I’ve been prescribing Allergan’s Latisse (bimatoprost ophthalmic solution) since it was approved by the FDA and personally using it for the past 3 months. I’m impressed that it does what it is supposed to do—lengthen, thicken and darken eyelashes. Sometimes too much in fact. I’ve noticed that some patients who use it daily as recommended have lashes that actually seem too long and what I call “spider leggy”. For that reason, and because it sometimes causes dryness and irritation of the eyelids and eyes if used daily I have been recommending using it every other night or even every other night after the first month or 6 weeks. This seems to work well, giving a more natural look without the irritation. And it decreases the cost which is around $125/month here in Texas where it is prescription only not physician dispensed.

But I do hate the ads that warn about the possibility that Latisse use “may also cause increased brown pigmentation of the colored part of the eye which is likely to be permanent”. It has not been seen in patients using Latisse but was seen in a few patients using Lumigan, which is the same medication instilled in the eye for glaucoma. When patients using Lumigan reported enhanced eyelashes, Allergan decided to market it as a topical agent for eyelash growth. Although I definitely believe patients deserve informed consent it worries them about something that, as yet, has not even been reported with Latisse.

At least the warning is not as bad as the ones for ED drugs. You know the one that on one hand says “use this and get back in the game” and on the other calmly says “if you have an erection lasting more than 4 hours (and therefore your organ falls off) or you go deaf or blind—call your doctor right away”

But that is another reason to use Latisse every other day.