 vials. This cuts your cost by 75%.
The above note from pinhole is spot on. The link can also be found at the bottom of this page on Today's Pulse. Click on the blue dots till you get to the dry eye article then read it.
Restasis is a wonder drug for moderate or severe dry eyes. My wife and I are both on it for years. You have not "tried restasis" until you've used it twice per day for a minimum of 6-7 months. Treatment failures when used that long are rare in my personal and practice experience.
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