Xiidra and Pain: What Users Say

• Not...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• December 26, 2019

For Dry Eye Disease "Been using Xiidra for a year now, hoping I could tolerate contacts - no improvement - and 3 months ago, started having a rash in my mouth. Saw dentist, who didn't notice anything, but my whole mouth felt rough and dry. Mouth extremely dry at night. Really bad taste from the drops, whether or not I press down on ducts on either side of the nose. Also, developed terrible headaches and, 10 days ago, horrible digestive problems with pain and diarrhea. Stopping the drops now."

• Eye...
• January 30, 2021

For Dry Eye Disease "These eye drops are extremely dangerous. Caused me to have a horrible sore throat, swollen lymph nodes on the sides of my neck, pain in my ears, and blurred vision. This will be one of those medications that they recall because of the damaging side effects. Not on the market long enough. This should have never been approved by the FDA. In spite of the money I paid for this overpriced drug, I threw it all away. Bad stuff."

• Bub...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 17, 2019

For Dry Eye Disease "I have been using this for 1.5 months. I recently used two vials in 1 eye because I felt extra dry, and it has been 3 full days now of constant eye watering in 1 eye. It has gotten so bad that the skin under and around my eye has become red and tender, so painful. I can’t get my eye to stop watering, and I am miserable. Has this happened to anyone else?"

• Joy...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 10, 2020

For Dry Eye Disease "Application of product difficult, i.e., leaning head down and pinching the top of the nose between the eyes for a long period of time. Burning and pain continued for at least 20 minutes, and blurriness remained for hours after application, and a bad taste in the back of the mouth and throat for a long period of time. I continued using as prescribed, thinking side effects would disappear, but nothing changed or improved after 20 days of use. I discontinued use and contacted my eye doctor."

• Nic...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 4, 2018

For Dry Eye Disease "I took Xiidra for nearly three months. I seemed to have constant low-grade irritation/pain near the inside corner of my eyes while taking these drops. Eventually, I got what my doctor thinks is a tear duct infection, where my left eye was bloodshot, painful, and swollen for about a week. The pain/pressure was so bad that I had to take 800 mg Ibuprofen 4-5 times a day and would wake up in the middle of the night. I've never once had something like this before taking these drops. I'm sure this isn't a common issue (not trying to scare anyone away), but this, along with the lack of improvement of my dry eye, caused me to stop taking these."

• blo...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 28, 2018

For Dry Eye Disease "I have been on Xiidra for two months. I have chronic dry eye due to hypothyroidism. I use Xiidra twice daily (morning and night). The initial sensation of the stinging is strong and painful and is accompanied by itching. Then I have a lovely white discharge from each eye. After the morning dose, my vision is severely compromised due to blurriness that extends an hour or longer after administering the morning drop, as well as continued dry eye symptoms throughout the day. After having used Xiidra for a few weeks, I noticed horrible puffy eyes. I have not used the Xiidra in a few days, and already the puffiness has greatly subsided. I will opt for over-the-counter drops as opposed to Xiidra, which didn't do anything but cause my eyes to swell. Hope this helps others experiencing similar symptoms/side effects."

• Jes...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 17, 2019

For Dry Eye Disease "I actually noticed a positive difference almost immediately and some relief from dry eye, but after only two weeks of taking it, I also developed pressure and pain in my ears and a level of nasal congestion that I’ve only ever had with a severe cold, and I do not have a cold. My ENT said that he sees this sometimes in patients who take Xiidra. I am discontinuing use. I just wish I could get my $500 back."

• 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."

• Aus...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 26, 2023

For Dry Eye Disease "99% sure it made my condition permanently worse. I had mild dry eye before using this product that was tolerable, but a bit of a nuisance. A bad optometrist gave me this right off the bat. Used it for 2 months with no difference while using it, however, just a few days after I stopped taking it, my condition worsened 10-fold. I'm not sure if it was a rebound reaction or what, but my eyes are now in terrible pain every single day. Red, scratchy, stinging, every blink hurts. I want my old life back before I took this drug. It's destroyed my life, and now I'm dealing with the mental toll of that and suicidal thoughts."

• Eri...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 14, 2022

For Dry Eye Disease "I can't decide which is worse, Xiidra or the doctor who prescribed it to me. Where do I begin? I was given this for dry eye/ocular rosacea. The metallic taste I could tolerate considering I'd taken drops before that helped a lot but had a metallic taste (steroids). No big deal. But the significant pain, redness, tearing, and ongoing loss of vision I couldn't tolerate whatsoever. Yes, some drugs feel crappy but make you feel better. But these are eyes we're talking about. I'm not gonna put a topical medication on my eyeball that makes it more red and painful and causes vision loss. Don't put this stuff in your eyes. Just don't."

• 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."

• K C...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• August 28, 2018

For Dry Eye Disease "I have been on Xiidra for about a year now. I tried everything: OTC drops, fish oil, flax oil, Z-packs, warm compresses, lid scrubs, taping my eyes shut, eye ointments. I have been on Lotemax so long that I developed an allergy to it. Then my doctor gave me a prescription for Xiidra. I had triple vision from the scar tissue. The top two lines on the eye chart were barely visible, and what I saw looked like Egyptian hieroglyphs. My eyes hurt constantly. It felt like I had boulders in my eyes. Every morning was unbearable, my eyes felt like bandages being ripped off just from opening my eyes. After about two months, I could open my eyes without pain. Dry eye was disabling and stealing my vision. Xiidra saved my vision and has provided much-needed relief. Xiidra tastes like battery acid, feels like it too! I wouldn’t be able to see today if I didn’t have Xiidra. I do highly recommend staying strong and pushing through the side effects, in the end, it's worth it."

• Ari...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 2, 2017

"I had been on Restasis for a couple of years with no noticeable improvement. I was also trying different types of punctal plugs, Allrex steroid drops, too. No help. My insurance changed this year, so I had to find a new ophthalmologist. He suggested Xiidra. I've taken it for about a week, and it may be helping. He suggested I put a drop of Refresh Optive gel drops in before the Xiidra to help with burning. That helped a lot. Hardly any burning. The first time I took it without the OTC drops, it was so painful. Eyes hurt, and I got a bad headache around my brows. I wouldn't have been able to continue. I will keep trying the Xiidra. I've also ordered PRN fish oil capsules that were recommended. They can be bought on the web."

• Nat...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 5, 2019

For Dry Eye Disease "I had been given a 2-week trial of Xiidra, and it was working well with no side effects. Then, on week 5, after spending $500 on the drops, I suddenly began having excessive streaming tearing of my left eye. After 3 days of this, severe pain started in my tear duct and deep into the bones under my eye. I immediately stopped using Xiidra and still no relief from the pain, although using Alaway drops did help some with tearing. Going to see the doctor tomorrow for possible antibiotics - can't stand this pain."

• 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."

• Lil...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 9, 2018

For Dry Eye Disease "On day 7 of use in my right eye only, that eye started tearing badly throughout the day. I discontinued use that night. The next day, I had a pain in my eye area next to my nose so severe I could barely function. The next morning, my eye began producing pus-like discharge and was weeping and blurry all day. I still had extreme pain in the eye area near my nose. The following morning, I woke up with severe puffiness around that eye and still very tender. Later that day, I broke out in a rash on my chest (this is the third day after stopping taking it). I was hopeful for this medicine to help my eye problems, but the side effects/allergic reaction were much worse than the original problem. Very disappointed. I did give it a two, because in the beginning, I felt like it might have been helping."

• Jba...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 12, 2018

For Dry Eye Disease "I've been using Xiidra for about two months. I have chronic dry eye that was not relieved using Restasis and over-the-counter remedies. Xiidra has worked amazingly well for me. Much less overall discomfort, and I am not waking up at night to put more drops in for the first time in years. However, about a week ago, I developed a pain in the very back of my throat that hurts worse when lying down and bending over. Not sure it's related, but I can taste the Xiidra, so I know it's going down the back of my throat. Has anyone had this?"

• Dry...
• February 15, 2018

"After years of living with itching, red, swollen, tearing eyes, I have found relief with Xiidra. I had such severe dry eye syndrome that I was never comfortable. If my eyes were open, they were burning, red, and painful. My problem was diagnosed for years as an allergic reaction in my eyes, but no allergy eye drop would even touch my symptoms. I had really resigned myself to wearing sunglasses 24/7, even indoors, to hide my eyes for the rest of my life. After one or two doses of Xiidra, I felt comfortable enough to go without glasses. After a week of Xiidra, I was able to use eye makeup for the first time in years. My eyes are comfortable all day long. I have no side effects with Xiidra-no burning, pain, irritation, bad taste, or anything else I have seen listed by other users. I don't think the vials are difficult to use. I hope others who have suffered like I have will have similar results with this medication. It has been a Godsend for me!"

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 17, 2018

For Dry Eye Disease "Very, very bad reaction. Eyes burning, red, itchy. I have used Restasis for years and wanted to try something new. This drug made my eyes so sore and red even the next day. I will take the loss and never use this again."

• thi...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 9, 2018

For Dry Eye Disease "I used Xiidra in my right eye only for about one week. Before using Xiidra, my right eye was so dry at night, I had difficulty opening the eye. Artificial tears did not work. Today, less than two weeks after starting the trial drops, my right eye's top lid is swollen at the lid margin, tender to painful to the touch, and similar discomfort upon moderate blinking/lightly squeezing eyes shut. My doctor suggested, and I had been doing heat compress, Tobradex, steroidal ointment, and a Z-pack. It does not itch, the eye is not red. I never had a problem with the metallic taste. The Xiidra did seem to help my nighttime problem more than the artificial tears. I do find the new Systane in the white box is the best artificial tear so far, but if using more than four times a day, it has to be preservative-free, and I have not looked at that yet."

• Sar...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 13, 2021

For Dry Eye Disease "These drops were recommended to me by three ophthalmologists, making me wonder if they are getting some kind of kickback from the manufacturers of Xiidra. I have experienced stinging, blurry vision, itchiness, and actual pain, so I quit using them until advised to start again by one of my eye doctors. In the past two weeks, I have developed headaches that were at first only occasional but are now constant. I wish I had read some of these reviews first. I will definitely not be continuing their use."

• Ana...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 26, 2018

"Just this Saturday, January 20, 2018, my eye doctor prescribed Xiidra for a change, he said it might help. I started using it Sunday, just one drop in the morning and one drop before going to bed. Monday-little tears coming out more from my right eye, I felt so relieved. I just loved it, although it stings a little, still tolerable. Tuesday and Wednesday-more tears coming out from both eyes continuously. People from my workplace were asking why I am crying. I feel so tired, sleepy, and lightheaded up to this time due to tired eyes. Today, I woke up this morning with swollen eyes, painful, and I can barely open them. What's going on??? Please help. Yellowish discharge coming out from my left eye nonstop and is very painful."

• Bre...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 24, 2021

For Dry Eye Disease "My dry eye has gotten worse while using this medication. I wake up with sticky eyes and with the pain like my cornea has a fissure. Going to give it a few more weeks, but if this doesn’t get better, I’m going to stop."

• but...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 2, 2022

For Dry Eye Disease "Dr. put me on Xiidra for extreme dry eye disease. The first few days seemed okay. After about a week, every time I used them, they burned and stung terribly near tear ducts. It hurt bad enough that I had to stop using. I am now trying something else."

• Sha...
• August 19, 2021

For Dry Eye Disease "Was diagnosed with dry eye disease and was prescribed Xiidra. Worst thing I could have done, it is painful, it burns intensely, and it produces an excessive amount of mucus in the eyes. There is a metal taste at the top of my throat. I won’t be continuing this product. Sad the side effects are worse than the disease itself. I'm going to continue to use refresher drops I got instead. Xiidra is dangerous. Shame on the drug companies."