One in five Americans uses some type of antidepressant or anti-anxiety medication. These powerful drugs can have numerous side effects, many of them related to the eyes and vision. I wanted to use this weekly blog update to describe these possible side effects and the implications for vision quality and eye health. In addition, any medications you take to treat autoimmune disorders, inflammatory disorders, or allergies can affect your eligibility for LASIK surgery.
Each of these medications can interfere with the healing process and cause complications, such as infection, after eye surgery. As long as you tell us about each of the medications you are currently taking or have taken recently, we can develop a safe approach to LASIK or suggest an alternative laser vision correction procedure to restore your vision. Because LASIK can cause temporary dry eyes, any medication that causes increased eye irritation or dry eyes may disqualify you from LASIK. I am not aware of any permanent side effects of LASIK for dry eyes, other than the significant discomfort and poor optical quality that are inherent to dry eyes.
We'll let you know if you need to stop using a medication or if you should consider an alternative to LASIK eye surgery.
