Hi, You may already have tried Iopidine by now. I have used it for a few years, whenever I have ptosis. And that doesn't happen very often.
I may have read somewhere that it raises the lid about the thickness of a dime.
That may not sound like much, but since (at least for me) that's about enough to cover the pupil to about mid-way and that's what gives me the half-asleep (or half-tipsy) look, it makes a definite difference in appearance.
In fact, it almost gives the opposite effect—not only raises the lid that tiny bit, but the pupil of the treated eye often appears more dilated than the other. Either way, the eyes don't exactly match, but I much prefer not having the ptosis.
If it's just the cosmetic aspect that bothers me, I only use it shortly before I'm about to see people. Otherwise, if I'm by myself, I don't.
The effects last somewhere between 3-4 hours. It works very quickly.
The other circumstance in which I've used it is when the ptosis is so bad that it's difficult to read or to see clearly. In fact, on the few occasions when I've had really bad ptosis, it somehow seems to pull down the other eyelid a bit as well (that eye goes back to normal as soon as I use the Iopidine).
As Shirley said, it's not for long-term use (it's often prescribed for glaucoma; but if you look it up, the literature now says for ptosis).
Judith K
