It has been almost 4 weeks since I have stopped using Aspartame. It is amazing the changes that have occurred in me! I will give you my history so that you may understand.
I have always been a diet soda/artificial sweetener user since I have had a problem with low-blood sugar as well as my father and sisters. Using Saccharin, I never encountered any problems. Many years ago when they started offering NutraSweet I slowly made the change over. I have always been a slim person with my weight in the 115 to 120 range at 5 feet 4 inches. A few years ago my weight went up a bit to 129 (god I was fat). In July 1992, my husband and I both went to Jenny Craig and also enrolled in a health club. In the first couple of weeks I only lost a couple of pounds. When I switched from Diet Pepsi to Diet Rite (because of the sodium) my weight just fell off. I didn’t drink as much Diet Rite because it just didn’t have the flavor. I had reduced/eliminated my coffee intake because they said caffeine interferes with fat metabolism. In no time I was 118 pounds and my body was PERFECT. I had only 16% body fat and I looked like one of those health ads. I was wearing a size 3 and I looked and felt FANTASTIC!
Once I had achieved my goal (September 1992). I had gradually added reduced caffeine coffee to my diet and started drinking a few Diet Pepsis. I no longer did the Jenny Craig thing but was eating low-fat and had started drinking Met-RX (has Aspartame) to enhance my diet. I maintained my weight but at that time my shoulder had started aching me where it would go up into my neck. I visited a shiatsu guy because I thought it had been a muscle strain from the gym. I was still maintaining a 5 day a week workout with 20 minutes of aerobics and a very fast paced 45 minute weight routine. The shiatsu helped a bit. .but then I noticed my glands were swollen on that side and my ear on that side had a burning/itching sensation. In short, my throat was inflamed and burning. I went to my doctor who prescribed potent antibiotics which didn’t do it so I had to go for another ten day course. He had also given me cortisone shot for the major inflammation. This all left me so fatigued that I couldn’t even work out. After a month (November 1992), I returned to the gym but it seemed that I could never get my old energy level back. I still worked out hard and my weight maintained, but I seemed to have lost some strength and endurance.
I maintained this until June 1993, with some problems of my weight fluctuating and experiencing stomach bloating, puffiness in my thighs and increased sinus problems. I had always been allergic to a couple of blooming trees but nothing major. In June, hubby and I both decided to stop smoking. It went well for a couple of days.
In mid-June, a few days after stopping smoking, my body bloated out real bad and my weight jumped despite not eating more and still working out as usual. I left for a trip to the East Coast for a couple of weeks. My bloating continued and my sinuses were puffy and burning and I started bleeding from my sinuses. BY the time I came home from my trip I was at 135 pounds. Since the trip from the East Coast to Hawaii is a long one. (15 to 20 hours depending on layovers) jet lag is a real problem. When I came back I couldn’t sleep and I was horribly fatigued (worse than any jet lag I had ever experienced in my life) A trip to my doctor started rounds and rounds of antibiotics, decongestants and steroid inhalers. He eventually ordered blood tests, a full thyroid panel and CAT scan. Nothing there! The doctor acted as if I was eating things that made my weight skyrocket! The fatigue got worse and worse with my body vacillating between not being able to sleep and sleeping too much. We had returned to Jenny Craig in hopes of repeating our prior success but my weight just went up! Hubby and I then consulted a nutritionist and a trainer at the gym. We followed the plan but I had to drop out. I could hardly keep my head up! To say the least my job was suffering.
IN October my husband marched me down to the doctor. He was convinced I was depressed. He had heard depression can cause some of these problems. At that point I was! I was defeated! The doctor prescribed Paxil. It made me sleepy. So at least I was able to sleep. The sinus problems continued. To the point I was sent to an ENT specialist. He kept me on the same drugs. But said that all I was complaining of was not related to each other. He wondered if I was under stress at work. I was because it was ill, tired and having mood problems. Add to it the weight. I couldn’t bear another comment about my weight! I tried various trainers to find the magic workout/diet plan. Each time my weight went up! They all thought I was cheating.
In January 1994, the ENT guy decided to do a fiber optic scope of my sinuses. The burning, bleeding, pressure continued despite all the drugs. He found a lesion in the area behind my nose (adenoid area). A CAT scan with contrast (they shoot iodine on your veins to light you up) revealed there was something there and 4 days later I was in surgery! They found is what they called a “soft tissue mass”. It wasn’t cancer! I felt an improvement in the fatigue and pressure! BY then I had been demoted at work. Despite the improvement, I still wasn’t myself. By July, the company I worked for was laying everyone off (not just me, due to financial booboos). I had a planned vacation to Italy to see friends so I extended it to 5 weeks instead of the original two. Hubby thought the break would be good for me.
ON my return, despite still eating well and all the damn walking up and down the steps EVERYWHERE in Italy (elevators are almost unheard of). I was 158 pounds. I returned to my doctor in tears. I told him I refused to take all this medicine anymore. It didn’t help. He decided to send me to an allergist. (This is beginning of Oct. 1994)
I had over 250 allergy tests. I am now SEVERELY allergic to cats, both kinds of dust mites and dust. To a lesser degree, I am allergic to acacia trees, mango trees, juniper trees, eucalyptus trees, palm trees, coconut trees, mock orange bushes, cockroaches, horses and a few more I can’t even remember. Alas I thought this was the answer. I started bi-weekly allergy shots.
After a month, I started feeling much better. I had stopped working out entirely. It did me no good, especially looking as I did. I was embarrassed. BY that point I had said the hell with it all. I just ate whatever. It didn’t make any difference weight wise what I ate. I had stopped eating all that diet food with the exception of drinking Diet Pepsi and using NutraSweet in my coffee and tea! I had started a new job. It was going well!
I felt better. I thought it strange that I started to lose weight eating junk food but had attributed it to the allergy thing! My weight dropped to 148 in no time! This was an improvement but I still felt bad!
In November, I suddenly started having migraines which coincided with my periods getting horrible. The cramps and bleeding were horrible. They had gotten a bit worse the year earlier but this was far worse. Also my periods had gotten closer together. Every 3 to 3 1/2 weeks. The migraines would be more likely to happen in the week prior to my period until my period had stopped. I had never been a headache person before. The doctor asked about stress. I told him if it were stress I would had had them the year prior. Not when I was feeling better. My stress levels had dropped. The frequency and severity of the migraines would vary a lot. I had a few outside of the time frame that I normally had them. He prescribed a painkiller and a vascular dilator. Sometime they would kick it and sometimes it didn’t even matter that I took them. One time it was so bad I had to go in for a shot of Imitrex.
A few months back I started having back and leg pains. I previously had intermittent lower back aches, aches in the legs and shoulders but nothing like this. It didn’t seem to coincide with exertion or strain of any type. Motrin used to be of help but it didn’t seem to faze it. It bothered me every day for 3 months at least. Sometimes sitting down my leg would have a painful spasm.
One day I was surfing the Web. I found a link to your information. Reading your info was like reading my medical history. I gave it a try. Within 2 days my leg as well as my shoulders and back stopped hurting and it hasn’t returned. I have dropped 8 pounds doing nothing but stop drinking Diet Pepsi and coffee/tea with NutraSweet and any other foods that contain it. My energy levels have increased five-fold and my sunny disposition has awakened from hibernation. My stomach is happier too. I used to be bloated all the time with problems of constipation.
My hubby has been wondering if I have been doing sit-ups because my tummy has gotten much flatter. The gas I had experienced before is gone. I don’t get as hungry as I used to and I don’t seem to crave or desire to eat any sweets. Most people think I have lost more than 8 pounds. I wake up in the morning easily and am energetic all day. I just had my period a week ago. I had less cramps and less bleeding. I had only one minor flare with a migraine on the worse day of my period. My sinuses have cleared up quite a bit. I haven’t taken any antihistamines or decongestants in a while. I stopped having the burning sensation in my throat and this weird pimply rash on my shoulders disappeared too. I had been having a problem with my hair being real dry. In about a week after stopping, my hair got softer and less dry. And on a weird note. I had noticed that the hair on my legs seemed to grow back much faster in the last couple of years. Since stopping NutraSweet, I can go longer without shaving. Use to have to shave every day. To be honest I don’t want to even try and drink a Diet Pepsi right now. I am convinced that NutraSweet is the problem.
My problems started with my increased use of it and has been the only consistent thing in my life since I have been ill. In retrospect, I can see where my worse episodes have been when I was drinking lots of coffee in addition to the 6 to 8 diet sodas I would drink in a day. MY weight gain started many years ago when I increased my usage of diet soda. Prior, I was always skinny. I don’t want to feel that way anymore.
I have started back bicycling and my daughter is teaching me how to rollerblade. It feels good like exercise should. Before, when exercising, I would always feel more bloated and swollen after exercise. Now, I don’t feel that way. I feel rejuvenated.
Others have noticed the change in me. They are shocked when I tell them my story. I have been giving your info to as many people as I can. I printed Dr. Roberts 167 page report from Mark’s Home Page and mailed it to my sister. She has had many problems too! I hope that my husband the skeptic will get the message. He loves his Diet Pepsi. I won’t buy it anymore. He has to buy his own. I know he has reduced it but hasn’t completely eliminated it. It is also time to show my doctor this info! This will be a tough job. Most of my problems seemed to be serotonin related (depression/migraines etc.) The medical profession is not much help here. I have lost faith in the FDA to protect us and our doctors depend on them.
Sincerely and with great gratitude for your help.
PS This morning I weighted 138. A 10 pound drop!