Aspartame Toxicity Information Center http://www.HolisticMed.com/aspartame/ Aspartame / NutraSweet Toxicity Reaction Samples ------------------------------------------------ Aspartame / NutraSweet / Equal / Neotame ^Poisoning^, ^Toxicity Reactions^, ^Health Damage^ brought to you by Monsanto / NutraSweet / Kelco / Benevia ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ IMPORTANT NOTE: Please print out this list and read *ALL* of the way through it over time. I know it's long, but it can help you recognize the various cases of aspartame toxicity and *help others*. Then copy and share this and other documents from the Aspartame Toxicity Information Center web page with as many others as possible. The names have been removed to protect confidentiality, but many of these posts can be found in various archives and WWW search engines. Please note that this is only a small percentage of adverse reactions to aspartame that have been posted to the Internet over the last few years. The toxicity reactions posted to the Internet are only a very small percentage of the total toxicity reactions reported to various groups. Two independent organizations track aspartame- caused health problems: 1) the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network (ACSN), P.O. Box 780634, Dallas, Texas, 214-352-4268, marystod@airmail.net, and 2) Mission Possible International, 9270 River Club Parkway, Duluth, Georgia 30155, 770-242-2599, bettym19@mindspring.com Please contact these organizations for more information. If you have experienced health damage from aspartame and your health improved after removing it from your diet, please forward your aspartame toxicity reaction to: Mark Gold Aspartame Toxicity Information Center 12 East Side Dr., Suite 2-17 Concord, NH 03301 mgold@holisticmed.com Extensive resources for nutrition, general wellness and healing can be found on the main web page: http://www.holisticmed.com/ News organizations looking for information and contacts (local case histories, physicians, scientists, etc.) should email mgold@holisticmed.com and I will put you in touch with the appropriate organizations. HOW TO USE THIS LIST -------------------- The list is now in *reverse* chronological order such that the newest aspartame toxicity reaction is at the top. If you are reading the list for the first time, please print out the whole list and ***read from the bottom up.*** Then SHARE the printout and other documents on this web page with others. For updates, *read from the top down* until you reach an adverse reaction that you have read before. I have stopped updating this list temporarily because it was getting too long for most people to download. Be sure to print out and read all of the archives files (#1 - #15). -------------------- Case from United Kingdom newspaper http://www.shropshirestar.com/show_article.php?aID=40475 December 19, 2005 Eve walks again after diet change A Shropshire woman who spent a year without the use of her legs has said she can now walk again after cutting the artificial sweetener aspartame from her diet. Eve Terry, 24, of Main Road, Pontesbury, is convinced that avoiding certain food and drink that contain the ingredient — such as low calorie yoghurts and soft drinks — has led directly to her remarkable recovery. In April 2004, Mrs Terry's face swelled up and drooped and she often felt tired, but doctors were at a loss to tell her what was wrong. "I looked like I had had a stroke and people kept coming up to me to ask me if I had," she said. "Then about three months later I woke up one morning and my legs just felt as if they wouldn’t hold me up." But in April of this year, Mrs Terry was referred to Dr Sarah Myhill, a GP based in Knighton, Powys, who immediately told her to cut aspartame out of her diet. Within six weeks, she had regained the use of her legs and her face was almost back to normal. Dr Myhill diagnosed Mrs Terry as having Bell’s Palsy, which is a disorder of the facial nerves. She was also found to have Gillian Barre Syndrome, which causes nervous system problems. ----------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Wednesday, December 28, 2005 4:53 PM To: aspartame@holisticmed.com Subject: Fwd: Are you going lite? 92 symptoms on aspartame! I wanted to let you know that I was totally addicted to the "blue stuff." this year! It felt like my head was going to just EXPLODE! I have been on the stuff, for 10 years I realized. I went COLD TURKEY, and got to exerance withdrawls. I know I should not drink coffee, but I still do. I don't smoke, drink or other silly things. I also consider myself not to be to extreme "HEALTH NUT," because I try to make it all work together, my herbs and my modern times life style. I was raised on a farm, and could not get to the store. So we did everything we could on the farm and went to the store when we could. We lived a healthy life except when we got to buy stuff from the store which was a treat! Junk food to me is still a treat! I know a lot about herbs, such as STEVIA, and Pau d'Arco and Uva Ursi. Those are my three favorite herbs! I have since switched to Stevia. (http://www.owlsnestplantation.com/stevia_herb_stevia_powder_stevioside_bulk_stevia.asp) (I bought a pound, which is really lasting me!) I was in MAJOR PAIN, just shoot me kinda pain! Why do I blame the "blue stuff" because I took the blue stuff right in the middle of the worse of the withdrawls to see if that was "really it," IT WAS! I felt better! I won't touch that stuff anymore! I think took me nearly 3 weeks to really get over it! Maybe because I did see if it was the "blue stuff." ------------------------ From: xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx Subject: Please Help Ban Aspartame from New Mexico's Foods To: xxxxxxxxx@state.nm.us January 23, 2006 Dear Respected Person, I am a xx year old Middle School Counselor that works with youth ages 11-14 here in xxxxxxxx, New Mexico. I see an average of 30 students a week in individual counseling sessions dealing with issues ranging from peer conflict, effects of family's drug use (methamphetamines in particular), all the way to suicidal ideation and clinical depression. The last two issues are the ones I would like to emphasize in this letter, as they deal directly with the effects of aspartame ingestion. Aspartame Suppresses the Levels of Serotonin in the Brain Serotonin is a naturally produced brain chemical that is necessary for healthy functioning and emotional well-being. We know that low levels of seratonin correlate with depression. When interviewing students on the circumstances surrounding their depressive symptons, I inquire about the ingestion of sugar-free gum and diet sodas, both of which contain aspartame. 9 times out of 10 the students indicate regular aspartame ingestion... I inform them on the effects of aspartame ingestion, and ask for them to discontinue use of products containing aspartame. During follow-up, all complying students report a significant reduction in depressive symptoms. According to one recent report, 5 suicides have been linked to aspartame ingestion. Please do all you can to pave the path to ban aspartame from our food, drinks, candy, and gum. We must look out for the well-being of our unsuspecting youth (as well as others). It is our moral, ethical and legal obligation to do so. As a person of power within our govenmental structure of our great state, please do your part to protect our citizens. ------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: 08:19 PM 12/26/2005 To: WNHO-Aspartame-Information@yahoogroups.com Subject: Atypical Facial Pain Hi Everyone, My name is xxxxx. New member. I've been consuming NutraSweet for 2 1/2 years and suffer from Atypical Facial Pain (one of the 92 side effects of Aspartame. After reading an article online about Aspartame and my condition I stopped drinking diet pop 3 weeks ago. The pain is decreasing. I take 1/2 of the medication that I was for pain. I haven't been able to locate any information on how long it takes to recover from the side effects of Aspartame or if the condition I have will be permanent. Has anyone in the group recovered from their side effects? Any information would be very helpful to me. Thank you. --------------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Saturday, December 31, 2005 3:01 AM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: Aspartame Testimonial From Los Angeles, CA In 1985, I was a sophomore at the University of California, San Diego. That's when I began drinking diet coke regularly. I didn't drink coffee. By the spring of 1986, I was starting to notice that my health and mental abilities were deteriorating. My illness escalated rapidly one evening when I was struck with a strange high fever, unlike anything I had experienced previously. My neck was swollen out to my jaw line, and I was shaking all night. In the morning, I went to the student health center. The nurse who saw me said, "It looks like you have a healthy case of mono." However, the mono test came back negative. Next, they tested for strep, and that was negative, too. On a third visit, they sent me away with a diagnosis of tonsillitis. I knew it wasn't tonsillitis, but I did not seek further treatment at that time. I never really got better. Over the next several months, I continued to grow increasingly ill in some alarming ways. What I noticed first was that I had a constant sore throat. I also had chronic severe headaches and low-grade fevers. I was profoundly tired all of the time. One morning, I woke up with a stabbing pain in my eye. It was bright red. Again, I sought treatment at the student health center. They gave me drops for conjunctivitis, despite my insistence that this was not pink eye. A few days later, the pain was unbearable, and they referred me to a specialist who diagnosed iritis, a condition in which the body's immune system attacks the iris. Untreated, it can lead to blindness. My eye responded to treatment, but I began having unusual eye infections and irritations fairly regularly after that. In the fall, I had a painful outbreak of shingles at the base of my spine. It felt as if my body were falling apart. I slept much more than my friends, but I rarely felt rested. I started having one strange complaint after another. My hair would come out and my toenails would fall off. I was sensitive to bright light. I developed mild mitral valve prolapse (a type of heart murmur). I had one vaginal infection after another for no apparent reason, and my urethra was frequently irritated. My bowel movements were never "normal." I either had diarrhea or constipation or strange ribbon-like stools. By early 1987, I was starting to experience severe depression and memory problems. I had always been a top student, with strong verbal skills. I was a literature major, and I knew something was going horribly wrong when I began having difficulty retrieving words. Thinking I might have pms for the lack of any other plausible explanation, I went back to the health center. They referred me to the on-campus psychological counseling office, where I was diagnosed with depression. I had sensations that my body was not quite solid, as if I were dissolving. However, I knew that was I was experiencing was not primarily a mental health problem. It's as if I had suddenly gone from being a 20-year-old active co-ed to getting stuck in a 90-year-old's failing body. I was an athlete in highschool and had always been quite physically active. I had been an honor student since junior highschool, and was always involved in lots of extracurricular activities. However, as my physical deterioration continued, even light exertion could cause me to drop to the floor from dizziness and exhaustion. As things progressed, I developed fibromyalgia. I remember telling my mother, "I feel so tired that my bones ache." I had recurring laryngitis, conjunctivitis, yeast infections, bladder infections, and fairly severe irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). My throat was nearly always painfully raw. I started having outbreaks of eczema and strange rashes that no one I consulted could diagnose. I continued drinking diet coke and chewing gum with aspartame throughout college, but I never suspected a connection with my illness. In graduate school, I would attend classes in the evenings, but I had no energy for anything other than struggling to keep my grades up despite the "brain fog" that was almost always present. I was a member of Mensa, and had always been a top student. However, by this point, it was a real struggle for me to string two thoughts together. Under stress, I'd stammer and struggle to say what I was thinking, which was a dramatic change from how I'd been previously. My roommate attended class, held a part-time job, and had an active social life. Whereas, I'd sleep in 14-hour stretches and wake with barely enough energy or focus to complete my studies. Writing was excruciating because I so uncomfortable, tired, and mentally slowed. My frequent visits to the on-campus health services continued for persistent infections, inflammations, and other mysterious complaints. I graduated in 1990, and started my career. When I saw the first reports on television about Gulf War Syndrome, I told my mom, "I know this sounds crazy, but I have what those guys have." Their testimonials matched what I was experiencing so closely. I felt strongly at the time that there must be a connection. A couple of years later, as my aspartame consumption was tapering off, I had a bout of episcleritis. It's similar to iritis but less serious. The ophthalmologist took a health history and recommended strongly that I consult a rheumatologist. After an extensive round of tests, she diagnosed me with CFIDS and fibromyalgia. The only lab results that came back abnormal on a regular basis were my sed rate tests. She assured me that my symptoms were not "all in my head." Upon receiving the IBS diagnosis from a gastroenterologist, I stopped drinking sodas. From that point on, my health started to improve. For years, I wondered what had made me so sick for most of my twenties. I thought I might have been accidentally exposed to an experimental pathogen or toxic weapon because that sort of research was conducted in the area where my college campus is. I even had a titer drawn for brucellosis because they manufactured a weaponized version of it near where I lived. (They sold some of it to Sadam Hussein, so I took this possibility seriously.) However, my test came back negative. I turned 40 this year and now enjoy excellent health. I feel ten times younger than when I was in my twenties. I attribute this improvement to cutting out aspartame entirely when I started working with a naturopathic physician three years ago. I sleep, exercise, socialize, work, think, and feel like a "normal" person again. I feel as if about 95% of my mental capacity is restored. NOTE: I think it's interesting that La Jolla, the location of my college campus was when my illness started, has been identified as a "hot spot" for the CFIDS epidemic. We would get our diet coke in cases from the Price Club (before it became a Costco). Is it possible that diet coke sold in the area sat in some hot warehouse to a point where the beverages became toxic? I'll be glad to answer any questions or provide more information in support of raising public awareness of the severe threat aspartame poses to those of us who have adverse reactions to it. ------------------------ From: xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Thursday, December 29, 2005 12:16 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: nutra sweet poisening Dear Mark, i found the site on the internet and just need to share my story. About 6 weeks ago, my boyfriend came home from the grocery with a box of 100 packets of Nutra sweet for our coffee. Usually I use Splenda and have had no adverse reaction to it. Closing in on Thanksgiving, i noticed i was developing lower back pain, joint hip pain and an overall sense of not being able to get out of bed in the morning. I related it to shoveling snow...maybe i strained muscles...but it continued and began to scare me. Was i sick? Right before Christmas day it occurred to me it was getting worse...deep, arthritic pain (i'm 46) and although i do have some degenerative arthritis...the onset was so sudden and strong....i knew it had to be something else. It came to me just after Christmas day....the nutra sweet. I immediately stopped drinking it in my coffee and with in TWO DAYS the pain was completely GONE....i am convinced it was the nutra sweet poisening me....just wanted to share this with someone who is aware of it's dangers. thank you, ---------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Subject: Tumor, memory and vision problems Date: 10/15/2005 12:10 PM I'm new to the group and still trying to learn how to communicate with other members. Please forgive me if I am posting this to the wrong address or in the wrong place. (My email is xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) I recently reported my memory loss and vision problems caused by asprtame to the FDA Medwatch. I wanted to thank you for all of the good work you've done to educate the public about aspartame. I'm still learning how to comm I've consumed high levels of aspartame for years became I believed it wouldn't have gotten FDA approval if it wasn't safe. About a year ago I started to notice that I was having word finding difficulty and frequent lapses in short term memory. As this became progressively worse I became worried about my ability to remain gainfully employed. While researching memory problems I found various articles written by you and others about the dangers of aspartame usage. As an experiment I stopped using aspartame for 2 months. Within the first 2 weeks my carbohydrates and sweet cravings started to diminish. But the biggest surprise was the drastic improvement I've seen in my short-term memory and visual acuity. I've had various health problems since I started ingesting aspartame. I developed a non-malignant cranial nerve brain tumor in 1990. It was growing inside the cranium at the root of the 7th cranial nerve. The excision caused the left side of my face to be permanently paralyzed. My question is...Is there a connection between heavy aspartame use and non malignant neurolimas, neuromas or crainal nerve tumors? Thank you for all the work you've done to spread the word about this poison. You've greatly improved the quality of my daily life! ------------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2005 6:21 AM To: aspartame@holisticmed.com Subject: Re: Aspartame I too experienced joint pain in my elbows and my thinking and eye sight were greatly effected by Aspartame I used to drink six cans of diet Coke a day and could not figure out what was happening to me I could not sleep at night I was making alot of mistakes doing order picking at work I could not remember things very well, now I don't even want to touch a diet soda. ---------------------- From: xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 1:09 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: Aspartame Use I was a person that used aspartame regularly in everything as a sugar substitute. Coffee, soda, cakes, pies, even gum. Over time I became very very ill. I didn't know what was wrong with me , doctors didn't know what was wrong with me. I was slowly increasingly getting sicker. I had extreme joint pain I could barely walk from the parking lot at work to my desk. I'd have to leave 30 minutes earlier than usual just to allow the time to walk in. Elderly people at the stores would pass me. I was slowly deteriorating. Some doctors thought it was fibromalagia in which there is no cure. I had no energy, I was always feeling nausea I am only 37 years old and I knew there was something wrong but I didn't know what. I began feeling very sick instantly after drinking or eating aspartame. I decide to stop using aspartame because that was the only change that I had made previous the onset of my condition. I began to drink detox tea and went back to using sugar. I immediately felt better and as time passed the joint pain has stopped. Still to this day if I accidental consume an aspartame product I feel the effects immediately after ingesting the substance, so quick that I don't even have time to finish the product before I discard it because of feeling ill. I was feeding these products to my at the time small children and I'm so devastated to know that I may have hurt them. I thought that I was doing something healthy for them. I didn't know that this substance was unsafe. I believed that if it was being used in a product that it was tested and approved to be safe. Our lives were definitely touched by aspartame and it will effect our household always in the way we eat, drink and buy products. We will always use sugar from now on. I hope that my feedback is not overlooked and that action would be taken to remove aspartame from the market. I may have very well continiued wih the consumption of this product without second guessing my diet decisions. --------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx To: bettym19@mindspring.com Date: 01:58 PM 11/18/2005 Subject: Aspartame and MS Understand you are compiling a list of aspartame victims - my husband spent most of last hear flat on his back , had tons of tests with all convinced he had ms until he had clear mris...eliminated aspartame and he has had only one more "bout" in 8 months - which we think we can track to accidental aspartame ingestion. If you know of anyone doing anything to combat the sale and use of this horrible drug in America, please let me know. ----------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Sunday, October 16, 2005 4:26 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: Toasted my brain on aspartame Hello, I'm a former National Merit Scholar and University Student. I say "former" because aspartame has utterly butchered my brain. That's right. I was a 21 year old with a bright future and an even brighter mind. Traditionally, I've scored anywhere between 130-150 on IQ tests with ease. On a recent exam, I nailed just 98 -- with difficulty. My mental capacity has been severely, dramatically, and -- perhaps -- permanently altered due to excess consumption of this chemical disaster. In the midst of a severe depression, I swilled the stuff in ridiculously extreme amounts. Three 44oz drinks a day were not uncommon. Looking back, it's easy to conjecture that Diet Coke actually instigated and aggravated my psychological problems. As a statistic of one, I offer the following observations about my experiences, written as honestly as I can muster. In the beginning, I was an extraordinary skeptic. Diet Coke was my favorite drink, and I trusted the industry funded studies above all alarmist "nonsense". People I knew warned me about how my habits could affect me, especially given my talents, but I shrugged them off. "MIT dosed people with 14,000 grams of the stuff," I'd say, "it's safer than water!" How wrong I was. I thought my addiction was merely caffeine, but caffeine never satiated me. I always craved the sweet fizzy brew; a chemical junky, always on the hunt for my next brain fix. Over the months, as my appetite and consumption of aspartame increased to absurdist levels, I noticed the following: 1. It caused me to stop thinking. I recall having an exceptionally clear mind -- sharp, precise, and swift. After drinking aspartame, I noticed a very clear annihilation of my memory. I could not broach topics or relate ideas. People would ask questions like "What was your favorite movie with actor X?" I simply could not link those words to a face or picture in my mind. It's as if someone were speaking Spanish. You do not know how disconcerting this is until it occurs. 2. It gave me neurological and heart disorders. At the height of my consumption, the ring and pinky fingers of my left hand went COMPLETELY NUMB FOR TWO WEEKS STRAIGHT. Simultaneously, I experienced a discomfort and thudding sensation in my chest, as though my heart were overworked and on the verge of failure. As is usual with these circumstances, physicians could find "nothing wrong with me". I've NEVER had conditions like these in the entirety of my life, and WHAM. 3. I became profoundly forgetful and dissociated, as though I were walking through a dream or under heavy medication. Daily events and situations ceased to have any personal meaning to me. It's as though I'd taken a novocain shot to the cranium. 4. I sunk into the darkest depression I've ever known. My emotions were so out of control I'd get dry heaves, have suicidal ideation, sit motionless for hours, lock the door and stay in bed, etc. etc. Had this happened before? Did I have a history of mental illness? No. All of this and I hadn't even hit the ADI! My doc says many of my cognitive difficulties were probably due to the huge amounts of caffeine I was consuming. Bullshit. Ladies and Gentlemen, I've imbibed every caffeinated concoction on the planet in copious quantity: coffee, tea, regular cola, cappucino, hot chocolate, whatever, and NONE of them have given me symptoms like this. On the contrary, they usually offer a temporary nootropic affect, giving me better focus. If you're considering drinking the stuff, consider this: if any ONE of the three deadly toxins in this hell-molecule lives up to its potential, you're causing slow, irreparable damage to yourself. Not just your body but to YOU, your mind. Aspartame wears things away, erodes them at a level you can't perceive. One day, you could conceivably wake up and feel 75%. Or 60%. Or 20%. After four months without, I still feel as though I'm recovering from a traumatic head injury. My physical symptoms are long gone, as is my depression. My slowness of thought and memory have markedly improved. Overall, I can only pray that my mind will completely recover with time... if not, I'm purely thankful to have abstained when I did. I very much appreciate life now. There's a humble old adage that applies very, very well here: "Where there's smoke, there's fire." And there's a good damn deal of smoke around. BURN MONSANTO! [Followup] From: xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2005 10:26 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: Re: Toasted my brain on aspartame Mark, .... Thanks for your reply and your work. :) My memory and mental clarity continue to improve on a day-to-day basis. I simply cannot express how disturbing my inability to think was... and how utterly pleased I am that a road to recovery has opened. --------------- From: xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2005 8:13 AM To: aspartame@holisticmed.com Subject: Aspartame symtoms Hello. Great Website! People need to be made aware of the dangers of aspartame. I am 25 years old and reside in England. I used to drink bottles and bottles of aspartame sweetened cooldrink, eat aspartame sweetened yoghurt ect. Ha, ha, I thought I was helping myself lose weight. The worse of my problems was symptoms of diabetes. I was certain that I had diabetes and had myself tested. According to my first test results I was diabetic, then I learned about the dangers of aspartame, cut it out of my diet and everything returned to normal. The symptoms I had was: * Excessive depression * Extreme hunger (resulting in a 12 kilogram weight gain) * Symptoms of diabetes (drastic drop in bloodsugar levels making me shaky untill I eat something sweet) * Extreme, unexplained, tiredness (I used to get up at 6 am, I worked part time untill 13h00, then came home, had lunch and go to sleep untill 17h00, had dinner and went to bed around 20h00, many times even earlier) * Uncontrolled Uretera infections * Drastic drop in body temperature, making me shake with shivers in the afternoons even though the heating in the house was running. At 24 I thought that my life was basicly over, because I had no normal life anymore. Untill I learned about aspartame. Now that I have cut it out of my diet all these symptoms have disappeared. I am living a normal life now, keeping up with a full time job and other activities. I am not controlled by hunger anymore, have lost all the weight I gained and I don't feel depressed anymore. No more shakes and shivers! What a difference it made! ----------------- To: bettym19@mindspring.com From: xxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx Subject: Email To all xxxxxxxx residents Date: 12:54 AM 8/4/2005 Please find below a copy of the email I sent to a very wide xxxxxxxxxx based audience earlier this evening . The response in the last hour has been incredible. I hope many will take the opportunity to research for themselves further the issues on aspartame. -- .... Just four days ago I received an article in an email from a close friend. The wife of a former Army Air Core Helicopter Pilot who served during the 1982 conflict. The report was about the use of sweeteners that is found in many food and drink products. Because of my ongoing search for answers as to why my wife Mandy developed a life threatening brain tumour which required urgent surgery to remove and why our daughter Rachel has suffered from epilepsy since she was just 3 days old, I decided to check out the information given to me. I was horrified at what I discovered. I have since become a member of "Mission Possible International" and will begin to inform my fellow country people of the serious potential risks associated with Aspartame. Now I do not wish to bore you all with personal grievances, but the following might surprise you. Since we learned about aspartame and its deadly toxins, we did a search of items in our home and was amazed at just how many products contained aspartame. We decided to stop using any products immediately, that was four days ago and the results have been quite striking. Rachel as mentioned has regular night time seizures and until four days ago I personally do not remember a single night in the past 18 years that I have not had to attend her, usually several times in a single night. Well since we removed the aspartame products, especially the instant chocolate and diet mineral water. Rachel has not had a single attack in four consecutive nights. This is short of a miracle. I learned that aspartame can seriously affect the ability of regular prescribed drugs and it is highly probable that Rachel's medication was being affected. It also makes me wonder if Mandy's tumour was in fact directly linked to aspartame, it is certainly something we have to consider. .... ----------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx.xxx Sent: Sunday, April 28, 2005 04:13 PM To: Bettym19@mindspring.com Subject: Re: Personal Aspartame Story - Has to use epipen Hi Betty my name is Teresa France, I have had an known allergic reaction to aspartame since 1991. I stop breathing withing 6-10 minutes. Because of this I always carry an Epipen with me. everyone including my 5 year old son knows how to use the Epipen. If you would like more information, from my first black out in 1991 to me almost losing my life in 2002 from acciedently getting a diet drink from a major fast food place please contact me and I would be happy to share my story with you in an effort to get it off the market. I have been telling people for years that if they knew what I knew about it they would not touch it with a 10 foot pole, much less put it into there bodies. -------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Monday, June 27, 2005 1:52 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: Poison Mark, Seven years ago I went on a diet and lost a lot of weight one of the things I did was add all diet drinks and sweeteners to my diet. Shortly after starting this new eating lifestyle I started having the following symptoms; Headaches/migraines Menstrual cramps Fatigue Memory loss Tingling hands Heart palpitations Depression Stomach pains Insomnia Gastritis Eye twitching Back pain Joint and muscle pain Allergic to all antibiotics (started 5 years ago almost killed me) Sensitivity to all medications My dr. thought I was a hypochondriac I was constantly in his office with another complaint he tested me for lupus, ms, fibromyalgia, lymes disease, arthritis and depression. They found no positive results. It left me for years just treating the symptoms with medication and then 5 years ago I started have allergic reactions to every medication they put me on. Is this a common symptom? I have been aspartame free for 2 months and feel much better. I tried to drink a new Coke zero this weekend and I have been sick since. I know it’s the aspartame that has poisoned me. ----------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Friday, April 29, 2005 5:13 PM To: mgold@tiac.net Subject: aspartame I just read your article on dorway.com regarding aspartame. 9-10 years ago, I was diagnosed with “undifferentiated connective tissue disease” - whatever that is (a big name for something causing me a lot of pain, and no real idea what). Subsequently, I was diagnosed with Reynauds disease and fibromyalgia. I lived on the highest does of every nsaid out there. Had to take Darvocet or Vicodan at night for pain. Lived on antidepressants. My mother read several articles about he effects of aspartame - and knowing that I have drank only diet sodas since she can remember (I am now 41 yrs old), she urged my to stop using anything with aspartame in it. I told her she was crazy, but that I would give it 3 months. I saw my rheumatologist in July of 2004. On that day, he drew blood (as usual) and I told him I was going to give up anything with aspartame for 3 months. I then wanted to redraw my blood and see if there was a difference. He told me it was a waste of time. He had never heard of such nonsense. I went home that day (July 15) and gave it up. By the 3 month mark I had set for myself, I was able to cut my meds in half - completely eliminating my meds at night. I decided to continue since I did see a change. To this day, I am off everything. I have an occasional Aleve for “old age” pains, but no nsaids, no narcotics/analgesics, no antidepressants. I have not been back to me MD to tell him, but plan to soon. I truly believe it was the aspartame. Two months ago, I started dieting. I read labels for aspartame. I never thought yogurt would have aspartame in it, so I didn’t look. After eating this type of yogurt for 2 weeks, I was developing my old pains - hips, knees, neck, shoulders, fingers, etc. I decided to check the label and what do you know - aspartame. I stopped immediately and within one week, I was feeling better. .... ------------------- To: bettym19@mindspring.com From: xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx Subject: Another aspartame statistic vision problems, diabetes, etc. Date: 09:56 PM 5/31/2005 Dr. Martini, I was fortunate to have begun my own internet search for info about aspartame, in early December 2003. It only took a few hours to find enough evidence to convince me to totally abstain from this toxic substance. A recovering alcoholic (drank very heavily from adolescence to age 27), I had developed "reactive hypoglycemia" in 1981 (blood glucose level 34 mg/dl @ 3-1/2 hours into a 5 hr. GTT). To "treat" the hypoglycemia, I eliminated simple carbohydrates and sugars from my diet, and substituted sugar-sweetened sodas with diet drinks. The symptoms of the hypoglycemia abated, but within 7 years I became a very labile diabetic. I continued to use the aspartame-laden products for several years. My diabetes was extremely difficult to control, and other changes took place. After a bout with a bacterial pneumonia in the summer of 1991, with which I lost about 40 pounds, I have never been able to get my weight much above 150 lb. (I am 5' 10"). In 2001, I mysteriously developed high blood pressure, though my cardiac & circulatory condition proved excellent, and cholesterol and triglyceride levels were very good. The hypertension was treated successfully with lisinopril, for about a year, when the blood pressure began to increase again. The lisinopril dosage was doubled, and again the hypertension remained in control for about another year. At that point, my endocrinologist tried an array of antihypertensive drugs, from Clonidine to Lotrel and diuretics. The lack of any logical explanation for the high blood pressure caused me to take a careful look at my lifestyle. I had quit smoking cigarettes (April 1983), and the levels of stress were not significantly changed. The one thing that came to mind was the fact that I consumed moderately large quantities of diet soda, and other products containing aspartame. The aforementioned internet search soon took me to the Dorway website. After reading much of the info on that site, I immediately stopped using everything containing aspartame. At 3 months, one unexpected benefit was a complete disappearance of shoulder pain, formerly diagnosed by an orthopedic surgeon as "diabetic frozen shoulder". I can now actually shoot baskets with my daughter, and the range of motion has returned to almost normal. Also, my vision has actually improved, documented by semi-annual visits to my ophthalmologist. 20/55 left eye and 20/50 right eye has improved to 20/25 and 20/20! My intraocular pressure (22-23 in 2003) has dropped (17-18 in Feb. 2005). My complaints of "bright spots" diminished to almost nothing, but the Dr. is monitoring "background retinopathy" and a nevus near the optic nerve of the left eye. I shared with him my certainty that the improvements in vision are a direct result of stopping the use of aspartame. Other effects, unfortunately, have not subsided. At age 50, I suffer from moderately severe ED. The new drugs for treating this disorder have not been effective, nor was a trial of transdermal testosterone patches. My diabetes is still difficult to control, but better with an insulin pump (I am considered type 1, as there is no evidence of pancreatic function). The blood pressure continues to fluctuate at times, and I have difficulty with fatigue and inability to focus on my work (I am a manufacturing engineer). All this said, however, I can only consider myself fortunate to have learned of the dangers of aspartame when I did. I am certain that I would now be in much worse physical condition, perhaps even dead. I would guess that there are many thousands of people who have been permanently impaired and physically compromised by aspartame poisoning. Nonetheless, I am offering use of my information by you, or anyone else who is able to use it, for the furtherance of the cause of banning aspartame. It seems that the love of money truly is the root of this evil! ----------------- To: bettym19@mindspring.com From: xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx Subject: Aspartame Seizures Date: 9/9/05 7:14 PM I am e-mailing you because I don't know who to turn to with my problem concerning Aspartame Seizures. I wrote to xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx and I never received an answer back from him. I AM NOT A SPAMMER. I have had Aspartame seizures off and on since year 2001. I first experienced the seizures when I bought a box of Slimfast bars to eat at work. I am a janitor and I work alone. I felt fine before I ate the Slimfast bars, but than all of my left side including my face and tongue went numb and tingling. I thought I had a stroke until I spoke with one of the ladies who works at the building I clean, and she gave me an article on Aspartame. I also made another discovery with my Estrogen pill "PREMARIN" it also has Aspartame in the dye. I was getting petite mals in the stomach until I quit taking it. I didn't my doctor know any of this until I spoke to a lawyer. When I didn't receive an answer back from xxxxxxx xxxxxxx I went to see a lawyer in [Location] where I live, and he said, " I have to let my doctor know about this and be tested." My doctor knew nothing about Aspartame. He didn't know Aspartame causes seizures and brain tumors. Thoughts were running through my head, "OH G-R-E-A-T here I go educating another doctor!" I have an appointment set up with a Neurosurgeon for September 22, 2005, and all the research I have done on Aspartame I made sure I dropped copies of information off at Dr.Bakkers office ahead of time. On August 10th 2005 I went to see a diatition, and she knew "NOTHING" about Aspartame. I took a binder of information in with me, and the Diatition replied,"It's better for you to rely on the computer for your information than to talk to me because I know nothing about Aspartame. I sharply replied, "So it's better for me to go All Natural than to take my chances on the food industry? The Diatition said,"All her clients respond with the same attitude as mine when they leave her office also." i buy only ORGANIC FOOD, and I do not eat in restaurants anymore. Since I have gone all natural I have been seizure-free. I would like to file a class action lawsuit against the Aspartame Company. My Family Doctor said if I go through with this Aspartame test and have a seizure I could lose my driver's lisence, and than there goes my live-li-hood because I operate my own Janitorial Company myself. I need all the advice you can give me including on How To Deal With The Doctors Here In [Location] Concerning Aspartame. Having to deal with Aspartame Poison has limited me to the "Do's and Don'ts." Could you please help me with the class action lawsuit or give me some guidance on how to go about taking action against Aspartame. --------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Sunday, June 12, 2005 7:07 PM To: Betty M; M Gold; Mary Stod Subject: RE: Article at: http://www.HolisticMed.com/aspartame/ Both my wife and I have numerous symptoms and have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and Arthritis. She has MS and was almost to a point that she could not walk and her pain was almost unbearable for her. I have PseudoTumor Cerebri (over production of spinal column fluid that builds up in the cranial cavity). I was a Diet Pepsi addict, that is all I drank, and often would drink over a gallon a day. My wife only drank one to two bottles a day. Both her MS and my PTC were out of control on this chemical. Since we stopped drinking and eating the Aspartame, the symptoms of our Fibromyalgia and Arthritis are very rare occurrences. Both her MS and my PST have gotten better. We have been working for over 5 months now trying to detoxify our bodies. -------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Tuesday, August 02, 2005 7:57 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: re: Aspartame Poison Why isn't there a warning label in diet soda or the packets of that poison? I had many of the symptoms as most that I have read here and as soon as I realized that the coffee in the morning, diet soda in the afternoon and evening was making me crazy. I had blood work for years and my DR's said there was nothing wrong with me and I thought feeling like crap was the new normal. Try feeling like crap everyday for fifteen years then finding out that it was the poison in the diet soda and the sweeteners in my coffee that was making me sick. I also don't understand why this is not or hasn't been a huge story on any or all the network news. There must be thousands of people suffering and NOT knowing that its in the diet soda or the sweeteners in the coffee that's making them deathly I'll. Someone needs to break this story. -------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx To: bettym19@mindpsring.com Subject: Acute Onset Dizziness - Lasted 7 Months Sent: Sunday, June 6, 2005 I was driving my truck on night and had to pull over with an acute bout of vertigo. I'm a physician and was not immediately alarmed, rather, annoyed. From that point on, every 4 or 5 minutes, I developed a sense of disequilibrium with occasional bouts of vertigo. This lasted every waking hour for more than 7 months. With the typical, "Physician, heal thyself," mentality, I did NOT want to go through the typical route of over investigation so prominent in our current healthcare model. At the point leading up to my initial onset of symptoms, I was drinking 1200 - 1500 mL of diet pop daily. I had been doing this for more than 20 years. I had increase my consumption to almost 3 Litres of diet pop for about a 2 month time period leading up to my symptoms. As I had no other neurological signs or symptoms, I started looking to things like aspartame. As an easy test, I discontinuued use of all diet pops and anything sweetened with aspartame. Over about 3 months, my symptoms went away. Not conculsive, but certainly welcome results. About 2 months after my symtoms went away, I began drinking diet pops again. About 2 weeks after I began consumption of them, my symptoms returned at which point I ceased consumption all together. Within three days, my symptoms also went away. As I realize that this is, by no means, conclusive evidence of aspartame toxicity, I personally believe it did. Mine is a simple "n of 1" study of which I was an unwilling participant, but I have NO signs or symptoms associated with the whatever was plagueing me, SINCE I discontinuued use of aspartame. I just thought I'd share my experience with you. ------------------ From: xxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Saturday, January 29, 2005 11:19 PM To: aspartame@holisticmed.com Subject: My story Hello, I would like to provide my story so it may help someone out there. I have drank a lot of diet cola for about 20 years. Symptoms started when I was 25 (9 years ago). I was an avid skiier, pretty darn good I must say. Instead of getting better every season, as all people do, I was getting worse. I would tire quickly and get a rash on my face and go home after a couple of hours, feeling ashamed that I could not keep up with my regular crowd of friends. I also had shoulder pain and headaches. I thought that I was just getting old. I could not keep up with my college classes, my memory was awful, I had to drop out because my grades were not good enough to receive loans anymore. (My GPA was 3.4 the first 2 years). I became too tired to be social, only had one or two friends. A few years later I was numb on my left side. An MRI showed a lesion in my spinal cord, the neurologist thought it was MS, but not enough proof to diagnose me yet. A few years later I went numb again. 2 lesions on my brain this time, unexplainable. I was so tired and depressed I couldn't function. The anti-depressants didn't help at all so I quit taking them, against my doctors advice, I felt a little better actually. I started taking "speed" like drugs because caffeine wasn't doing it for me anymore and if I didn't take them, I was afraid I would need to be hospitalized (fatigue), and my kids would be taken away from me. Luckily, before I became addicted or strung out or "tweeky" my mother in law e-mailed me a story about aspartame because it sounded just like me. I quit drinking diet drinks about 6 months ago. I take no drugs anymore (except caffeine). I can function now. I can take my kids to the park and clean the house! I feel like I am about 85% back to normal now, hopefully I will keep improving. I still want to learn to surf, a year ago I thought it would never happen. I now annoy and pester anyone who drinks or eats artificial sweetner to stop. Most do not listen or care, but if I can even help one person it will be worth it. Thanks for reading this! ---------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx Sent: Friday, April 15, 2005 3:16 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: aspartame toxicity reaction I started using Aspartame when it went into all the diet sodas on the market and I had severe headaches and stomach pain on the day that I started drinking the soda with this sweetener in them. I proceeded to have very severe memory problems - I could not remember even small normal words such as cup and pen- I knew that I knew the word -but I could not pull the word out of my brain to use it in conversation. I would be talking and in the middle of a sentence stop talking because I forgot what I was talking about and I could not remember - the harder I would try to remember the farther away it seemed to go. Someone could tell me what I was talking about and I could maybe finish the sentence or 2 or three sentences. I would be driving along and a 6 to 8 foot section of the road would just disappear I could still see the road further ahead of that section but if I moved my eyes up toward the section of road that was still visible it would disappear also. I had to try to stay within the lines on the sides of the road by using -what I guess would be peripheral vision. I could not sleep and even when I thought I was asleep my husband and daughter would walk into a room and start talking to me - when I asked why they insisted on talking to me when I was asleep - they told me I was laying there with my eyes wide open. ---------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx Sent: Monday, February 14, 2005 To: bettym19@mindspring.com Subject: Diet Coke MS and Lou Gehrigs symptoms I just read your story about Diet Coke. I had several symptoms of MS and Lou Gerigs disease. My doctor asked me to stop drinking diet pop and in thwo weeks my symptoms were gone! Unreal Keep up the good work. J. S. [More Details...] From: xxxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx Sent: Sunday, March 06, 2005 3:58 PM To: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx Subject: Re: FW: Diet Coke MS and Lou Gehrigs symptoms Sorry for not getting back to you with my symptoms. First of all...I have spinal stenosis. Those symptoms are lower back pain, numbness after standing for a while and neck pain. Occasional hand tingling.....really no big problem. But here were my ASPARTME symptoms: ALL MS / ALS symptoms!!!! 1. Muscle twitching@!! 2. Dizziness (not related to sinus pressure) 3. Feeling like I was in a psychedelic scene of a bad horror movie 4. Problems swallowing...very scary!!!! 5. Muscle contractions that made my whole body contract!!!! 6. Hoarse throat 7. Sporadic finger twitching When my spine doctor tested my strength he said I was "a bull", which was a good sign against neuro-muscular disease....he asked my about Diet Coke and I had been consuming high amounts. I stopped and my symptoms disappeared in two weeks. I still want to sue Diet Coke for the scariest two weeks of my life! -------------------- Worldwide Church of God Alumni Forum Forum: Alumni Discussion Topic: Nutrasweet From: compassion Posted on 7/3/05 12:20 pm http://p069.ezboard.com/fworldwidechurchofgodalumniforumfrm10.showMessage?topicID=1185.topic&index=2 Yes...I lost 30 lbs. using Nutrasweet many years ago, and my kidneys almost quit on me. I had very painful kidney attacks and I knew it was the Nutrasweet. When I cut it out, the pain went away. Splenda is manufactured under an outright lie..."Made from sugar so it tastes like sugar". No it doesn't. When you use it in anything, it tastes like what it is...a chemical. And it "foams" when mixed in liquid. And it "foams" in my stomach, whatever it is mixed in. ------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx Sent: Sunday, April 24, 2005 11:00 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: aspartame I have never been able to eat or drink artificial sweeteners of any kind. A mint or a piece of gum causes me to be nauseated, dizzy, confused, severe migraine, panic/anxiety. My symptoms are severe and I have to be very careful about what I eat or drink. I was prescribed cough syrup by my family doctor and couldnt use it because it has nutra sweet in it. What about our children who have allergies nutra sweet and dont know. Liquid penacillin,cough syrup,vitamins, what can we do about it? Do we have any control? ---------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Monday, January 24, 2005 12:18 PM To: aspartame@holisticmed.com Subject: My niece went into respitory arrest Dear Sir, I have never liked nutrisweet but now none of my family uses it. My niece was only two years old when she started having seizures. They took her to the xxxxxxxxxxx clinic and determined that it was not epilepsy. At one point she went into respitory arrest and almost died if she hadn't been in the hospital at the time I believe she would have. They put her on dilantin which made her a zombie and she still had seizures. One day when she had another seizure my brother called me asking me what he could do (she had passed out again). Out of the blue I remembered that when nutrisweet first came out that seizures in epileptics and young children was a possible side effect. I asked him if she had been having any. They had been giving her nurtisweet popsicles because they were concerned with how many she was eating (more than 4 a day). I told him what I remembered and they took her off the dilantin and nutrisweet. She only had one more siezure (we think she got some sugar free jello at a picnic). She went from having seizures that could not be controlled to no medication at all in a matter of weeks. The doctors did not want her taken off the meds. They would not listen to my brother about the nutrisweet connection. Now she is a fine and healthy second grader. I know of many diabetics drinking diet sodas. This is a known hazzard and has been from the start. When will our medical community start to listen? How many children are having seizures now due to nutrisweet? And it seems that every eplileptic I know is using nutrisweet because their doctor says it is Okay to have it!!! ( at least 4 people) Thankyou for being out there to inform people. I just wish more people would listen. -------------------- To: bettym19@mindspring.com From: xxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx Subject: Date: 5/16/2005 09:54 AM Hi Betty - How are you? Hope everything is well - its been awhile since we've talked. I just wanted to let you know, I'm doing so much better since we last talked. I was in desperate need of help - I'm sure you can imagine since I called you numerous times for support. For some people, just getting off aspartame is enough to recover from problems they may be suffering but in my case, it took a lot more. My first "episode" was a lot easier to handle - I just stopped using the sweetener and within a couple of weeks, I was a new person. At the time, I wasn't aware how harmful aspartame was - I just knew I was sick and assumed it was something I was doing. . . and I was right. I was I would have followed my guts. A few months after that, I went to the doctor for a physical and mentioned my experience w/aspartame - I thought she would be happy to hear I figured out the problem since no one could seem to figure out what was wrong with me. Instead, she laughed it off and said it was impossible. The doctors thought I was a hypochondriac and actually diagnosed me with a mental problem. They prescribed me all kinds of mental drugs but luckily I didn't take any of it. Taking her word, I started drinking my diet sodas again and within several months, my symptoms came back and this time it was severe. I had all the tests you can name, they couldn't find anything wrong with me except for what I was telling them. They finally diagnosed me with depression! I have lost all my faith in doctors. I thought I was going to go crazy - none of them would listen. That's when I found all the info on aspartame and talked you. It was a rough time - I visited Dr. Harding (she a blessing) and she worked miracles for me - god bless her! .... ------------------ To: Bettym19@mindspring.com From: xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx Date: 09:34 AM 4/14/2005 Subject: Victim of Aspartame Poisoning - Cerebral Aneurysm, Seizure In my mid thirties, I begain drinking diet sodas to lose weight. After 2 years of initial use, I began having headaches and dizziness on a daily basis. Over-the-counter medications did not improve my symptoms. Then I began experiencing chronic fatigue, extreme weakness, body pain (flu like), \'head in a fog\' thinking, back pain, irregular, painful and debilitating menstrual cycles. I also experienced hypoglycemia symptoms, bloating, breathing difficulties, heart palpitations, excessive thirst and hunger, severe itching, nausea, numbness and tingling of extremities, night sweats, tremors and blurred vision. At times I actually felt as if I were being poisoned. On Sept 22, 2004, I had a seizure. After all the doctor visits and medical tests, it was determined that I was very healthy, with the exception of an incidental finding, cerebral aneurysm. My PCP prescribed Zoloft for panic attacks, which did help to relieve my symptoms temporarily. I continued to struggle through each day. I knew I was dying, and was ready to go because I was so miserable. Several weeks ago, I learned that 2 of my neighbors, both female, have been sick with the same symptoms. We had our well water tested, heavy metal screening, looked into the possibility of toxic mold in the homes, until I discovered the toxic effects of Aspartame poisoning. I confirmed with my neighbors and they in fact consumed large amounts of diet soda (Nutrasweet) as well. I am now 2 weeks without Aspartame in my diet...and I am beginning to feel much improvement in my health. Most of my symptoms have improved tremendously, or disappeared. Even those around me have noticed a difference in my behavior, focus, and particularly my energy level. I am convinced that I am a victim of Aspartame poisoning. Thank you for taking my story. ------------------ From: xxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Sunday, February 27, 2005 2:50 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: re: aspartame I am someone who has a story about aspartame. I think I went to the Dr. about 5 yrs ago because I had a numbness and tingling in my face which I thought could be the start of a tooth nerve dying. Ex-ray said no. I think that was probably the first experience I had w/numbness and tingling which progressed to a full body flush and tingling which happened about 20 - 30 times a day. It seemed to occur in parts of my body where I had an injury of some sort - a broken bone in my foot etc. These symptoms lasted for about 30-60 sec. and did not knock me off my feet but sometimes, if it included a vision problem in my left eye, I had to consciously make and effort to stay in control of my body. In the fall of 2003 I went to my family Dr. who sent me to the neurologist. Of course they looked for things like stroke, MS, epilepsy etc. I had an MRI of my head, a carotid artery test, ex-rays, saw the opthomologist, orthopedic surgeon and the neurologist 3 times. He could't find anything - I think he thought I was making this up. All he said was if it was still happening in 30 days I should come back. Well, I was seeing ads for food which said "no apartame" and I began to wonder. I drank diet ice tea and used other food products since they came on the market. I consumed a large jar of diet iced tea every 2 wks in addition to diet soda etc. I decided to eliminate aspartame from my diet and after about 2 wks the numb/flushes started to subside. It took almost 6 mo. before they were gone entirely. It hasn't happened for 6 -7 mo. I received your e/mail address from my daughter who is a professor in the science dept. at xxxxxxxxxxx State because I have been wanting to tell this story to someone because I felt it had some significance for others who have undiagnosed neurological problems. ------------------------ From: xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.wanadoo.co.uk] Sent: Saturday, February 05, 2005 12:54 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: Aspartame poisoning Since I can remeber I have always drunk diet drinks had sugar free sweets and other food products. About 6 years ago I experienced severe fatigue, loss of feeling and tingling in my fingers and down one side of my body. I even experienced paralysis in my legs. I was sent to see a neurologist and he put me through lots of tests suspecting that I had MS. All tests came back negative. My Mum then met a lady who had MS and told her about aspartame. I then cut it out of my diet completely and my symptoms disappeared. I have been fine since. --------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Monday, March 21, 2005 2:38 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: Aspartame Dear Sir, I only have a few moments to write you a quick note. But I first and foremost would like to thank you for all the information I have obtained through your website about the toxicity of aspartame. I have been experiencing strange symptoms pertaining to my health for quite awhile, that I couldn't put my finger on. I will go into details at a later time, but last week it all came to a head with one piece of sugarless gum. I have been drinking a diet iced-tea with aspartame for quite some time, and never put two and two together until this past week with an awful reaction to one piece of gum. The day prior to this last episode, I had a slight feeling in my throat as if I had suddenly got an awful sore throat, which went away, and that night I drank some iced tea. The next day, the only thing I put in my mouth when this reaction was set off was a piece of this sugarless gum, and I felt the most awful pain like a firecracker went off in my mouth, and I believe my throat was closing up, my throat hurt incredibly. Dr. said it sounded like and allergic reaction, and I took benadryl which really didn't help completely, but the symptoms subsided. Since that day, last Tuesday, I have had no aspartame at all, and I can't begin to tell you how much better I feel. I have people telling me it's to soon to tell if that was really the problem, but as it stands right now, I truly believe I have been a victim of this monster called asartame. If possible could you let me know if you think that small amount of time could make such a marked improvement in my overall health. I feel 25 again, not 65, and I am 42. I can't thank you enough.. I wish more people would look to additives as a source of problems, I know I will be spreading the word. My vision is improved, my eyes don't hurt, I slept better than I have in months. Thank you , Thank you! ---------------------- Re: Iraqis left baffled as 'Don' Rumsfeld drops in for a chat (Score: 1) by scritch on Thursday, May 01 @ 14:55:42 EDT http://www.smirkingchimp.com/article.php?thold=-1&mode=flat&order=1&sid=11234#63527 A little OT, but NutraSweet has been implicated in a lot of adverse reactions. My wife's reaction was so severe that the doc's thought she had multiple sclerosis for a while. Then she gave up gum with NutraSweet (Aspartame) and voila! no more symptoms! There's been not a little bit of coverup for this chemical. ------------------ From: xxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Saturday, October 09, 2004 10:08 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: aspartame reactions Hello mgold, I grew up drinking Diet Dr. Pepper in the 80's (I think when it was still saccharin). In the mid nineties I was a college student. I started having memory problems. I've always had wonderful short-term memory and did some of my best studying right before a test. But suddenly I was forgetting everything I had just studied. I was actually in danger of flunking a difficult class. I was also getting very bad headaches. A friend of my parents told us about an actress he knew who stopped drinking diet sodas a month or two before her play would start. It was late in the semester but I stopped drinking Diet Dr. Pepper and stopped eating diet popsicles. The headaches went away. My memory improved a lot and I managed to make a high enough grade on the final exam to get a C in the class. I tried to stop drinking Diet Dr. Peppers completely, but I seemed to be addicted. It wasn't until after I was married that I kicked that habit. And my husband could always tell if I drank a Diet Dr. Pepper - he said I started noticeably forgetting things. During my days of Nutrasweet, I gained weight, got headaches, developed eye migraines, developed hypoglycemia and had memory problems. My memory has never recovered 100%. At this point, I am completely off of all artificial sweeteners. I tried Splenda when it came out, but I seemed to develop an addiction to that as well. .... ------------------ From: xxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Friday, December 10, 2004 12:07 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: Our experience with poison #%%% I mean aspartame! About 15 years ago I worked in a warehouse that was not air conditioned and I was drinking sodas all day long. Needless to say I started to gain weight, so I made some sugarfree Kool-aid to take to work. Well I got a headache that felt like the top of my skull was being crushed in all the way around the top. The next day more kool-aid and the very same headache. So I have never used anything with aspartame in it since. Guess what I have never had such a monster headache like that again. But my real story is this, my mother was using nutra-sweet in coffee and tea and drank diet coke. In March of 2000 she was having a dry cough so I had taken her to the hospital doctors office and while she was there she had congestive heart failure. It was caused by a buildup of fluids around her heart. So this ment her kidneys had gone bad. Then she had to go on dialysis 3 times a week. One morning about 2 years ago she was so sick, I took her to the emergency room and they ran all kinds of tests on her, Xrays, blood work, EEG, EKG and found nothing. 2 days later the same exact thing again emergency room and all the tests again. The doctors found nothing. Then I remembered my own experience with aspartame and did a web search and found your site. I couldn't believe the number of people having such a wide range of problems after taking something with aspartame in it. Well I threw eveything with aspartame in it away and got her to understand she could never have diet coke again. It took about 3 to 4 months before her problems went away. She has not had anything with aspartame in it and guess what she has not had those same problems since. There is no way for me to prove it, but I believe it was the aspartame that destroyed her kidneys and caused the need for dialysis. This is a woman that did not drink or smoke or use anything to excess, so why would her kidneys fail? There are lots of other people that are her age and do not require dialysis. It doesn't take a PHd or a rocket scientist to see a connection here. So my advice to everyone if you have just half a brain you won't use any kind of artifical sweetner esp. aspartame. ------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Monday, October 11, 2004 5:52 AM To: aspartame@holisticmed.com Subject: Here is my story: Here is my story: 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 is 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. -------------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Sunday, August 15, 2004 4:47 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: aspartame I had always practiced a healthy lifestyle so when aspartame came out I wouldn't have anything to do with it. Then due to a health problem I suddenly gained quite a bit of weight. I went to a Dr. who put me on a diet that include several sugar-free foods & drinks. Reluctantly but to help lose the weight I consumed them. 2 weeks later I was overcome by dizziness, and felt like my head and ears were going to explode, it was debilitating. I went to vertigo specialist at a top medical facility and they couldn't find any explanation for my vertigo. I was placed on many medications with no relief. My mother found on the net that aspartame caused vertigo. I stopped using it right then and within a few days the dizziness stopped but will come back with a vengeance if I even accidentally get a stick of gum with aspartame, I get so dizzy it is like I am drunk. I feel my equilibrium is permanently damaged because of it. Before I could watch TV and enjoy a movie. Now, I can't because the movements make me motion sick. My whole family has had reactions to this poison aspartame. My Father loses his memory, My sister get hives on her tongue, My aunt went deaf until she stopped drinking diet coke, and my mother has memory loss & hives from it. I tell everyone that it is a toxin and to please not drink it, but sadly most don't listen. ------------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Sunday, August 15, 2004 2:09 PM To: aspartame@holisticmed.com Subject: Aspartame caused problems I am glad that I found this site and have been reading through most of the case histories. Artificial sweetener have caused so many problems for me I don't even know where to begin. I started out by using Aspartame in my coffee. I used to drink 5-6 cups of coffee and drank 3 tablets in each cup. I kicked my coffee habit later on but started drinking artificialy sweetened carbonated drinks. Approximately 6 - 8 cups a day. I also ate yoghurt with aspartame in and other products like sugar free chewing gum. I suffered from imbalance in my hormones which could not be explained. I just later on accepted that it will never change. I started having frequent infections which could not be cured by antibiotics. I suffered from very bad depression. I also gained a lot of weight which I just could not get rid of and I suffered from all kinds of cravings, specially sweet cravings. I used to crave sweets so much that I felt like I was going insane untill I ate 2 - 3 bars of chocolate or Ice cream. I was tired all the time and had frequent mood swings. I also got blurred speech at times and was unable to concentrate. My husband told me that my weight problem was caused by the artificial sweetener and I did not want to believe him. Finally I decided just to prove a point that he is wrong I will stop using artificial sweetener. My whole life changed after that. I have lost 4 kilograms in the past two months. I have completely stopped having cravings. My hormones are balanced and I'm having my preriod regularly and on time. I have no more infections. My mental health have improved so much that I feel like a completely different person. I will never used artificial sweetener again. --------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Friday, August 13, 2004 2:12 AM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: Appalled that so many are still suffering because of this poison! Dear Mark, My list of health problems grew longer and longer over the course of drinking diet sodas for 15 years. Never did I imagine it was all related to the diet sodas. I have been very angry since this discovery, as I still have severe memory loss - at times struggling for words just to finish a sentence. I had severe insomnia for years. I experienced the spots, floaters and chronic fatique, tingling in my hands, eating binges, and headaches with blind attacks. Toward the end I was having severe muscle spasms/contractions in my legs constantly - I thought I was going to reach the point of not being able to walk at all. Fortunately, my mother had received an email with a list of the negative reactions caused by the consumption of aspartame/sucrolose. I immediately stopped all use of any fake sugars. All of the symptoms I have listed above eventually went away, with the exception of, as I stated earlier the memory loss. It is very embarrasing and I work hard at hiding this problem from my friends, family and colleagues - I know there are times my husband genuinely worries and is perplexed by the memory loss. He, as well as many others think I am crazy when I tell them the cause. I discovered this 6 years ago and am appalled that so many others are still suffering because of this poison. I want to thank you for your efforts in educating the public - you are doing a great service! ----------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Saturday, August 07, 2004 12:00 AM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: Aspartame Hi; Several months ago I started a diet, it was wonderful and I lost 25 lb. The book that help me with this diet told me not to drink any soft drink with Aspartame, but since I needed something sweet, I figured out that it was OK. After 3 months of dinking soft drinks with Aspartame I started to feel very tired, my muscles hurt a lot and I was very stressed. The funny thing was that I was very tired during the summer, and, since I am a teacher, I do not work in the summer. Why was I tired and stress out? Why was my neck very tense and my legs hurt? I got an email from my brother in Mexico about Aspartame, I read all the symptoms that Aspartame cause according with this letter and I realized that I was suffering from intoxication caused by Aspartame. I decided not to take Aspartame anymore. Now I am feeling a lot better. I believe Aspartame was intoxicating me. ------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx Sent: Sunday, August 22, 2004 7:18 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: I was reading your toxicity reports on Aspartame and was grateful someone out there is informing the public about this harmful chemical. As a child I had many side effects associated to this chemical. Headaches, Dizziness, Fatigue. I was taught never to eat it no matter what the circumstances. I have found many new chemical names on “Sugar-Free” products over the years and try to avoid “Sugar-Free” anything due to my reactions and knowledge of chemicals including Saccrin and Aspartame (NutraSweet). I am curious if you have noticed Phenylalanine which from my research is just another name for aspartame that has been used in “Sugar-Free” candies, gums, and even Fitness Supplements. Check out this link http://www.sweetpoison.com/phenylalanine.html Thought you should probably add that to your list since they are one and the same and this stuff is nasty. Brain Damage is not something we need our country to have a high dose of. I want to thank you again for keeping this info on the Web ---------------------- From: xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2004 2:56 AM To: mgold@tiac.net Subject: Aspartame Poisoning This letter is in response to your requests for information regarding my symptoms to what I believe is Aspartame poisoning. My symptoms first began in early 2003. In late 2002, I began to gain weight. My diet included approximately 8 liters of Pepsi per week. As part of a strategy to combat this weight gain, I switched from regular Pepsi to Diet Pepsi around the end of 2002. Soon after, I began to notice my feet felt unusually cold at night. This progressed until I was soon too uncomfortable to sleep at night without wearing socks. By late February 2004, a second symptom arose. At this time, I began to notice that my left eye would become numb and unresponsive whenever I would relax or prepare to go to sleep. This partial paralysis was upsetting to me, and I soon began to consult eye doctors. Several months and three eye doctors later, I was referred to a general MD. This MD’s office diagnosed me as most likely having MS. This precipitated a number of expensive tests for MS at a local hospital. These tested included a CAT scan, an MRI, and various blood work. All came back as negative for MS. At this point I was frustrated with paying for expensive tests and consulting lots of doctors who seemed to have no idea what was wrong with me. I stopped seeing any doctor at all. My symptoms slowly, but undramaticaly, progressed. By early Summer of 2004, however, a new symptom arose. At this time, I began experiencing tremors. At first I simply had strange feelings at time. Soon, however, I noticed visible shaking. This occurred mainly when I was relaxed or waking up in the morning. This shaking quickly progressed over the span of 2 or 3 weeks to the point that considerable shaking and even facial spasms were waking me up in the morning. I told a friend about my situation and how I didn’t have the time and money to be wasting on doctors who couldn’t tell what was wrong with me. I was scarred however, and announced my intention to start seeing more medical professionals. My friend commented that I might be a victim of Aspartame poisoning, and that I should stop drinking Diet Pepsi. I took his advice. Within a few days, my symptoms of a year and a half were noticeably better. Within a month, all of my symptoms were gone. Following this, I unknowingly began using some other products containing Aspartame. My symptoms began to return. After realizing that Aspartame has many names, I ridded myself of these products as well. My symptoms once again subsided. All of this has left no doubt in my mind that I have been a victim of Aspartame poisoning. I am looking to stop Aspartame use nationally and to recover my considerable expenses, both emotionally and financially, in having to go through all of this. Please keep me up to date on any pending class-action lawsuits. -------------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx Sent: Friday, August 20, 2004 11:06 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: Aspartame Toxicity Information My mother and I always drank diet everything, so when aspartame took over, we had no choice. Two years later, my mom began having grand mal seizures (and I developed migraines). They did all the tests, and found nothing wrong. We had heard about a connection between aspartame and seizures, so we stopped using aspartame. After a year of being seizure free, a friend gave my mom diet soda in a glass. That night she had another seizure. That was it. Aspartame was banned in my house. Fast forward to two years ago. My husband, myself, and my two sons were on our way to my sister's house for Christmas. Half way there, my 9 year old starts seizing. A grand mal. Take him to the hospital, they find nothing wrong. I found out the day before, he had consumed 10 diet sodas at his friend's house. It scared everyone so bad that now they listen to me when I tell them not to use aspartame. ------------------- To: bettym19@mindspring.com From: xxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx Subject: aspartame,diabetes, UK Date: 04:09 PM 8/11/2004 Hello My name is Cindy I am from the UK. I have a 13 year old daughter, who is diabetic so drinks lots of sugar [free] drinks. This year she has been ill and i was told she has chronic fatigue syndrome. But i have been hearing some bad things about Aspartame and wondering if it could be linked to my daughters illness. At the moment i have stopped giving anything with Aspartame in. but i am having lots of trouble finding sugar free drinks without it so she is now only drinking water and not happy. if you have any information on this i would be very grateful to hear from you. I would love to see Aspartame banned in the uk. [updated] From: xxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2004 5:33 PM To: Mark Gold Subject: RE: aspartame,diabetes, UK Dear Mark Thank you for you email. My daughter Amber is already feeling much better. She has more energy and is a lot happier. The change in her has been wonder. I cant believe something this damaging is still allowed to be used. When we found out Amber was diabetic we thought sugarfree was wonderful. How wrong i was. --------------------- http://www.collegesports.com/sports/c-swim/stories/081304aaf.html Dumais Brothers Take Act to Athens Texas' Tandem, Justin and Troy, take their talents to the men's synchronized springboard final Aug. 13, 2004 By Stephanie Berlin Daily Texan AUSTIN, Texas (U-WIRE) - Two years ago at the NCAA Championships in Georgia, the entire University of Texas men's swimming and diving team stood on the first-place podium. Among them were Justin and Troy Dumais, two brothers whose spectacular dives helped Texas win its ninth national title. The two stood with their team on the podium, horns held proudly in the air. "They were enjoying that moment as a team," Texas men's and women's diving coach Matt Scoggin recalled. "Not as brothers or individuals, but as a team. That was a great day." On Aug. 16, the Dumais brothers will try and reach the top podium once again, this time in Athens and, this time around, as their own two-man team. Justin and Troy are taking their talents to the 2004 Olympics together in the men's synchronized springboard final. .... But the rise to the top hasn't always been easy. Justin, who had been ill since early November, just recently became healthy enough to train for the Olympics. "He lost his energy," Kathy said. "Blood tests showed his thyroid was a little high, and they started treating that. It turned out he was poisoning himself with aspartame." Aspartame, which can be found in everything from diet drinks to protein shakes, is a popular artificial sweetener. Doctors found that Justin was very sensitive to the sweetener, and once he stopped using it, his health vastly improved. .... ©2004 Daily Texan via U-WIRE. ---------------------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2004 11:57 AM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: apartame My experience with aspartame started about 3 years ago. As a cyclist and avid athlete I was looking for a way to keep my weight down during the winter months when I was not riding. I started drinking Diet Dr. Pepper because I saw it as a way to eliminate a lot of calories from my diet, as I liked to drink pop all day. That is when I started to feel exausted all the time. At the end of the work day I would go home and fall asleep immediately after I got home. I would sleep about 3 hours, wake up and eat then go to bed. The next day I would wake up feeling absoulutely exausted. Like I hadn't slept at all. The whole school year went by and I was in a daze. I felt like a zombie and the whole day felt almost like an out of body experience. My training that summer was aweful. My performance was poor, I had terrible problems with body aches on my bike, and I continued to be tired all the time. After a year and a half of living like this I read an article about some reported side effects of aspartame. I quit drinking diet pop and within a week I was feeling a tremendous difference in the way I felt. I have no longer had any problems with fatigue and I happy to say my bike riding is coming back into top form. ------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Monday, July 12, 2004 3:56 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: artificial sweetener reply Finally, I have found others who feel like I do! I had numerous stomach problems about 8 years ago, and could not figure out the source of it. I finally self-diagnosed that it was the artificial sweeteners because nearly everything I consumed that was not fresh fruits/vegetables/meat was sweetened artificially because I was calorie-conscious. I went to the doctor, and consulted my family and friends - and no one believed me! To this day, I'm not sure they entirely believe me. But indeed, on my own, I figured out that when the ingredients contain things like phenylalanene, phenylketonourics, aspartame, Nutrasweeet, even Splenda, it makes me so sick. I get so bloated that I feel and almost look like I'm pregnant. I feel lethargic and gross. I think it's akin to what lactose intolerant people experience...but worse. Artificial sweeteners are bad news! I'm confident that sometime in the future, this will come out. Unfortunately for now, the companies that produce it are hand in hand with the FDA and it continues to be in so many products you would never even suspect - like sushi rolls at Trader Joe's! I always have to read all the ingredients, and only shop at stores like Whole Foods Market. Thanks for making this information available. It is reassuring to know there are others just like me! ------------------------- http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartame/message/17302 From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx Date: Sun Aug 29, 2004 6:56 pm Subject: My first confirmed save! About 3 weeks ago, I related to a co-worker (actually we work different shifts, but cross paths often) my story of how seizures from aspartame ruined my professional life.(I was a driver) He confessed to me that he drank rather prodigious amounts of Diet Croak, and, yes, he had frequent headaches and soreness in his arms and shoulders. Thankfully, I was convincing enough to talk him into stopping his intake, at least for 2 weeks, and let me know what happens. I finally had my first chance to talk to him today. He admitted the the headaches on the first two days were hellish (the dreaded chemical withdrawals) but, thank God, he stuck it out. Now he has no headaches or joint pain, and he thanked me profusely for telling him about this poison. In return,I made him promise to pass the word wherever he could. I have to admit, as I type this, I'm on such an incredible natural high for improving somebody's quality of life. It definitely makes the dozens of people I tell my horror story to well worth it! As that old commercial says,"you tell two friends, and they'll tell two friends, and so on, and so on ..." P.S. Don't forget to warn them about Neotame! --------------------- To: bettym19@mindspring.com From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx Subject: Aspartame itching Date: 11:17 AM 8/24/2004 Over the last 4 years I have had a severe body itch with no rash, while dieting and drinking 4-6 cans of diet soda daily, which contains aspartame. I have spent thousands of dollars on blood tests and doctors trying to find the cause of the itch. I have stopped drinking all of those beverages and other products with aspartame in them and my itch quickly vanished. Please do what you can to make the medical community and public aware of the awful problems aspartame causes. ----------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2004 3:06 PM To: aspartame@holisticmed.com Subject: TAKE IT OFF THE MARKET I would just like to add to the million of other people who have suffered from the use of aspartame that I, too had symptoms. My sister told me to begin a carb-diet, therefore, encouraging me to drink diet sodas. I started off drinking Diet Dr. Pepper on a Thursday. Then I bought some Diet Caffeine-Free Sierra Mist soda on Friday and enjoyed 3 cans of the soda. Saturday, I again had 3 cans of the Sierra Mist. By Sunday, I had 2 cans and around 7pm, I began to get a migrane headache (I get migranes and even have medication for my headaches). I decided to go to bed instead of taking any medication - - just to sleep off the headache. By 1am, I was thirsty and went downstairs to get a Diet Caffeine-Free Sierra Mist. I had a few swallows downstairs before going back upstairs. As I was heading up the stairs, I became disoriented and my head hurt terribly. My headache was back just that quick. I told my husband about my headache and laid back down to sleep it off. By 4am, I had to run to the bathroom as I had diarrhea. Then I began to gag as if to throw-up, but nothing would come up (I thought it was my acid-reflux flaring up). I gagged for about 5 minutes and my stomach was burning. After that, my heart was palpitating rapidly. My husband didn't know what to do. I felt terribly and all I could do was call work and tell them I wouldn't be in and tried to nurse myself back to health. It was after 12-noon on Monday that I realize that it was the soda that had made me feel so horrible. Likewise, they need to take this aspartame as well as acesulfame potassium off the market as soon as possible. Just take all products made with this stuff off the market. It's not something I'd give to a child or an elder for fearful of death. With the headaches, diarrhea, heart palpitations and gagging, this is nothing to fool around with. I'm just glad I didn't drink anymore and glad my husband still has a wife ... otherwise he'd be suing the pants off the makers of this product. TAKE IT OFF THE MARKET!!! ------------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Monday, August 30, 2004 4:34 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: aspartame I sufferred sudden heart arrythmia. The cause was 2 packs of nutrasweet in my coffee 2x per day for a month. My doctor said my heart was healthy, however 6-8 x per day my heart would skip beats. When I stopped the nutrasweet my skipped beats went away. I get a skipped beat once every 2 months now instead of 6-8 daily ---------------------------- BrainTalk Communities - Sweetener may contribute to obesity http://brain.hastypastry.net/forums/showthread.php?t=4956 04-08-2004, 09:28 AM Location: England, UK I find that a certain sweetener ( Asp******) - I do not want to be taken to court- causes me to have cystitis, so I avoid all sweeteners when possible. --------------------------- Date: Tue, 03 Aug 2004 10:35:13 -0500 From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxx.gov Subject: Re: A testimony to be shared from one of our own EPA co-workers. I've been reading all these articles and I've started to limit my use of Aspartame.....no more in my coffee and only one diet drink a day. The fluttering of my heart which use to occur frequently through the day when I used Aspartame daily,sent me to a cardiologist for numerous tests earlier this month. Luckily, my heart is o.k. but I was told......since I have panic attacks.....I was experiencing one when I had chest pain and fluttering of my heart. That is not true. I was sitting on my couch w/ my puppy watching a movie. However, I had drank alot of coffee w/aspartame that a.m. and was drinking tea sweetened w/aspartame when I had chest pain and my heart began to flutter and hurt. Since I have limited my use of Aspartame in the last three weeks......my heart does not flutter and I have not had chest pain either. Testimony - xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxx, yes, you may certainly share this with anyone you wish. I am so grateful for all the information you have shared with me. I hope my short declaration was clear as I wrote it in such a hurry. Something else I thought you might be interested in........I saw my Internal Medicine physician yesterday and shared this information with him (e.g. my limiting or stopping the use of Aspartame in my diet) and he was amazed that my heart symptoms had disappeared. Then he told me he had a patient that if she drank even one diet drink or anything with Aspartame in it, she immediately passed out within minutes of consuming the product. I'm a believer. Thank you xxxxxx. I am now spreading the word about the dangers of Aspartame. Have a great day. ------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2004 12:58 PM To: aspartame@holisticmed.com Subject: I wrote too soon, after reading the last entry.... "Last year, my health felt like it was going down hill in general. I had abdominal pains, acid reflux, and worse, my neck started making a "Grinding" sound when I turned it!!! I have had the same exact symptoms for the last 4 years, I attributed my acid reflux from caffiene, but I would comsume diet products with caffiene. When I stay away from these types of drinks I am fine. My abdominal pains I have been experiencing lately. A burning at times accompanied with diarea. And my neck grindes all the time. I actually can grack my neck without force, by just turning it. I feel that if I crack it it will ease my head strain. I went to a chiropractor for it, thinking that had something to do with my headaches. I will stop comsuming aspartame completely. Yikes! [update....] From: xxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 2004 10:14 AM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: Re: Aspartame It has been three weeks since I stopped consuming aspartame products. My memory is clearer, I do not crave food as much as I did, and I am having regular bowel movements. -------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx To: bettym19@mindspring.com Subject: Aspartame Date: 03:31 PM 8/9/2004 I have four children. I drank diet Coke mildly during the first pregnancy, very heavily during the second pregnancy--no consumption of aspartame during the last two pregnancies. I read the warning on the side of the cans and asked my ob/gyn if aspartame was safe to consume during pregnancy. He said yes. My oldest has a heart condition (MVP) as well as asthma. My second daughter has epilepsy. I stopped using aspartame when I read a report about seizures in lab monkeys when given aspartame. Since I stopped using aspartame, my hair stopped falling out and I feel better than I have for years. My older sister also stopped drinking diet drinks. Her hair stopped falling out and she says she also feels better healthwise. I have contacted you in the past (some years ago) but I was just learning about the danger of aspartame. It makes me angry to finally realize that my family has been poisoned with the approval of the FDA. I hope aspartame is taken off the market but when money talks, a lot of time integrity is pushed aside. -------------------- Re: aspartame causes many problems! http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040704/msgs/364032.html Posted by xxxxxxx on July 8, 2004, at 11:38:56 In reply to Bipolar II and avoiding aspartame, posted by sac on July 8, 2004, at 9:27:50 It's hard to say how Aspartame will affect you. After drinking the "NEW Diet Coke" many years ago I began to feel strange. I had tremors at times and began to feel weak when I hadn't eaten recently. I was diagnosed with Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and placed on a special diet. A year later I still had similar problems but they had worsened (if I didn't eat something every 2 hours I was a mess). I went to an endocrinologist to confirm my diagnosis, he concurred. 8 years later I went on a real diet finally giving up Diet Coke and Aspartame. Within a week and a half ..ALL.. my symptoms disappeared. I haven't had anything containing Aspartame since, nor have I had those symptoms return. I drink Coke Classic now. My advice... avoid Aspartame aka Nutra Sweet. PS A symptom of low blood sugar can be mood swings which I also had occasionally back then. ----------------------- Bipolar II and avoiding aspartame http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040704/msgs/363987.html Posted by xxxx on July 8, 2004, at 9:27:50 After a five year struggle with what was diagnosed as Bipolar II and various failed trials with mood stabilizers and anti-psychotics I was finally fed up. I had read many times about aspartame causing mood problems but I suppose I was in denial since I was a 5-6 can a day diet coke addict. I couldn't imagine something so seemingly benign as aspartame could be causing my downward spiral with regard to mood instability over the past several years. It has only been one week since I quit ingesting aspartame and my moods are completely stable! I am taking it one day at a time to make sure I am not jumping to any conclusions but I really believe that this is significant. Has anybody else experienced this? ---------------------------- http://www.muscletalk.co.uk/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=80414&whichpage=2 xxxx Posted - 13/05/2004 : 22:00:03 United Kingdom I used aspartame in large quantities for 6 years mainly in the form of diet soft drinks, usually at least a 2 litre bottle a day of diet coke. I recently had to stop because of dizziness and balance loss which lasted for two weeks, when i stopped drinking diet drinks and switched to drinking water on the suggestion of someone i met in a chatroom my balance loss and dizziness cleared up within three days. I thought this was probably a coincidence so about two weeks later i started drinking diet drinks again, the next day all my previous symptoms returned. I have never touched aspartame since. ------------------------ http://allnurses.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50518 Location: Greensboro, NC 11-27-2003, 12:59 PM xxxxx I had been using products with aspartame to help me cut down on calories and lose weight. I had been using those products for a couple years and didn't seem to be having any problems. Then I started having a lot of trouble with joint stiffness. Someone pointed me to information about aspratame and it's bad effects. It talked about having some effects that caused arthritis like symptoms. I stoped using it, and after some time the stiffness went away. Not being able to use that was disappointing ~ it was such a great help in lowering the calories. .... --------------------- http://www.lhj.com/lhj/dgroups/viewThread.jhtml?forum=794&thread=7312829 Subject: Excema and dry skin patches Posted by: xxxxxxx Date: Jun 24, 2004 10:08 AM Message #6735704 Hi. I just want to post this as I think I have found a solution to the dry itchy skin that I was having on my arms, and want to put the info out there so it might help others. I had never had excema before, so it was really bothering me, as I know it's effected a lot of you out there too. I have recently looked into aspartame, the artificial sweetener, and have found that there are many levels of reations to it, one of which is excema and/or increased dryness of the skin. On this note, I have cut out EVERYthing with aspartame in it: diet sodas, lo-cal everything, and including my childrens' Flinstone's vitamins (why they put it in kids vitamins I'll never know)! Well, my dry patches are going away, the itchiness is leaving, and the skin on my arms is getting SOFT and clear again. The thing is, in layman's terms, it seems that aspartame is tackled by your liver, which works hard to handle this kind of odd molecule created by man, and then your overworked liver doesnt handle other things as well. Your liver is directly related, of course, to your other organs and glands, and so your thyroid can be effected (hypo-thyroidism), which can cause you to have weight gain (even tho you're eating all diet foods!--Catch22)! There are tons of websites about the harms that aspartame can do, and then one big website by the aspartame producers who say that "nothing is proven and so leave us alone". This topic is huge, and I dont think that I have done it justice, but I wanted to let you all know to maybe do a little research and see if this is for you. I'm usually not very political, but I think that this is HUGE, from everything I've read, and you might want to try to cut out all products for 2-4 weeks and see if this is for you too! So, lol and have a great day! ------------------------ http://www.rr-bb.com/showthread.php?t=156088 July 18th, 2004, 10:56 AM xxxxxxxx the stuff is poisen. it causes me RLS. I drank that stuff from the age of 16 to 40 or maybe a little older. and too, when I did drink it, I could only drink pepsi or coke (diet) not all the off brands. I'd get a headache in my eyes that was horrid. nothing would help the pain till it left. I wont touch it now. --------------------------- http://www.rr-bb.com/showthread.php?t=156088 July 18th, 2004, 03:06 PM xxxxxxxxx I also got bad headaches when I used to drink diet pepsi and my heart would beat really hard. I heard a guy on the radio say that brain tumors have increased 6x times nutra sweet came on the market, but scientists were trying to blame it on cell phones. He said that a lot of these tumors were in children who didn't use cell phones. This guy also said if you feed your kids more than 2 hotdogs a week it puts them at a larger risk for leukemia... FYI... --------------------- From: Bob [xxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx] Sent: Friday, April 23, 2004 10:16 PM To: aspartame@holisticmed.com Subject: I need to submit this to you.. I'm a 36 year old male, that has been in very very good health my entire life. About 2 years ago I started using Aspartame quite regularly, and ever increasing my usage of it. Drinking in upwards of 5+ cans of diet soda per day. Last year, my health felt like it was going down hill in general. I had abdominal pains, acid reflux, and worse, my neck started making a "Grinding" sound when I turned it!!! Doctor after doctor examined me, did batteries of tests, and found nothing wrong. I had a CAT Scan of my abdominal region, and nothing was found. Blood work was all normal. I went to 3 different chiropractors about my neck for a period of time, and nothing helped! Then my mom, convinced me to stop using Aspartame, that it might be causing my health issues, so I quit using it cold turkey about 2+ months ago, and i'm writing you today, to tell you that *ALL* of my chronic problems are gone.. The neck grind is gone, acid reflux is gone, and i've not had the chronic abdominal pains for several weeks - thats the first time i've not had the pain for more than a DAY... I feel I was poisoned by it, and my body is finally recovered from it, at least symptom wise. I'm unsure of the long term effects this will have on my body, but its clear I was POISONED by it, and i'm *NOT* a happy camper right now. How would YOU feel if something thats supposed to be safe, is poisoning your body? I feel as if someone tried to murder me, thats how angry this makes me. GET OFF ASPARTAME NOW if you have *ANY* health problems and use it. I'm convinced, it worked for me, now i'm mostly recovered I think, and lets hope nothing long term comes of this. PS: I ran across this website because I wanted to see if there was anyone else that found out they were being poisoned, and i'm shocked at the amount of people that are posting here! --------------------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx To: Subject: [Aspartame Support] (unknown) Date: Tuesday, July 13, 2004 11:41 AM Hello I am a newcommer. My name is Mike G and I am an aspartameaholic. I am amazed that I am still alive. I have been all over the web latley and am greatful for the help that I have received. My eyes are now open. I have been on ASP since the beginning. I started drinking diet coke and pepesi in the late 70's and continued up until July 4th 2004. I was a teenager when I started to drink diet soda because the regular soda made my face break out in pimples. I never drank it for the diet effects. I have always been slim but acquired a taste for it over the years. I am currently 41 years of age. I figure I have been poisened for over 21 years. My unexplained medical problems began in the mid 80's. I was hospitalized for urinary retention, neurological problems, Heart Pains and as things progressed into the mid 90's I was seen for psychological problems. Neurologists,Urologists and general practicioners could never explain the problems I was uncountering. They said it was stress related. I thought it was brain damage. I had multiple MRIs, EEGs, EkGs, CT Scans, kidney probes, spinal taps and many other various tests with no explaination other than "it is stress related." Psychistrists told me I sufferd from Chronic Generalized Anxiety/Panic Disorder and depression. I sure as hell did, because I was now drinking diet code and pepsi by the case. What is worse is by the late 90's I aquired a taste for warm diet cola and started drinking my coffee with flavored creamer and equal. I kept diet soda in my car, garage and under my desk at work year round and took it everywhere I went. I estimate my average intake of caffine free diet soda was 128 ounces a day (I drank 32 ounce plastic bottles) plus 4 to 10 cups of decaf coffee a day. I gave up caffine in the mid 90 because I thought it was part of the problem and it did exagerate my anxiety, panic and phobias. I drank more coffee in the cooler months and more diet soda in the warmer months. I have lived in Virginia Beach since 2000 and lived in San Diego for the most part of my adult life. I do not feel like I have had much of an adult life because I have been in a deep depression riddled with panic and anxiety for a large part of it. I cannot even drive my auto on the highway because of phobias. I just wanted to feel normal, ever since I can remember. I have also had many medical problems that could not be explained. I lost almost all faith in doctors. I did however manage to strengthen my relationship with God. I prayed last Monday morning (July 5th) for God to lead me to the cause of my unexplained problems. I assume He decided to answer "Yes." I was on the internet looking at Panic Disorder sites and saw a link for Aspartame. I had no idea what it was, but I clicked on it and was amazed by the FDA list of symptoms. Never before had I come across a complete list of my symptoms. Any diagnose made by a doctor only covered part of my symptoms. I was amazed to say the least. I started the 60 day free program straight away. It has only been 8 days now and I am convinced that aspartame was pickling my brain. Every single symptom I have has disapeared or is greatly reduced. I can see light at the end of the tunnel and hope I can drive again on the highway soon, its just a mental thing now, not a chemical thing. No muscle cramps, no restless legs, no insomnia, no heart pains, no panic attacks, no urinary tract problems, no confusion, increaded memory, reduced anxiety, reduced tingling and numbness in my head, reduced depression and that is just to name a few. It is like never before, I feel great! I have many mixed emotion about the state of the government and the health of the nation. Why is everyone so blind....I know it comes down to power and money, but how could you live with yourself.....this is like dropping a NUKE on your own people. I am still learning and have my eyes and ears open. I do not like to take injustices laying down, but It all seems so hopeless. Guess I will stick around and see what happens. ------------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Jul 24, 2004 10:11 AM To: newseditorXXXXX@XXXXXXX.xxx Subject: comment on aspartame Dear editor, The report on aspartame confirm the whole story of chronic problems occurring with a great amount of users of this food additive. In our clinic we registered over one hundred cases of serious problems, including convulsive fits, migraine, insomnia, loss of weight , weight gain, loss of vision. The findings confirm entirely the clinical observations of H.J.Roberts, MD, author of the book Aspartame, is it safe? Best regards, xxxxxxxxxx,MD ---------------------------- To: bettym19@mindspring.com From: xxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx Subject: Re: [Aspartame Support] Aspartame and blood clot question? Pseudotumor cerebri Date: 03:58 PM 7/25/2004 Because I believe that the DVT (blood clot) I have was caused by the Aspartame use! I developed a clot in October of 2003 and was taking Aspartame till April 23, 2004 and as of now I still have some edema on my left leg. I also believe that the Aspartame kept me from healing properly. Normally should heal from a blood clot in six months for me it's been 9 months now, but its getting better. Also as of last week I virtually off Dimox medication to control my head pressure for Pseudotumor Cerebri or Fake Tumor, and I feel great finally! I use to take up to 1000 mg's (about 4 tablets) a day of Dimox! I have been tapering off it! I at about 60 mg's (about a 1/4 of a tablet) a day! I'm going to stop taking it some time this week. God willing I be OK!! The only thing that is bothering me is the edema I have on my leg. And soon that will be gone, god willing. All my Pseudotumor Cerebri symptoms are virtually gone just minor soreness here and there that does not compare to the worst pain I ever felt with headaches, vision problems, dizziness, heartburn, IBS, depression, ringing in the ears, heart palpitations, anxiety attacks, and so on, all gone!!! Thank you for your help. I keep you posted on my PTC (Pseudotumor Cerebri) I think I never had it was only Aspartame disease!!!! PTC has a lot of the symptoms of Aspartame disease, and a lot of doctors are not informed of what Aspartame can do to people, they just missed it with me. ---------------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx Sent: Monday, February 16, 2004 5:17 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: ex- aspartame user Hi, just want to let you know that I drank diet soda(pepsi) for years, and had headaches for years, assuming they were allergies and migraines with no real cause for concern, I would just pop some motrins and be fine...until I started having tingling in my arms and severe pain grew from that in my left arm to the point that I could not steer my car with it, I could only hold it in my lap and every position hurt.I also had severe memory problems and lightheadedness. I just wanted to cry. I had tests also, I had an MRI, with negative results for MS, which they thought was a possibility with my memory problems and the Vertigo(dizziness) which came and went. I decided to quit drinking Diet Pepsi because I had heard that it can cause such problems and I started feeling much better in less than a month...My arms took several months before they felt normal again and now I can't stand the taste of diet sodas and if I drink even a small amount, I get a headache. So, to all my former docors who would look at me as though there was nothing really wrong and it was in my head, THANKS for nothing! And there was one who thought I might be RIGHT in my assumption that it was the aspartame making me ill, THANK YOU for really listening and not brushing off the idea that something not researched enough or long enough can and does cause illness in people, as it should not have been put on the market until they studied it for a much longer period of time!!! I dont really understand the FDA, and I wish they would be more careful. ------------------------ From: xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Friday, June 04, 2004 3:23 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: Aspartame Poisoning I was a pilot in the USAF and was drinking a liter of diet pepsi per day for several months and developed daily headaches. I went to my flight surgeon and he told me to get off aspartame as it is toxic to large numbers of the general population. I have been off it since 1990 but if I have even a small amount of nutrasweet, I develop a terrible headache. So does my wife who was on it too. Monsanto must be made to pay for poisoning millions of people. ------------------------------ To: bettym19@mindspring.com From: xxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx Date: 11:52 AM 7/7/2004 Subject: Re: Hi Eye problems, black spots and floaters and jo... Hello everyone. I just wanted to say it is a year since I came off Aspartame and my black spots and floaters have gone completely, I also had blind attacks and am back to normal now, no headaches & my arthritis is hardly noticeable now but not done any decorating yet. thanks to all the members who contacted me and gave me support from last July 2003. ------------------------ From: xxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx Sent: Wednesday, June 09, 2004 2:23 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: Side effects of Aspartame I was trying to lose weight and started drinking the flavored water from Wal-mart. I started getting dizzy spells and felt my strength being zapped from me. I am a very active person and could not figure out what was wrong. I went to the doctor 5 times in one summer trying to figure out what was wrong with me. It was to the point it was affecting my coordination. My left leg would not work right. I lost a whole summer because I just felt horrible. I gained 10lbs. Someone told me about the aspartame side effects so I checked them out on the net. I immediate stop drinking the flavored water within a month or so all of the side effects were gone. The only thing I notice is I have problems with my equilibrium that I never had before this. My ears just don't feel quite right. I believe there was some damage done by the Aspartame. It bad stuff I will never knowing use it again. ------------------------ From: xxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2004 9:39 PM To: aspartame@holisticmed.com Subject: Aspartame About a month ago my mother sent me an email warning about the dangers of Aspartame. I believed it to be a usual internet hoax and called my mother to discuss it. After we talked for a while, she asked me what I had to lose by giving up products with aspartame for a while. I did it thinking I would prove that it was a hoax. Then I started researching it on the internet and was overwhelmed by all the sites extolling the poisonous nature of aspartame. I have given up the product. I am no longer tired, I no longer get headaches or chest pains and I have stopped snacking constantly. My fiance has also noted that I am less irritable. This is a truly harmful product and it is frightening that it is so widespread. We, as Americans, need to exercise our right to free speech and work to get this product banned. ----------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Friday, March 26, 2004 3:35 AM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: FW: Aspartame Victim Below is a letter I wrote my doctor regarding aspartame. I thought that I would share this with you. I am a very healthy adult and couldn’t believe the symptoms that I was experiencing. I am 41 years old and very fit. My parents never experienced this chronic pain. Please read below. Thank God that I got a call from my brother. I only drink water and indulge in coffee or tea every once in a while. I will never use any artificial sweetener ever again. Sent: Friday, March 26, 2004 3:23 AM To: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: I am a patient - here is some info Dear Dr. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxxxx and I will be coming in for our annual check up in July. I wanted to get the word out on my condition so everyone knows to get people off “Nutrasweet or Aspartame.” Since I have last seen you, I developed fibromyalgia and was in chronic pain. It was horrible. I thought I might be over training at the gym but I was only working out 4 days a week. I started to scale back my workouts until my brother called me one day and told me about the side effects of Aspartame. I got really scared. I thought my aches and pains were due to me getting older, because I was literally shuffling to the bathroom in the morning, like an 80 year old man. Since I have purged all aspartame from my diet, all my pain miraculously disappeared!!!! All the stiffness in my neck, upper and lower back and joints have totally subsided. I am sending you this link, because I think every health professional should be warning their patients about this horrible substance. I will be filing a complaint with the FDA on the effects. I have purged all of this out of my kitchen and refuse to take any artificial sweetener. Since I have stopped this, I have lost 10 pounds and my cravings for carbs (every hour, like a mad woman) are gone. I finally am at the point where I can make wise food choices (where before I was like a ravished wolf) without having this chemical drive me to the cupboard every hour. Here are a couple of links. Please urge all your patients to get educated. (When aspartame is heated to 80 degrees Fahrenheit, it turns to formaldehyde in the body). http://www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-organizations.html http://www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-detox.html Just type in sweet poison into any search engine and read. I bet you will find that there are certain patients who can benefit from this. Any headaches, chronic fatigue syndrome, grand maul seizures, fibromyalgia, even vision problems and hearing problems. Go check out the list. Anyway, I feel I have a new lease on life!!! I feel back to normal and 20 years old again. I am drinking a ton of water and eating balanced meals with simple carbs. I am happy. Thanks for being such a great doctor!!!! --------------------- http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=233132 Subject: Re: caffeine-free diet coke: hydrating or dehydrating? From: trueparent-ga on 21 Jul 2003 00:37 PDT Please be advised, Aspartame is pure poison. For some reason(s), it appears that governmental corruption has continued to allow this toxic substance on the market. For info untainted by extreme governmental bias, start with the URL: The symptoms of this poisoning are so varied, and so profound, and yet, it's so difficult to know they are from the Aspartame. My personal experience, was that I read an obscure article about Aspartame, stopped drinking the more than a quart a day I sometimes was consuming, and immediately got rid of some really debilitating numbness in my legs. I'm very sure it was doing a lot of other bad things to me, that were not as easy to identify. [continued] http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=233132 Subject: Re: caffeine-free diet coke: hydrating or dehydrating? From: trueparent-ga on 25 Jul 2003 22:43 PDT It's my pleasure, juggler-GA. If you are over a certain age, you tend to believe that government agencies, (i.e. the FDA in this case), are trying to protect you, to the best of their ability. In the case of Apartame, I can hardly believe my eyes, when I see what murder the FDA seems to be getting away with. The FDA has always been bureaucratically heavy-handed, I think, but this appears to be a case of outright, blatant corruption. I did not intend to give any impression that I was improving on your answer, since you already covered the fact of health concerns about Aspartame. But because of my personal experience with Aspartame, and because I feel so incredibly betrayed by the FDA, I had to emphasize what you already covered. ------------------------ To: bettym19@mindspring.com From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx Subject: Aspartame in prescriptions Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 My little 9yo son takes 4 asthma meds daily. I was noticing horrible behavior issues with him. He is sweet and docile and kind....fights with his siblings....but relatively fabulous. Well. we were trying to figure out why the kid would fly off the handle sometimes. Just get horribly angry. kick things in his way. Very unusual. I told my husband perhaps what we thought was "jsut the way he is" was drug-induced. He's been on lots of meds for years. Perhaps what we thought was normal for him was really the drugs talking. WELL--I looked at his Singulair prescription that he hadn't been taking for long. it was a fairly new prescription for him. That got us wondering how long his outbursts had been going on. Were we just used to them? had they always been this bad? This frequent? Has he always had them or did they jsut start? When you live with something, you don't always see when things start. or remember! The Singulair had ASPARTAME. ooh, I was soo mad! so I switched his Rx to adult pills and I cut them in half. NEW BOY> no more outbursts. Thanks be to God. I was starting to think we had done something wrong. that he'd end of some wife-beating out-of-control nut. I have my baby boy back. Julieb ------------------------ From: xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2004 1:14 AM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: aspartame dear mr. gold a friend told me that aspartame was very bad. i didn't quite understand since i thought that diet sodas were calorie free and loaded with caffeine as a stimulant for energy. so i searched the web and came across your site. needless to say, after quitting my daily 3-4 litres of diet coke for 2 days, i have more energy, no longer need 2-3 hour naps, no leg numbness, wake up feeling refreshed and have a clearer mind. i just want to thank you for taking the time to educate people about the harmful side effects of aspartame. you have my support in your cause. ---------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Friday, June 25, 2004 2:21 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: Aspartame I had many side effects from using Equal (aspartame). I suffered with migraine headaches daily (previous diet pepsi drinker). I also began to experience lower abdominal pain and I was eventually diagnosed with interstitial cystitis. I did research on aspartame and learned that IC is often complicated by use of aspartame. Sure enough, as soon as I stopped using Equal, all my IC symptoms completely disappeared. Unfortunately, in the last couple of years I have been using Splenda sweetner. I suffered with abdominal bloating, tenderness, weight gain, lethargy, and many other ailments. I had a hysterectomy performed in Nov. 2003 due to the abdominal bloating. I had endomentriosis and adenomyosis along with ovarian cysts. I was assured by my doctor that the hysteretomy would be the end of my ailments. It was not. I continued to gain weight with no explanation. I have spent thousands of dollars on doctors, MRIs, CT scans, x-rays, brain scans, ultrasounds, etc. Ironically, three days ago I stopped using Splenda and today is the first day in years I am pain free. My huge pregnant looking stomach has went down tremendously, I feel alive and energetic. I feel like I am living in someone else's body today! I am convinced these sugar substitutes have been the cause of all my problems. I will never touch anything but real sugar again. I hope this helps you in your studies. -------------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx Sent: Sunday, March 28, 2004 10:24 AM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: Aspartme I have been reading your website and it is comforting to know I am only one of many, many people who "diagnosed" themselves with an aspartame sensitivity and was correct in this assumption! Many people really seem sceptical when I tell them about the negative effects aspartame has had on my body and mental condition. I have suffered with almost dailey low-grade headaches for years. These headaches would at times become so excruciating I would vomit and be unable to function at all. I also had felt fatigued and at times I would have memory problems, mostly in trying to grasp a word I wanted to use. I decided to stop drinking or eating anything containing artificial sweetners and any alcoholic beverages. I have not had one headache in the last three months except for the two times I ate ice cream containing an artificail sweetner. (That Phenalkaline ? stuff, something like that!) Both times I had low grade headaches the entire day following the ingesting of the ice cream. I have witnessed a drastic improvement in how I feel, even my hair is not dry anymore which is really weird but I wanted to put that in because it was a very noticable change as soon as I kicked my diet soda habit! I wish the general public could be more informed on the toxic effect of this stuff. I have tried Splenda and have not had any side effects from it as it is in a more natural form, as I'm sure you know! I really think we are damaging our children with these supposedly healthy sugar replacements, and are really being misled by the comercials, generally showing a thin woman enjoying herself as she eats a low calorie yogurt laced with toxic aspartame! Then the announcer tells us she's doing something to make herslf more healthy! It is such a scam. I only hope the media will someday start putting this info out there. We really know enough about which politcians smoked what illegal substance when they were in ninth grade! Let's bombard the public with some useful facts for a change! This would hugely improve the condition of a vast number of people suffering from aspartame related symptoms and mis-diagnosis. ------------------- From: xxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx To: xxxxxx@xxx.xxx Subject: Re: My I share widely my post and your response, and your initial posts? Date: Tuesday, May 25, 2004 7:13 AM Health History. No major illnesses or need for medical treatment in the first 26 years of my life (except for usual childhood illnesses, such as chicken-pox). I was a regular consumer of diet-sodas, such as Diet Coke, for about 15 years, averaging around 2 litres/day during this period. On some days this might easily have been 3-4 litres. Health problems began in Sept 2002, with occasional symptoms at first, but had become more chronic and debilitating by Xmas of that year. Early symptoms included persistant vague lightheadedness/dizziness, which sometimes feels like motion sickness ( I had suffered a brief episode of this back in 1999, but it resolved itself within a few days), and also some night-time heart palpitations (hence why I've been stuck on cardiology's patient list ever since!). Further additional symptoms have been tachycardia, excessive fatigue, occasional hot flashes and night-sweats, intermittant "mental fog" and loss of cognitive abilities, classic migraines and also strange visual disturbances. These disturbances include weird "after-images" of everything I see, the shimmering of lined patterns and also the small dark spots and bright flashes reported by others. I also appear to have far more eye-floaters than usual and my eyes themselves often look tired and swollen. There have been periods during the last 18 months when I have felt bad and periods when I have felt very bad! My recent abstention (2+1/2 weeks now) from aspartame has brought the only signs of remission during this whole time. The tired eyes, fatigue and mental fog have particularly improved, as have the dizziness and visual effects to some extent. ------------------- From: xxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx Sent: Saturday, June 26, 2004 9:25 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: gum headache I read recently in a Yoga Journal that migraine sufferers should not have aspartame, that it could be a migraine trigger. I knew the stuff was bad for you, but never thought a piece of gum now and again could hurt me. And I never linked any of my migraines to asparatame until the very next day, when I had a piece of sugarless gum and within hours had a huge migraine. I'll never touch it again. And the very fact that it is legal, well that just floors me. ------------------------ From: xxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2004 2:28 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: Aspartame in chewable vitamins I am finding that the knowledge out there that aspartame is in chewable vitamins and children's vitamins is rare. Although I did not know that it was actually poison, I was made aware of Aspartame health hazards back in 1991 or 1992 after I had been consuming Nutrasweet on a regular basis, and was having increasing excruciating monthly periods. They escalated, and finally I was finding myself bedridden 3 days at a time at least once a month. I took myself off Nutrasweet, and slowly but surely, my monthly periods got much better, and I was feeling better overall. I avoided the stuff like it was poison, as I have since found that it actually is. Years later in 2001, I became pregnant with my second child and began bingeing on chewable vitamin C because of the health benefits I was aware of as I was preparing to have a scheduled C-Section delivery. 3 months after delivery, I began experiencing very similar symptoms like that of the ones I had had years ago with my period, and during my ovulations. Passing time one day in the kitchen, I for no reason happened to glance through the ingredients to my chewable vitamin C. You can imagine my anger when I saw the word ASPARTAME in my VITAMINS! I began to scour the ingredients to ALL vitamins! I was absolutely infuriated to find that nearly ALL childrens vitamins found in supermarkets, and grocery stores have ASPARTAME in them! Namely ALL varieties of the FLINSTONE's chewables ALL contain ASPARTAME! As I have explored information on ASPARTAME, I have not yet come across info discussing the fact that this is an ingredient widely used in chewable vitamins! Please get the word out! ------------------------------ To: Mark Gold From: xxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2002 4:25 PM Subject: Re: aspartame information.... I am 25 years old, eat very well and exercise at least 4 times a week but still can't seem to figure out why I have so many health issues. As of today I plan to avoid this product like the plague and document any health changes. Could you please direct me to either a site, book or article that may begin to inform me of products containing aspartame. [Updated Information] From: xxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx Sent: Friday, May 21, 2004 9:08 AM To: 'Mark Gold' Subject: RE: aspartame information.... Mark, As I'm cleaning out my account here, I came across this email I had saved. I don't think I ever replied but I wanted to let you know how big of a change it made for me to stop using the sweetener so much!!! The night sweats completely stopped and my headaches were reduced by about 75%! I've convinced my entire family to stop using it :) ---------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Thursday, July 29, 2004 10:36 AM To: xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx Subject: Re: aspartame makes me sick Hi Mark, Thanks for all the info, that will keep me busy reading for a while. Here's my story I quit using Aspartame & all other fake sweeteners in '97 when I learned from a wise lady at a health food store how horrible it is. Sometimes I get lazy about reading labels and accidently ingest some and immediately get reactions .... extremely blurred & squiggley vision, headache that lasts 2-3 days, irritability. I went to the dentist last week and got the aspartame headache, blurry vision, etc. I asked to read the label on the flavored topical they use for pre-numbing before they inject novocaine, and SURE ENOUGH it had aspartame in it. They only put a tiny bit in my mouth, but it caused this reaction. Now I am wondering if the sweeteners they use in toothpaste, even though it isn't ingested, could cause an effect from being absorbed through the tissues. The tiniest bit seems to affect me. I don't use mouthwash, but it is in that too, which again could be absorbed through the tissues. I wonder what else it is in that I don't know about? I keep trying to tell my friends and family not to use these chemicals. Now I have an arsenol of material to show them. Thank you ------------------------ From: xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2004 3:46 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: Re: Aspartame Hi Mark, I have been through menopause for about 5 years and am now 60 years old. In 2002 I started bleeding and bled for months. This was diagnosed as polyps in the uterus. I had an operation to remove a large and smaller polyp. Within 6 months the same thing happened again but the bleeding was heavier. I had asked the doctor what caused them and she didn't know. After the last operation she suggested that should I get the bleeding back we should seriously consider removing the uterus. This January 2004, I started heavy bleeding and after bleeding almost every day for 4 weeks I was very disgusted and scared. In early February, I went on-line to see what could be causing the bleeding. Within 3 minutes I found the website about Aspartame. Aspartame caused multiple polyps in lab animals. That day I stopped drinking diet tonic and threw out everything in my kitchen that contained Aspartame. The next day the bleeding stopped and hasn't returned. It is now February 26th and no bleeding. I also had tingling in my fingertips and that seems to have gone away also. --------------------- From: xxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx Sent: Sunday, January 04, 2004 9:12 PM To: aspartame@holisticmed.com Subject: Save Yourself I am a forty one year old male. I am a police officer and an avid runner. I was addicted to a very popular and well known diet soft drink which during my last year of usage included a twist of lemon. I consumed three to four 20 oz bottles of this a day. I began having head pains on the left side of my skull. I could actually place my finger on the area of pain, right above my left ear. I also began having blurred vision, a loss for words and at times the feeling that I was about to pass out. And tingling in my hands and sometimes feet. I was very worried, and believed that I had developed a brain tumor. I underwent an MRI (Brain Scan) and blood testing. All came back with negative results. I stopped drinking diet drinks and anything containing the "A" word i.e. sugarless gum. It is now three month later and all of my symptoms have vanished. I am a believer and I feel GREAT! ------------------------ From: xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Sunday, February 08, 2004 2:38 AM To: aspartame@holisticmed.com Subject: Personal Experience I think you are doing a wonderful service to the public, with your information - Ten years ago, I was suffering from such horrible pain, my whole body was in pain, and I would tremble, and couldn't sleep, would cry in my sleep, and I frightened the living hell out of my husband - I used to consume about a 2-litre bottle of Diet Coke per day - and day and night, I progessively was in such pain, and then I heard about Aspartame, by accident, finding a site, and read things by Betty Martini - I even emailed her, we wrote some back and forth - I printed every page of info I could find - stopped drinking diet coke, and in a while, the pain stopped, and I got better, my color came back, I'm healthier, and I know now, that I was suffering from Aspartame poisoning - I was too afraid to go to the Doctor - and I was to weak to drive there if I'd wanted to - I went into Depression, and got so angry at everything, I was miserable, and messed up a lot of friendships, but got some back, made a lot of people upset at me - I was so miserable - it took longer to get out of that depression and anger, than it did to get over the pain - it took me 10 years - I can't believe the FDA would approve us drinking poison - they just don't damn care - as long as they make money - I'd rather sit and drink a warm beer than any soda products of any kind - at least there is barley in beer!!! But I mostly drink Green tea with Ginseng and Honey - I had a health check up a couple years ago, and at 55, all vitals are normal, I am healthy - and I no longer have pain like I had then - it was pure hell - and more people need to see this information - don't give up on getting it out there - go to the Media if you have to - I think if I'd kept on drinking that vile poison, I would have died - I have been sending your site to many of my friends and family, and others I love - I don't want them to keep drinking that junk, and get sick, or worse - I was in real bad shape 10 years ago, and I was hooked on that stuff - it's an addiction, and it should be banned as a drug - like any other drug - Carry on, and get the word out - I still read labels - and I find that if 'man made it, then it's not fit for human consumption' - We can't trust the FDA - we have to trust ourselves - Thank you for your very informative site - I've been sending to anyone I care about - I have a 3-ring binder, full of information on aspartame, and I've shared it with so many people - keep up that good fight - I am glad there are people like you out there, that CARE - God Bless All of You!! ----------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Friday, March 26, 2004 5:31 PM To: Aspartame (mgold@holisticmed.com) Subject: Aspartame Physical therapy for 3 months for "frozen shoulder" very painful to move arms due to pain in both shoulder joints. Someone sent me an article on ASPARTAME. I removed it from my diet. My shoulder problem cleared up in less than a week. Each time I accidentally eat something with ASPARTAME my shoulder joints act up. Later I trace what I ate the day before and find some product with Aspartame as the culprit. A few days of careful attention to avoiding anything with Aspartame and the joint pain is gone. I think there is a link and the articles on Aspartame poisoning are true. ------------------- From: xxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx Sent: Monday, January 05, 2004 2:51 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: toxicity Dear Mark: I don't have time to write a long note now, but after consuming diet drinks for many years I suddenly began experienced vision problems (blurring, double vision) which disappeared after I stopped consuming aspartame. This occurred about four years ago. I have since then recommended to several friends and acquaintances that they also stop using apartame. Everyone has had good results. .... ---------------- From: xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Monday, February 09, 2004 8:58 PM To: aspartame@holisticmed.com Subject: Aspartame Poison Last July I started having problems standing up and lying down to bed, because of vertigo problems. I actually started missing work due to these problems. After going to my doctor and ENT they diagnosed the problem as vertigo and decided that it could have developed due to some polyps in my nasal passages and deviated septum. I had the surgery and missed even more work and spent thousands of dollars to have this done. After 3 months my situation never got better. One day at the health food store I work at,this customer was complaining of the same problems I had. He had mentioned he had aspartame poisoning. That night I came home and found your website and decided I was going to cut out all Aspartame products and just see what happened. It has been 2 months since I have had a Diet drink or a problem with my vertigo. I can't thank you enough for all of your information you have given me. Thanks, Matt ---------------- From: xxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx Date: Tue 12/23/2003 12:16 PM Subject: ASPARTAME NIGHTMARE & MORE To: mgold@holisticmed.com About 8 years ago my husband and I started the Atkins diet. We started drinking diet sodas, specifically diet Pepsi. We stopped the dieting but continued with the Diet sodas. About 5 years ago my husband started having really bad winters; his body ached, he felt like he had the flu most of the winter; and about 2 years ago it all became unbearable for him, the fatigue was debilitating and the pain in his legs was unbelievable, not to mention a whole new set of symptoms. He could hardly get out of bed, and going to work used all his energy (when he could work. Last year he became disable temporarily. The doctors could not find anything physical wrong with him. He was tested for MS, Mercury Poisoning and all the neurological diseases they could think of. He seemed to be 100 yrs old and aging even more faster. A co-worker forwarded an email about aspartame, we immediately stopped all comsumption and now 3 months later he is ready to back to work. Although, he still has some left over symptoms, he is 80% better and we think the aspartame must have done some damage to his body. Thank you infinitely for circulating this information, without it I don't think my husband would have lasted much longer. GOD BLESS YOU for all your work regarding this POISON!! ---------------------- From: xxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Monday, March 08, 2004 2:40 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: Aspartame Poisoning I posted this on the Aspartame Support Group on Yahoo. I didn't know if you kept up with it or not. I am a 40 year old woman with 3 children ages 17, 4 1/2 and 2 1/2. Here is my story. I have been a heavy diet soda drinker ever since it came out on the market. I was drinking 6-8 cans a day not including stops here and there for a super-sized diet drink at the local fast food restaurant when I was out and about. I also have been consuming foods containing aspartame to try and lose weight forever. About 2 years ago after the birth of my 3rd child I began having heart palpitations, dizziness, chest pains and numbness and tingling going down the left side of my body. I have been to the ER multiple times, I have had EKGs, heart stress tests, MRIs, CTs, ultrasounds, blood tests, etc.. I have seen a Neurologist, ENT, Gastrol (spelling?) doctor, Chiropractor, Physical Therapists, Massage Therapists, dentist. No one could every find anything wrong with me. Oh, wait I did find out I have Reflux, Anxiety Attacks (ya, over worrying about what is wrong with me!) and I am overweight!!! A month ago I decided to start over with a new Family Practice doctor, he told me that I had already been through the "million dollar work up" and that I should feel good to know that there was nothing seriously wrong with me. He said I was having Anxiety Attacks and prescribed Zoloft. I was elated! I finally could blame my symptoms on something! I was willing to accept that this was my problem, because my mother had suffered from depression and anxiety her entire life and it is hereditary. After time, I began to deal with daily life much better, however the tingling and numbness continued in fact it started to get worse, I still would get dizzy out of no where. I would get this pins and needle tingling that started at the top of my head and would cover my entire face and down both sides of my body all the way to my feet. I had been told by friends that it sounded like I had MS. I looked up MS symptoms on the internet and was convinced that I had it. I called my doctor and told him that I wasn't convinced that Anxiety was my problem, he told me to give it time. That same day I went back on the internet and searched for Anxiety Attacks to see if anyone else diagnosed with Anxiety Attacks experienced the same symptoms as I had. I came across the Aspartame articles and read down the 92 symptoms and could not believe how many of them I had and then I found that Aspartame Poisoning mimics many diseases including MS!!!!! I was appalled as I read on and the word "self-emballing" was used. I immediately stopped all asparatame products. It has been almost 3 weeks and my symptoms have not completely gone away, however they are less severe. I am also now finding out that the pains in my neck and shoulder have started to be almost nonexistent...I always thought I was getting arthritis. I have been taking minerals and antioxidants to help my body rid of this awful poison I have been shoving down my throat for more years than I care to say. I am also horrified to find out that I have been doing the same thing to my children. Antiobiotics, Tylenol, Benedryl, Vitamins.... they all contain aspartame!! What are we suppose to give our children!!!! My teenage son has always chewed gum, ate mints, etc... Now I think about everytime he complained about stomach aches and headaches and I would just tell him to "wear a hat", "get more sleep", "eat better". He was probably suffering from the same thing!! I drank tons of caffiene free diet soda while I was pregnant with my last 2 children, they were both born severely anemic and the doctors could not come up with an answer why.... I wonder if it was the aspartame????? I am angry that I have spent all this time worrying and not being the best mom and wife because I have had such terrible mood swings, I've been so tired that it was hard for me to get up and play, I was yelling all of the time and frustrated with life in general when there was no reason to be frustrated. I am most angry about all the money I have spent on doctors trying to find out what was wrong with me. I will tell the world how awful this poison is!!! How can they keep this on the market? I don't understand why it continues when it is obvious so many people are having these symptoms!!! [updated information] From: xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2004 8:27 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: Fw: Aspartame Poisoning Thank you for the information, it is greatly appreciated. I have been aspartame free for almost 6 weeks and my symptoms have subsided greatly. I do have some bad days still. I am on day 2 of being off of Zoloft and am finding that my symptoms are subsiding even more. I was told by someone from the Support Group that methylcellulose is in Zoloft. I don't know what that is, but it maybe why since I am not taking it anymore I am feeling even better! Do you have any information on methylcellulose?? ----------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Sunday, April 18, 2004 9:33 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: aspartame experience I am a healthy 35 year old, healthy, fit, male. I was on the adkins, low carb, low sugar diet for a couple months where I drank 4-5 diet pops, ate numerous sugar-free (aspartame laced) foods and chewed sugar free gum constantly. I started noticing a brain fog where I actually thought I was experiencing the first signs of alzheimer's. I'm in sales where I need to be at the top of my mental game all day long and I was finding myself losing my train of thought, stuttering and sometimes slurring my words. Then one day, I was sitting down watching TV drinking diet pop and eating low carb french toast with sugar free syrup, I noticed the tips of my fingers starting to go numb with a headache that I could put my finger on. A few minutes later, I jumped out of my seat and started running for my life. I felt out of my body with a huge fear of dying. I ran around my house 5 times in my shorts, in 32 degree weather, until I felt this fear subside. I felt this surreal and scary fear a couple times over the next hour when I decided to play it safe and go to the emergency room. By the way, I am not the kind of person to cry wolf to get attention and to me, I never would have gone if I thought for one second this was no big deal. Anyway, I was driving to the hospital (15 minutes away) when IT hit me. I thought I was dying in the car. My legs and arms went completely numb, my heart felt like it was fluttering out of control. I was starting to lose consciousness or dying, one of the two. I called 911 in my car, saying in hysterical, unintelligible speech that I was having a heart attack or a stroke. They told me to pull over to wait for help, but I said I was too scared too wait. I drove 120 miles an hour to get to the hospital. I got there and to make a long story short, my heart rate was at 130 and I had trouble remembering my birth date. They didnt find anything wrong and said I probably had a panic attack. I had never had one before and wasnt really stressed or depressed about anything. I knew there was more to it. I researched panic attacks and found the aspartame link which made perfect sense, especially after reading other people's similar situations. I can attest that you dont get better overnight from stopping aspartame. I hear it can take 60-90 days to get it out of your system. It has been a slow progression to wellness. It's been almost two months since this episode and the last time I've touched aspartame and even though alot of the symptoms have subsided, I still get numbness in my hands and feet on occassion(including right now) with an occassional heart palpitation. The memory loss and the fog, however, has been lifted. I am confident in the next month or so, I will be symptom and aspartame free. What's amazing is if you go on the aspartame website, they talk about all the great benefits of their product. They say it was approved to be safe and not to believe all the internet myths saying that people are having bad reactions to it. Well, I was a skeptic too, until it happened to me and now I tell everyone I know that the victims are "the truth" and them saying it's safe is "the myth". ---------------------- From: xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Monday, June 07, 2004 3:51 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: heavy aspartame symptoms here - how can I help? I get these symptoms off an on and recently noted it's when I've been consuming aspartame. I avoid it but get the symtoms again and find I've been consuming it without my knowledge. It use to be on the label but now I have to check the ingredients and learn the various names for it. This killer is destroying my life. My symptoms are: a very specific migraine I recognize as 'the aspartame migraine'. depression, nervousness, blurry vision, weakness in my legs and arms, lots of stupid mistakes and bad short term memory. I'm usually very with it and my IQ was 140 last checked. It feels like it would be 80 if I took a test now. I can't think. I've read up on the political beneficiaries of this additive and I'm fed up with the special interests plopping their wallet padded asses into the official seats that were put in place to protect us. Is there a class action suit I can join? ---------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Monday, April 19, 2004 3:33 PM To: bettym19@mindspring.com Subject: Re: Multiple Sclerosis or Aspartame Disease Just an update from an e-mail we exchanged in February and also to MS Focus. I had been diagnosed as pre-MS by my doctor. That day I went off my diet pepsi habit of 5-8 cans a day. It is now April 19th and I am symptom free. Also my migraine headaches are gone. The only one I had since that day was the day after I went off - boy was I sick from caffeine withdrawal! But since that day I've progressively gotten better. I read to give it 60 days - by mid-March my numbness and tingling were gone, my shooting "electricity" sensations in my legs were gone, my tiredness and achiness in my legs was gone, my hearing (plugged ear) was gone, and I quit dropping things as I had begun to experience. I've replace diet pepsi with water. Regardless of what anyone says about the evidence of aspartame poisoning, I believe you. I've done my best to try to get other people to quit having it also, but I guess they have to go through it like I did to really realize what it does to you. I'm praying my symptoms don't come back, and I don't think they will. Only time will tell. ----------------- From: xxxxx@xxxxx.xxx Sent: Monday, March 08, 2004 4:38 PM To: aspartame@holisticmed.com Subject: aspartame HEllo I just read your webpage and I thought I was the only person with the allergy to this NASTY stuff..Cause everytime people hear about my allergy they are soo shocked and amazed ..I'm now 23 years old but when I was 10 and living with my mom she would use everything sugar free and I was at teh dr. office 2-3 per week because I was alwasy sick my face was always broken out in nasty blister looking things that would breakopen and would last 3-4 weeks if not longer..My mom thought I was always faking sick but when I moved in with my dad and step mom They NEVER used stuff sugar free.. and I never was sick with them so the Dr. told me to eat the BRAT (bread rice applesauce and toast) and start introducing back foods and when I start getting sick note what the new food or drink I had consumed I was fine with everything until I ate a desert my mom made wiht equal and I got soo sick! My dad was diganosed with diabetis in 1999 and he is also allergic to aspartame. We found a product that he can consume but I still Can not have it...SPLENDA sucralose my dad has no problem with it but I still get sick and break out...I can have NOTHING with ANY sweetners other than SUGAR in it! thought I would leave my input TY! ---------------------- From: xxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx Subject: dermatitis Date: Wed 12/24/2003 1:05 PM To: aspartame@holisticmed.com I had been drinking diet sprite for years and years with no real problem other then panic attacks that I thought were from a neurological standpoint but then this past May 2003 I started getting a burning rash around my eyes, it would always be there for 5 or 6 months I always had it in one spot or another flaring up around my eye lids or under my eyes, that delicate area, ooh the shower everyday was a nightmare with the moist heat on it, anyway I have never had any skin problems in my life, thought it was a new allergy, since Georgia is allergy central, I thought I was developing weird sensitivities since moving here, well I switched moisturizers, base makeups, eyeshadow, eye makeup remover, mascara, all of it and nothing changed, still burning rash, dermititis, I was very concerned. The doctor had given me ellidel for it but it only somewhat eased the burning but it never went away. Recently ( 3 months ago) in my cosmotology class we had a massage speaker one night and we talked about everything, she really an "of the earth" seeming woman and she mentioned how poisonous aspartame is to the body blah blah, I didn't think anything of it at first, thought she was just hippie type organic food eater, so I went home looked it up on the internet and I was tremendously appalled that this, if this was true, how come it was not common knowledge. Well, I was researching what products had aspartame in it and found that gum did, which is odd becuase I think it was about late spring early summer when I found that pop out card gum, eclipse or trident stuff, It was so easy to pop a piece out about 10 times a day, I was going through it like crazy, so I decided to do a trial run of no aspartame in my diet, thinking that maybe the gum pushed over my limit of aspartame intake- well I am happy to announce that 2 months after stopping ingestion of aspartame I no longer have the dermatitis around my eyes, it has been a month since no symptoms and there are still no signs of it, which is amazing to me, it was definately the reason for my ailment, there is no doubt in my mind whatsoever, I am a believer, I am so happy I tell people I know not to use aspartame, stop drinknig diet coke blah blah, I realize you have to be very careful when mentioning this to friends etc, you come off seeming preachy and they automatically stop listening. I have to figure out a way to get it across to them whith out seeming like a fruitcake. They almost don't want to believe it, which I understand, it's in everything that especiallly a woman would consume, diet stuff, gum, diet drinks, they figure if they don't acknowledge it they won't have to stop. It's hard to find alternatives, really hard. Well there is my story- it wasn't as serious as a mimiced nervous system disorder or anything major, just an annoying eye rash but I had to live with it everyday and because I have educated myself on aspartame I feel like I am one up one the rest of the world and I am only better because of it ! Thank you for your time. ------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx To: bettym19@mindspring.com Subject: Life - Aspartame and Vision Date: 01:42 AM 6/28/2004 I also thank the Lord for the existence of that generous man, Dave Rietz, with Dorway. He helped give me information that would not have reached me in time to save my vision, if it hadn´t been for him and two other friends. I live in Mexico. I had been a daily user of Diet-Coke and Canderel for about five-six years, when one January, 2000, a friend from a big Medical Center in Mexico City called me and said, "Katina, stop drinking Diet-Coke. It´s poison." A fellow worker of hers also called me about the same time. On February 14, 2000, I got on internet and started navegating. I couldn´t find anything wrong with Aspartame, until I started looking for "Fenilalanina" (the name taken directly off the last Diet-Coke container in the house). It was like opening a Pandora´s Box of worms. The Lord has been generous to me by leading me to various changes in my life so that my health continues to improve. My list of ailments due to Aspartame could fill a book. I am lucky to be alive, sighted and with much to live for. .... I should mention that, since Valentine´s Day, 2000 [February 2000], I have not taken any aspartame. I had been going to a General Hospital here to be checked out for different situations of health that I couldn´t put my finger on why I was feeling sooooooooooooooooo bad. Among the Doctors, I dealt with a marvelous Ophthalmologist, with 40 years of clinical experience, who checked me out thoroughly. He sent me to Tests of Visual Fields many different times. Each time he checked me out on his apparatus to see inside my eyes. Each time he would shake his head and send me off to another test. This went on from August, 1999, to November, 1999. In November, my friend, the Hospital Social Worker and I cornered Dr. Durán to ask him what was up. His answer was interesting. He said, "I simply don´t understand. With 40 years of experience I´ve never seen anything like this. Her (mentioning a part of the optic nerve) is so deteriorated that she shouldn´t be able to see, but the Vision Fields Test says she sees. I don´t understand. She should be blind." In April, 2000, I went back to get a prescription for new glasses. He checked me again. I asked him how my eyes were. He said, "You don´t have anything wrong. You´re O.K." That is one of my adventures with this junk. Please send me a copy of Dr. Blaylock´s article so that I can continue to improve. I have a lot of work I want to get done and definitely want to be completely well to do it. I´m sooooooooooooo excited about the suits in California. I pray for all the people involved every day so that the TRUTH will out. God bless you, ----------------------- To: Bettym19@mindspring.com From: xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx Subject: introdution Aspartame Disease Mimics MS Date: 08:38 PM 3/14/2004 Hi, My name is xxxxxxxxxx I'm a 28 year old mom of four children suffering from the aspartame. About one and half years ago I woke up with tingling in my feet within a week it was up both my legs and I could not feel my private areas. I had problems walking I couldn't drive and didn't know when I had to go to the bathroom. The doctors did lots of tests but had no answers then they said that I could possibly have M.S. But they weren't sure. After at least six MRI's and another one this April 1 still no answer. But I have finally figured it out on my own. Aspartame was my problem, I'm a diabetic who has been drinking diet soda for eleven years. .... It's been about two weeks and I feel alittle tired but my skin is brighter and I'm not always thirsty any more. I just want to thank everyone for getting this information out and ! --------------------- From: xxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx To: bettym19@mindspring.com Date: 02:10 PM 3/9/2004 Subject: Deputy Sheriff Tells it Like It Is: Aspartame and Diabetes Hello, My name is xxxxxxx xxxxxx. I am a 62 year old caucasion male who retired as a deputy sheriff in 1997 and who became a xxxxxx artist. Every thing in my life was going very well health wise until about three years ago when my personal physician diagnosed me with Diabetes. From day one he advised me to use diet foods and drinks such as "diet cokes and others" as I would have to stay away from the consumption of regular sugar. I didnt much like the taste of diet drinks or diet foods but he scared me enough about my diebetes condition that I switched to only diet foods. I began my diabetes life with oral medications of Glucaphage and Avandia. A couple of years later I had continued to gain weight and I was falling apart. I had occassional headaches that I couldnt explain as I never had them before. All of my joints ached constantly especially my knees and hands. I thought I had arthuritis and the diabetes was taking hold of my health in a very negative way. Early on I started with a condition under both arms and in the groin that I considered to be "Jock itch". I started using Cortasone 10 cremes and if I used that at least every other day the condition could be controlled and if not the sores were very raw and bloody and boy did it burn. I continued to use the cortosone up until recently. Also about that time I developed a thick scaling in the scalp and around the ears that I thought might just be exzema or worse and I used head and shoulders shampoo but it didnt control it. My lower legs and feet were swelling and I could no longer wear my favorite cow boy boots and most of the time I had to wear soft slippers. Traveling became almost impossible. Besides all of these problems I had frequent urination problems and rarely got more than two hours of sleep at a time. I was becoming more and more irratable around my wife. My Doctor during this period of time was totally exasperated with me as I couldnt control my blood sugar levels and I continued to gain weight and by this time I was up to 320 pounds. About a year ago my Doctor put my on insulin in an effort to control the blood sugar levels. He started me out on low doses at first but with 3 months I was up to using 65 units of 70/30 humilin in the AM and 60 units in the PM. Sometimes I would test in the morning and I would be 105 and sometimes I would be 205. I was not eating very much at all but I could never convince him of that. By this time I was developing so many physical problems that I couldnt keep track of them all. In the morning for the first few minutes my vision was blurry as if I had a film coating over my eyes but then it would gradually disappear. I started having ringing or hissing in my ears that woulnt go away. Every morning I would run hot water over my hands so that I could close them. My knuckes were swollen and again I blamed it on arthuritis. I blamed every thing on my age and diabetes. If I got down on my hands and knees to do something I was unable to get back up without crawling over to the wall or some furniture. One day as I was driving my 84 year old mother to her dialysis appointment I began questioning her about any illnesses I might of had while growing up. "I never took you boys to the Doctor while you were growing up other than for broken bones." My brothers and I were very active living in the country. Our diet in those days was meat, potato's, fresh vegetables, fruit and home made bread and fresh milk. My Mother then said, "you worse off than me" to which I replied "He doesnt know what all is wrong with me as all my blood tests are O.K. and everything, Im at my wits end. I was getting real depressed and even contimplated ending it all. My whole life I had been very healthy and real strong and now I was as weak as could be. I then started reading books and surfing the internet. After a few weeks I found "Dorway". Long story short, I cleaned out my pantry and kitchen of all the sugar free Jello, pudding, No sugar added IceCream, sugar free cookies and Diet Drinks that contained aspertame. Within 3 days I noticed some improvement. Within 2 weeks I felt like a thirty year old again. I could drop down and do about 5 push ups and wanted to go walking around the farm. My knees completely cleared up and the head aches went away. With the help of using Aloe Vera Gel in my scalp and in my shower soap my skin condition cleared up 90 percent. I have not had one bit of under arm and groin rash since I quit using aspertame products. Did I mention that I also had been writting a book on my computer but I was unable to concentrate on spelling even the most simple of words until I got off that darn poison. I'm back to writting again. I'm now starting up in my metal shop which I stopped doing nine months ago. Now here's the good part. I went in to see my Doctor about six weeks ago about a cyst on my inner thigh that may or may not be related to Aspertame use. Anyway he had already given up on me regarding my Diabetes condition and scheduled me to see a Diabetic Specialist for the 17th of this month. I had gain 18 pounds on the last visit with him and my blood sugar levels were still out of control. He asked me in general conversation, "well how you been doing". I said "Great, never been better" By the way Doctor do you still use sugar free food and drinks? Sure, I drink diet pepsi, to which I replied, Well Doc you might consider giving them up. You see Doc, Ive had Aspertame toxins in me since you first advised me to use them three years ago. Besides feeling great now, my blood sugar levels have come down to about 95 in the morning and about 110 in the PM and besides did you notice what my weight is today compared to three weeks ago. He checked his Nurses notes and said your down considerably. about 20 pounds. I replied, Yeh Doctor and I dont even crave any thing sweet any more. Hmm, very interesting, let me know how your improving. He didnt have a clue about aspertame. I then took the new prescription and went to my trusted Pharmacist who didnt have a clue about the effects of Aspertame either. Then it hit me, the medical profession doesnt have a clue about food additives not even Aspertame. By the way I also told my Doctor that probably a third of his patients probably has Aspertame poisoning and he never knew it. To that he didnt have a response. I'm now reading every thing I can get my hands on regarding Aspertame. I've gotten three Diabetic friends off any thing sugar free or diet. If you dont remember the sixties very well there was a saying back then. "Power to the People". If I had my way there wouldnt be a congressman or Senator serving one more term unless he got on the band wagon and helped all of us victims of this terrrible injustice. We need to get literature out just before election time so any one would know how to vote responsibly. This is the only way we can get enough people educated. "I'M WONDERING, WHAT MORE CAN I DO". Should I mail all my sugar free drinks back to where they came from? No body and I mean nobody is so big and powerful that they cant be crippled legally. Forget your scientists and their truth ful results as that hasnt worked and never will. Hit em where it hurts. You have to ask your self one more question. If the movement to educated people like me is having any success then how come this ol' cowboy had to go through three years of living hell before I accidently "stumbled" across all the good word that you are putting out. I'm not going to apologize for the length of this e-mail because it all had to be said. I'm just an average guy who fought for his country and did everything asked of me only to be poisoned by my own country the good ol' U.S. of A. ------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Monday, April 05, 2004 1:39 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: Aspartame Hi: I suffer from depression and PTSD. I started drinking diet soda to help me lose some weight. After about 3 months, I started to be plagued with constant anxiety, insomnia and irrational thoughts. I had read somewhere that artificial sweeteners can sometime negatively affect folks with mood disorders so I stopped drinking diet soda and guess what—I am feeling better, sleeping through the night and the irrational thoughts have subsided. Seems to me the artificial sweeteners were having a negative affect on my mental health. I know I am going to avoid them in the future and drink water instead. -------------------- From: xxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx To: aspartame@holisticmed.com Subject: IBS survivor Date: Tue 12/30/2003 12:06 AM Hello For years I suffered with IBS. I was a diet pepsi junkie. I stopped drinking it and any other forms of aspartame. Within DAYS my IBS was gone! By mistake, I drank a diet pepsi about a week after I had it out of my system. The very next morning, the IBS was back. NEVER EVER AGAIN will I consume aspartame. There is NO doubt in my mind that it was the cause of IBS! Has there been any research on this? -------------------- From: xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2004 1:08 PM To: xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx Cc: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: Nutrasweet Questionnaire I found the website aspartamesafety.com today, and thought I'd share my story, as old as it is. I'm not a pilot - but when I had my first attack, I was driving on the New York State Thruway. Fortnately I wasn't alone. The trip from upstate New York to Newton MA took close to 10 hours, and included two stops at hospitals along the way. The ER doctors assumed it was from July 4th weekend drinking with friends; but the attacks continued. I've always felt that the stuff was dangerous. People look at me like I'm cuckoo when I tell my story - all I can say was that my problem stopped after I stopped ingesting the stuff. And I refuse to give it to my kids. Good luck in your endeavors. Questionairre: Name: xxxxxxxx xxxxxxx Age: 42 Sex: Male Address: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Medical problem caused by aspartame: Extreme vertigo/nausea/dizziness Why I believe they were caused by aspartame: Because they stopped when I stopped drinking diet beverages. Did the symptoms go away? Yes, after about a month or two. For a period of some months in 1992, I had regular attacks, occurring about every 14 days, of vertigo where I couldn't stand up, I couldn't walk - all I could do was hold onto the floor, vomit, and hold on for dear life for the 10-15 hours the attacks would last. When I stopped drinking diet drinks, the attacks continued for a month or two, with decreasing severity and intensity, and the time between the attacks got longer, until they stopped altogether. I haven't had an experience like this since late 1992. Did I see a doctor? Yes. I saw an ENT who performed extensive tests, including an MRI, to rule out brain tumor or a tumor in the ear exerting pressure on the vestibular system. He also ruled out drug use, wax buildup in the ear, and other ear-related problems. Did the doctor think it was linked to Aspartame? No. Did I report the symptoms? No. This is the first time I'm reporting it anywhere. What specific products: Diet Coca-Cola, Crystal Light powdered drink mix How much/how often: At least 6 12oz cans of Diet Coke a day; several 8-12 oz glasses of Crystal Light. It wasn't bad for me, and calorie free, so what was the harm of drinking so much? How long before I experienced symptoms? I don't recall - it was 10 plus years ago, now - but probably some months. My first attack occurred over the July 4 weekend and continued into the fall. I probably started drinking the stuff as a means to lose weight - I had gained a lot over the holidays. ----------------------