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Eye Symptoms - are these related to crohns?

I was diagnosed with Ileitis at the start of May, still waiting to get a MRI scan of my small bowel so I haven't been confirmed with Crohns disease. One of my worst symptoms is my severe eye pain, I was diagnosed with Uveitis and retinal vasculitis a year and a half ago. my eye doctor says my eyes are inactive just now and there doesn't seem to be any signs of both however I still experience blurry vision and really bad eye pain.

I was given two bouts of laser surgery to help the retinal vasculitis.

My question that I have is these eye symptoms consistent with crohns disease? I'm just trying to piece the puzzle to together.
 

Nyx

Moderator
I have Crohn's related eye issues (rosacea-related blepharitis) which resulted in an corneal ulcer, then a perforated cornea. Get yourself to an ophthalmologist (not a regular eye doctor) and have everything checked out. I never really thought about my eyes much till I couldn't see out of one of them. Good luck to you!
 

CrohnsChicago

Super Moderator
Consider any eye issues including uveitis an emergency and make an appointment immediately with an opthamologist or head to the ER to prevent any potential permanent damage to your vision including loss of sight.

I was diagnosed with Uveitis a few years ago around the time I started suspecting something was wrong with my digestive system. It took about two months of steroid drops and 24/7 pupil dilation to clear it up. It wasn't until last year I got a diagnosis of Crohn's and I found out that the two are commonly linked.
 
thats interesting mines happened about a year and half ago and I think my uveitis maybe linked to my ileitis. what type of drops did they prescribe you? I still get horrible pain in my eye and they get strained very easily. I used steroid eye drop but it was only for 2 weeks as they said the side effects were bad. I just wish it could go away.
 

CrohnsChicago

Super Moderator
I used Prednisolone drops for two months. I had no choice. My vision was blurry, the Uveitis turned up in both eyes and I could see blood cells floating in my field of vision. I was kept on the drops (don't remember the exact dosage) and had to wear sunglasses all day and take caution driving because I also was prescribed dilation drops.

I had to see my opthamologist every two weeks to make sure there was no additional damage being done. They gave me TB tests, x-rays, bloodwork and something else I can't remember to try and figure out the cause. All unsuccessful. BOY was I glad when it finally went away. I was never warned of the side effects and I was younger and more naive then so I didn't think anything of it I was just more afraid because they couldn't figure out WHY I had uveitis.

I didn't necessarily notice any side effects either but I was also having anxiety issues during that time and contributed much of my physical problems at the time to that in addition to the mental ones.
 
Hi,
The first thing that I want to say that IBD may be associated with uveitis. The percentage is low. Other reasons for red eye are scleritis and episcleritis. As you said you were diagnosed with uveitis and that's mean that you have to check your eyes every time you get a red eye. Treatment is with predinsolone eye drops but they may add drops that dilate the pupil as these may reduce the pain. As your doctor said, there are a lot of side effects to predinsolone eye drops but some times these are the only solution. There is a type of weak corticosteroid drops and has the minimum side effects called Lotemax. I hope this is helpful. BTW I have Crohn's and I'm an ophthalmologist.
 
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