Alcaftadine: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Alcaftadine is a medicine sold in the U.S. under 2 brand and generic names, for allergic conjunctivitis. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Treats
- Allergic Conjunctivitis
- Available as
- Drops
- Sold as
- 2 products — Lastacaft and Alcaftadine
- Prescription?
- Over the counter
- Generic available?
- Yes
How alcaftadine is dosed
From the FDA label for Lastacaft (application NDA022134). Other alcaftadine products — different forms, different strengths — are dosed differently. Follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
Instill one drop in each eye once daily. If more than 1 topical ophthalmic medicinal product is being used, each one should be administered at least 5 minutes apart. Instill one drop in each eye once daily. ( 2 )
Alcaftadine side effects
The most common ocular adverse reactions, occurring in less than 4% of eyes treated with LASTACAFT ® , were eye irritation, burning and/or stinging on instillation, eye redness, and eye pruritus. ( 6.1 ) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Allergan at 1-800-678-1605 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch. 6.1 Clinical Trials Experience Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in clinical practice. The most frequent ocular adverse reactions, occurring in less than 4% of eyes treated with LASTACAFT ® , were eye irritation, burning and/or stinging upon instillation, eye redness and eye pruritus. The most frequent non-ocular adverse reactions, occurring in less than 3% of subjects with eyes treated with LASTACAFT ® , were nasopharyngitis and headache. Some of these events were similar to the underlying disease being studied. 6. 2 Postmarketing Experience The following adverse reactions have been identified during post-approval use of LASTACAFT ® . Because these reactions are reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is not always possible to reliably estimate their frequency or establish a causal relationship to drug exposure. These…
Who shouldn’t take alcaftadine
LASTACAFT ® is contraindicated in patients with hypersensitivity to any component in the product. Hypersensitivity ( 4 )
Every alcaftadine product we track (2)
Same active ingredient — different manufacturer, form, price and FDA recall record. That last one is what our independent score measures.
| # | Drug | Rating | Type | Form | Generic? | Pharmacy pays | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 72/100 | Over-the-counter | Drops | No data | — | View → | |
| 2 | Not yet rated | Over-the-counter | Drops | No data | — | View → |
How long alcaftadine keeps
No alcaftadine label we read sets a separate limit for after opening, but they do specify how it must be stored — and the stability behind any date assumes those conditions.
Does alcaftadine expire? The in-use limits and storage rules from its labelsWhat people report to the FDA about alcaftadine
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 28 reports naming alcaftadine, and the FDA flagged 89% of those reports as serious. The effects reported most often — leaving out reports about overdose, misuse or the condition being treated, which dominate the raw list for common medicines:
- chronic kidney disease9 reports
- acute kidney injury7 reports
- renal failure6 reports
- gastrooesophageal reflux disease5 reports
- fatigue2 reports
- nephrogenic anaemia2 reports
- renal injury2 reports
- abdominal pain1 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean alcaftadine caused the effect — anyone can file one, and many describe people taking several medicines for several conditions. Crucially there is no denominator: FAERS does not record how many people took the drug, so these counts cannot be turned into “X% of patients” — a bigger number often just means a more widely used or more talked-about drug. Duplicates exist, and publicity drives reporting. For what is actually established, read the FDA label section above.
Source: openFDA drug/event (FAERS), retrieved July 25, 2026.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
What is alcaftadine?
Lastacaft (Alcaftadine) is a medication used to treat Allergic Conjunctivitis.
Can you take alcaftadine with other medicines?
It depends on the medicine. We check it against the FDA labels rather than guessing: our interaction checker searches each drug's own label for the other and quotes what it says, naming the section it came from. Run alcaftadine against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.
What brand names is alcaftadine sold under?
We track 2 alcaftadine-containing products in the U.S.: Lastacaft and Alcaftadine. They are the same active ingredient; they differ in form, manufacturer, price and FDA recall record.
What forms does alcaftadine come in?
Across the brands we track, alcaftadine is currently marketed as drops, per the FDA's National Drug Code Directory. Each form is dosed differently — follow the label for the exact product you were prescribed.
Is there a generic alcaftadine?
Yes. Our catalog lists 1 generic alcaftadine product alongside the brand versions. A generic has the same active ingredient and must meet the FDA's bioequivalence standard; it usually costs less. Ask your pharmacist which one your plan covers.
Cite this page
- APA
- pharmaranks. (2026, July 24). Alcaftadine: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/alcaftadine
- MLA
- “Alcaftadine: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/alcaftadine.
We summarise public FDA and NIH sources — for a clinical claim, cite the primary source we link to as well.
Sources: FDA openFDA drug label, National Drug Code Directory, and Enforcement (recall) database. This page reproduces public FDA data and is not medical advice. Dosing is set by your prescriber.
Read the full FDA label for alcaftadine on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.