Restasis®

What is Restasis?

It’s an immunosuppressive eye drop that works to reduce inflammation in the tear glands to treat dry eyes.

Restasis is usually used for chronic dry eyes, including a type called Sjogren’s syndrome, which is characterized by an autoimmune disorder that causes inflammation in the tear ducts.¹ This means your eyes don’t produce as many tears as they usually would, leading to dry eyes. Restasis works over the long-term to help your eyes recover their natural ability to make tears.

How does Restasis work?

Restasis is an immunosuppressant, which means that it calms the overactive immune response that causes tear ducts to become inflamed. This helps to prevent any further damage to your tear ducts and eyes, and can restore tear production in the long-term.¹ But it won’t immediately produce wetness or tears in your eyes.

Restasis is a treatment that you’ll use over a period of months to restore your eyes’ natural ability to make tears. In the meantime, you can use ‘artificial tear’ eye drops to lubricate your eyes, and relieve the everyday symptoms of dry eyes.

How do Restasis doses work?

Restasis eye drops come in one dose: 0.05% w/w drops. This means every gram of treatment contains 0.5 mg of active ingredient.

What is the active ingredient in Restasis?

The active ingredient in Restasis is an immunosuppressant called Cyclosporine. It works by inhibiting T-lymphocyte cells (T-cells), which are inflammation mediators that produce pro-inflammatory cytokines. These cytokines are proteins that are responsible for starting and continuing inflammatory reactions.² So by inhibiting T-cells, cyclosporine helps to prevent the immune reaction causing inflammation in the tear ducts.

How to take Restasis

Always follow your clinician’s instructions when using Restasis eye drops.

You’ll apply one drop of Restasis into each eye twice a day, around 12 hours apart (usually once in the morning when you wake up, and once in the evening before bed). You should remove contact lenses before using the drops, and wait 15 minutes after you’ve applied them before you put them back in. To use your drops:

• Turn the bottle upside down and rightside up a few times, until the solution turns an opaque white.
• Pull your lower eyelid down with one finger, tilt your head back to look at the ceiling, and apply one drop of Restasis into your eye.
• Blink a few times to distribute the eye drop across your eye.
• Press your finger into the corner of your eye by your nose, and keep the eye closed for around two minutes.
• Repeat for your other eye if necessary.