Celiac And Eye Problems?

[LAceliac]

I am new to this board and am wondering if anyone has ever experienced or heard about celiac and eye-related issues? I have heard about blurred vision that celiac can cause, but anything more like problems with retina, light sensitivity, etc?

Very curious to hear if anyone knows more on this topic. Thanks!

[Gemini]

I am new to this board and am wondering if anyone has ever experienced or heard about celiac and eye-related issues? I have heard about blurred vision that celiac can cause, but anything more like problems with retina, light sensitivity, etc?

Very curious to hear if anyone knows more on this topic. Thanks!

I have never heard of blurred vision being caused directly by Celiac but you will find that eye problems can be caused by other autoimmune problems that develop along with Celiac. One of the main ones is Sjogren's Syndrome, which I suffer from. Your eyes become extremely dry and light sensitivity is common with dry eye and Sjogren's. My vision will sometimes become blurred but it most often occurs when I am tired. It is also very common for people with Celiac to have additional allergies, which can affect the eyes and cause similar symptoms.

[HollyH]

I was told a few years ago that my vision is 20/30. I don't believe that to be true anymore, and it seems to be decreasing since I was diagnosed with Celiac in June of 2007. I can't see at a distance very well, or up close either. My eyes are also very sensitive to light.

I too would be interested to know more info about this. It is so easy to blame Celiac for everything!

[LAceliac]

That's so interesting about allergies - I have developed them in the past few years and I feel like they get worse each season. The more I learn about celiac there more I think there might be celiac in my family ... nothing diagnosed, but my mom has history of iritis (inflamation of the eye), arthritis, IBS and miscarriage. My sister is lactose intolerant, and I have always thought I suffered from chronic IBS. I have also had dry eyes and light sensitivity and recently I had a retina detachment and I'm in my early 30s (which is pretty uncommon), so it might be a stretch but I want to investigate to see if somehow these might be connected. If I can prevent another eye injury (and, of course, to not to have to live with IBS symptoms) it's worth giving up gluten!

This is a really informative board - I had no idea how prevalent celiac really is and have learned so much already! I truly appreciate the responses - thank you!

[gfb1]

I was told a few years ago that my vision is 20/30. I don't believe that to be true anymore, and it seems to be decreasing since I was diagnosed with Celiac in June of 2007. I can't see at a distance very well, or up close either. My eyes are also very sensitive to light.

I too would be interested to know more info about this. It is so easy to blame Celiac for everything!

it IS easy to blame celiac for everything...

however, this is the way things go with diseases of the immune system (which, depending on your perspective, can be the primary cause or secondary symptomology of celiac disease). as another individual mentioned, as well as numerous threads in the forum, Open Original Shared Link can be associated with celiac, derm. herpetiformis and other autoimmune diseases (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis).

otoh... a few years ago my eyes were better than 20/20... now, i'm into reading glasses, prescription lenses & bifocals ... and i'm not even celiac...

[Mother of Jibril]

I was just reading this morning about vitamin A deficiency... which can cause dry eyes, dry skin, poor night vision, sensitivity to bright lights, and inflammation in your eyes. Interesting! Celiac disease is associated with all kinds of vitamin and mineral deficiencies due to malabsorption.

Some foods that can increase your intake of vitamin A: cod liver oil, organ meats, and orange/red vegetables (for the beta carotene).