Gritty and painful eyes?

You should go see an eye doctor. Crohns can definetly affect your eyes. Good luck!

I have had tons of eye problems since being diagnosed w/Crohn's.. There can be many causes; iri***/uveitis was the worst.  If your eyes are painful and really sensitive to light, get to an eye doctor immediately.  Otherwise, it could be dry eyes resulting from auto immune condition or side effect from meds, or from getting near menopause..  While you are waiting for your eye doctor appt, you can try over the counter eye drops; but not the cheap kind...something like Soothe or Refresh or Theratears or Blink.  Also make sure you are drinking enough water.  If it is dry eyes, it won't hurt to wait a couple weeks, but again, if you have pain and especially photosensitivity, get to an opthamologist RIGHT AWAY..

I had eye problems about a year ago. My eye doc gave me free samples of steroid and lube drops I think. I looked up the steroid drops and they are pretty pricey, but there are likely cheaper ones. Anyway, the drops made my eye feel almost back to normal after a day. An eye checkup at a chain store isn't much, like $30 or so.

Thanks everyone ... the pain and conjuctivitis/stuff and redness is usually worse in the morning .... redness clears up usually by evening

My temple pain on left side is getting worse - I was told years ago it was from migraines.

Hi, part of heading into menopause is dry eyes. When your eyes are dry they don't clear the proteins as well and so they are dry and scratchy due to protein buildup. . .can you tell I've been dealing with this? the eye doc recommended warm moist soak with a wash cloth for ~5 minutes each and stroking downwards on the upper eyelids (it does feel amazing post soak). . . There are a plethora of eye drops that provide moisture in over the counter format that help also that aren't horribly expensive until you can see the eye doc. Its a process of finding one that is more comfortable than others. Using something with preservatives in it too much causes its own set of problems kinda a rebound conjunctivitis (eye inflammation). But then chronic dry eyes are not only uncomfortable but can lead to eye infections as the moisture is a natural barrier that is supposed to prevent infections. So, being naive - got a viral infection in my right eye last year. Yes, there are eye problems associated with crohn's disease but this issue is very common in pre and menopausal women, statistically significant over crohn's eye issues. As far as eye drops, I avoid the ones made in china -just suspicious about quality controls I think. The eye doc did give me ophthalmic prednisilone (steroid) which i use sparingly. 62% of women have this . . .so another group of new found friends. . . . .sigh . . . .Barb

See the following reference: http://www.eyedoctorguide.com/eye_problems/dry_eyes_menopause.html

mdf34-wonder if the eye doc would agree? GI's see the world as revolving around the intestinal tract . . .+/- merit!

I have the same problem. Seeing an optometrist tomorrow. I have also developed left-sided headaches and eye pressure behind both eyes. I'll let you know what he finds.