Xiidra and Nausea: What Users Say

• Xen...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 11, 2021

For Dry Eye Disease "Terrible, terrible medication. It took me a week or so to fully realize how rapid and terrible the side effects are as I take other strong medications. This causes almost immediate ear ringing, nausea, dizziness, a sense of feeling hyper, like you want to jump out of your skin. After a week, I have developed a large number of floaters in my right eye. Not sure if related, but given the extreme side effects, I find it hard not to connect it. It leaves a caustic trail down your throat that lasts for hours. And the burning in the eyes lasts for a long time. This is the first time I have ever left a drug review, but this stuff is horrible. Don’t use it!"

• Lau...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 9, 2023

For Dry Eye Disease "Xiidra was NOT approved in Europe due to the risks outweighing the benefits. Please try something else to treat dry eyes and stay away from Xiidra. I wish I would’ve read these reviews before. I did not see a benefit from using Xiidra and noticed my eyes became watery and teary. I had to frequently wipe my tears, which was never a problem before. On the second week of using Xiidra, the inner corner of my eyes felt sore, and when I touched the area, I felt a bump that was tender. It seemed that my lacrimal sac was inflamed, which explained the teary eyes. I also began feeling nauseous the same day and threw up at night. I am a young, healthy adult that goes years without getting sick. The last time I threw up was when I was a kid. Threw away the rest of Xiidra the next day. What are they putting in these eye drops?"

• Jul...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 13, 2019

For Dry Eye Disease "Beware! I spent $300 on a month’s supply of Xiidra, and I have had the worst side effects—burning eyes, metallic taste in my mouth, nasal drip tasting the medicine, and worst of all, nausea. I don’t understand how this drug was approved for use. I tried it every 12 hours for 8 days with no relief, only bad side effects. We should have a class action suit to at least get our money back for such a terrible drug!"

• Jjy...
• October 16, 2016

"I have been using this medication for the past seven days. I have felt nauseous for most of that time, plus a constant headache, plus my eyes are red all day. I think I will go back to my over-the-counter eye drops."

• Ckd...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 19, 2019

For Dry Eye Disease "Within a day or two of starting Xiidra, I lost my appetite because of the absolutely horrid taste in the back of my throat 24/7. It makes me nauseated and causes heartburn. It makes my eyes feel so much better, though. However, after two weeks, I just can't live with the side effects anymore. I'm quitting! Have a feeling it will take a while for my stomach to get back to normal."

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 13, 2017

"I only used this medication twice. I understand that you usually need to use medication for an extended amount of time to get the full results of it, but I am not able to function with the effects of just two days. I can handle the bad taste. Yes, it is bad, but that can be dealt with. However, after using it, I immediately began to feel dizzy and lightheaded. There was a pressure in my head, and I felt nauseous. Every time I turned my head, I would feel very disoriented and lightheaded again. I am physically tough and can handle pain and discomfort, but there is no way I can function and work with these conditions. The more reviews I read, the more I realize there seems to be way too many dangers than advantages to this medication."

• Sid...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 24, 2022

For Dry Eye Disease "Within 24 hours of starting these drops, I got headaches, nausea, dizziness, sinus pressure, eye/eye socket pain (especially the corners). I have not used them in 4 days and am still plagued with debilitating headaches (and I have NEVER had headaches before). My eyes still feel dry, but while I was using them, my right eye was so excessively tearing that it was almost as if I was crying all day long. Now the last 3 days, I have been getting these white chunks draining down the back of my throat that taste like the Xiidra drops even though it’s been 4 days without them. I’ve also still had nausea and now diarrhea for 3 days. The only thing that has changed is the eye drops. Sad. Sad. Sad. How can an eye drop cause all of this? :("

• Abb...
• May 28, 2017

"Sjögren's disease causes extremely dry eyes. Restasis didn't help. Xiidra made my eyeballs hurt, and my headaches and sinusitis got much worse. The initial burning is very bad. After 6 days, the metallic taste and nausea became worse. My eyesight and dryness were showing no signs of improving, so I stopped using Xiidra after 8 days. Would never recommend it."

• RLa...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 18, 2018

For Dry Eye Disease "In preparation for Lasix surgery, I was prescribed Xiidra. My instructions were to take two drops per day... 12 hours apart for two weeks leading up to surgery and then afterward until the doctor was satisfied with healing. After taking two doses (4 drops total), I was nauseated, had slight diarrhea, had a terrible taste in my mouth, and had blurry, starry vision in one eye. After taking an additional dose (2 more drops), I went to bed and woke up vomiting with severe diarrhea. I took one more dose in the morning (2 additional drops), and continued to have severe diarrhea. I stopped the drops and called my doctor. I did not take any more drops... and had diarrhea for two more days... 72 hours total! I am four days out from the onset of all the symptoms and still feel nauseous. Clearly, this medication did not work for me."

• She...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 25, 2018

For Dry Eye Disease "Experienced extreme acid reflux after one week of using Xiidra. Took a 14-day course of omeprazole to correct it. My esophagus was bathed in acid, and I had lots of nausea. My doc and the pharmacist both said they had never heard of this reaction. After the course of omeprazole, I tried the Xiidra again, and the feed came back. I guess Xiidra isn’t for me."

• Let...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 30, 2017

"I am using Xiidra for dry eye to prep my eyes for Lasik. At first, it burned, but only when my eyes are dry. The aftertaste is terrible for about 10-15 minutes, but I understand that only some people have this symptom. I also have nausea, sinusitis, and sometimes headaches. It has improved my eye dryness enough for surgery. The side effects are a downer."

• Cot...
• May 25, 2018

For Dry Eye Disease "I just started Xiidra 5 days ago. For the past 3 days, I thought I had stomach flu. Nausea and stomach cramps, feeling like diarrhea is coming on. This morning, I awoke at 3 am to go to the bathroom. I felt great. I went back to bed and used Xiidra drops before laying back down, within 5 minutes, I felt awful. I was spitting out the drainage and used eyewash and started to feel better. When I woke again 4 hours later, I'm fine again. I have been feeling so sick I don't really know if the drops are working or not. Not sure if I can continue using or not. I googled this and it does seem to be a thing, although it doesn't tell these symptoms when I only googled Xiidra side effects. Anyone else experience these symptoms?"

• Lmk...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 4, 2018

For Dry Eye Disease "I have been taking this for a week. I am not going to take it anymore! My vision seems worse. I can’t get rid of the burning in my eyes and throat. The aftertaste burns and makes me sick to my stomach. My eyes feel worse. I am so aggravated and upset that a surgeon recommended this. I had LASIK done, and I feel like I will never get my good vision back like I had with glasses. Most horrible experience ever. :’("

• Kak...
• May 3, 2017

"Xiidra has worked very well. I started doing it only at night. I have started to do it in the morning also. The bad taste lasts for hours and is now making me nauseous. It works better than my last medication, but I feel sick all the time. I am going to go back to once a day and see if it goes away. If it does not, then on to something else."

• San...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 3, 2018

For Dry Eye Disease "I have tried Xiidra for 1 week after a long period of getting preauthorization approval required by my insurance (Medicare and BCBS). I stopped it today to see if symptoms would go away. Although my eyes could handle the drops (sting) and dry eye improved, the taste remained a long time, and I feared I was ingesting the drops because I had a loss of appetite and nausea and was headachy. I will report to my doctors next week."

• Lin...
• April 5, 2021

For Dry Eye Disease "After a month, I started feeling pain on the inside of my right eye socket, by my nose. My right eye started tearing. The pain continued, and I had nausea and dizziness. Day 3, the pain started to spread over to my left side as well, also tearing. On day 4, I felt a post-nasal drip feeling and went to hawk it out, and from my nasal cavity and into my mouth came a tough, putty-like white mass (gray inside) that resembled a large pumpkin seed. My pain was immediately gone, and I felt totally normal! It was determined to be a dacryolith, “matter” that forms in the lacrimal sac when the tear duct is blocked. Xiidra was the only new thing I’d been doing for my eyes, and nothing like this has ever happened to me before. Dacryoliths are not very common, especially in adults. If anyone else is feeling this type of pain and taking this medication, see your doctor as soon as possible for help."

• New...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 16, 2018

For Dry Eye Disease "I just got these drops today. They seem to lubricate my eyes, but I have an intense headache and burning in my throat. I also feel nauseous. The doctor originally prescribed Restasis, but the insurance company did not go for it. I cannot tolerate the headache from Xiidra, so I will use OTC drops until insurance lets me try Restasis. I had high hopes for this medication, but it is not for me."

• fis...
• July 10, 2018

For Dry Eye Disease "I have had these symptoms using Xiidra: blurry vision, bad taste down my throat, crusty eyes, nausea. It did help the dry eyes as they felt well lubricated. I do not want to develop other harmful issues with my throat, stomach, and taste buds. I used this product for only about 5 days. By the way, did anyone else find that you could not even squeeze out a single drop for each eye from one ampule? Compared to Restasis, the ampules have more than enough for both eyes, and my eye doctor said I could even keep the unused portion of Restasis if kept hygienic for the next application. I will switch back to Restasis, which doesn't work as well, but supplement with omega supplements and Refresh Advanced version eye drops. It is thick and helps. I'm glad I'm not the only one and that it is not 'all in my head.' Thanks all."

• Aci...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• June 16, 2018

For Dry Eye Disease "I've been using Xiidra for about 45 days. I thought I was getting a bit of improvement. My eyes were so dry they're affecting my ability to drive. I'm desperate for improvement, and the docs I've seen, including two ophthalmologists, don't seem to have any suggestions. Restasis did nothing for me. Docs have suggested that bio-identical drops are worthless for most. I really want this product to work. That said, I've had side effects that seem only to be getting worse the longer I am on the Xiidra. Terrible taste that occurs after administering the drops and at random times. I awake feeling nauseated, as if I want to vomit. These symptoms are new and coincide with the addition of the Xiidra. On Xiidra, my eyes feel heavy, puffy, and I look as if I've been crying or am hungover (I don't drink). Though I hate to give up on the Xiidra, I believe it's time to throw in the towel on the Xiidra."

• Kad...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• January 10, 2022

For Dry Eye Disease "I tolerate this eye drop, which my doctor says is better than Restasis, which I took previously. My only complaint is the aftertaste. It is rank, to the point of making me nauseous. I am supposed to use the drop twice daily, but only use it once daily because of the horrible taste. I got good symptom relief with Restasis and had no unpleasant effects from it. Unfortunately, my insurance will only pay for Xiidra, so I guess I am stuck with the daily dread and gross-out."

• Man...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 7, 2021

For Dry Eye Disease "Used Xiidra for about 60 days, as prescribed. Stopped about 6 days ago and continue to have horrible dysgeusia, causing me to throw up and starve myself because I cannot bear the smell or taste of food or being around anything with a scent. Doctor prescribed anti-nausea and Restasis instead. No one can tell me how long it will take to have my life back to normal."