eye drops

[tywy]

hi I have copd and just started using eye drops for glaucoma I think they are affecting my breathing has anyone had this problem if so what eye drops were they thank youin advance

[Titian8]

I use Hycosan eye drops for dry eyes and haven't had any problems using them. These are the ones recommended by my optician, they last 6 months and contain no preservatives.

However I don't have copd, it's bronchiectasis I have but they don't cause me breathing difficulties.

[tywy in reply to Titian8]

thank you for your reply

[CDPO16]

I think it may be as well to report this to your GP.

[RoadRunner44]

A chemist would know what the ingredients are in the drops and if they could cause breaththing problems.

[knitter]

My mother had glaucoma, and one type of eye drops made her breathless.

She was prescribed a different sort which didn’t affect her breathing .

Please ring your health professional tomorrow .....there may be a pharmacist open in your area today, maybe ring them and ask for advice or 111.

Check the leaflet that came with your drops too.

[Jomo46]

4 years ago I took a series of glaucoma drops. Although I was very careful with the finger closing the drainage to nostril as it says on all the instructions, they gave me a dripping nose. They say it can be a side effect, so put up with it. Unfortunately the dripping nose dripped into my chest and caused chest infections. I had 2 bad attacks and suddenly found I was panting after 10 minutes. Walking. No previous chest problems. I had stopped the eye drops with first infection, then a month later when well started them again.( eye consultant advice) within 3 days, chest bad again and worse breathing problems. Could not walk to toilet without panting ( 20 steps) I stopped the drops, but breathing problems stayed. Could only walk about 4 minutes without stopping. Gp - antibiotics and I refused to take more drops.Eventually saw lung consultant. That took 5months. Sarcoidosis, it causes inflammation and then lung fibrosis. Apparently Sarcoidosis is probably a genetic thing but needs a trigger to set it off. The glaucoma drops and dripping nose were my trigger. We were not aware of Sarcoidosis in the family , but mother at 96 probably had it weakly. Now, 4 years later am on 24 hr oxygen ( aged74).

I have been unlucky but if you are getting breathing problems with the glaucoma drops, don’t ignore it. If you get a dripping nose, be extra careful. I searched on the internet for side effects of glaucoma drops. I am not the only person complaining of similar side effects, though glaucoma team are not interested. I find they project all their energy into making us take the drops. See your, pharmacist, gp, or glaucoma team. And my advice would be to refuse the ones that give you breathing problems.

Good luck xx

[Ergendl in reply to Jomo46]

How awful for you.

[Hidden]

I use eye drops for glaucoma. As I have asthma I could not use beta blockers as they cause bronchoconstriction in asthmatics.

So I was prescribed prostaglandins drops....latanoprost.....these were fine for about a year and then started causing my asthma to worsen......when I stopped it got better and when I started again it got worse. Then changed to a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor.......brinzolamide......again alright for about a year and then caused big increase in phlegm production ( I have bronchiectasis anyway)...again when I stopped it got better etc.

Now been on an alpha agonist.....brimonidine.... for 6 months and so far so good. Keeping my fingers crossed as I think there's only one other type to try.

But it seems they can all cause systemic side effects, not just local eye side effects.

Mention it to your GP and he can call the eye department and ask them what to change you on to.

Also when you put the eye drops in always press your finger into the inner corner of your eye with your eye closed for 3 minutes. This apparently reduces the amount of substance that gets into the bloodstream.

[mydogs in reply to Hidden]

Have you ever coughed up small amount of blood with your bronchiectasis,I am on latanoprost eye drops for closed angle glaucoma and this happened to me yesterday not much but enough to cause my anxiety to go sky high is. been bad enough with 13 weeks shielding any help very much appreciated

[Hidden in reply to mydogs]

No, that's never happened to me so far. The latanoprost just caused my asthma to worsen, so unable to breathe.

I would mention it to your bronch team. Do you have a telephone number for help from the bronch dept at the hospital? If not, tell your GP.