Can fish oil supplements cause eye capillary rupture?

Hi Ginny,

There are no documented reports of fish oils causing any kind of rupture or bleeding of the eyes, or any other organ.

The only documented side effects from fish oils were mild diarrhea (can be stopped by discontinuing the fish oils) and increased risk of bleeding (if taking blood thinning medications).

I've been taking 2 - 3 grams of fish oils per day for more than 3 years and have not experienced any negative side effects; I should also mention that I wear glasses and also have glaucoma.

I'm not a doctor and cannot make a diagnosis on your specific condition. There could be a number of causes for eye capillary rupture, such as increased eye pressure from working out, disease or infection. I would recommend consulting with an opthmologist or your family doctor.

Thank you for your comments and I hope everything works out well for you.

I was taking 4000mg of fish oil and sometimes more to help lower my cholesterol. It did that. Then I got a very large capillary rupture in the inside corner of my eye. It took a week to go away. I went to the eye doctor who asked me if I was on blood thinners. All I was taking was a multi vitamin and the fish oil. Then 2 weeks later it happened even worse in the other eye. The eye doctor again questioned if I was taking asprin or blood thinners. It was too much of a coincidence. I stopped everything and have had no trouble for 2 months. I have gone back on 2000mg of fish oil and hopefully that won't cause any trouble. I never had any eye trouble or even wear glasses so this is something I think they have to warn people about.

I can almost ditto the above post. I have taken Cod Liver Oil for 5 years and never had a problem, but had a bleed, stopped all salicylates and fish oil, started fish oil again last night, and woke up with another severe capillary rupture in my other eye. My doctor thinks the fish oil connection is too coincidental and says that fish oil is a blood thinner.

Reply: One of the side effects from fish oils is an increased risk for bleeding; especially seen when higher doses of fish oils are taken. This risk can be further increased with taking fish oils with salicylates (aspirin) and other blood thinners such as heparing and warfarin. One should always consult with your physician before taking any nutritional supplement; particularly if you're already prescribed other prescription drugs.

I have been taking more than the normal dosage of fish oil and flaxseed oil for the last 4 years. I do not have a problem with high cholesterol. I felt that taking the fish oil helped me have less stiffness and gave me more flexibility in my joints.

I had something happen to one of my eyes. It looked as if I were looking through a black cobweb in the left area of that eye. After a week and a half, I went to my yearly eye check up and was told that I had a ruptured blood vessel on the back of my eye on the retina. I was to come back in three months to have it checked. About the time it had cleared up, it happened again during the night. I went back to the same doctor. He said he thought I was taking too much fish oil & flaxseed oil and it had thinned my blood too much thereby causing these ruptures to occur when I was under stress that normally shoot my blood pressure up. I have stopped anything that might thin my blood. I am told not to bend my head down low or lift anything heavy for a few days.

This has really gotten my attention about taking excessive amounts of these two oils. The ruptured blood vessels have not caused any decrease in my vision so far. He could not find any other health issue that might be causing these small ruptures at this point. He said most likely it would clear up with time. I have another appointment in two weeks for them to put dye in my eye and take a picture of the retina.

I recently suffered a capillary rupture but didn't think much of it because it had happened only once before and I was told even a sneeze could cause it. By sheer coincidence I had an appointment with my ophthalmologist for a checkup. He looked at my eye and commented that he had recently suffered a capillary rupture and said it was fish oil. Then he asked me if I took fish oil. Hmmm ...

But my primary care physician highly recommends 1,000 mg twice a day for cholesterol and to get the omega fatty acids.

Damned if you do and damned if you don't. Intend to cut back to 1,000 a day but keep on taking it.

I think you are all on to something. I have an eyelid disorder that causes a lack of the lipid layer in my tears and very dry eyes. My ophthalmologist gave me a pricey omega 3 supplement to help the condition and I had no problems with my blood vessels for 5 years or so. Then I decided to buy Krill Oil about 9 mos. ago, which is much cheaper and my eyes are still horribly dry. I think I made a BIG mistake. I need to take 2 Krill Oil pills for similar results, which the package says is fine. Seemed like an easier routine to boot. Shortly after taking them, I began to get burst blood vessels below my eyes (only 1 eye at a time), which looked like a "black eye" more or less, and all this from doing nothing. They are really ugly and hurt! I also get many, small burst capillaries on my face in general. I finally spoke with another doctor about this who noticed Krill Oil in my chart and informed me it was a blood thinner and could be the cause. He said there is a Rx omega 6 out that has the blood thinning warning so that got me thinking since I have problems with aspirin. Between his information and the timing of all this, I'm switching back to the pricier supplement my ophthalmologist sells which must be a better dose for me. Who knew? I thought omegas were the cure all.