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Oh dear,it appears I have unwittingly opened a can of worms here.Let me first say that gluten does NOT cause everyone who is intolerant to it to develop brain lesions.

The basic answer is that no-one was able to give me an answer,but I received many posts from people who also wanted to know,so it obviously wasn`t a strange question.

Thank you to everyone who took the trouble to reply,it`s gratifying to know I`m not alone,but many people wanted to know how I knew I had the lesions in the first place.Before CD was diagnosed,I developed ataxia,and some other strange neutological symptoms......I saw a neurologist,who arranged for me to have an MRI,which revealed lesions on my brain.He made a diagnosis of MS,which although extremely depressing,I accepted.On the very same day that I had my MRI,I developed the most vile diorrhea.Tests revealed I had no signs of infection,or anything more sinister,so the doctor told me `it must be part of MS`.I was convinced that it was something in my diet,and for the next 4 years experimented with various food exclusions.Then bingo.....in desperation I tried gluten.On eliminating gluten,the diorrhea stopped (after 4 years), and over a period of time,all the strange neurological symptoms I had thought were caused by MS,all disappeared.More doctors visits and tests,and eventually coeliac disease was diagnosed.
It wasn`t until I met a holidaying Italian gastroenterologist,who was very keen on hearing a full medical history that the penny finally dropped that the `MS symptoms` could in fact be the neurological complications of coeliac disease.I still don`t know if I have them both,I do know for certain I have coeliac disease,and on elimination of gluten,my strange `MS symptoms` all cleared.However,until a definitive test for MS is developed,I will live with the uncertainty.
My original MRI which was taken 10 years ago,showing the lesions was destroyed after 7 years,so I have nothing to compare the MRI I had 2 years ago (which revealed I still had some brain lesions)with,to see if the lesions were increasing or diminishing with my GF life.I`m wondering if I should get another MRI to see if there has been any change to them in the past 2 years.

If anyone has any ideas,please either contact me or post.

Thank you to everyone,I`m sorry this summary hasn`t provided any answers.

Trish

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