Cyclosporine ophthalmic for Dry Eye Disease User Reviews (Page 5)

• Bur...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 21, 2023

"I have been on this eye treatment for a few weeks. It's causing my eyes to feel like they are burning, they constantly run and are red. I am going to my eye specialist in a few days, and I will tell him I am not using them again. They are also expensive at $85."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• October 4, 2022

"I started Cequa about 9 months ago, and it seems that my dry eye is worse. I kept at it for the full 9 months, hoping things would improve. But my eyes feel very gritty at night, almost like I have sand under my eyelids, and the burning after instilling the drops is not pleasant. I stopped the Cequa for about a week, and the burning and gritty feeling went away. So I guess the Cequa drops do not work for my dry eye and made things worse. I would rather have some dry eyes but not the burning and gritty feeling - the gritty feeling would wake me up and keep me awake all night, and nothing would help."

• Rod...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• September 22, 2018

"The good: Restasis works for me. I was forced by my insurance company to try the other dry eye RX, which was approved a year or so ago. Forced meaning they stopped covering Restasis. I used the other one for 9 months. It was awful. I finally got my insurance to once again cover Restasis. I have been back on it and it is working again. The bad: The multi-dose bottle does not last a full month. Either they need to put more medicine in it or fix the bottle. Sometimes it's a tiny drop that comes out, and sometimes it's a huge drop. I will continue to use Restasis, but a fix on the multi-dose bottle would be nice."

• Fid...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• October 23, 2018

"I agree with all of the negative comments. Did they forget to have people test it? Currently, I am using ointment every night. I put it on so thick I can only see shapes and colors. I had used Restasis for ten years and stopped due to price. Went back to it when I had some really bad vision days and found the single bottle a very bad joke."

• Squ...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• November 15, 2023

"I have had dry eye disease secondary to 'probable Sjogren's' (diagnosed by a rheumatologist) for over 13 years. I was on Restasis for many of those years with no real benefit besides making my eyes constantly feel like there were tiny shards of glass in them. I didn't realize that was caused by the Restasis until I switched to Cequa, and that symptom almost immediately disappeared (or maybe it's just that Cequa worked for that symptom whereas Restasis didn't). It was hard to tell if Restasis helped my eyes, but I just continued with it fearing my eyes would worsen without it. I still experience sensitivity to light and secondary blepharospasm, but the Cequa has been a major improvement over Restasis. I have been on it for over 2 years now, and my eye doctor says I have a normal corneal surface now with Cequa, whereas certain areas of my cornea were a bit degraded by my dry eye before."

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

"Dr. tried me on Cequa after another drug burned severely. Seems as though these do not burn, but after about 6 hours, my eyes start to feel as if there was grit in my eyes. Stopped using, as insurance won't cover. Expense out of pocket was extreme."

• JJa...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 19, 2018

"I have been using the ampoules since 2012; lots of used amps to discard in the recycle bin, no problem. First multidose bottle: 1) I cannot see the drop as it is ready to drip and therefore cannot align to my eye properly. 2) It takes a lot of squeezing to get a drop to be dosed; in the process... 3)...eye becomes dry being held open so long awaiting the drop to be dispersed. I timed my process last night, 5 minutes to get 2 drops; one per eye. The night before, I had a gushing stream down the side of my nose, not from the tip as far as I could tell. Not impressed, I am requesting to go back to the vials; and another preauthorization process with my insurance."

• Car...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 28, 2017

"Restasis single-dose was quite effective and easy to use for my dry eye condition after having an intraocular lens implant 6-1/2 years ago. I switched to Restasis multi-dose for convenience. But, because of the viscosity/thickness of the multi-dose liquid, it is nearly impossible to dispense. My hand goes into a spasm trying to squeeze just 1 droplet out. Even my big, strong husband has struggles with the bottle. Allergan put too much castor oil and glycerin in the multi-dose formula. I called Express Scripts pharmacist and was advised to throw out the bottle and try a new one, thinking it was faulty. The new one was just as bad."

• Mmo...
• October 4, 2018

"A few years ago, my doctor told me I needed Restasis. I really did not think I had dry eyes, as my eyes actually tear up... he said those are 'junk tears.' Never heard of such a thing, but went with it. I used them for about 4 months and did not notice a change. He thought I would 'see better' with them. Ha ha. What happened towards the end of using them... my vision started to get blurry. It has gotten worse, and to the point where I need to wear glasses all the time. I really think the Restasis did this. The doctor says I have the start of cataracts... really... again, I am saying it was the Restasis that did this and I am not happy. So, in my opinion, unless you really are having a dry eye issue that is causing a lot of problems, do not use this product or you may very well end up like me and have blurred vision."

• Vic...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• August 3, 2018

"After years of using the vials, I was happy to try the multi-dose application. Sad to say that the drops are very difficult to get out of the bottle. I need 3 bottles for one month, which is $100 for me, as opposed to the vials, which I pay $100 for a 3-month supply. I am going back to the vials."

• amk...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• September 8, 2018

"Not a fan of the multi-dose bottle. I've got my first prescription of this on August 29th, and I am already almost out. And like others have remarked, the bottle does not dispense drops properly. That is obvious because I should not be running out of medication this early. And since my insurance will not pay for another round until it's been a month, I will have to go without it until a month has passed. But I am not going to buy this multi-dose again, not if I can help it. I'm going to go back to the vials."

• ten...
• July 24, 2018

"I also hate the new multidose bottle for the same reasons. Hard to apply, nothing comes out, then too much, doesn't last a month, etc. The single-use vials are much preferable. Over the years, my eye doctors have confirmed that it is OK to use the single-use vials more than once, until the liquid is consumed, as long as you keep the partly used vial in the refrigerator. For this reason, a one-month supply lasts at 2 to 3 months, and I can justify using a bit more plastic. Compared to all the other ways our society wastes plastic, this is minor in comparison."

• Lor...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 16, 2024

"It is working great for my dry eyes. No burning. My doctor told me to keep it in the refrigerator and use drops cold would keep it from burning. He was right. You do have to administer right away after removing from the refrigerator."

• Car...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 6, 2025

"Excellent drops. These drops help me with my eye dry disease, and my insurance does not cover this medication. And the pharmacy asked me for $600.00. I called my insurance and nothing. The first bottle was an example. Now my eyes are bothering me again."

• Jil...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• March 6, 2018

"Restasis is a great product that I have been successfully using for years. However, this month I was given the multidose bottle, which is so bad that it is enough to make me discontinue Restasis. I have worked in ophthalmology for over 15 years, so I am very proficient at instilling eyedrops. This bottle is as hard as a rock, and after squeezing with all your might to get it to work, a stream of drops comes out and 1/4 of the bottle is gone. Absolutely terrible design."

• Lea...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 8, 2018

"There’s a learning curve to using the bottle. It was infuriating for the first couple of weeks having $5 bills running down my cheek and only getting 26 days out of the bottle. But if you take your time, it does work well, and a month is not a problem. This is only month two, and the relief I’m getting is absolutely, amazingly WONDERFUL!"

• Anonymous
• February 2, 2025

"Very difficult to get drops out of the bottle. Droplet size was not consistent. Used product two months. Second month bought a $20 dropper cap to attempt to regulate droplet size. Did not make much difference. Bottle did not last 20 days. Too expensive even with coupon. Wish product was in daily squeezable ampules for individual daily use. I did like the product. No burning or irritation when put into my dry eyes."

• Dia...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• July 18, 2018

"I've been using single-dose for many years. I thought it was just me having difficulty with this new multimode bottle. I have some finger arthritis, and this is so hard to get into waste expensive drops. And when will there be a less expensive generic?"

• Joe...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• August 17, 2018

"I hate this bottle for dispensing drops. It is very difficult to get a drop to fall into your eyes. You have to squeeze the bottle and then wait, wait, wait for the drop or drops to fall. I used single vials previously, and they were fine, but I'm not sure that these expensive drops are actually effective in my particular case. I'm checking with my doctor, and hopefully can totally get off of these drops."

• Ber...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• July 17, 2018

"First, I just want to mention I never post about products, but this one has me so annoyed. I have had dry eyes since my laser eye surgery. My eye doctor prescribed Restasis. It works, but you need to take it indefinitely. I used the vials and never used the whole thing, so I thought switching to the multidose would mean less waste and less plastic. Nope. Just finished my 1st bottle (I think, the bottle is impossible to squeeze and get anything out) in only 2 weeks. I might have gotten an extra drop here or there with the multidose bottle. With the vials, I always did 2 drops (so not as much went to waste) in each eye and still had some left in the vial. I will be switching back to the vials, unfortunately."

• htt...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 23, 2023

"Used this medication for around one month for dry eyes due to a chemical burn in my left eye. This medication, by far, has to be the worst dry eye drop on the market. It made my left eye so itchy, and the foreign body sensation drove me up a wall, having the urge to constantly rub my eye and the burning sensation as well. Stopped the medication, and my eye is better."

• Din...
• December 16, 2019

"When I was first diagnosed with dry eye syndrome (DES), the doc prescribed Restasis. It worked beautifully- that is, until it stopped working. Now what? I had all four tear ducts burnt shut, didn’t help. I’m beyond help, so I suffer anyway. Restasis helped my DES for five years. Wish they would come out with a more powerful formula for people like me who have tried everything and beyond. Please, Restasis, get in that lab and come out with a drop to help people with severe DES."

• Lou...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• June 14, 2018

"What a rip-off in this bottle of Restasis! Allergan needs to be investigated. I never could get drops to even come out, even after I inverted the bottle several times. The product is great, but your engineering design is pitiful. I bet the engineer who designed the bottle never tested it. I will be returning the bottle today for a refund. Why mess with a product that has worked for me for the last 4 years?"

• Bil...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 25, 2018

"RESTASIS MultiDose. The RESTASIS MultiDose bottle design is the worst I’ve ever seen. The engineers have made it so complex that it takes 5 minutes to get ONE drop in both eyes. I see now why the cost is so high (must be 80% of the cost just in the manufacturing of their bottle). I just started using their product, and it may be great (still waiting for the results), but I highly recommend you only use the single-use vials. Unfortunately, Humana issued me a 90-day supply of the MultiDose bottles, so this is going to be very painful. My guess is this is why so many people stop taking RESTASIS."

• doi...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• May 12, 2018

"I have been using Restasis for 3 years, it has helped a lot. I hate the new bottle. I have to pay a lot for this, and it doesn't last the month because the bottle is so hard to squeeze, then 2 drops come out just when you give up waiting for it. It's awful! The bottle is the reason I give it a 3, otherwise, it would have been higher."