Xiidra User Reviews & Ratings (Page 3)

• nic...
• December 9, 2020

For Dry Eye Disease "Xiidra is totally worthless, it costs a fortune, and most of the ampules are empty! Novartis Customer Service is likewise worthless... and yet they are advertising like no tomorrow with the 'dry eye monster.' Sad to see yet another scam during this pandemic."

• Nub...
• October 26, 2016

"Have been on Xiidra for 5 weeks, and it has not worked for me. The first 4 days were tough, with moderate burning (not as bad as Restasis), and my eyes were blurry for approximately 20 min. These side effects decreased with time, but there was no improvement in my eyes. I feel like this is very similar to my experience with Restasis.... I wasted a lot of time and money on something that was totally ineffective."

• MPa...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• December 12, 2019

For Dry Eye Disease "After 3 years of taking Xiidra and it being the wonder drug that cured my dry eye disease, I began to have thick mucus in my eyes, eye pain, and extreme dryness. It has been a nightmare and took weeks and weeks before we realized that all of a sudden I could no longer tolerate the Xiidra. I am very disappointed that a drug that previously worked so well could make me so sick. With my first skipped dose, the mucus went away."

• lio...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 30, 2021

For Dry Eye Disease "This product is absolutely awful! It needs to be recalled. Complete waste of $70 for copay, but insurance insisted I try this first. After reading the reviews of how dangerous it is, I’m glad I only tried it for a few days randomly because I didn’t have the time to dedicate to two hours of blurred vision every time I applied the drops; forget driving to work, so I didn’t even use it in the morning. Also, it burned my eyes, feeling like I had applied lemon juice. $70 down the toilet. Rating = 0."

• Del...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 30, 2019

For Dry Eye Disease "Retail cost with “discount” is $5,000+ per year. Using samples now. Burns for 15 minutes, followed by blurry vision for another 15 minutes, twice daily. I’m on Medicare A & B only. No special discount offered. Restasis runs about the same. This is a classic American pharma drug ploy. Niche drug, high incidence of side effects, plenty of come-on then bait and switch, along with marginal effectiveness."

• Ten...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 24, 2020

For Dry Eye Disease "After giving Xiidra 3 separate tries, I am throwing in the towel. Seems at about day 8 or 9, my throat is absolutely raw. My ears were full like I had a bad sinus infection. Last night was the icing on the cake. So much mucus and swollen throat, it scared me so that I called my family doctor and got an antibiotic. Back to the preservative-free OTC drops. Ugh."

• Sle...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 27, 2019

For Dry Eye Disease "Anyone else having a feeling of nerves in my mouth and tongue - voice getting hoarse and swallowing changes - the area around my eyes gets hard and moving my eyes makes my nervous system go crazy! Constant drip down back of my throat, ears plugging..."

• 843...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 30, 2019

For Dry Eye Disease "I just started Xiidra due to insurance not paying for Restasis. I am having some minor side effects (sinusitis, taste in mouth, blurring, crusty), but I assume these will go away in time. I simply cannot get that hard plastic dropper to work. It is awful. I cannot believe you would create such a difficult mechanism for elderly folks. I have a tremor and arthritis, so tilting my head, etc. simply doesn't work. Whatever happened to regular eye drop containers?"

• Roc...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 15, 2019

For Dry Eye Disease "Too early to comment on the medicine, but the delivery system is poor. The individual vials don’t easily release the solution and contain so little solution that on occasion I’ve had to use two vials to get enough to do my eyes one time. So far, I’m on the free sample provided by the doctor. The stuff is way too expensive. If the insurance doesn’t get resolved, I’m back to regular eye drops."

• Dry...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• July 1, 2024

For Dry Eye Disease "I used this for 4 years and have sought out the second and third opinions of 2 other ophthalmologists. Both of them confirmed this was doing nothing. The second one said I needed to use something with more science backing it and the third was shocked when I said I had been using this for years. She said my eyes looked like I have never used any dry eye medications. She also said that this drug appeared to be doing nothing as I still had a lot of inflammation and minimal tears. She gave me Tyrvaya, and I finally quit Xiidra. During the time I used Xiidra, I experienced frequent severe sinus pain and headaches, which led to TMJ flares and other issues. It burned and caused blurry vision and eye watering every single time I used it. I also experienced tear duct infections 3 times. All of these side effects were dismissed by the original specialist I saw despite it affecting my job and causing other medical problems. I was told by him it couldn't be from Xiidra. Time to find a new doc."

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 3, 2017

"I find it nearly impossible to get the drops out of the hard plastic packaging! After multiple attempts, a drop finally does come out, but sometimes then my hand has moved a little, and it doesn't go into my eye. Incredibly frustrating. I use Systane all the time without any problems. This medication is expensive, but why is the packaging terrible?"

• Con...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• June 12, 2019

For Dry Eye Disease "I tried Xiidra at the suggestion of my eye doctor for my chronic dry eyes. I had been using Restasis for a few years, and my eyes sometimes felt really dry still, so we decided to try Xiidra. Well, I have stopped using it and have gone back to Restasis. Xiidra burned my eyes so much I had to put cold compresses on my eyes to get them to feel better. The Xiidra made my eyes so red and made my throat feel scratchy. No more Xiidra for me, ever."

• Bob...
• January 10, 2019

For Dry Eye Disease "The doctor gave my wife this medicine, and she went to get it through Medicare, twice a day, 4 drops x 30 days at $550 per month. The price works out to $836,000 a gallon. I don’t know of anything that costs that much, that’s 4 times the cost of 9 lbs of gold. Water is about 8.7 lbs per gallon."

• Tee...
• November 15, 2019

For Dry Eye Disease "HORRIBLE!!! I was on Xiidra a couple of years ago and left my job in Nov 2018, got all my scripts filled prior to. Xiidra used to be okay, just causing me to tear excessively. I stopped using it in about March/April 2019, then with the colder air starting in September/October, dry eyes started again, so I opened up a package that was not expired. My eyes felt as if they had glass in them, they turned extremely red, and my lids swelled right before me! I thought it was maybe because they were approaching expiration, so I have new insurance now and got three new boxes today... SAME horrible reactions! Also, allergies started in bad, they were fine prior to the drops. Non-stop sneezing and now a stuffy nose."

• Bub...
• July 19, 2019

For Dry Eye Disease "Just started these drops one week ago, and they're causing problems already. They burn like heck when instilled, cause a disgusting lasting bad taste in the mouth, sore tongue, sinus pressure, and pain behind the eyes. Took final and LAST dose yesterday."

• Lyr...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 3, 2019

For Dry Eye Disease "My doctor said Xiidra would burn a bit, and honestly, the burning isn't too bad. What is bad, though, is it leaks to your throat and you taste the awful metal taste, and it's as if so much mucus is balled up in your throat - I had issues breathing and gagging when I took it, which I didn't expect for eye drops. I had symptoms like another person described too that feel like heart attack symptoms but are actually extreme acid reflux from this: I have major heart problems, so I know some key differences to look out for, but absolutely not a comparison to want to worry about daily for eye drops! The eye drops don't really even work that well, honestly, they barely work better than OTC regular eye drops. Seems like they go through my eye as they should, and the nasolacrimal gland gets dumped (into throat), so they're triggering some glands and such to work just... the wrong ones, or my body just doesn't want to make tears even if it has no problem opening tear ducts or different glands that hold the tears."

• wat...
• March 19, 2017

"Does not help dry eye - which is severe. Restasis did not either - but did not hurt as much on application. Vial very hard for old hands to squeeze, so have to hold it with opening facing down and give a quick jerk to get a drop out, and often a drop gets wasted. You are way too stingy with the amount of medicine inside the vial and should use better quality plastic. I hoped so much that this Xiidra would help, have given it many chances when eyes are extra bad, no improvement noticed. Probably will not try again - was given the first month free. Thank you. Delivery needs to be made user-friendly."

• Lal...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 20, 2018

For Dry Eye Disease "After a routine eye exam in Oct 2016, I was told I had 20/20 perfect long-distance vision and only needed glasses to read small print. My doctor prescribed Xiidra for my dry eye. After taking it for only 4 days, I had permanent blurriness. I immediately went back to my doctor, who tested me and confirmed my long-distance vision had been compromised in those 4 days. After endless tests revealing damage to my cones and macula, and a year and a half later, my vision has not improved, and I need glasses at all times. Long-term consequences are unknown. I am seeing a lawyer about this."

• 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."

• Sea...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 7, 2017

"Have been using Xiidra for 6 weeks and have noticed a marked improvement in my eyes. I have blepharitis and meibomian. I also wear gas perm contacts and was down to being able to wear them for 2 hours a day and now up to 10 hours. Still using warm compresses and lid scrubs, but since using Xiidra, I have noticed a marked improvement in tear production and eye oil production. Stinging has decreased to a few seconds, and bad taste lasts only a minute or less. Cloudy vision can last 5 to 10 minutes...sometimes none present."

• 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."

• Kat...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 24, 2019

For Dry Eye Disease "Been on Xiidra for 4 months. Has not worked at all. Am now being fitted for scleral lenses. The Xiidra burns a lot and I end up with very blurry sight, but it would have been worth it if it had helped."

• Pat...
• December 12, 2016

"I started using this about two weeks ago, then about a week ago, started getting bad headaches... mostly at night. Now they are continuing during the day! I am going to STOP using them. At first, I was noticing a pressure in my head, then the headaches began! I was so hoping this would be my answer, as Restasis didn't work for me! But I cannot deal with the headaches! Not worth continuing the drug to have to deal with severe headaches!"

• KS ...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 19, 2016

"I'm appreciative of an option other than Restasis. However, the bitter taste, chronic headache, tightness in chest, and cough are very frustrating. It's almost like I have asthma. Would love thoughts on this. I'm now having to use cough medicine to go to sleep."

• SLM...
• September 30, 2017

"Helps dry eye - but generates terrible long-lasting bitter taste in the mouth, that stays for 4-6 hours or even more, and makes every food or drink taste bad. I called Shire, and they know that this is an effect of the drug - but they have no idea what causes it or how to counter it. So - we cannot even know for sure that this is not a long-lasting damage to the taste bud or to any other important function. The longest clinical trials were for 12 months. Thus any long-lasting damage is not known. The thought is troublesome, and so is that bitter taste."