Have any of y'all who have had cataract surgery, had any adverse reaction to the post-op eye drops?

I had no problems, it was easy sailing for me.

My poor wife had her first eye done this past Wednesday, and the thrice daily drops are really bad for her. Immediately after putting the drops in, and for at least an hour after, her eye feels really irritated, and she says that it feels like there's a medium size boulder in the outer corner of her eye.

The people at the eye clinic tell her that this is normal, but I never experienced anything like that in either eye.

I know that it must be pretty bad, because she is a tough broad with respect to pain tolerance; sometimes she doesn't even bother with novocaine (lidocaine) at the dentist.

Hoping that one or more of the SIGforum eye docs will chime in.

I read an article a few days ago about eye drops that were recalled because they were contaminated with germs. A couple of people had an eye removed because of it.

I was going to post about it but didn’t because I didn’t want to be ridiculed by 12131.

The problem eye product has been identified and you can be sure the eye surgery centers aren't using them.

And yes, the drops can feel quite gritty, almost like sand. You should have been issued a general eye drop to help with the problems your wife is having. My wife and I had little problem with the grittiness, my brother-in-law is having problems.

FWIW I was told the first round of drops is antibiotics and a steroid, the second just a steroid.

What are the drops?

quote:

Originally posted by bcereuss:
What are the drops?

EzriCare Artificial Tears, maybe others?

I had zero issues. That was about 15 years ago so maybe the meds have changed.

I know they are considered essential. Somehow my pharmacy got the impression I didn't want to pick up a prescription because of expense. This of course was nonsense as the copay was about $15 as I recall. Anyway, the pharmacy called my surgeon and they offered to pay for it because they really wanted me to take the drops.

quote:

Originally posted by bcereuss:

What are the drops?

Trimethoprim Sulfate / Polymyzin B, 3 times daily for first week, then discontinue.

The next two are 3x daily for weeks one and two, then 2x daily for week 3, then once daily for week 4, then discontinue:

• Prednisolone Acetate
  
  
• Ketorolac

The clinic -- Filutowski Eye Clinic, probably the largest in Central Florida, specializing in LASIK and cataract -- has their own cocktail of drops that they offer as an option, an all-in-one mixture, so the patient just needs to deal with one bottle of drops instead of three. This was what I used for my cataracts at that clinic, but it was not recommended for my wife because there was a question about her possible allergy* to the antibiotic in the eye clinic's compound, so they gave her the Rx for three separate components, which we obtained from the local Publix pharmacy.

---

*Possible allergy: It was maybe ten years ago that we were visiting the kids in Ohio, and my wife went to the ER with a kidney stone. They administered an antibiotic via IV. Her arm got swollen in the vicinity of the IV. Not sure whether it the swelling was caused by allergy to the particular antibiotic, or whether it was because the ER dude really fumbled the IV (he did a terrible job). Because of the possibility of allergy, the eye clinic doc decided against using their compound and prescribed the three meds, with a different antibiotic.

I’ve had the rare (think less than 5 in 26 years) patient experience an allergic reaction to polytrim (the first drop mentioned).

The prednisone is a suspension, and some “budget” formulations seem to have larger…granules…of the active ingredient than the brand name medication.

Not sure if this helps, but it’s some insight.

Thanks for the information, Doc.

She took an allergy pill containing 10 mg Loratadine and things seem to be quite a bit better.

Re the prednisone, I'll check on the brand name and see if it's available. The head pharmacist at our local Publix pharmacy is a good dude; he goes out of his way to take care of us.

This is the one that she has. I think that I see more than one brand name. If there is a specific one that you suggest, I'd appreciate either a reply here, or to the email address in my profile.

I didn't have any issues like that in either eye. I did have some irritation for 2 or so days post up which was increased a little by the drops. I didn't feel a boulder as noted.

I had a friend with a similar experience due to a reaction to the specific type of drop. They had to adjust and he was fine.

There are several drugs that do the same thing and are proscribed interchangeably.

They found another problem after the cataract surgery and that is when I had a discussion about the different drugs.

Talk to your surgeon about changing to a different drug.

I had the surgery in both eyes a couple of years ago and don't recall any problems with the drops.

flashguy

I had cataract surgery on my right eye in December - the doc said I could use artificial tears if they were dry. I didn't have any issues with the same (individual) meds so never used that bottle.

I had cataract surgery in both eyes last year. First in July, second in September. Used three prescription eye drops for three-four weeks, one to three times a day. Had no problems such as you desribe. I don't remember even the mild stinging the doctor warned might be an issue.

I had my cataracts done in Jan. and Feb. of 2020. No problem with the drops.
Had pretty involved eye surgery on one eye in Jan. of this year to include 12 suture’s in my eye. Multiple drops again but no problems with them.

I had cataract surgery about 2 years ago. Same Dr. did both eyes for my girlfriend. He did the Dropless surgery on us. We had no problems glad we didn't have to do drops.