Why are my allergy eye drops burning so badly today?

Posted by Lisa Lucier, Moderator @lisalucier, Mar 26 9:18am

I have used allergy eye drops for many years, previously lodoxamide (Alomide) and now cromolyn sodium ophthalmic solution. This helps my eyes to prevent itchiness from allergies.

Yesterday morning I got quite a surprise, though, when I used my drops and immediately my eyes began burning pretty intensely. I could not understand why this would happen ...

I grabbed the bottle to look at it and immediately noticed it looked very slightly taller than my usual eye drops bottle. It was: I had put ear wax softening drops in my eyes by mistake! (They were out on the counter, as I was also addressing that problem yesterday.)

As you can imagine, I performed a massive eye wash. All turned out fine, and the burning feeling subsided and my vision is fine.

Just a word to the wise ... be careful to put the right drops in your eyes ...

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Asthma & Allergy Support Group.

frouke | @frouke | Mar 26 3:53pm

I’m sorry this happened to you, it could have been worse but thankfully you’re doing better, I sometimes worry that I might do something wrong with my meds because I can be very scattered at times, basically stress related and age.

scottbeammeup | @scottbeammeup | Mar 27 7:01am

I'll add that you should check the expiration date on your eye drops as well. Mine burned a bit more than usual and I looked and they were five years past their expiration date. Yikes!

Lisa Lucier, Moderator | @lisalucier | Mar 27 1:07pm

Thanks for the input, @scottbeammeup and @frouke.

Tagging a few members of the Mayo Clinic Connect Allergy & Asthma and Eye Condition support groups who have talked about allergy or related eye drops, such as @larry68 @loriesco @nac1 @joybringer1 @mavoo @covidstinks2023 @linda82 @jackiet @pacathy @SusanEllen66 @equanimous @degarden_girl. I thought you might be interested in my escapade/learning from my mistake with eye drops yesterday.

So you can quickly get to the goofy, but true story I relayed yesterday: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/why-are-my-allergy-eye-drops-burning-so-badly-today/.

SusanEllen66 Susan McMichael | @SusanEllen66 | Apr 3 2:53am

Oh dear, you won’t do that again!

A few months ago I went to use a cleansing wipe
I have for my eyes. They come in a little sealed, green and white packets.
I opened a packet, started wiping my eye when I realized that I was using a hand sanitizer packet. It was also green and white!
Nothing happened, I guess I stopped in time!

micheljmarion198 | @micheljmarion198 | Jun 8 1:23am

In reply to @SusanEllen66 "Oh dear, you won’t do that again! A few months ago I went to use a..." + (show)

@SusanEllen66 Have you ever tried 'Sandoz Olopatadine 0.2%'? I did get relief from itchy eyes from Spring Fever this year. They too, tend to burn after putting the drops in my eyes. Yet in the long run, I do get the relief I'm looking for. What else have you tried for seasonal allergies, both spring and fall, affecting your itchy eyes?
I started off with Hay Fever in the fall... but now that I'm older (70 yo,) spring fever is the hardest to deal with! Especially the new dandelions springing up.

SusanEllen66 Susan McMichael | @SusanEllen66 | Jun 9 6:56pm

In reply to @micheljmarion198 "@SusanEllen66 Have you ever tried 'Sandoz Olopatadine 0.2%'? I did get relief from itchy eyes from..." + (show)

@micheljmarion198 no I haven’t tried too much of anything. First, I am allergic to some ingredients in eyedrops. Second, I am lazy. I put up with all kinds of maladies and just tolerate the discomfort.

If I get really annoyed with my eyes, I can put a warm compress on them.

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