Systane and Swelling: What Users Say

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 18, 2018

For Dry Eye Disease "My eye doctor gave me Systane drops to use for dry eye. About two weeks later, my vision became very blurry, and when I looked at anything digital, it was double and triple vision. After a complete eye exam, it was determined my retina and optic nerve were fine. The only thing he could come up with was at a microscopic level, the cells of the cornea might be having some inflammation. In the meantime, I switched to Refresh Tears. About three months later, my blurriness was getting somewhat better. I went out of town and forgot my eye drops. My friend had her Systane drops with her, (I still hadn't connected the dots yet), so I used them. The following week, my blurry vision was back just as bad as it originally had been! There is no doubt that it is caused by the Systane product."

• Anonymous
• July 15, 2018

For Dry Eye Disease "Horrible, horrible product. After a week of use, my eyes became extremely irritated, itchy, puffy, and just all around uncomfortable. Eyes would feel good for 1-2 hours after use, but then feel horrible, more dry, and worse than before. Definitely some sort of rebound effect."

• Get...
• July 7, 2013

For Eye Redness "Have been using SYSTANE on and off for a few weeks and have experienced severe redness, swelling, and itching around my eyes. Couldn't figure out at first what was causing it, so narrowed it down to this product and made note when I used it. Sure enough, SYSTANE seemed to be the cause. While using this eye gel and naturally blinking after it is placed in my eyes, some gel gets onto the surrounding skin around the eyes, and it has caused the redness, itching, and swelling. So, be aware of this side effect."

• Pop...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 22, 2013

For Eye Redness "I have used Systane for about 9 weeks and have been experiencing severe swelling and irritation of my eyelids, including splitting of the skin and drying out of the sore areas. Have narrowed down the cause as Systane, and not blepharitis."

• mik...
• April 5, 2017

"Doctor said my eyes were dry and scratched. Said to use Systane. Now my eyes are dry, scratched, puffy, and red. Eyes worse now than before Systane. Will never, ever use this product again. Into the garbage go these overpriced eye drops. They said other drops were all marketing - guess what, my eyes didn't get puffy and red."

• pre...
• January 8, 2023

For Dry Eye Disease "I only used Systane for 3 days for mild blepharitis. It caused blurriness and extremely pronounced puffiness under the eyes (with a red vein very pronounced). It also caused a migraine. Over-the-counter allergy pills seem to have a better effect on relieving most of the symptoms. Will not use it again."

• Tom...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 7, 2022

For Dry Eye Disease "I have allergies, and my eyes get itchy, so I thought I would try Systane to soothe my irritated eyes. When I put a drop in each eye, my eyes became blurred over, and I could not see! As it dissipated some, I could not longer read the information on the box! It damaged my eyes! I flushed my eyes out three times with water, and it still didn’t help! They felt itchy and sticky. That evening, my right eye had a lump that appeared on my lower lid, which is still there! And my eyesight from the eye drops on Friday is still not back to normal! How can a company produce a product that is not safe to use? I am going to call my attorney!"

• Mar...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 16, 2021

For Dry Eye Disease "After brief use for occasional dry eyes, I had extremely bad side effects. Tissue around my eyes red, swollen, itchy, burns. No relief since August. Working with doctors. It’s the preservative in this product. Shame on FDA approval for a bad preservative."

• Jes...
• March 18, 2015

For Eye Redness "I used this for three weeks. My eyes were blurry, and swollen eyelids, eyes more sensitive to light, matted eyelashes, and crusting of lids. Stopped using the drops and now back to normal."

• ann...
• October 5, 2022

For Dry Eye Disease "I used this as ordered by my eye doctor. A few weeks later, I noticed eye pain, swelling, matted eyelashes, blurred vision, and foggy vision. It took weeks of going off the drops to correct my vision."