Hi Brett and all - Ive been gluten free for about 18 months now - figured it out myself and confirmed by my great neurologist - Dr H in Sheffield UK, so that was a stroke of luck (needed some!). I had been ill for a few years with fatigue, terrible dizziness,severe brain fog, aches and pains, hypoglyacemia, hypothyroid - fortunately Im very tenacious and refused to accept there was no answer and eventually figured it and put myself on a GF diet and within days was feeling better. Ive recently found that corn is best avoided too - i was still having some odd symptoms which have mostly settled without corn. my main problem is now the brain fogginess - ive had my memory 'tested' and told its a problem of attention but not severe and Dr H thinks it will come right - but Im not convinced really! I dont understand this but i think its damage to the Purkinje (? sp) cells in the brain but would welcome any thoughts.

A bit of positive though to close! i have been taking Piracetam - i dont get it prescribed but read about it and it has been amazing in helping my brain function, really miraculous for me and better still its not illegal and its cheap and i would be struggling much more than i am without it - it helps me focus and 'get my words' if you understand that! i have to say i am not severely affected - just had peripheral neuropathy in my feet and a mild gait ataxia when i was diagnosed but this has really resolved, i think i may be a bit more clumsy than i was and the brain symptoms are all.

Id be interested to know of other's experiences of corn and other grains - are your symptoms similar to the gluten or different? i think mine are different. i think that i react within an hour unlike some of the stories Ive heard. What about rice? i think Im ok with that, just plain boiled rice and not too often. i would also be interested to hear of experiences with yeast - how does this manifest and what sort of yeast, is it any mould/fungus/yeast - alcohol? although i have stopped having any alcohol as its a neurotoxin so think i ought to avoid it.

so grateful for your site Brett, well done and blessings to you for it. i look forward to hearing from anyone and lots of sharing of ideas and experiences.

Gill

Hi Gill

Welcome to the forum - I see we have got something in common in that we both figured out that it was gluten affecting us (but I wish that someone had told me about gluten ataxia 25 years ago)

You have got a good neurologist in Dr. H - He's the main reason that I am on the diet today (read a couple of his papers)

Your symptoms seem to be very similar to mine with brain fog being the worst. Corn affects me as well - something about the protein structure in corn mimicking the gluten protein. I have also cut out all grains because I believe they have toxic anti-nutrients (lectins, gluten, and phytates).

My brain fog is worse on some days than others so even if some of the purkinje cells are damaged I believe the ones that aren't damaged have the ability to take over their function.

There is a connection between gluten and yeast therefore I have cut out both and may I suggest that you do the same.(speak to Dr. H)