I recently moved to a new apartment, and before my kitchen was functional (a period of 6 weeks) I was eating out. Breakfast and lunch each day was purchased at a local petrol station food store, and included iced teas, cool drinks and similar. At that time I was not aware that Aspartame was contained in these drinks. There may have been other poisons in the “freshly made” plastic packed sandwiches which I am still not aware of. However, I now know that there were artificial sweeteners (not otherwise specified) in some of the drinks I was purchasing.
My symptoms included dull feeling in the head, growing confusion, dizziness, numbness in my fingers and toes and clumsy behavior (all of which I recognized as neurological symptoms). I started dropping things, banging myself and injuring myself while working on the new apartment. This was dangerous since I was using power tools, and at times was working at height. I was so disoriented and unaware of my surroundings at one time that I drove into a post and smashed the front end of my automobile. My fingers became so insensitive that I started having trouble typing (I am normally a very fast touch typist) and considerable trouble playing the piano (including pieces I know well and generally have no trouble with).
I was puzzled to find that I was having trouble with relatively simple mathematics; I am a product designer and must often use applied mathematics consisting of simple differential equations and routine techniques for analyzing material strengths and so on, and also relatively straightforward hypothesis testing statistics. Why, I asked myself, were these things becoming so difficult?
Reading became difficult. It was partly a cognitive problem, so that when I could see the words I found difficulty understanding what was written. More and more I was re-reading sentences to catch the meaning. I was also having visual problems, and had my eyes tested for new reading glasses – which it turned out were not needed.
I then blamed the Chinese restaurant for putting too much MSG in my food; without a kitchen at home I was going there three or four times a week. The owner responded to my complaints by reducing MSG in general and serving me with MSG free meals. The symptoms did not improve.
I then supposed that my problems may be related to a blood condition, and had extensive tests done, including tests for rare conditions such as G6PD activity deficiency, and cytochrome P450 enzyme activities. (Was I a so called “poor metabolizer”?) These tests all proved to be normal.
Finally I realized that the drinks may be poisoning me. I investigated further and discovered that some of them probably contained Aspartame. Of course, I immediately stopped consuming these drinks. My kitchen is now operational and I cook my own food from fresh vegetables and organically grown produce were possible.
In the several weeks following cessation of purchasing drinks from the station, my symptoms largely cleared up. However, not everything is back to normal and it is clear that I have been neurologically damaged. I have recurrent tinnitus, in the form of a constant hissing sound in the background – at times a whistling sound. This was present before moving house, but is now significantly worse. It spoils my music listening pleasure, and sometimes keeps me awake at night.
I also have damaged sight. I printed out an Amsler grid and tested myself. I could see some slightly wavy lines and other patches which were blank (not black, simply empty where the lines should have been visible). These are diagnostic for macular degeneration. My reading is still somewhat hindered by patch vision in the foveal centre. I shall now start on a course of AREDS supplements to slow down the visual loss; presumably once macular degeneration has started it continues into age related macular degeneration (AMD).
I conclude that the Aspartame in the drinks is responsible for the episodes and for the neurological, auditory and visual damage I now suffer. My life has been irrecoverably reduced because of this misadventure.
Alas, nothing shall be done to redress this situation as long as Bush remains in the Whitehouse. And (many Americans do not realize how forcefully their domestic affairs impact other peoples; I am Dutch) nothing shall be done in this country until the US had legislated Aspartame out of legal use.