Lifitegrast ophthalmic and Burning: What Users Say (Page 2)

• Ire...
• December 29, 2016

"I picked up this medication from the drugstore today. I read the information that came with this drug. Seconds after I put a single drop in each eye, I had terrible, awful, and severe burning in my eyes, and my vision was impaired (cloudy). That was two hours ago, and I have extreme feelings of pressure in my eyes and pain. This is worse than the worst case of dry eye that I have had. The only relief that I can get is to close my eyes. I hope that the effects will diminish soon. I will never put another drop of this stuff in my eyes again."

• Kel...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 30, 2019

For Dry Eye Disease "Horrible! Xiidra causes itching around the eye, and the burning of the eye is ridiculous! If it eats my skin raw around my eye, what is it doing to my eye itself? It’s amazing how companies can put out such awful drugs. I should just mix something up myself and sell it!"

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 7, 2019

For Dry Eye Disease "I’m not going to lie, the side effects of Xiidra can be quite unpleasant, but the overall result so far has been great. I have been suffering from dry eye for a while now, and I would put in 6 vials of lubricant in each eye, and it was still ineffective. Now I don’t really even have to think about other eye drops. The initial burning and bad taste will go away after continued use, you just have to be patient and keep toughing it out, and you will likely see improvement within a month. Remember not to skip doses, the burning will return. Overall, I would recommend Xiidra."

• Cat...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 11, 2018

For Dry Eye Disease "I had been on Restasis and hadn't had any trouble with it, just the occasionally severe dry eyes that come with Sjögren's syndrome when my insurance company, Medicaid, decided to switch me to Xiidra. The burning and stinging was so bad it literally staggered me the first time I used these drops. My eyes hurt like crazy for an hour after and were so blurry I couldn't see. The pain was so bad that I didn't use these drops again for several months. I just made do with OTC drops till I got worse, then tried Xiidra again, determined to push through and give it a couple of months to see if the pain eased up any after a while. It did not, and I tried getting Restasis again, but my insurance won't cover it and it's $1,800/month otherwise, which is completely undoable for me. So I don't know what I'm going to do now."

• Mim...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 3, 2021

For Dry Eye Disease "I am very unhappy with Xiidra for these reasons: 1. The silver package is impossible to open, and I must use scissors. 2. For a senior citizen, the vial is very difficult to open, and squeeze to obtain the drop. Often, after removing the plastic top, there is barely any solution to administer, not even enough for 1 eye. I have thrown away many vials in order to administer sufficient solution. 3. After using Xiidra for over 2 months, in addition to the headache, I have an extremely clogged nose, or else a very runny nose. 4. The product burns upon administration and causes very itchy eyes lasting all day. I need to supplement with OTC eye drops. I do not recommend this product. Restasis is a considerably better product and far more effective."

• Moa...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 22, 2018

For Dry Eye Disease "I started using Xiidra 2 months ago. My doctor instructed me to apply the drops in the morning and at night, which I did. My initial experience was not good - the immediate burning, redness, and watering when the drops hit my eyes, crusty eyes in the morning, and the horrible taste in my throat. After a week of these unpleasant side effects, I contacted my doctor’s office and was informed that the side effects would only last up to 3 weeks and then they would go away. I pushed through the pain, and after 3 weeks, the burning, redness, and watering ceased, the eye mucus was much improved, and the bad taste was milder and occurred only occasionally. This I can handle! Please note that the eye irritation will return if you do not continue taking the drops twice a day."

• Chi...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 4, 2019

For Dry Eye Disease "Have been using Xiidra for about 3 weeks, and so far, so good! Definitely experiencing the burning and bad taste in my mouth, which resolves in time. This is definitely relieving my dry eye symptoms and worth the smaller side effects. Will continue using this for as long as I get relief!"

• No...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 22, 2017

"Initial 12 days were awesome. My eyes felt completely back to normal. I did have the forewarned burning sensation and metallic taste in mouth when administering the drops. However, so worth it for the improvement in my vision. I have now been using Xiidra for 4 weeks, and the effectiveness seems to be going down. I have had multiple bad vision days and had to use refresh drops all day long. I have also, in the last few days, started having an itching sensation in the inner corners of my eyes. I go back to the Dr tomorrow, hoping Xiidra continues to work, but skeptical. Also, I will not be able to continue if the cost is $400+ per month."

• Red...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 3, 2018

For Dry Eye Disease "Xiidra burns my eyes so badly for about half an hour after I use it. My eyes are super blurry and red for a couple of hours after use. When I get up in the morning, I always look like I have pink eye, with the redness, watering, and crusty eyes. I also have the horrible taste in my mouth, but it goes away pretty quickly after drinking something. In the morning, it burns the worst, and my eyes stay puffy all the time. I really don't think I'm going to keep using this medication. It's not worth the side effects."

• Abb...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 23, 2018

For Dry Eye Disease "Xiidra burns so much but seems to work starting 7 days later. 2 months using it, I began having tear duct pain, sudden sharp eye pain. When I began my 3rd month, I was tearing profusely, nonstop, as well as irritation and eye pain. I stopped using it. It took 1.5 months to stop overt tearing. Now I have worse dryness, scratchiness, pain, blurred vision. I can't stand what has happened to my eyes due to the use of Xiidra. I don't recommend it."

• Jes...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• June 28, 2019

For Dry Eye Disease "I want these to work. Dry eye disease is not anything I would wish on anyone. My right eye is my worst. It is always itchy and watery and stinging...with or without the Xiidra. I haven't noticed a huge difference, and they burn like hell when you put them in. And then my eyes get super goopy, so I am wiping out eye boogies most of the day. Is there really nothing better? Insurance doesn't want to pay, so I am relying on the coupons available."

• Pat...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• May 4, 2023

For Dry Eye Disease "I have tried using this drug twice now. Each time, I lasted no longer than 6-8 months. The first time I began using it, my doctor gave me a steroid drop to use to help with the severe burning Xiidra caused upon the first few applications. I didn't notice any major improvements, but things were not getting worse, so I kept using it. About 6 months in, I began getting dacryoliths and severe tear duct pain. My eyes became gritty, painful, and irritated (all things this drug was supposed to treat and prevent). My tear duct became blocked and started watering nonstop. I went to three different doctors, and no one could figure it out. I was actually told to keep using the Xiidra! After some steroid drops, an antibiotic, and an antibiotic shot at UC, the irritation finally resolved. Fast forward to a year later, after trying to restart Xiidra and 6 months in, I've experienced the exact same thing all over. I quit for good last night and will be going to the eye doctor next week to try something else."

• Dee...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• October 30, 2018

For Dry Eye Disease "After years of intense eye pain, I had tried everything, including two surgeries. Am I crazy about the burning? No. I do get the bad taste in my mouth after a bit, but it is better than the eye pain. I really had no choice. I can now go to the movies, and I seldom use any other eye drops - I probably should, but I actually forget that I need to. Not perfect, but it is the best that I have been in years."

• Len...
• January 15, 2017

"I have only given this a 5 to date, as I was hoping to get better information on this website as to how other people felt about the drops. Most, it seems, didn't give it enough time, it appears, to find out if it actually works, if asthma and extreme side effects, it's understandable. I am the same as them. I used this the first time, and my eyes not only burned, but they were cloudy, and I had to lay down and close my eyes for 20-30 minutes before it dissipated. I, like others, was so annoyed by it that I didn't give it a chance. This eye condition has ruined my quality of life at 46. Does anyone else wonder how this came about? You never heard about dry eye disease 30-40 years ago unless you were 90. Now, people in their 20s have this debilitating condition."

• tbe...
• December 22, 2016

"I have been using for over 3 weeks with no side effects except a slight burning for a few days, but even the burning is gone! I have had severe dry eyes that made me miserable! I have plugs in all four tear ducts, and the Dr. tried Restasis, which did nothing! The Xiidra has been wonderful, and my eyes feel like normal again! So thankful for this medicine!"

• cfa...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 2, 2019

For Dry Eye Disease "I used this for 2 weeks as prescribed. I got the burning and bad taste, however, the worst for me was the headache every time I used it. I did not notice a difference in my dry eye either. I would not recommend this."

• Sue...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 7, 2017

"At my annual eye appointment, my Dr. officially diagnosed dry eye. I used Xiidra for a total of 5 weeks. It began providing relief to my dry eye symptoms within a week of applying 1 drop in each eye daily. It burned on initial use, but within 2 weeks, the burning subsided. I did have blurry vision for about 15 minutes, burning, and a bad taste in my mouth. All of these symptoms did not seem that bad. But I did have a serious reaction that I feel is caused by Xiidra. Within four days, I experienced a total vitreous detachment in one eye (floaters) and elevated eye pressures in both eyes. I'm in my 40s and have no history of glaucoma. After discontinuing Xiidra, my eye pressure returned to normal within 3 weeks, and I've learned to ignore the floaters."

• ama...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• June 26, 2019

For Dry Eye Disease "I have been taking this for one month for dry eye syndrome. It's horrible. The burn goes on for about 30 seconds, every single time! It leaves this horrible taste in your mouth, but it does go away. But the burn is terrible and never gets better."

• haw...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 17, 2018

For Dry Eye Disease "Restasis had no effect other than stinging/burning and using my money. Within a couple of days using Xiidra, I noticed a difference. I did experience the blurry vision, bad taste/drainage down the back of my throat, minimal burning, white (almost fluorescent-like) discharge. However, I was using almost no daily lubricant eye drops, and things were improving so much that I now use Xiidra only before going to bed. Stinging is minimal now, I rarely need eye drops at work, but still have some of the bad taste down my throat, which I alleviate with a soft drink/juice, but totally worth it."

• Lil...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 1, 2019

For Dry Eye Disease "Wow, this is not the medication for me. I was given some samples to try it out. It has only made my eyes more red and irritated, the burning is almost unbearable. And my insurance doesn't cover it, so I can't justify the $600 out of pocket for a medication that has only made my condition worse. My doctor switched me to Restasis after I finished my Xiidra samples. Huge improvement with Restasis. No burning, no redness, and nowhere near the irritation I had with the Xiidra. I still have to use my gel tears as Restasis takes longer to kick in than Xiidra, but at least I don't have those side effects to deal with anymore."

• Bar...
• January 30, 2019

For Dry Eye Disease "I was recently prescribed this medication for severe dry eyes. Within 5 days of use, my eyes are totally bright red, blurry, and burning all day long... no relief. I initially planned to use it for 2 weeks, but I will call my doctor tomorrow and request something different! I can’t tolerate this medication even for one week!!"

• Meg...
• July 19, 2017

"I used Xiidra without incident for one month. I let a week lapse and reordered. On the 5th day, I experienced horrible burning-much worse than the regular burning that occurs when the drops are inserted. My eye swelled and crusted. I went to Duke Cornea Center and they couldn't find the cause. The next day, I woke up and my right eye's vision had diminished considerably. They worked me into a different doctor that day and she prescribed liquid steroids for my eyes-again, no conclusive cause-but noted the decreased vision. I am slowly getting my vision back in the eye. I knew the minute I put the drop in something was different this time. I will report this to the FDA-I feel strongly this was an allergic reaction to Xiidra."

• Don...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 26, 2018

For Dry Eye Disease "The only reason I was prescribed Xiidra was because my insurance changed and my new insurance wouldn't cover Restasis, which worked well. Xiidra was the only approved option. I tried this drug for three months hoping my eyes would adjust. These drops hurt every single time - burned, turned red, and hurt. Never again."

• Joa...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 30, 2018

For Dry Eye Disease "I was on Restasis for over 10 years, and my new insurance refused to continue to pay for it. Without any eye drop, I felt like there was always sand in my eyes, and making tears was nonexistent. They would pay for Xiidra, so I tried it. I also take fish oil and flaxseed oil, as well as using Thera-Tears. When any eye drops are stored in the refrigerator, the burning is less. I tried Xiidra for 2 weeks, and the side effects were too much for me to continue. The burning was too much from Xiidra, and I can only say it was like perhaps battery acid. I had 3 hours of blurry vision after using Xiidra, and the taste was horrible. I cannot use Xiidra and only wish I could go back to Restasis. My eyesight is everything to me, and I will not risk these side effects because I do not know what would happen long term."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 3, 2017

"I have experienced dry eye for over 8 years. Restasis did no good. I went through all the steroids, salves, gel drops with no luck. Even tried 2 years of having my blood drawn and drops made from my blood serum. I was using OTC (Systane) drops every hour all day long. Tried Xiidra, and at first, it was like a miracle, but the longer I used the drops, the burning got worse and the blurring lasted up to two hours afterwards. I also think the vials are too short, not enough medication, and the vials too hard to press. My eyelids have gotten so they feel paralyzed, and I have difficulty opening my eyes. The liquid 'gums up' my eyelashes, and it's very difficult to wash the stuff out. I am going to try 1 time a day instead of 2 times."