Jump to content
  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.




  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):



    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):


  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Gluten And Eye Floaters


sleer

Recommended Posts

sleer Contributor

Has anyone experienced "floaters" as a symptom of gluten allergy and/or celiacs? I'm talking about the spots you see floating in your line of vision. Either seen as spots, flashes, or dark lines?


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



curlyfries Contributor

Has anyone experienced "floaters" as a symptom of gluten allergy and/or celiacs? I'm talking about the spots you see floating in your line of vision. Either seen as spots, flashes, or dark lines?

I used to have floaters big-time pre-gluten free. Not sure when they went away. One day about a year ago, I guess, someone mentioned floaters and that's when it occurred to me I no longer had them.

CRashster Newbie

I have floaters. It's weird. I hate them.

ravenwoodglass Mentor

I used to get them all the time. Haven't had any now in years.

pain*in*my*gut Apprentice

Has anyone experienced "floaters" as a symptom of gluten allergy and/or celiacs? I'm talking about the spots you see floating in your line of vision. Either seen as spots, flashes, or dark lines?

YES! I saw my eye doc a month ago and told him about the floater in my right eye and he said there was nothing there. :unsure: Well, I am looking at it right now, right in the middle of my vision field! It comes and goes, too. And the flashes of light, like a spark, happen to me every day. When I was gluten free for 2 weeks before I started my challenge, it all went away! It will be interesting to see how much of this goes away FOR GOOD when I go gluten free!

  • 1 month later...
spadav1s Newbie

An eye doctor can help you control the symptoms and even offer surgery options, if needed, to permanently solve your floaters problem. It did mine. If you need an excellent recommendation, hands-down go with Dr. Alan Carlson at Duke Eye Center. Decades of expertise with thousands of surgeries under his belt. That website is what convinced me to schedule a consult and I

mushroom Proficient

I have floaters that I chase all over every page of every book and newspaper. It would be a miracle to be rid of them :rolleyes:


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



ravenwoodglass Mentor

An eye doctor can help you control the symptoms and even offer surgery options, if needed, to permanently solve your floaters problem. It did mine. If you need an excellent recommendation, hands-down go with Dr. Alan Carlson at Duke Eye Center. Decades of expertise with thousands of surgeries under his belt. That website is what convinced me to schedule a consult and Ive no regrets. (Of course if youre nowhere near North Carolina, Google is equally helpful in finding a nearer specialist.)

I had floaters for years before diagnosis and every eye doctor I saw told me they were annoying but harmless. Since I am legally blind without glasses I have seen a lot of eye doctors on a regular basis. There is no way I would risk an eye surgery to get rid of them even if they were still present.

Di2011 Enthusiast

An eye doctor can help you control the symptoms and even offer surgery options, if needed, to permanently solve your floaters problem. It did mine. If you need an excellent recommendation, hands-down go with Dr. Alan Carlson at Duke Eye Center. Decades of expertise with thousands of surgeries under his belt. That website is what convinced me to schedule a consult and I

lizard00 Enthusiast

I have floaters, too, for lack of a better word. My eye doc said it's because my eyes are really dry and the tears dry and leave fragments and that's what I see. Gross. It has gotten a little better since I've tried to use drops daily.

LOWNskater52 Apprentice

Wow.

I have had eye floaters now for a year and a half. That coincideces exactly with my gluten symptoms. Never put two and two together.

Thanks

jmrogers31 Contributor

Not to scare anyone here because symptoms of lyme disease and celiac disease are very similar, but the floaters in the eyes are a very common symptom of lyme disease. When I researched my symptoms celiac and lyme always came up together. I have never been tested for lyme disease but I grew in a small town and had my share of tick bites. The reason I bring this up is that the floaters in the eyes is one symptom that seems to be more related to lyme disease (not that it can't happen in someone with celiac).

DonnaMM Explorer

I have floaters, I got one just before I went gluten free, it seems to be fading since I went gluten free, but the doctors say it will likely never go away

Curlyqueen Rookie

Just curious, could the floaters be from a vitamin or mineral deficiency caused by malabsorption due to celiac disease?

  • 1 year later...
Keshavdas Apprentice

Has anyone experienced "floaters" as a symptom of gluten allergy and/or celiacs? I'm talking about the spots you see floating in your line of vision. Either seen as spots, flashes, or dark lines?

I started getting floaters maybe 9 months ago. I've been glutin free for about 3 months now and they are pretty much non-existent.

Cannot say for sure the two are connected. Often the brain compensates and learns to ignore them and they seem to go away on

their own. Also since being gluten-free - I don't have the constant scaley dry skin all the time in the corner of my eyes which I use to have to

treat with Neosporin. If I stare into the the air long enough and think about them they start re-appear a bit - but not like the early days

when I thought they would drive me mad. Hang in there.

Celiac Mindwarp Community Regular

These are also symptoms of detached retina.

This is a serious condition which needs checking out quickly. Especially if the lines become a shadow or curtain.

Been there, treat soon if it is

Edited to add, sorry, didn't spot this was an old post

jerseyangel Proficient

I got a crash course on floaters last month when my husband suddenly experienced a flash of light followed by lots of floaters in one eye--something that came on suddenly and he had not experienced before.

A trip to the doctor led to an evening at Wills Eye Hospital ER (Philadelphia). The retina specialist there explained that floaters are common and become moreso as we age. A trauma to the eye can also bring them about. What actually causes them is the gel-like fluid around the retina begins to pull away a bit from the back of the eye (common as we age). The thing to watch for, and call a doctor immediately, is if they suddenly increase and/or you see a "curtain" falling over your vision from the sides. This could indicate a detached retina and needs medical attention.

Floaters are common, detached retina is not but it is good to know the warning signs.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):





    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):




  • Recent Activity

    1. - JudyLou replied to JudyLou's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      9

      Seeking advice on potential gluten challenge

    2. - knitty kitty replied to JudyLou's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      9

      Seeking advice on potential gluten challenge

    3. - trents replied to Mark Conway's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      5

      Have I got coeliac disease

    4. - trents replied to Mark Conway's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      5

      Have I got coeliac disease

    5. - JudyLou replied to JudyLou's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      9

      Seeking advice on potential gluten challenge

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):
  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      133,154
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    Kathy N
    Newest Member
    Kathy N
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):
  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):
  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • JudyLou
      Thank you so much for the clarification! Yes to these questions: Have you consulted dietician?  Have you been checked for nutritional deficiencies?  Osteoporosis? Thyroid? Anemia?  Do you take any supplements, or vitamins? I’m within healthy range for nutritional tests, thyroid and am not anemic. I do have osteopenia. I don’t take any medications, and the dietician was actually a nutritionist (not sure if that is the same thing) recommended by my physician at the time to better understand gluten free eating.    I almost wish the gluten exposure had triggered something, so at least I’d know what’s going on. So confusing!    Many thanks! 
    • knitty kitty
      @JudyLou,  I have dermatitis herpetiformis, too!  And...big drum roll... Niacin improves dermatitis herpetiformis!   Niacin is very important to skin health and intestinal health.   You're correct.  dermatitis herpetiformis usually occurs on extensor muscles, but dermatitis herpetiformis is also pressure sensitive, so blisters can form where clothing puts pressure on the skin. Elastic waist bands, bulky seams on clothing, watch bands, hats.  Rolled up sleeves or my purse hanging on my arm would make me break out on the insides of my elbows.  I have had a blister on my finger where my pen rested as I write.  Foods high in Iodine can cause an outbreak and exacerbate dermatitis herpetiformis. You've been on the gluten free diet for a long time.  Our gluten free diet can be low in vitamins and minerals, especially if processed gluten free foods are consumed.  Those aren't fortified with vitamins like gluten containing products are.  Have you consulted dietician?  Have you been checked for nutritional deficiencies?  Osteoporosis? Thyroid? Anemia?  Do you take any supplements, medicine, or vitamins? Niacin deficiency is connected to anemia.  Anemia can cause false negatives on tTg IgA tests.  A person can be on that borderline where symptoms wax and wane for years, surviving, but not thriving.  We have a higher metabolic need for more nutrients when we're sick or emotionally stressed which can deplete the small amount of vitamins we can store in our bodies and symptoms reappear.   Exposure to gluten (and casein in those sensitive to it) can cause an increased immune response and inflammation for months afterwards. The immune cells that make tTg IgA antibodies which are triggered today are going to live for about two years. During that time, inflammation is heightened.  Those immune cells only replicate when triggered.  If those immune cells don't get triggered again for about two years, they die without leaving any descendents programmed to trigger on gluten and casein.  The immune system forgets gluten and casein need to be attacked.  The Celiac genes turn off.  This is remission.    Some people in remission report being able to consume gluten again without consequence.   However, another triggering event can turn the Celiac genes on again.   Celiac genes are turned on by a triggering event (physical or emotional stress).  There's some evidence that thiamine insufficiency contributes to the turning on of autoimmune genes.  There is an increased biological need for thiamine when we are physically or emotionally stressed.  Thiamine cannot be stored for more than twenty-one days and may be depleted in as little as three during physical and emotional stresses. Mitochondria without sufficient thiamine become damaged and don't function properly.  This gets relayed to the genes and autoimmune disease genes turn on.  Thiamine and other B vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients are needed to replace the dysfunctional mitochondria and repair the damage to the body.   I recommend getting checked for vitamin and mineral deficiencies.  More than just Vitamin D and B12.  A gluten challenge would definitely be a stressor capable of precipitating further vitamin deficiencies and health consequences.   Best wishes!    
    • trents
      And I agree with Wheatwacked. When a physician tells you that you can't have celiac disease because you're not losing weight, you can be certain that doctor is operating on a dated understanding of celiac disease. I assume you are in the UK by the way you spelled "coeliac". So, I'm not sure what your options are when it comes to healthcare, but I might suggest you look for another physician who is more up to date in this area and is willing to work with you to get an accurate diagnosis. If, in fact, you do not have celiac disease but you know that gluten causes you problems, you might have NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity). There is no test available yet for NCGS. Celiac must first be ruled out. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that damages the lining of the small bowel. NCGS we is not autoimmune and we know less about it's true nature. But we do know it is considerably more common than celiac disease.
    • trents
      @Mark Conway, here is an article outlining the various tests that can be used to diagnose celiac disease. By far, the most popular one ordered by physicians is the tTG-IGA. But almost all of these tests are known by different names so the terminology will vary from place to place and lab to lab. The article gives common variant names for each test.  In addition to IGA tests there are IGG tests which are particularly useful in the case of IGA deficiency.  
    • JudyLou
      Thank you so much @knitty kitty! My feet aren’t dry or ashy and I don’t have a rash that gets scaly. It’s like very itchy/burning vesicles that are symmetrical - on both arms, both legs, etc. They actually feel better in direct sunlight as long as it isn’t really hot or I’m not exercising outside, but gets worse if I sweat (especially if the area is covered up). It’s not usually on the outside of my elbows and knees which seems more typical of dermatitis herpetiformis (unless it spreads there). It tends to first hit the inside of those areas. Interestingly, twice the rash broke out soon after eating an unhealthy meal and having an alcoholic drink (I only drink a few times a year, no more alcohol content than a glass of wine).  So I wonder if there is a connection. I’m halfway considering doing a gluten challenge for a few months to see what happens, knowing I can stop if I have any symptoms, and asking for a full celiac disease panel at the end. I really appreciate your thoughts! 
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.