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Photophobia?

Helena

By Helena
in Related Issues & Disorders

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Helena Contributor
Helena
Posted

Besides having celiac myself, I'm related to someone who I am sure has it. Most of her symptoms (including the classic GI ones when ingesting gluten!) would be explained by celiac disease. The thing is, though, she got sick after coming down with a weird illness and not recovering entirely----I'm thinking the virus triggered celiac disease.

The one symptom which does not seem to fit is photophobia. (This wasn't a persistent symtpom, but back when she was really ill, she had to draw all the blinds because the light hurt her eyes.)

Would celiac disease have caused this?

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tarnalberry Community Regular
tarnalberry
Posted

if it's a "light hurt her eyes" in a "gave her a bad headache" sense, it could be a migraine related thing, which may be related to gluten. of course, sometimes, you can have celiac, and other, unrelated, things too.

and one theory of celiac is that it can be triggered by an extended illness.

Helena Contributor
Helena
Posted
  • Author

Thanks---yes, I think the photophobia was accompanied by headaches, so that does make sense. I'm trying to figure out her potential objections to the celiac disease idea so I can convince her to stop eating gluten entirely, and this helps. (She is getting small amounts of gluten in 1 product.)

Rachel--24 Collaborator
Rachel--24
Posted

Yes....I had this symptom and it was horrible. It was at the onset of my illness and I couldnt drive and was wearing sunglasses in my house...at night! Even the light from the TV was enough to bother me. It was also very painful. My eyes are still sensitive but not nearly as bad and they rarely hurt. I dont wear sunglasses in the house and I can go to the movies and drive w/out sunglasses. :)

In my case it wasnt caused by gluten intolerance...alot of symptoms lingered long after starting the diet. I only found out a couple weeks ago I have Lyme Disease. I believe that was the trigger for all my problems. If she never figured out what her intitial "weird" virus was....maybe its something she could look into?? I got tested through Igenix lab in CA...its suppossed to be the most reliable lab for Lyme testing...as the other labs dont often pick it up and give false negatives.

jukie Rookie
jukie
Posted

I've had what I refer to as a "weird eye disease" since childhood. It took over two years and dozens of doctors in two states to diagnose it (sound familiar <_< ) as Thygeson's Superficial Punctate Keratitis (or Keratopathy). One of the symptoms is photophobia. Not much is known about the cause but recent research has identified a common genetic marker among sufferers...which just happens to be the same maker that carries celiac disease :blink: Coincidence??? Hmmm....

almostnrn Explorer
almostnrn
Posted

When I had to "load up" on gluten for my EGD I began having chronic cluster migranes. I hadn't had this happen since I was a kid and needless to say was less than excited by it. I loose vision prior to a migrane starting and the only difference for this new onset was that my vision didn't exactly clear up or go back to normal, I still had spots or I think they are called floaters. I saw my eye doctor, regular doctor only to be told I had healthy eyes. My regular doctor did finally get it when I broke down in his office and told him I was terrified to go anywhere because it might start and I didn't want to be on the road especially with kids in the car. We decided that these headaches were probably triggered by food. The day I had my EGD I immediately went back to a gluten-free diet and poof the headaches and light sensitivities vanished. I can tell if I have gotten into gluten in any way because those tell tale symptoms come back. Don't know if this helps or not but I hope so.

Jpmat Newbie
Jpmat
Posted

Before I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, I had this and it accompained migraine headaches. I just had to lie perfectly still with the shades drawn. A lot of nausea accompanied these migraines too. Mirgraines were a regular part of my life until I started the Celiac Diet. I often use to see floaters in advance of coming down with the mirgraine. Sometimes I also experienced blurred vision too - it looked like I was looking through the heat that rises off the road during the summer. This strange vision particularly occured during my pregancy. I am so pleased to say that a migraine or even headaches are rare now that I am on the gluten free diet.

Besides having celiac myself, I'm related to someone who I am sure has it. Most of her symptoms (including the classic GI ones when ingesting gluten!) would be explained by celiac disease. The thing is, though, she got sick after coming down with a weird illness and not recovering entirely----I'm thinking the virus triggered celiac disease.

The one symptom which does not seem to fit is photophobia. (This wasn't a persistent symtpom, but back when she was really ill, she had to draw all the blinds because the light hurt her eyes.)

Would celiac disease have caused this?

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  • 1 month later...
The One Apprentice
The One
Posted

I've had photophobia since I was a kid [i'm now 21] and I do think they may be related in some way but I sure dont know how. I have heard that celiac can cause edemas and I have a corneal edema that usually causes these bouts of photofobia for which I used to also have to stay in a dark room sometimes for days. I'm not certain I have celiac disease but I'm pretty sure I do, I noticed that after I had the flu this year my symptoms have gotten way worse and I have read in a lot of different articles that the regular flu [or rotavirus] is closely related to Celiac and it can, indeed, trigger celiac in children, so I see how it could trigger symptoms as well.

Nantzie Collaborator
Nantzie
Posted

Before I went gluten-free I never thought I had headaches. Ever. But it was only after going gluten-free that I realized that I was actually having constant headaches. I just thought that the way my head felt was just the way it felt to have a head. It had been the way I felt for so many years that I just never considered it as as a symptom or even a concern. I didn't realize it wasn't normal.

Now, when I get glutened, I get intense headaches. I can't tolerate light or sound. Even the light from a window across the room makes me squint.

Now that I'm gluten-free, I still get amazed when I realize all of a sudden that I'm not wearing sunglasses in the middle of a bright, sunny day. I always wore sunglasses during the day before, even on overcast days.

Nancy

angst2amity Rookie
angst2amity
Posted

Maybe others responded with this already but photosensitivity in autoimmune disorders is a major symptom of LUPUS. Check ANAs. And see if she meets at least 4 of these criteria:

Open Original Shared Link

Just another thing they looked at me for.

2kids4me Contributor
2kids4me
Posted

When my daughter got migraines from gluten (prior to diagnosis), the light hurt eyes a lot. She would go to bed, put a blanket over her head and ask me to turn the lights off - they were already off!

A headache is a common reaction to gluten and photophobia goes along woth headaches /migraines.

Hope this helps.

Sandy

Helena Contributor
Helena
Posted
  • Author

I forgot to recheck this thread since my last post. It's interesting that so many people with celiac are light sensitive. I checked out the lupus site--nope, don't think that that is it. But celiac and possibly some sort of tick-related disease like Lyme's are likely in my sister's case.

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