Inflammation of the eyes

[Lucy]

Hello everyone it's been a while since I have been on here. Had a new grandson, selling my house, and busy, busy, busy.
Anyway I started having reddness, swelling of upper and lower eyelids, itching, and some blurry vision at times. I thought it was an eye infection, so I went to see a NP at my PCP's office. She said just allergies and gave me allergy eye drops. They didn't help. Seen by my GI told her about the eye problem and she said see an eye dr. so I did. He said I had imflammation around the eyes, but not in them for now and that was good. He gave me steroid/antibiotic eye drops to use 4 times a day. They are better after only 2 days of treatment. Has anyone else had eye problems???
Thank you for your input.
Lucy

 

[kello82]

mhmmm i hear ya. though my eye symptoms were a bit different but, the same result, steroid drops and then RAPID improvement.

for me it would start out feeling like i had something stuck in my eye, a bit like pink eye actually. some redness, pain/pressure, and wateryness. then a bump type leision would appear ALWAYS right where the colored part of the eye meets the white. anywhere in that circle, but always in that meeting point. it sort of looked like a whitehead pimple...sort of...but with a lot of redness around the bump and bloodshotness going out from it.

anyways, i have had that situation quite a few times and its always the same, roid drops and it goes away immediately.

 

[DustyKat]

Hey Lucy,

Roo always use to complain of sore eyes, like an ache, but they could never find anything wrong. Stinky started a thread a few weeks ago about IBD and eye problems that you might like to read............

http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=11969

Dusty.

 

[outlier]

Hi Lucy,
My eye's were my first symptom of crohn's. I have Nodular scleritis and uveitis. Often the outside of my eye feels tender also. Considering this has been doing on for 2 years I am still surprised they present differently they can present.
If you are using steroid eye drops make sure to get your eye pressure checked and make sure your doctor is familiar with inflammatory disease in the eye.
The eye drops work really fast but with like all steroids you need to tapper off. There is also anti inflammatory eye drops (that stain things yellow).
Good luck and buy some eye sun glasses.

 

[Lucy]

Thank you so much for the advice. I hope this problem doesn't happen very often.

 

[Jennifer]

Are you taking Prednisone by chance? Its known to cause similar eye problems and can permanently damage your eyes over time. Just a thought.

"High dose or long-term use of prednisone can cause two types of eye problems - cataracts and glaucoma. Cataracts are deposits in the lens of the eye and are part of the normal aging process. They are more common after long term prednisone usage and there is nothing you can do to prevent them. Fortunately, the cataracts caused by prednisone are usually small and usually not the type that interfere with normal vision. Prednisone can also increase the pressure of the fluid inside the eyeball, a painless condition known as glaucoma. If eyeball pressure rises high enough, vision may be permanently damaged. Blindness can result. However, once diagnosed, glaucoma can be treated with prescription eyedrops. Patients on prednisone should see their eye doctor at least once a year for a complete eye examination."
http://www.gihealth.com/html/education/drugs/prednisone.html

 

[Lucy]

Nope never been on prednisone. I refused to take that stuff. Just on Humira right now. The drops have made my eyes all better. Taper off this weekend. Hopefully they will stay good for a while.
Lucy

 

[ellie]

Anterior uveitis was my first indication of what has turned out to be CD. It developed after a couple of weeks of diarrhea( which I thought was due to a gastro bug) Next came an ankle arthritis, then iritis a few days later. As a plump 50 year old, Crohn's didn't enter my mind as a diagnosis. I was given an initial diagnosis if Reiter's Syndrome, but earlier this year had a recurrence of diarrhea with some PR bleeding, followed by iritis again. This time I had a colonoscopy and Crohn's colitis was diagnosed. Oral steroids this time round made the iritis recovery much faster - I spent many months on pred forte drops the first time. I'd be interested to hear from others with late onset CD, and/or iritis

 

[DustyKat]

Hi ellie and :welcome: to the forum,

Would you like to post in the Your Story forum so you can be properly welcomed? The members here are all ages and you will find others here that were diagnosed later in life. I hope you stick around 'cause this is a safe and friendly place with loads of information and support.

Welcome aboard!

Take care,
Dusty

 

[jamilea]

I'm glad the drops made your eyes feel better. Eye symptoms are the worst in my opinion. At least I'll know what to do if that happens to me so thank you for posting this.

 

[Lucy]

jamilea
your welcome. I didn't know about inflammation of the eyes until it happened. This forum is so great. The people here are so nice and helpful.
Lucy