Bimatoprost (Lumigan)

Bimatoprost is not suitable for some people. For example, check with your doctor if you wear contact lenses or have any problems with your cornea.

Bimatoprost comes as 2 strengths of eye drops that you use once a day. Follow the instructions that come with your medicine.

Common side effects of bimatoprost include your eyelids becoming red and itchy. More serious side effects can happen in rare cases.

It can cause problems to take bimatoprost with other eye drops such as latanoprost, tafluprost or travoprost.

Most adults aged 18 or over can use bimatoprost.

Bimatoprost is not suitable for some people. To make sure it's safe for you, tell your doctor if you:

• have ever had an allergic reaction to bimatoprost or any other medicine
• are about to have or have had eye surgery (including cataract surgery)
• have dry eyes
• have any problems with your cornea (the clear outer layer of your eye)
• wear contact lenses – you can still use bimatoprost, but you'll need to take your contact lenses out before using the drops and wait 15 minutes before putting them back in
• have ever had a viral infection or inflammation in your eye
• have liver or kidney problems
• have low blood pressure, or your heart beats slower than normal – this is known as bradycardia, which is a type of heart arrhythmia
• have any breathing problems, such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• have an allergy to silver – one brand of bimatoprost eye drops called Eyreida contains very small amounts of silver

Always read the instructions that come with your medicine.

It's best to use your eye drops in the evening as bimatoprost works better then.

If you wear contact lenses, make sure you take them out before using your eye drops. Wait 15 minutes before putting your lenses back in. The drops may make your vision blurred if you use them with contact lenses. Also, the preservative used in some bottled eye drops may change the colour of your contact lenses.

1. Wash your hands.
2. If you're using a bottle, shake it and twist off the cap. If it does not come with a separate dropper and you have not used these drops before, practise gently squeezing the bottle away from your eye first, to get used to the pressure and the time it takes for 1 drop to fall out. If you're using the single-dose dropper, twist off the tip.
3. Use your finger to gently pull down the lower eyelid to form a small pocket and tilt your head back.
4. Make sure the tip of the dropper or bottle does not touch your eye, eyelashes, eyelid, or any other surface.
5. Hold the dropper or the tip of the bottle over your eye and squeeze the dropper or bottle gently so that 1 drop goes into the pocket formed by your lower eyelid. Try to avoid the eye drop liquid touching the skin around your eye.
6. Release your lower eyelid and close your eye. This helps to keep the drop in the eye.
7. Wipe away any extra liquid with a clean tissue.
8. Repeat in your other eye if your doctor has told you to do this. There's enough liquid in 1 single-dose dropper to put a drop in both eyes if needed.
9. Put the cap back on the bottle. If you're using the single-dose dropper, throw it away.

If you have difficulty opening your eye drop bottles or putting eye drops into your eyes, talk to your pharmacist as there are devices that can help you with this.

If you use bimatoprost with other eye drops, wait at least 5 minutes before using the other eye drops. The second eye drops can wash out the bimatoprost, so it may not work as well. It's best to use eye ointments last.

These common side effects of bimatoprost happen in more than 1 in 100 people. There are things you can do to help cope with them:

Bimatoprost eye drops may increase the amount of brown colour in the iris of the eye you're treating. Talk to your doctor before you start using bimatoprost if you're worried about this.

If this happens, you may not notice any change until you have been using the eye drops for several months or years.

This colour change can be permanent and may be more obvious if you're only using the eye drops in one eye.

This should go away when your body gets used to bimatoprost, but talk to your doctor or pharmacist if you're worried about this. A cold water compress on the closed eye may help.

If the eye drops irritate your eyes and make them water so much that you think about stopping using the drops, talk to your doctor straight away. They may prescribe something different for you.

Do not drive, cycle, use tools or operate heavy machinery until your eyes feel comfortable again and your vision is clear.

If this happens, you may not be able to do anything about it. But your eyelashes would likely return to normal if you ever stop using bimatoprost.

Talk to your pharmacist or doctor if you're worried about this.

You might notice some changes to the skin around your eye. Changes may include red and itchy eyelids, darker skin colour around your eye and hair growth around your eye. Any redness or darkening may be less obvious on brown or black skin.

Try to avoid the eye drop liquid touching your skin too often to reduce the chance of this happening.

These changes are usually mild and may disappear if you ever stop using bimatoprost. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist if you're worried about this.

You may lose some of the fat in the area around the eye you're treating. This can lead to your eyelid crease becoming deeper, your eye looking sunken, a drooping eyelid, tighter skin around your eye, and more of the lower white part of your eye showing.

These changes are usually mild and may disappear if you ever stop using bimatoprost. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist if you're worried about this.

Keep using the medicine, but talk to your doctor or pharmacist if the advice on how to cope does not help and these side effects bother you or do not go away.

Treating high pressure in the eye or glaucoma is essential and so it's important to keep using bimatoprost while you're pregnant. However, always check with a pharmacist or doctor first.

As it is applied to the eye, very little gets into your blood and to your baby. The small amount that might get to your baby is unlikely to harm them.

You can use bimatoprost while you're breastfeeding.

Treating high pressure in the eye or glaucoma is essential and so it's important to keep using bimatoprost while you're breastfeeding.

Bimatoprost eye drops are not thought to pass into breast milk or cause any side effects in breastfed babies.

Medicines containing bimatoprost may also contain other ingredients. Check with a pharmacist or doctor first if you're breastfeeding.

If you notice that your baby is not feeding as well as usual, or if you have any other concerns about your baby, talk to your midwife, health visitor, pharmacist or doctor as soon as possible.

There are some medicines that do not mix well with bimatoprost and can affect how well it works.

Tell your doctor if you're using eye drops that work in a similar way to bimatoprost including:

• latanoprost
• tafluprost
• travoprost

If you use 2 of these medicines (including bimatoprost) together this can reduce how well they both work. This means the pressure in your eye might increase.