Eye Infections Anyone?

[Celiaction]

Just wondering if anyone else gets this weepy, itchy, gooey, publicly embarassing problem.

I consistently get what seems to be an eye infection when poisoned (glutened). It may be an opportunistic infection (immune system busy elsewhere) or a more direct symptom.

There's extreme times when my eyes swell shut. And that old adage of "don't rub it" doesn't apply cause I just have to get these painful strings of goo out to survive.

[Gemini]

Just wondering if anyone else gets this weepy, itchy, gooey, publicly embarassing problem.

I consistently get what seems to be an eye infection when poisoned (glutened). It may be an opportunistic infection (immune system busy elsewhere) or a more direct symptom.

There's extreme times when my eyes swell shut. And that old adage of "don't rub it" doesn't apply cause I just have to get these painful strings of goo out to survive.

You ought to be tested for Sjogren's Syndrome, which is another of those wonderful autoimmune diseases one can get along with Celiac. It is a simple blood test.

My eyes were incredibly screwed up a couple of years back, before I was diagnosed with celiac disease. I started to suffer from attacks of conjunctivitis when the mold count was high. I also have severe mold allergies that always seemed to affect my eye's the worst. I didn't know it at the time but I also had Sjogren's. My eye's would become brick red, like a hell hound, and would have some discharge, although small. They would feel sticky and sometimes I'd wake up and they would be sealed shut.

After going gluten-free and starting on Restasis eye drops for the dryness, they have improved dramatically and rarely bother me much. Only on very humid days do they become slightly red.

I wish you luck as it is horrible not to have your eyes be well.

[Guest kivmom3]

I used to work in the eye care field as a nurse so this is what i think:

You may be getting recurrent conjunctivitis infections due to an allergic response. I guess it could occur with being glutened since tons of things can happen when one is glutened. My suggestion is that when you do get the gooey, slimy, itchy eyes to NOT RUB! Take a cold compress and dab your eyes with it. It will make the eyes feel better and take the urge to itch away. Do it for about 10 minutes and make sure the towel is cold. Then get some over the counter tears, make sure they are gluten-free, i think most are, and use them. If it is a persistent problem, maybe check out an ophthalmologist and get some antibiotics or they may have some other suggestions that I'm missing. I've been out of the field for 9 years but try to keep up to date on eye issues.

Hope this helps

Gg

[gfgypsyqueen]

I get the "pink eye" thing from allergic reactions and who knows why. It's just one of those things I've always had. Nice scary bright red eyes that have goo and itch and swell. Painful and miserable. The Natural Tears help me. Anymore I just call in for a prescription for pink eye meds when it does not go away or feels different. The one anaphylactic reaction that I had, my swelling alerted me to the problem and a called the nurse before the reaction hit my lungs. I was in a hospital at the time. So now, I know when my eye goes nuts, something is really wrong with my system.

[Celiaction]

Thank you all for your kind, insightful comments. Each of your observations has helped me find better approaches to this "one more symtom of celiac disease." One thing I'll pass on is a naturaopathic remedy of coloidal silver eydrops. Seems to help.

[sickchick]

Hi I am new, still waiting on my biopsy, but I am positive I have celiac. I do have the gooey eye problem, I hate it and I notice it's worse in the mornings when I am waking up. bleh.

Will try the colloidal silver

Nice to meet you all, too bad it's under these circumstances

sickchick

[blistovmhz]

Hi I am new, still waiting on my biopsy, but I am positive I have celiac. I do have the gooey eye problem, I hate it and I notice it's worse in the mornings when I am waking up. bleh.

Will try the colloidal silver

Nice to meet you all, too bad it's under these circumstances

sickchick

I've the same problem. I actually outlined my entire history here at some point, but very generally, my Celiac symptoms began immediately after I got the first eye infection of my life. I took Moxifloxicin antibiotic eye drops for the infection, which cleared immediately, but the started to recur every week. Antibiotics no longer keep the infection at bay, and its been a constant fight since February. I've found that using "Similasan eye drops (Atropa Belladonna), thrice a day, keeps the infection at bay (didn't intend to rhyme there...), but the infection is ALWAYS still trying to come back. My eyes have been insanely itchy for six months, and all my childhood allergies have started coming back, one by one.

I ALSO just figured out that my thyroid replacement drug, has gluten in it (don't ask how may doctors told me otherwise). So while I've never gotten better from my Celiac symptoms nor hypothyroid symptoms, I've actually never been truly gluten free.

Did anyone else come up with a theory to explain, or a long term solution to the eye infections?

[elle's mom]

blistovmhz-

To qualify myself, I am an optometrist.......what you are describing and those posters from 2 years ago is a severe allergic conjunctivitis caused by exposure to whatever you're allergic to. The best treatment is, of course, first to limit exposure but also there are a couple of really good anti-allergy eyedrops.

1. Is an Rx so you'd need to visit an eyedoc to get a script: Pataday used once a day to treat and prevent further occurances. Needs to be used on a consistent basis to prevent.

2. Is an OTC, basically same medication in a lower concentration: Zaditor-use twice a day, same as above.

3. The Similisan herbal remedy is also good for soothing though it doesn't prevent the extreme itchy outbreaks it can help while they're occurring.

I would recommend a combination of either 1 or 2, along with 3 as needed. Also cold compresses during extreme episodes helps a lot!! FYI: I myself get this too and it SUCKS!!

[Lisa16]

Add my name to the list! When the celiac was at its worst (right before diagnosis) I would get GPC (giant papillary conjuntivitis), which was explained to me as an auto-immune problem of the lining of the eye. I have scarring from this and have been told I can never wear contacts again. I also had chronic dry eye that the doctors couldn't find a cause for.

The best thing for an eye infection is the antibiotic drops-- go see Elle's mom! Do not take chances with your eyes.

However, I find that if I think I have one starting up or feel my eyes are irritated, taking warm, wet teabags that have been used to brew my morning tea and putting them over the eye in question can sometimes stave off a full-blown infection. This is a home remedy I have seen people from various countries use and if you google it, you will see it is fairly common.

It works because the tea is astringent (and therefore soothes the irritation) and also slightly changes the Ph, making the area less hospitible for bacteria. In addition, hot compresses have been used for centuries to treat eye infections and the tea bags are warm.

Good luck! I would go see a doctor for a chronic condition like you are describing. But if they can't figure out what is wrong, giving the tea bag thing a try might be worth it. :-)

[blistovmhz]

blistovmhz-

To qualify myself, I am an optometrist.......what you are describing and those posters from 2 years ago is a severe allergic conjunctivitis caused by exposure to whatever you're allergic to. The best treatment is, of course, first to limit exposure but also there are a couple of really good anti-allergy eyedrops.

1. Is an Rx so you'd need to visit an eyedoc to get a script: Pataday used once a day to treat and prevent further occurances. Needs to be used on a consistent basis to prevent.

2. Is an OTC, basically same medication in a lower concentration: Zaditor-use twice a day, same as above.

3. The Similisan herbal remedy is also good for soothing though it doesn't prevent the extreme itchy outbreaks it can help while they're occurring.

I would recommend a combination of either 1 or 2, along with 3 as needed. Also cold compresses during extreme episodes helps a lot!! FYI: I myself get this too and it SUCKS!!

Any way to prove my eye symptoms originate from allergic response? I've tried an anti-histamine eye drop, but it did nothing. Though to be fair, the histamine tricks me into rubbing my eyes in my sleep, and then I get a bacterial infection, which the anti-histamine doesn't really help for... Also, the redness really shows more in the morning, and fades throughout the day, unless it actually breaks out into a horrible gooey infection.

The larger picture here, seems to indicate several failures (or freak outs) of my immune system, but I can be fairly confident that my immune system, while perhaps a bit confused, is doing a bang up job. Everyone in my house has been sick the past 6 months, while I have not. I however, get chronic eye infections, from which no one else seems to suffer. Histemic response would cause me to rub my eyes in my sleep, but again, I never get infections. I've done a lot of manual labour, and my hands are constantly filthy, and I've never thought twice about rubbing my eyes, and until Feb this year, I've never had a problem. The allergic response makes sense to me, but I still then, need to explain why I am now so susceptible to bacterial infection in my eyes, but no where else.

[elle's mom]

Any way to prove my eye symptoms originate from allergic response? I've tried an anti-histamine eye drop, but it did nothing. Though to be fair, the histamine tricks me into rubbing my eyes in my sleep, and then I get a bacterial infection, which the anti-histamine doesn't really help for... Also, the redness really shows more in the morning, and fades throughout the day, unless it actually breaks out into a horrible gooey infection.

The larger picture here, seems to indicate several failures (or freak outs) of my immune system, but I can be fairly confident that my immune system, while perhaps a bit confused, is doing a bang up job. Everyone in my house has been sick the past 6 months, while I have not. I however, get chronic eye infections, from which no one else seems to suffer. Histemic response would cause me to rub my eyes in my sleep, but again, I never get infections. I've done a lot of manual labour, and my hands are constantly filthy, and I've never thought twice about rubbing my eyes, and until Feb this year, I've never had a problem. The allergic response makes sense to me, but I still then, need to explain why I am now so susceptible to bacterial infection in my eyes, but no where else.

OK-it's hard to know for sure without looking into your eyes myself.......BUT I doubt you have actual infections (ie viral or bacterial). From the sounds of it on your first post it is definately allergic only. The redness, puffiness, intense itchiness, white stringy discharge, watering etc. are blatently allergy. Sometimes you can even get crusties that form while you're sleeping that cause your eyelids to be stuck together in the am. The two meds I suggested are more than just an antihistimine; they are a combination antihistimine/mast cell stabilizer. So in other words, if you use them regularly you should stop getting the respose you're describing. Initially, though they should provide some relief, but the real bang is beyond 2 weeks when your system will stop producing the reaction.

That being said, a household full of sickies and dirty hands/manual labor/rubbing could potentially lead to an acutual viral or bacterial infection. You need to visit an eye doctor-a good one- to know that for sure. They could do a conjunctival scrape and send it to the lab, but good luck finding someone to do that. Most likely it would have to be an MD (not an OD like myself, unless they have local hospital privaledges), but most docs anymore are so confident in diagnosing by observation and history alone a scrape is rarely done.

Also, chronic recurrent "infections" could also be a sign of contact lens related issues OR other things which I won't mention, but hopefully you don't have.

[blistovmhz]

Heh... I've tested myself for every possible virus or bacteria under the sun, and never found anything. Like I said, I've been dealing with the eye issue since Feb, so I've ruled out everything I could think of. Allergies was all that was really left, but I didn't know there was any discharge from the eye in allergic response.

I've switched to the Armour Thyroid med now, and feeling a lot better on day two, and eye symptoms are gone right now, so I'll just keep my fingers crossed and see how it goes for a couple weeks.