Eye complications?

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Jobell

Joined
Dec 12, 2011
Messages
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I myself have Crohns, and now my 15 year old son suddenly developed Iritis and Scleritis out of the blue. The doctor tells me it is often secondary to an underlying autoimmune disease, like Crohns!!!!
I am very worried for him.
Occasionally he has stomach pains or diarrhea, but not more than a normal child might have if he eats too much pizza too fast, lol. I don't think he has any noticeable symptoms of the disease (and with my own experience, I am always hyper aware of my children's stomach issues).
Should I worry?
Has anyone ever had a child present with eye complications that led to a Diagnosis of Crohns? I really don't want to subject him to nasty tests, if he doesn't have any obvious signs of illness.
 
That's actually how I was diagnosed. Several months ago my right eye became severely inflamed. I went to an eye specialist who ordered a complete set of blood work as I was not responding to any of the drops she placed me on. Through this blood they saw that I was positive for HLA-B27 and had a positive ANA (which could both be linked to Crohn's). They were worried I had Ankylosing Sponylitis so I was sent to a rheumatologist who, upon hearing of my family history with Crohn's, sent me for a colonoscopy which confirmed that I do have it.

If it truly worries you see if your primary care doctor will run some blood work. Sit down and talk with his doctor about your concerns and ask his or her professional opinion on the matter. But I wouldn't be too concerned if he isn't experiencing any symptoms of Crohn's. Iritis can be caused by a wide range of things, and sometimes just happens for no apparent reason. So long as it clears up I think he'll be just fine!

Good luck and hope everything turns out well!
 
We didn't realize it was related until a year later when other symptoms presented, but my son had me take him to have his eyes tested twice in less than a year because he kept saying he couldn't see the board or read him books in class. He tested 20/15 both times, I thought he just wanted some "cool" glasses!

Alas, during diagnoses we found out that blurry eyes is due to inflammation :/ who knew??
 
Hi Jobell,

Unfortunately the eye issues you mention can be an extra intestinal manifestation (EIM) of IBD and often precede a diagnosis. There are other parents here that have had children with EIM's that affect their eyes.

I hate to say it but in view of your medical history I would have it further investigated. Good luck! I hope it turns out to be just a one off!

Dusty. xxx
 
I agree with Dusty ... I know the diagnostic tests seem nasty, but I would push for some. You will either rule it out, or catch it early. (I am not sure how normal it is to have diarrhea from over-eating?).
 
Absolutely can present with ocular manifestations and I have read a case hx of just such a situation, a young boy who was asymptomatic except for iritis.
V has never had eye involvement but she was followed closely by the ophthalmologist (every 4 then every 6mos) for the first two years after dx as she was found to have color misperception that "seems" acquired, not congenital.
In the course of my obsessive search for "odd" Crohn's presentations I have also found cases wherein joint involvement was the only symptom, and one with skin lesions only. :eek2:
 
Thank you everyone! Sorry I didn't respond earlier but I was in emerg with my son. His eyes took a bit of a turn for the worse, more complex (now uveilitis, in a deeper layer, and also some increased pressure).
We are dealing.
I have heard this is a possible Crohns related issue, but I never knew it could manifest BEFORE or WITHOUT stomach symptoms! I hate this disease so much, but i would gladly take it on myself in double if i could, rather than condemn even one of my kids to it!!! I think the young people who have Crohns (and parents of those young people) on this site are absolutely awesome, brave, amazing people. Your attitudes and awareness are inspiring.
@KristinaEli did your iritis clear up quickly? were there any complications?

I did get blood work done for my son, and today they are testing for more (and rarer) possible reasons. but the doc said they would not approve any more expensive or involved tests if he doesn't have obvious symptoms (i.e. symptoms of crohns, or arthritis etc.) I still hope he is one of the 50% who get iritis without a known reason.

also, he had an antibiotic for skin reasons for a month, and i heard some anecdotal reports of iritis triggered by that. So i am still kind of hopeful we will find a different cause. I will check if the doc tested for HLA-B27 and ANA (never heard of those tests before).
Thank you guys for your support and info.
 
Thanks for the update hun. :hug: and no need to apologise, we understand. :)

Oh my goodness! What a torrid time you have had. I hope there is a simple explanation too...fingers, toes and everything else crossed!

Good luck with the tests and let us know how your son gets on when you have a chance.

Dusty. x:heart:x:heart:x
 
I hope he's feeling better now that he's getting treatment. Just had Alex in the pediatrician today for pink-eye, but now concerned it could be iritis instead! guess the doctor would've noticed. We'll see if the antibiotic eye drops don't help in the next day or so. crazy.
 
@ Jenn, I am so frustrated that our first doctor did not even find the iritis, and gave us antibiotic drops which we took for almost a week! we wasted a week of treatment, allowing the problem to fester. Hope your case is just a simple infection and clears up soon.

so far this is a pain to treat. I am a bit discouraged.... he is still on prednisone drops every hour or two, and the inflammation has reduced a bit, but not enough. Poor kid had to undergo retinal tests which involved pressing all around his iris with a metal spoon. EWWWW.
Good news is that his blood work has so far come back negative to all tests (yay!!! ) so I am hoping, praying (bargaining? begging?) that this will be a one-off and once we get it under control it will never recur.
At least the new doc is sending him for all kinds of follow up with specialists to rule out rheumatoid arthritis etc.
they said his eyes are not presenting in the typical fashion that Crohn's iritis would present (yay yay again!)
 
Seriously, not sure how long to give the antibiotics to work, have to consider slower healing with Crohn's and Humira impact too. Seems slightly better today. Should be the simple solution, but you never know with Crohn's!

Oh, that sounds awful! Is he in a lot of pain? Alex's is not hurting at all right, just really really red and gunky. I hope all the tests rule out negative and it was just a fluke infection for your boy.
 
If the eye is leaking, then it is more likely infection and not iritis. My son had 2 odd symptoms which should have rang the warning bells - no secretions from the eye at all (no pus or mucous etc.) and pain when he tried to focus close up. The pain was quite strong. The symptoms you describe sound more like standard eye infection. Good luck!

I am still waiting for test results, but cautiously optimistic.
 
Good to know the separate symptoms. Alex had the classic crusted-closed eye for 2 mornings and has gotten better after a few days of antibiotic drops. I just can't ever seem to trust the pediatrician alone now that he has Crohn's, not always sure they take it in to consideration even though I mention it! good to be cautious, but hindsight is always 20-20, don't kick yourself too hard ;) Hope he's feeling better quickly.
 
imaboveitall, I am surprised you knew that obscure fact about iritis. they told me that possible connection in hospital, and even tested him for Lyme disease on the off chance that he might have it as an underlying cause, though it doesn't present much in my area. they also tested for TB and other weird diseases, but said that Crohns (especially in a family with crohns) would be a much more likely cause. So far... no idea where it came from.
 
@Jobell - How's your son doing now?

Alex's pink eye cleared up in a few days. But just came back on Mon (4 weeks after initial onset). I took him to the eye doc Tue to make sure it wasn't serious and it's actually viral instead of bacterial - adenovirus. So he's quarantined the next few days - only time and cleanliness to heal it, lots of saline drops and some Zaditor allergy drops to reduce itchiness and his instinct to rub it. Got to disinfect the house and he's missing school testing. This kid gets the most unusual stuff. I know it's partly the Crohn's and partly the Humira, still maddening. :) sigh. I started him up on Primal Defense again, hopefully to help boost his immune system.
 
Aaaaaarrrrggggghhhhh!!!!!! So, the pinkeye cleared up with 4 days home from school. Got one good week in and now pinkeye is back AGAIN! I didn't postpone his Humira dose last week and probably should have, as his eye doc suggested to let him fight this thing. GI said we could skip a dose, so will be skipping this Monday's dose instead. Maddening.

Also on pins and needles waiting to hear how his protein looked from bloodwork yesterday. Not sure I can take all this!
 
Jenn...I'm sorry if I missed this elsewhere. What is the go with the pins and needles?

IIRC your boy has Crohn's in his TI, has his B12 been tested?

Dusty. xxx
 
Naturally, haven't heard back yet, so I guess no news is good news. His b-12 has been fine, as far as I know, after concern of it being elevated last Jan. We see his eye doc later today.
 
@Jenn, sorry to hear you got a double dose of eye trouble! hope it clears up nicely this time. Pink eye is a pain because of the fear it will spread.
My son's inflammation is almost gone, thanks for asking, but he is still on the prednisone drops! long time treatment. He is tapering now, and the great hope is that he doesn't flare once we reduce the drops completely. So weird how all these autoimmune diseases react the same.

Believe it or not, I am STILL waiting for a referral to the rheumatologist to test him for that. By the time we get an appointment, he won't be eligible for sick kids hospital at this rate!
 
Thanks guys, but no go... Not only was he still positive for adenovirus - pinkeye - but now has a corneal abrasion on top of it. We will pound it with antibiotic and antiviral and pain drops now.

Thanks for the update Jobell. Glad to hear he's better and here's hoping he doesn't reflare! Waiting for specialists appointments is maddening.

To add some misery, I heard back from the GI nurse that Alex's latest bloodwork is not good, protein and albumin dropped a lot and now calcium is down too in the last month. RATS! We may start him on prednisone and need to schedule a new endoscopy/colonoscopy. It's been a year and half since his first one, but was so difficult to get through. Honestly, his main inflammation was in the upper-GI flouroscopy and his Jan cat scan still showed significant inflammation there, so why not repeat that first? I need to do some followup phone calls, he doesn't have an appt with GI til end of June. *whimper*
 
Eye doc visit on Fri and corneal abrasion healed, they are usually fast, and now the redness is gone. He's still quarantined until next eye doc visit on Tue. Got a GI appt on Wed so I can ask a zillion questions. Nurse said his inflammation was normal, but then when I got the numbers, he's back up to 9 from 3, so still normal, but it going up makes me think Humira is failing. Will post again next week.
 
Good luck Jenn! Fingers toes and everything else crossed that all remains well.

Thinking of you, :heart:
Dusty. xxx
 

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