Did drug to make my lashes lusher turn my green eyes brown?
Leah Hardy investigates the disturbing side effect of a treatment backed by stars from Claire Danes to Brooke Shields
PEERING sleepily into a hand-mirror one morning, as I took a moment between meetings to refresh my mascara, I felt a jolt of panic. Around the pupil of my once green and gold eyes, there was a faint, but to me noticeable, murky brown ring. I was horrified. Was I imagining it? Later, as I looked at old photos, it was hard to tell for sure but I was certain my eyes were darker, and my husband agreed.
Could it have been caused by Latisse, the cosmetic medicine that makes eyelashes dramatically longer, thicker and darker? As a beauty writer, in July 2012 I had been invited to try it by a UK clinic.
The drug began life as Lumigan, a treatment for glaucoma, a disease in which fluid builds up inside the eyeball, exerting dangerous pressure. But patients using Lumigan found that a side effect was that their lashes grew extremely long – so the manufacturers effectively repackaged the same drug in a different bottle, as a product aimed at the cosmetic market: Latisse.
It was launched in the United States in 2009, with actresses Claire Danes and Brooke Shields as its celebrity ‘spokesmodels’.
Latisse was made by Allergan, which produces Botox, so it had pedigree and, perhaps rather unquestioningly, I jumped at the chance of becoming one of the first women in the UK to get my hands on it. The doctor did mention the possibility of eye darkening but I didn’t take it very seriously.
Initially I was thrilled, as my lashes grew so long that they hit the inside of my sunglasses. But then came my wake-up call. After noticing the change in my eye colour, I started researching online.
It seems Latisse contains the active ingredient bimatoprost, a type of chemical known as a prostaglandin, and it is known to cause changes to eye colour.
Allergan admits it ‘can cause increased brown colouring of the iris, which may be permanent’.
BUT how big is the risk? Digging through online medical libraries, I was horrified to discover that prostaglandins used to treat glaucoma have been found to trigger iris colour change in up to 50 per cent of patients.
My own problem was mild, so I wondered: could it just have happened anyway and been nothing to do with the drug? Highly unlikely, according to Raman Malhotra, a consultant eye surgeon at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, West Sussex.
He explained: ‘ Eye colour in adults normally only changes if they suffer from chronic inflammatory eye conditions or suffer an injury to the eye. However, bimatoprost can increase the amount of brown pigment in the eye by stimulating pigment production.’
And it seems the change in eye colour isn’t the only side effect that prosta- glandins may trigger. Last week, The Mail on Sunday reported that a new ointment containing another prostaglandin (not bimatoprost) was in development, as an ‘eye-lift in a bottle’. The drug, known by its experimental name XAF5, had shown promise in early trials in reducing the appearance of undereye bags. But doctors say Latisse, which has now sold an astonishing 5.5million bottles worldwide, can also give this result. Dr Stanley Berke, a US ophthalmic surgeon, explains: ‘Prostaglandins are absorbed via the skin into fat cells, which causes them to shrink.’ Berke, who had seen the changes in his glaucoma patients, named this combination of effects prostaglandin associated periorbitopathy (PAP).
Of all the prostaglandins, studies have found bimatoprost is the most likely to cause this fat atrophy, with PAP occurring in between 60 and 93.3 per cent of those using the drug for glaucoma. In rare cases bimatoprost has also been associated with muscle changes leading to lid drooping.
Subtle differences in eye shape are visible if you closely examine the ‘before and after’ pictures of Claire Danes and others on the Latisse website.
In a final twist, I discovered that Latisse has not even been licensed for use in the UK. When I contacted the clinic where I was treated, they told me I had actually been prescribed Lumigan, which is licensed.
This meant that instead of the specialist brushes that come with Latisse, which are designed to minimise the product transfer to the eye, I had been given cotton wool buds, which absorb more of the liquid.
A quick online search throws up a number of other UK clinics offering ‘Latisse’, but when you read the small print some are actually prescribing Lumigan. It would theoretically be legal, as doctors may use their discretion to prescribe a drug intended for one condition to treat another. But Government watchdog the Medicines and Healthcare Reg- ulatory Agency is now investigating these companies for directly advertising prescription drugs to consumers, which is illegal in Britain. Allergan advise against using Lumigan for eyelash growth. Mr Malhotra says: ‘Whether using Lumigan or Latisse for eyelash growth, patients should be warned by their doctors of these potentially disfiguring and irreversible changes.’
An Allergan spokeswoman said: ‘The risk of eye-colour change is extremely small and i ncluded in labelling for Latisse and Lumigan. Patients should be consulted about this.’
SHE also pointed out that if UK doctors are using Lumigan, then the package inserts and instructions that patients take away will be different from those for Latisse. ‘Latisse is not authorised for use in the UK and therefore Allergan does not distribute or promote the product within the UK. Because of this, Allergan cannot provide training to UK physicians, nor can we provide UK patient information.’
The firm added: ‘Periorbital and lid changes associated with a deepening of eyelid sulcus [recess] have been identified during use of Latisse and [the side effect] was added into the US product labelling. With discontinued use of the product, deepening of the eyelid sulcus may be reversed.’
That may be true, but is it worth risking all this – for an extra millimetre or two on your lashes?