I am feeling better; in fact I haven’t felt this good in years! Thanks for the concern. I ended up going in the hospital for 2 weeks. The week before I went into the hospital I weighed 378 lbs on a very broad but only 5’6″ frame. When I got out I weighed 315 lbs and I now weigh 310 lbs. I was so full of fluid that I could hardly move.
I am still Aspartame free. The joint pain in my hands and fingers, though still there, is not debilitating. I suspect what I am feeling is probably arthritic. I am going to paste the diary I never finished here and then notate the complaints:
May 12, 1996
I have been free of Aspartame now for 2 weeks. Today I received all the articles from Betty, and printed them out. I noticed that dry mouth is a symptom of Aspartame poisoning (what I choose to call this situation) and that I have not experienced this for over a week now.
I also started noticing yesterday that I am getting some more feeling in my legs and feet. It is in short periods like a light switch being turned on and off but mostly off. But it’s there.
I need to list the problems that I am experiencing:
- Dry mouth [* mostly gone I am on a ton of diuretics]
- Loss of feeling in my legs, feet, hands, and to some degree my forearms [* diminished but some probably due to fluid expulsion].
- Joint pain in all the joints of my 10 fingers, wrists(mostly), elbows and shoulders(frequently) [* 90% gone]
- Insomnia [* better but I have sleep apnea]
- Vision – Blurred ( snaps in and out ), floaters(occas.), “fogginess” both vision and mentally occasionally) [* about gone but I need to have eye exam because of diabetes]
- Depression – Dr. has given me an Rx for Paxil
- Fatigue – always tired [* great except when sugars get too high]
- Palpitations [* gone]
- Sudden apprehensions [* gone]
- Vertigo, different degrees (occasionally) [* very, very rarely]
- Locomotion–unsteady gait, loss of balance [* not even close to the degree I experienced in the past]
* Indicates 8/29/96 notation
_____________________________________________________________________________
May 13, 1996
Today I am having a terrible time with joint pain in my fingers, but worst of all in my shoulders. It’s rainy today. I have been disoriented most of the day and have had to really think hard to accomplish mundane tasks in the lab. My vision is foggy and at times blurred. Today is day 18 without Aspartame.
_____________________________________________________________________________
May 14, 1996
Ditto fingers and shoulders. Vision ok
_____________________________________________________________________________
May 15,1996
Fingers are much better even though it’s rainy! Rt. shoulder is still painful.
————————————end of diary—————————-
I hope this is of some help to you. I’m sorry I didn’t keep it up but I was already getting sick at this time. I’m sure there was a profound withdrawal reaction that I experienced, and it was really bad for a time. If you can use this info or any of my e-mails you have my permission to use it to help others. I am carrying on the crusade but people are difficult to convince, or they are playing ostrich with their heads in the sand. Thank you!