<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

33) What you are describing sounds like a migraine. It is possible to
get the classic migraine symptoms without actually having a headache.
Migraines were my main symptom from Celiac (I was just diagnosed in
June.) I get excruciating headaches, along with light sensitivty,
nausea, and sensitivity to sound. I also get lightheaded sometimes.
There is something people with migraines get called an aura (not sure if
the spelling is right) and what you described about the flashes of light
sounds like it could be an aura. However, I do not get these.

34) I very often have the lightedness and it can happen at any time. I
thought I was anemic again, even though I have been on a gluten free
diet for about 10 months. I do have B-12 shots on a monthly basis, my
B-12 had improved my last visit about 2 months ago. My iron defiency
anemia had also improved at that time. I will be going for another blood
test in about 2 weeks.

35) I have read that flashes of light can be symptoms preceding a
detached retina. Could the other neural symptoms be something separate
but equally serious? Does she take supplements, and is it possible that
they are creating an imbalance? We usually think in terms of
deficiencies, but I read of one case in which a woman had severe neural
symptoms as a result of taking too much pyridoxine (B6). She would fall
and lose "proprioception" - the body's awareness of where its parts are.
I'm not a medical person at all, just sympathetic and hoping something
somewhere will give you all a clue.

36) I get the light flashes once in a rare while. I've been told they
are precursors to migraines. It was suggested that I run my hands under
the hotest water I can tolerate until they go away. It works! They go
away within 2-4 minutes and nothing further has ever developed! Good
luck. This is a remedy that can't hurt and might help. Supposed to take
blood away from the brain and bring it to the hands...

37) I had migraine as one of my symptoms, and your sister's experiences
sound similar (though much more severe). I sometime also had briefs
periods of dizziness and disequalibrium, and my arms and legs would
frequently feel weak and jerky, though only for seconds at a time. I
didn't usually have the "aura", but did experience a field of flashing
lights once after going gluten-free when I had taken some plum tea with
honey.

I have found that I react to not only gluten, but also casein and all
legumes (and a few other foods, too, that have been revealed since
getting the "majors" out of the way). My first clue to contamination is
migraine. Though I experience the headache, I have read that it can
manifest as only nausea

38) Sure sounds as if the light flashes and falling down are connected
but I can't relate my own experience to that. Before diagnoses I did
fall down, collapse a few times and was not unconscious. Simply
collapsed onto the floor/ground as if overcome by weakness and felt I
would black out but don't think I did. Hasn't happened since going GF
though.

About the light flashes....has she seen an opthomologist? It sounds like
what I was warned to watch for....I have some condition, a thickening of
the things that connect it, and if it detached they said I would see a
flash of light. But she's seeing repeated ones so that probably doesn't
relate.

39) I have been diagnosed and GF for 11 months now. I used to have many
of the symptoms you describe (although not as sever as you describe).
The light headedness and the flashing lights (moving light spots) have
diminished so that now they are very much less noticeable and less of a
distraction. I do have headaches, these have also diminished but not
gone away. Severe headaches and nauseated seem to go hand in hand. I
assume that going GF has helped.

40) could this be a type of migraine?

41) A couple of ideas:

-migraine attacks-some people have migraines with visual disturbances,
light sensitivity, nausea or vomiting without experiencing head pain.
Sounds suspiciously like my experience with migraines. The huge
fluorescent lights in malls and stores, and sometimes flickering
computer screens play havoc with my brain!

-has she had her eyes checked?

-possible chemical sensitivity/reaction, like to aspartame (nutrasweet)
in a soda or MSG in food?

42) Is there any possibility your sister could have retina tears? My
partner was recently diagnosed with 7 tears in his retinas and had been
suffering from flashing lights and visual defects. He had one episode of
collapsing with associated nausea and dizziness. He also suffered no
headaches. Since having the retinas repaired with lasers he has not
suffered these symptoms.

43) Low vitamin A, zinc and iron deficiency has caused similar problems
with my daughter an me. Taking vitamin A is tricky because it must be
taken in the right amounts. One way to bypass any toxicity is to juice.
Get a juicer and use carrots in it as a drink. On the west coast, when I
was visiting my daughter, I was able to buy large juice bottles of
carrot juice in the section that carried orange juice. Here in the east,
I cannot find 2 quart carrot juice and the mini containers are cost
prohibitive. My doctor actually wanted me to juice vegetables,
preferably organic, at least once a day, because he said it broke down
the nutrients better for people with sensitive stomachs and intestines.
Iron deficiency can also cause strange visual problems and I must keep
my hemoglobin at a range of 13-14 to feel well. It also sounds like she
might be having migraine headaches, which don't necessary mean that she
experiences a headache, or so is the case in many people. I would
suggest that she found a good nutritionist (not dietician) because if
she is older sometimes, like in my case I continue to have vitamin
deficiencies despite a healthy GF diet.

44) I have the flashes and some dizziness. I have been diagnosed with
occular migraines. Your sister needs to see an opthamoligist and have
her retinas checked.

I sounds like she may have a neurological disease such as MS.

Dr Green of the Celiac Disease Research Center at Columbia University in
New York told me that they are finding a connection with Celiac and
neurological problems. There is an expert there who knows about these
problems.

You can contact Dr. Green at the Celiac Center at 212-305-5590.

45) I have a visual problem with bright light (direct sun and other very
bright lights--not usually store lights) and get zig zag patterns in my
vision. They are very annoying and distracting and do not last very
long. They could be described as flashing lights. My opthomologist says
that what I have is a pseudomigraine attack. He indicated that if they
are severe then sometimes they are treated with migraine medications. My
neurologist seemed to agree with this assessment. Rather than take
another medication, I have adapted to them once I understood what was
happening. I do have some nausea at times, but no falls or tremors in
extremities.

Sounds to me like your sister needs to see a very good opthomologist for
visual evaluation. I just did a google.com search and came up with
several things related to zig zag vision (this is what I used for my
search). There were several vision related items. Two are of interest.

http://www.medhelp.org/perl6/eyecare/archive/107.html Response to "zig
zag like things in vision" question on MedHelp.org

http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030714/msgs/242236.html This describes
the aura before migraine attacks and includes some of the symptoms that
you described--the dizziness, vertigo (loss of balance/falling could be
possible), and tingling or numbness of the extremities. This web site
has a link to another and I will e-mail it to you directly.

I have had this long before my celiac disease was diagnosed and I do not
think it is related. Hope this helps.

47) Hi, this is concerning. Has she had her eyes checked? This might
give a clue. How about her ears? I have light flashes, which turns out
to be my eyes. My husband has the falling down thing, his ears. Just
suggestions.

48) I have a daughter, (age 19) that gets sick after being under
florescent lights. Sometimes it's so bad she throws up. She feels like
she has the flu. She has to go and sleep it off. She does not have
celiac even though it is in the family. My son's 10 year old daughter
was diagnosed when she was 4. I just wanted you to know you are not
alone with this problem. Sometimes when I try to explain my daughter's
problem, people look at us like we don't know what we're talking about.

49)

I don't know if this fits what your sister has but there is a type of
seizure that is caused by flickering lights.
www.epilepsyfoundation.org/answerplace/Medical/seizures/syndromes/reflex.cfm

Also flickering lights in one's field of vision can be an indiction of
the vitrous tugging on the retina. She would need a dilated exam by an
ophthalmologist to see if this was the problem. Another cause of seeing
flickering lights is an ocular migraine. The ocular migraine may or may
not be accompanied by a headache.

* Please remember some posters may be WHEAT-FREE, but not GLUTEN-FREE *