Timoptol Side Effects

Like all medicines, Timoptol can cause side effects, although not everybody gets them.
Taking the drops can usually be carried on, unless the effects are serious. If worried, talk to a doctor or pharmacist. Do not stop using Timoptol without speaking to the doctor.
Like other medicines applied into the eyes, timolol is absorbed into the blood. This may cause similar side effects as seen with intravenous and/or oral beta-blocking agents. Incidence of side effects after topical ophthalmic administration is lower than when medicines are, for example taken by mouth or injected. Listed side effects include reactions seen within the class of beta-blockers when used for treating eye conditions.
If allergic reactions develop, including swelling beneath the skin that can occur in areas such as the face and limbs, and can obstruct the airway which may cause difficulty swallowing or breathing, hives or itchy rash, localized and generalized rash, itchiness, severe sudden life-threatening allergic reaction, stop taking the eye drops and seek medical attention immediately.
Low blood glucose levels.
Difficulty sleeping (insomnia), depression, nightmares, memory loss, hallucination.
Fainting, stroke, reduced blood supply to the brain, increases in signs and symptoms of myasthenia gravis (muscle disorder), dizziness, unusual sensations like tingling or pins and needles, and headache.
Signs and symptoms of eye irritation (e.g. burning, stinging, itching, tearing, redness), inflammation of the eyelid, inflammation in the cornea, blurred vision and detachment of the layer below the retina that contains blood vessels following filtration surgery which may cause visual disturbances, decreased corneal sensitivity, dry eyes, corneal erosion (damage to the front layer of the eyeball), drooping of the upper eyelid (making the eye stay half closed), double vision, sensitivity to light, discharge from the eye, pain in the eye.
If the patient suffers from severe damage to the clear layer at the front of the eye (the cornea), phosphates may cause in very rare cases cloudy patches on the cornea due to calcium build-up during treatment.
Ringing sound in the ears.
Slow heart rate, chest pain, palpitations, oedema (fluid build-up), changes in the rhythm or speed of the heartbeat, congestive heart failure (heart disease with shortness of breath and swelling of the feet and legs due to fluid build-up), a type of heart rhythm disorder, heart attack, heart failure.
Low blood pressure, fainting, interference with the blood supply to the brain which may lead to a stroke, Raynaud's phenomenon, cold hands and feet, limping because there is a reduced blood supply to the legs.
Constriction of the airways in the lungs (predominantly in patients with pre-existing disease), difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, wheezing, cough.
Taste disturbances, nausea, indigestion, diarrhoea, dry mouth, abdominal pain, vomiting.
Sexual dysfunction, decreased sex drive, decreased libido. In men, a condition which affects the penis called Peyronie's disease. The signs may be abnormal curve, pain or hardening of the tissue of the penis.
Hair loss, skin rash with white silvery coloured appearance (psoriasiform rash) or worsening of psoriasis, skin rash, itching.
Muscle weakness/tiredness, muscle pain not caused by exercise.
A condition called lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus).
Ask the doctor or pharmacist for more information about the side effects.