Restasis, made simple.
Restasis is a prescription eye drop for chronic dry eye. It does something different from artificial tears: it helps your eyes make more of their own tears. The one thing to know up front is that it works slowly, over months. This guide explains all of it. A Mississippi pharmacist wrote it for you.
This guide is here to teach you. It is not medical advice, and it does not replace your doctor or pharmacist. Always do what your doctor tells you, and ask a pharmacist before you change how you take any medicine.
Print this guide for your fridgeWhat Restasis is and why your doctor gave it to you
Restasis is a prescription eye drop. Its active medicine is cyclosporine.
It is used for chronic dry eye disease, the kind where your eyes do not make enough tears because of ongoing inflammation. This is different from an occasional dry, tired eye.
Here is what makes Restasis different from the artificial tears you can buy. Artificial tears add moisture from a bottle. Restasis works on the cause: it calms the inflammation that is holding your tear production back, so your eyes can make more of their own natural tears.
The simple version: Restasis is a twice a day eye drop that, over time, helps your own eyes produce more tears. It treats the underlying problem, not just the dry feeling in the moment.
How Restasis works
In chronic dry eye, a low-grade inflammation builds up around the glands that make your tears. That inflammation quietly turns down tear production.
Restasis calms that inflammation on the surface of the eye.
As the inflammation settles, the tear glands are freed up to work better, and your eyes gradually make more of their own tears. Because this is a gradual healing process, not an instant moisture top-up, Restasis takes time to show its effect.
Your dose, and how to use the drops
Restasis is one drop in each affected eye, twice a day, about 12 hours apart. Your doctor confirms this for you.
Restasis comes two ways: small single-use vials, and a reusable multi-dose bottle. With the single-use vials, you use one for a dose and then throw it away. With the multi-dose bottle, there are a couple of steps that really matter.
First, Restasis is an emulsion, which means the medicine settles and separates. Before every single dose, turn the bottle upside down several times to mix it well. If you skip this, your drop may not have enough medicine in it. Second, the very first time you use a new multi-dose bottle, you prime it: squeeze 2 drops onto a tissue first, without letting the tip touch anything. With either form, never let the tip of the bottle or vial touch your eye or any surface.
Timing, and what to do if you miss a dose
Use Restasis twice a day, about 12 hours apart. Tying it to morning and bedtime routines makes it easy to remember.
You can still use your artificial tears alongside Restasis. Just leave about 15 minutes between the two, so one does not wash the other away.
If you miss a dose:
- If you miss a dose, use it as soon as you remember.
- If it is almost time for your next dose, skip the one you missed and go back to your twice a day schedule.
- Never use extra drops to catch up.
- Because Restasis works gradually, one missed dose will not undo your progress, but using it consistently is what gets results.
Side effects, what is normal and what is not
Common, and usually mild.
- A burning or stinging feeling when you put the drop in. This is the most common effect, and for most people it eases over time.
- Some eye redness, watering, or a feeling like something is in your eye.
- Brief blurry vision right after the drop.
Call your eye doctor if you notice:
- Eye pain that is strong, or that keeps getting worse past the first few weeks.
- A real change in your vision.
- Increasing redness or discharge, which could be a sign of an eye infection.
Go to the emergency room right away if:
- You have swelling of the face, lips, tongue, or throat, hives, or trouble breathing. This can be a serious allergic reaction.
- You scratched or injured your eye with the bottle tip and have pain or vision change. Get it looked at.
What to be careful with
Restasis is gentle in one important way: it works only on the surface of your eye and is not absorbed into the rest of your body in any meaningful amount. Because of that, it does not have the drug interactions that some medicines do.
The cautions that matter are about using the drops correctly. Never touch the bottle or vial tip to your eye, your fingers, or any surface, since that can carry germs into the bottle. Take your contact lenses out before you use Restasis, and wait about 15 minutes before putting them back in.
It is still a good idea to tell your pharmacist about all the medicines and eye products you use, so your full picture is known.
What it costs
The cost is different for every person, because every insurance plan is different.
Here is the honest way to find your price. If you pay cash, call Fairview and we will give you a price for your situation. If you have private insurance, there may be a coupon or a savings program from the maker of the drug that helps lower your cost, and we will check if one is available for you. The best step is to let a pharmacist look at your plan. We do this for every patient.
Do not let cost make you skip doses. Call us first. There is almost always something we can do.
There is also a generic version of many medicines. The generic is the same medicine. Ask your pharmacist if a generic is a good fit for you.
What should be checked
Restasis does not need blood tests, but your eye doctor will want to follow how you are doing.
Your eye doctor should check, over time:
- Whether your dry eye symptoms are improving, usually judged over a few months.
- The health of the surface of your eyes.
- Whether the burning has settled the way it does for most people.
Your pharmacist should:
- Make sure you know to shake the multi-dose bottle before every dose.
- Walk you through priming a new bottle on first use.
- Remind you that Restasis works slowly, so you do not give up early.
- Help with cost, including whether a generic is right for you.
At Fairview, we make sure every Restasis patient knows the drops work over months, not days, so the slow start does not discourage you. If a refill is running late, we call you.
Special situations
Give it time.
This is the most important thing to understand about Restasis. It works gradually. Many people do not notice a real improvement for 3 to 6 months of steady twice a day use. That slow start is normal and expected. Do not stop because nothing seems to be happening yet. Staying with it is exactly how it works.
Shake the bottle, every time.
If you use the multi-dose bottle, turn it upside down several times before every dose. Restasis separates as it sits, and an unshaken drop may be mostly the watery part with too little medicine. This one habit makes a real difference.
Contact lenses.
Take your contact lenses out before using Restasis, and wait about 15 minutes before putting them back in. Many people with chronic dry eye also find lenses less comfortable, so this is worth discussing with your eye doctor.
Using it with artificial tears.
You can keep using artificial tears for day-to-day comfort while Restasis does its slower work underneath. Just leave about 15 minutes between Restasis and your artificial tears.
Brand and generic.
There is now a generic version of these cyclosporine eye drops, at the same strength and for the same use. For many people the generic is the lower-cost choice. Ask your pharmacist what works best with your plan.
How Fairview helps Restasis patients
When you fill Restasis at Fairview, here is what you get. This is normal care for us, not something extra.
At your first fill:
- We show you how to prime a new bottle and how to shake it before each dose.
- We explain that it works over months, so you know what to expect.
- We check whether the generic is the better choice for your cost.
- We answer your questions before you leave.
At every refill:
- We check that you are refilling on time.
- We ask how your eyes are doing.
- We answer any new questions.
On our own, without being asked:
- If a refill is late, we call you.
- We check your cost at every fill to keep it as low as possible.
- We help you weigh brand against generic.
Questions people ask about Restasis
Restasis is a prescription eye drop for chronic dry eye disease. It helps your eyes make more of their own tears by calming the inflammation that suppresses tear production.
Have a question about your Restasis? Ask a pharmacist who knows it well.
Restasis rewards patience. Used steadily, it can genuinely improve chronic dry eye over a few months. Fairview will make sure you know how to use it and that the cost works for you. If something made you wonder, ask us.