---------------------- From: xxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx Sent: Saturday, January 03, 2004 10:01 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: Re: Aspartame I has used the above for years and then developed Migraine head-aches. I simply stopped using it and the head aches disappeared. Sometimes I will accidentally consume aspartame and will suffer an extreme Migraine, and sure enough when I check the ingredients there it is. I do not understand with so many health problems this has caused why the heck the government has not done something. It is outrageous!! ---------------------------- From: xxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx Sent: Saturday, January 03, 2004 10:03 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: My Aspartame Consumer Safety Network Questionaire. Hi from New Zealand Mary. You will read my story in the questionnaire I’ve submitted to you. I’m feeling well enough to concentrate and get it all down but it took awhile. Just hope this all gets better and goes away. .... Q. Medical problems that you believe are caused from using aspartame: Hypoglycemia, restlessness bordering on hyperactivity, weight loss, memory and concentration problems, back and joint pain, insomnia, chronic fatigue, change in bowel habits, frequent urination, thinning hair, extremely itchy skin (without rash), nausea, lack of appetite etc Q. Why do you believe aspartame caused these problems? I believe aspartame caused these problems because they began when I started consuming aspartame and as soon as I discontinued my aspartame intake my symptoms began to diminish and I continue to get better. Q. Did the symptoms go away when you stopped using the products? Yes. Back pain is gone after a month. Insomnia is gone and my energy and stamina is back. Bowel habits are getting back to normal. Hair is not coming out as much. The itchy skin is gone and so is the nausea. My appetite is almost back to normal. Memory and concentration is still an issue at times and I haven’t gained much weight yet (I’m 5kg underweight) but I figure that will improve with my appetite and eating healthy whole foods. I seem to have the hypoglycemia under control. .... ---------------------------------------- From: xxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx To: xxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx Subject: Pain/Aspartame Date: Tue 1/13/2004 4:51 PM .... I lost my job Sept 15; staying at home, I started drinking more coffee- my sweetener contained Aspartame. My intake went from 4 pkgs. to 8 pkgs. per day. Two weeks later I could not walk without holding on to something or if I could walk - sharp pains hit my legs causing me to scream. October/November to chiropractor and then to family doctor..no help. The word "fibromyalgia" came into the mix because I had the tell-tell symptoms with pressure points. A year before the tingling/burning was dx as Carpal Tunnel (HA!) Just on a hunch, I quit my sweetener the first of December - On Dec. 26th, I walked without pain but have a ways to go to improve because balance is questionable..tingling in arms is subsiding (was dx neuropathy) I strongly suggest others try to eliminate sweeteners with this ingredient and see if some of their ailments disappear. It won't happen overnight but when you realize the pain is gone - wouldn't the trial be worth it? ---------------- From: xxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2004 10:10 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: (no subject) I have been doing a lot of research on the use of artificial sweetners especially aspartame. I find your information astounding. I had been a frequent user of diet soft drinks, sugar free gum, etc. I was watching a news report on aspartame 12/31/03. What i saw and heard was very disturbing. I am now 34 and have been consuming these products since I was 16. I decided to give up all aspartame containing products as my New Year Resolution. I must say that I am thinking more clearly. I would sometimes get headaches and feel like there was a "dullness", if you will, over me at times. I do not feel this amymore and have not had any headaches or a feeling of "dullness" since removing these products from my diet. I have not read all of your research but will continue to investigate. Please e mail me if you have any questions and keep up the good work. Thanks. --------------------------- Egullet.com Discussion forums eGullet.com -> Starters -> Beverages and Libations -> Coffee & Tea foodie52 Posted: Dec 27 2003, 09:59 AM http://forums.egullet.com/index.php?showtopic=34041&st=0 My husband used to be a big diet soda drinker. A couple of years ago he started complaining about forgetfulness and fuzzy thinking.....it was scary. I remembered an article I had read about artificial sweeteners and their effect on brain function. I had him stop drinking that stuff and switch to water and unsweetened tea. The problem went away after a week or so. I'm a believer.... -------------------- From: xxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2004 2:04 AM To: aspartame@holisticmed.com Subject: Case Histories I am writing for my husband. We have been married 15 years. When we met he started drinking diet sodas. And exclusively so. I don't drink sodas. Since then he has gained 70 lbs, even though we eat the same bascially. I do alot of cooking. He also complains of muscle and tendon aches, and always passes it as "old age". Ridiculous, I have always felt 25. He has alot of other subtle problems. Also he always wakes up in the middle of the night to drink water. He's been off sodas now for almost 2 weeks, and has stopped getting up at night to drink water. Also he's not achy any more. We will see this year how many more symptoms go away (By the way he saw 2 Neurologists who thought he was trying to get disability or just faking it!!). I am so thankful to find this site as well as the responses from people who voice the same problems as my husband. ALso, the only other product that is bothersome is when we eat out at oriental restaurants, and the MSG manifested itself in immediate scary symptoms: chest tightness, head tightness, headache, and trouble sleeping. I thought he would have to go to the emergency ward! Chemicals and pesticides and unnatural substances can pose a real silent danger to many people. Being a dental hygienist, I have seen such a rise in health issues, and yound people getting cancer. Just like cigarettes, people should be informed and let them make their own choices. ---------------------- From: xxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Wednesday, January 21, 2004 2:34 AM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: Another aspartame victim checking in I was just doing some internet surfing on the wondersweetener that I hate so much, and I found your website so I thought I'd send a message and you can add me to your list of victims when you get a chance. Many years ago, I went on the NutriSystem diet. Much of the food there had aspartame for a sweetener instead of sugar, no real surprise. After I finished that diet, I was still consuming some aspartame from diet drinks on occasion (even though I hated the taste). Then one day, I started breaking out in hives. I went to the doctor, they ran some tests, and could find nothing wrong with me. I went a few times, no help. I went to a few different doctors, and finally one mentioned NutraSweet and handed me a list with more side effects than I can find anywhere on the internet that were linked to aspartame. I had quite a few of the side effects listed, if I had a list I could probably check them off one by one. Hives, dizziness, headache, insomnia, fatigue, those are the ones I remember well but I know I had many more. I felt like I was walking around in a daze all the time. The doctor suggested I avoid anything with aspartame in it, so I did. It took a while, but the hives went away. I started sleeping better. I didnt feel tired in the middle of the day anymore. Headaches were gone. This was in 1990. I havent touched the stuff since, except unknowingly or by mistake. I still know when I've had some too, I break out in hives whenever I take in any aspartame. I have to laugh at the reports I read too, that its ok and its natural amino acids with phenylalanine. Sure it is. Seems like Dr. Roberts has it right, maybe thats what it starts as, and then you put it in the body and you have methanol and who knows what else. Evil evil evil. Thats what aspartame is. Maybe someday the FDA will agree. I'm glad others are spreading the word. I've been telling my friends since 1990. --------------------------- From: xxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2004 12:42 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: Aspartame / NutraSweet / Equal I experience extreme migraines anytime I have consumed NutraSweet. Elimination of NutraSweet in my diet has tremendously decreased the number of migraines I have. -------------- From: xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Friday, July 16, 2004 11:49 PM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: aspartame reactions I am a mother of an eight year old daughter. When she was 4 years old she became very belligerent, crying fits, uncontrollable, completely out of control. The behavior was completely the opposite of the sweet little girl she usually was. At the time she had an ear infection and was on a liquid antibiotic. I called her doctor, thinning it was a reaction to the antibiotic. Her antibiotic was changed and she was fine again. Three months later at a family picnic she was given a piece of sugar free gum and we had to leave the picnic as her behavior was almost instantly changed to bad, just like Jeckle and Hyde! I called the doctor the next morning and found out the 1st ingredient in the antibiotic 3 months before was aspartame. Cali now describes the feelings as though she can't control herself, that she can't think straight. How many children in this country take children's chewable vitamins from a discount store loaded with aspartame every day? It is also in chewable Tylenol, most liquid antibiotics, chewable Motrin, chewable Benydryl, chewable Advil and even Pedilyte. My daughter is a label reader now. I own a health food store and help hundreds of people every year in our community of 100,000 that are sick and find out it is from aspartame. I recently helped a woman who was on so many drugs for depression and anxiety that she couldn't work. Was disabled. After one week. ONE WEEK off of NutraSweet she was able to go back to work. I also worked with a woman who was crippled by migraines. Spent thousands and thousands of dollars on MRI's, tests, drugs t no avail. She went off of diet cola and her migraines were gone. She was furious that not one doctor she went to ever asked her if she drank any diet sodas or used artificial sweetener packets. Another man thought he was developing Alzheimer's at age 34. His doctor fortunately asked him if he did drink diet soda. Yes he did. 5-6 cans a day. Two weeks off of Aspartame completely his memory came back 100% Why is it still being sold when it is so dangerous!? People need to know. They have a right to know the truth! I believe what it is doing to our children is a crime. Some MD's still are not warning pregnant mothers not to consume it. How frightening is that? ---------------------- From: xxxxxxxx@aol.com Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2003 03:49:07 EDT Subject: (no subject) To: aspartame@holisticmed.com I have just discovered the horrible effects of aspartame. I have been a coca-cola drinker for years ( not knowing it contained aspartame). I also chewed Trident White sugarless gum for many years not realizing any harm was being done. In the last few years I have had severe headaches, usually on the right side of my head. Sometimes I would be driving and I would have spells of dizziness that would just appear anytime. Sometimes I felt like my mind got blanked out for a while. I couldn't explain the feeling but it felt like seizures or maybe aneurysms. It was so frightening, I went to a neurologist to get a C-Scan several years back. They saw something on my brain but couldn't explain it. I probably could attain the xrays that have these spots on my brain. Recently came severe joint pain, confusion, memory loss, numbness in the finger tips, panic attacks, chest pains, irradic heartbeats, severe stomach pains, burning urine, UTIs for no reason. You name it I was a walking health problem. I have been in the doctors office numerous times for numerous symtoms. The doctors probably thought I was a hypochondriac?! I thought maybe it was due to age. I got on the internet looking for answers, mainly to seek the dangers of aspartame and low and behold. There it was like an answer from abov3 your site and all the people who were complaining about the same things. I knew it! It was aspartame all along that was giving me these problems. So I went into detox and came the severe stomach pains, diarhea, menstrual cramps, and severe headaches. The joint pain has disappeared along with many other ailments I mentioned, which were aspartame attributed. I await to see how many more symtoms will disappear. I still have bouts with stomach problems and headaches that just don't go away. I'll have to check them out soon with the doctors. I've always had asthma, but there were times when it was really severe and I wonder if hidden aspartames in the past had anything to do with triggering these episodes. Needless to say, I am very angry that there is such a poison on the market, and its legally approved by the FDA! Scary! Something has to be done! I emailed some of the info on your site to friends to make them aware also! I'm glad I've found answers to so many questions. I would like to join the fight against Monsanto and there EVIL WAYS! -------------- From: "Theresa xxxxxx" To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: It is all true Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 18:31:16 +0000 I stumpled upon your web site after reading about milk and it's additives at notmilk.com. I had been using Equal for everything. I was overweight about 7 years ago and decided to follow the Atkin put me on Glucophage to help me to try to lose weight. Anyway, once I came across aspartamekills.com, they recommended your site. Sure enough, I cut out all aspartame, which I must say is very difficult, and all my symptoms are gone. I am not dizzy anymore. The feeling of "walking in a dream" is gone. My body aches and pains are gone. My chronic hip pain is there no longer. That spot on my head is even getting better. It's been 3 months since I stopped. By the way, FYI - There is ONE diet soda that does not use phenylalanine and that is diet rite. Aspartame is in everything! Every single gum I have looked at has it in there, the only one I found that doesn't is bubble yum, which is loaded with sugar. Also, I have now lost 20 of the 60 pounds I had gained over the past 2 years!!! People, please listen!!! Stevia, Stevia, Stevia is the answer! Stay away from the poison that is Equal! Theresa [continued] From: "Theresa xxxxxx" To: mgold@shelltown.net Subject: Re: It is all true Date: Thu, 06 Nov 2003 21:38:08 +0000 Thank you so much for responding, and thank you for the information you provided. I have told my doctor to keep it on record that most of my symptoms have disappeared after about 2 months of not using Aspartame I am going to do the best that I can to inform everyone about this poison. I also plan on reporting this to the FDA.& This stuff really needs to be taken off the market. -------------- From: "Jennifer xxxxx" To: Subject: Former Aspartame User Date: Fri, 7 Nov 2003 11:33:48 -0800 For the last three years, I have had severe pains in my legs and feet. I started walking daily and it seemed to just get worse. I thought it was bad shoes I have been ingesting sugar free products for 20 years, and in the last three years, everything I put in my mouth was sugar fee ( I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes) I started menopause and was becoming very depressed. I was placed on several depression medications as well as hormone replacement medications. Some days were so bad, I could barely walk from my car to the grocery store because of the pains in my legs and feet. I was constantly taking pain medication. I.e. Tylenol, and Aleve. I was beginning to think I had fibromyalgia A friend of my was experiencing pains in her legs. She ate everything sugar free as well. She was only 28 years old. I am 57. She went to every doctor where we live then finally went over to Seattle to the University Hospital because no one could find anything wrong with her. It was over there that they suggested she get off the sugar free stuff. She did and was well again. SO I thought, I would try not eating anything sugar free for a few days. It was like a miracle. Within four days, the pains were gone and was starting to feel good again. I am now off all medications, and my energy has returned. Not realizing what aspartame was in, one weekend I was doing lots of housework, it was warm and I drank crystal light all day Saturday. By Sunday I was on the couch with my feet up and in pain again. JUST ONE DAY, AND IT HIT ME AGAIN. When I read the label what a shock. NOW I READ ALL LABELS BEFORE I PUT ANYTHING IN MY MOUTH. I try to let everyone know about aspartame and what it did to me. I would probably be a cripple today if I had not heard about the affects of Aspartame. My friend told mw about your WEB site so I started reading. What a shock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for the help Jennifer -------------- From: xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx To: mgold@holisticmed.com Date: Fri, 07 Nov 2003 14:22:10 -0700 My husband and I consumed diet sodas for two years, trying to cut sugar from our diets. In the past few months, we experienced unexplainable symptoms. I remember seeing an e-mail on aspartame. I did some research on this and others affected or having been affected with the numerous symptoms aspartame causes. I couldn't believe it! We experienced joint pain, stiffness, fatigue, inability to concentrate and forgetfulness. We cut the diet soda and anything that contained aspartame from our diets and we feel great. We immediately saw improvement in our health. I now believe we were victims. 1 1/2 months later, we feel absolutely great. Thank you for circulating these stories. -------------- From: "xxxxxxxxxxxx, Kim" To: "'mgold@holisticmed.com'" Subject: What can I do Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2003 10:24:55 -0400 Dear Mark Gold, I'm 31 and I suffered for a few years because of Aspartame. I could have died and left my children without a mother if you wouldn't have put the information out there. Within a month of cutting Aspartame out of my diet I was free of my many symptoms including: Basilar Artery Migraine attacks TIA's Vertigo Numbness Staggering Gait Vision problems Droopy Eyelid Irregular/uneven pupil dilation Problems speaking (jumbled words during attacks) Loss of bladder control Nausea Depression Anxiety Stiffness/joint pain Muscle spasms Fatigue Inability to concentrate "Not real" feeling It maddens me that there are people out there claiming it's safe. I haven't filed a complaint with the FDA yet and I can't afford (financially and time) to file a lawsuit, but what can I do to help spread the word? I put some information about Aspartame on xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx's web page. There are hundreds of people with similar symptoms, including seizures that are being diagnosed, or diagnosing themselves, with B.A.M. If they only knew that cutting Aspartame out of their diet might cure them. I have to find some way of helping America! Thank you, Kim xxxxxxxxxxxx -------------- Subject: FW: Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2003 15:34:53 -0600 From: "Amy xxxxxxxx" To: Thought I'd send this to you. I've been to the doctor on and off for the last four years, and recently went to see an endocrinologist regarding my symptoms. I wanted to get to the bottom of it as I've noticed debilitating conditions increase over the last four years. Did a 24 hour (urine) exam that I'm waiting to hear back on, but last night came across this astounding revelation that touched on all my symptoms. (I have reports from my primary doctors for the last four years with symptoms of anxiety, insomnia, joint pain, hypersensitive adrenal response, fatigue, hives, and failed cures with prescription medication. I have copies of my records too.) Today I threw out all traces of Equal. Funny how they talk about the addiction, I had a box of packets at work in my desk, and at home. .... Wow, just got off the phone with mom about this. There may be too much coincidence with the fact that I've been having 3-4 packets of Equal in my coffee every morning for the past 4 years. ...The same time that my symptoms of anxiety, join pain, insomnia, lightheadness began. I'll have to wait and see, as they say it takes a month or two to get your system back to normal after longterm intake. But already noticed, yesterday I had 4 Equal packets in my coffee and got real lightheaded in the afternoon (which I thought was from low iron and protein), so today I didn't have any Equal and what do you know-NO lightheadness?! Granted I still may have some underlying challenges, but this could have been a major contributor to my problems. If so, I'd like to sue their company. When I think of the lost productivity, car accidents that followed insomnia, relationship impact, health bills... In fact even one of the owner's of Equal, his son developed a debilitating disease that he thinks was from excessive use of aspartame. It's hushed because there's so much money gained from the product. [Updated Information] Subject: RE: Aspartame Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2003 09:12:28 -0500 From: "Amy xxxxxxxxxxx" To: "Mark Gold" Well, May 13 it will have been 60 days free of aspartame!!! And I'll tell ya, I have noticed an improvement so far! Severe insomnia IMPROVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For the most part, I'm sleeping pretty regularly now. The only thing I've found is that I still seem to have blood sugar sensitivities, not so extreme as before but still seems to be underlying. Like if I change my diet it throws off my sleep, or if I stop taking chromium same thing, or exercise too much. But even so, the effects of that aren't nearly as severe as they used to be that is for sure. Joint pain GONE. Racing heart GONE. Adrenaline rushes improved (which doctors had tested me a number of times for excessive cortisol). Food allergies resulting in hives GONE. I still experience a milder reaction maybe once in a while but NOTHING like what it was!!!!! And as each day goes by, I just feel like a healthier, happier person. And I've stopped taking all anxiety medication and natural supplements that I was using to help me sleep. It's wonderful! My body just doesn't want them now. I'm still waiting to see though, hoping that after 60 days, that hyperarousal response will be cleared up completely. My mood has improved too. No more depression and anxiety highs and lows like I was having before, and panic attacks and irritability. It's remarkable. To think of all the time, the last 4 years that I just felt like hell (like I was 80), and went to see numerous doctors, and to realize I've figured out a connection at least brings tears of joy. And believe me, it's also made a difference in my relationships and work productivity. I went on the Internet and read a lot of the warnings and case histories. What was astounding to me was how many people had such similar problems and how the doctors couldn't diagnose it but just put them on all these crazy drugs for the symptoms. That is scary, and makes me want to tell the world about that stuff. And, I have told all my family and friends to stay far away from it. Who would of thought that a scoop of regular sugar or a regular soda would be BETTER for you. My goal was to feel better before my upcoming wedding this summer, and as far as I can tell, that wish is coming true. I said to myself, when I get married I want to start fresh and be able to live a happy life like a normal person without all these symptoms. Particularly the insomnia, my family was very concerned about that. And...another bonus, symptoms like being bloated and PMS have improved (in fact I hardly notice PMS now!!!). So I feel like I'm not only getting stronger but even feel more fit and trim for my big day too. Crazy, I even thought I was on the verge of Diabetes (since I had all the related symptoms) but ironically blood sugar tested fine. I've read how aspartame disease mimics so many others and I think that's also why it is so hard to pinpoint. I will read your additional resources. I hope you'll share my story. I've spent hours, days, months, years trying to get to the bottom of all my symptoms. And, now I finally feel like I'm headed in the right direction. Thank you. Keep me posted! Amy -------------- Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 21:46:53 -0400 From: "xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx" Subject: New Member Hello to xxxxxx and everyone. I wish I could say I am glad to be a member of this list but who can be glad about having their life ruined by deliberate cruelty in the name of the Almighty Dollar. But I am tremendously thankful that you all are here and that this list is here and that there is an army of faithful people devoting so much of themselves to helping others and attempting to stop this madness. I simply feel that I have to have someplace to unload something of what I feel and connect to people who understand. My history is long and complex but I will not dwell on it suffice to say that I grew up in a very violent home with two severly disturbed alcoholic parents. From that I have received the diagnosis of chronic post traumatic stress disorder...ahh how the aspartame helped me with my depression. How it took me lower and lower into the depths of a mindless black fog. And then while doing my stint in college back in the early '70's I was exposed to a massive dose of chlordane in the house where I was living. After that my health has been weird. I wasn't the only person living there that experienced lasting effects. One person developed a brain tumor. The rest of us lucky ones just got chronic fatigue and chemical senstivities. Then I was gassed with 2-4D, you know, Agent Orange, while living in newly wedded bliss at an apartment complex. Finally life in the big city was so intolerable for me, even with herbs and vitamins and organic foods, that we moved to the country. But that meant giving up a lot. Organinc foods are hard to come by and finances are diifficult at best. As we grew to mid-life and watched my husband's sisters and brothers become diabetic we switched to using Nutra-Sweet and other various forms of aspartame. This was about 1 to 1and 1/2 years ago. I started using the stuff for various reasons, not good ones to be sure and viola...memory loss-oh I can remember the horrors of childhood vividly but I can't seem to figure out which key is for the car or the house. Severe muscle and joint pain till I could barely walk. Burning pains, ringing ears to the point of hardly being able to hear, then the weird pounding noises and burning skin and then at the last migraines- this from a person who ordinarily had maybe 2 headaches a year. Also I was having some sort of siezure activity. I didn't know what it was till I described it to my husband and he as a lifelong epileptic recognized it at once. Miraculously I stumbled across the dorway website and my life has changed for the better. I am now, as far as I know, aspartame free for one month. I can walk without pain and am no longer hopelessly depressed, my old coping skills I learned through years of therapy are working again. No headaches at all unless I get in contact with outgassing such as at Wal-Mart. But I still don't feel consistently well. Today was a bad day. I have had a HORRIBLE painful rash for about a week. It is improving with creams and B vitamins. I should be feeling better. I checked your archives and found the post about aspartame being hidden in yogurt and started shaking and almost crying I was so upset. I just started using Dannon's "All Natural" plain yogurt. I was careful to read the label. Supposedly, there is nothing in it but milk, and of course bovine growth hormone, but it is the best I could find. What upset me the most is that I gave some to my beloved dogs. I want to stay on this list to keep abreast of what I can do for my family, my pets, my friends and neighbors. I have been telling everyone I know about the dangers in aspartame. Most of the time I get this blank look and then the subject is changed. Well, at least I told them. Thank you all for indulging me in this long outpouring. I pray night and day that this horrible thing that has been perpetrated on the world by Monsanto and the FDA will come to an end. M.B. in Ohio -------------- From: "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" To: Subject: Aspartame Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2003 20:55:13 -0400 Very poor comprehension, forgetfulness, dizziness, joint and muscle pain, headaches, fatigue, and numbness in my fingers were symptoms I experienced while consuming aspartame. For at least seven years, I tried to avoid sugar whenever I could, buying products using aspartame instead...gum, ice cream, sweet thing II, and diet coke/pepsi. While I had many headaches, the joint and muscle pain was much worse. I could hardly get out of the bed in the morning, having to slowly roll out and walk slowly. I felt old enough to retire. Trying to learn a new job was unusually challenging. My reading comprehension was severely impaired in a job where that was critical. I had trouble concentrating and was very forgetful. Reluctantly, I came to suspect aspartame. Beginning January 2003, I eliminated aspartame from my diet. Within a week, my muscle pains were easing. Nearing four months later, I wake without pain. My ability to comprehend and remember what I read has returned. I hate having to give up my diet drinks, but I feel like I've risen from the dead. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't experienced it myself. Diane D. -------------- Date: Fri, 04 Apr 2003 21:39:48 -0500 From: xxxxxx xxxxxxxx Subject: aspartame reaction To: mgold@holisticmed.com I happened upon your site looking for safety info on sucralose. Approximately 3 years ago while trying to cut back on sugar I began drinking a lot of Crystal Light Lemonade. At the time I was an RN on a cardiovascular unit. I have had very rare occassional PVC's throughout the years, but after approx 3 weeks of drinking the lemonade I began having runs of bigeminy and trigeminy (pvc's every 2nd or 3rd heartbeat). This left me exhausted and short of breath. I placed myself on a cardiac monitor at work to print out tracings of what was happening and made an appointment with my doctor who immediately sent me to a cardiologist. While awaiting my cardiologist tests results back I noticed one night that after I put a piece of sugar-free gum (with aspartame) in my mouth, the runs began. I cut out the aspartame, but it took several weeks for the toxicity level to decrease and my heart rythm to return to almost normal ( I still tend to throw pvc's more frequently than before, but no! runs). M came back normal. I mentioned the aspartame to the MD and he had no idea if this might be the cause. By the way, I had given up all caffeine 3 years before and had an otherwise very healthy lifestyle. I am very careful to avoid all aspartame and research any new sweetners that arise. -------------- From: "xxxxxxxxxxxx" To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: Aspartame reaction Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2003 14:33:18 -0400 I was very pleased to find that your site had information about sucralose, as I have been wary of trying any sugar free products after my experience with aspartame. Last summer, I was trying to lose weight, and consumed a lot of "diet" products, including soda, yogurt, and various desserts in addition to other low-fat products. Several weeks later, I started to pass out every so often during the day, and I had an almost constant migraine headache. I eliminated aspartame from my regimen and within a couple of days, my headaches became less severe. When I consulted my nutritionist, she told me that I should avoid aspartame in the future because I was probably allergic to it. I have since avoided it like the plague. Thank you for your valuable information, and I hope my experience can help others. ------------------- Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2003 12:19:30 +0200 From: xxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xx To: xxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx Subject: Aspartame & Co Dear Mark Gold, I have been off aspartame now since 21st February 2003, being close to 5 months now. I think I'm coming back to the normal world which has been the worst nightmare for the past 8 - 9 years at least. You wanted information on developments - well - I think I tell you my complete story, as now I realise so many things that have been going on and I couldn't connect. I hope this information can also help others to get back to a normal functioning brain and life. The symptoms that have for sure weakened and almost disappeared are - heavy confusion - memory loss and disorder - chronic fatigue syndrome - bloated stomach - diarrhoea with cramps in intestines - strong feelings of panic and fear - temporary insomnia - depression - hip and joint pain - hair loss (and all this just by taking 4-8 pieces of chewy V6 a day) - no coke light, no other diet products, nothing alike) It took though over 3 months before I noticed the real change in my head, not being so heavy anymore and being able to think again and also remember things. I was so far gone that I sometimes could not remember my own address and phone number. I don't think it is necessary that I express what I feel towards Monsanto & Co. and all people involved in this, as many others have said it on your website quite clearly. I am very grateful for having found all information on your site and once again to say - You saved my life and that of many of us. Thank you so much. My life changed when I was diagnosed for hyper-prolactinemia in early 80ties and as this whole area was quite unexplored (and I had no medical knowledge as to how the human brain functions with its pituitary gland and hypothalamus), I was put on PRAVIDEL (Bromocryptine) and the dose was increased up to 10mg per day. This stuff put me so much off reality - I was just happy to survive a normal working day, and needed 9-10 hours sleep to be able to survive at all. The doctors never found a reason for this hyperprolactinemia and they could also not explain why, despite high medication intake, the PRL levels would not stay low. Thinking back now, at that time already I used "aspartame" chewing gum, maybe not so much - and I did for a period of time use artificial sweetener in my coffee (for maybe 1 year) which could well have been the cause for this disturbance in hormones. But during the treatment with Bromocryptine, I could not distinguish between the symptoms of the medication and the ones from aspartame. I was not aware of anything around me. When I was completely desperate with this medication - and the doctors said I had to take it to the end of my life - there was no alternative (I refused removal of an at the time 6-7 mm large micro adenoma), I decided in 1998 to stop all medication from one day to another, without consulting any med. advice. I could not life any longer with this strong stuff (also used for Parkinson's disease) being always dizzy and tired, etc. etc. After over 6 months of heavy withdrawal symptoms you can possible think of, and when that was over, I still remained with a very dizzy head, headaches, bloated stomach, heavy confusion, memory loss, panic attacks, etc, etc, etc. - which I thought would disappear now. The only problem that added to it - I was not drugged up anymore and calmed down. So all these symptoms were extremely strong and I could hardy bear it. After 1 year, the mico-adenoma had reduced to 1-2 mm (which it still is) but blood tests still indicated high PRL levels messing up of course the oestrogen production and all related to it. And up to Feb this year, I have been working my way through this nightmare with all above problems. The past 2 months have for me been the best ones during the last 10 years minimum. I still have high PRL, but hope that maybe the body can partly recover during the next months - I do not know to what extent the damage is irreversible - headaches GONE, the pain I had since over 10-13 years in my hip is GONE, pain in the points of the fingers GONE, pain in my neck GONE and physical body pain when waking up in the night - ALL GONE. My eyebrows have not been growing anymore for the past 15 years, and - since 3 months, they start growing back - it is simply amazing. So does my hair - I don't loose so much anymore, and lots of it grows again I feel energy coming back. And that is great. During the entire period of PRL problems, I read so many medical books on the functioning of the brain and have acquired quite a knowledge on that. But I had no reason to mistrust our food industry and all my research in finding out why the hypothalamus is completely in disorder failed due to that. It could have saved me so many years of nightmare. I have also since Feb this year read the "Exitotoxins - the taste that kills" and others on the subject and have also abandoned any sort of MSG from my food consumption which I find does me a lot of good. I noticed that when having any kind of MSG in the food, I feel very bad for the next few days, very dizzy and tired (not as bad as with aspartame through) In order to stay healthy, I have never ever smoked one single cigarette nor drunk one glass of alcohol - and then this discovery. It takes some time to deal with the fact that I poisoned my body over all these years. I will keep you informed on developments also on the prolactine levels as I know many people (not only women) have this problem - and I get the very frightening feeling that this is also partly done because of the aspartame. But I can neither prove nor completely judge it right now. I know only that I have never been so stressed that this could have caused it. Another victim was my sister - dealing with diarrhoea and arthritis in her eyes, causing serious infections that can lead up to blindness and we were so strongly trying to find out what causes it. Same for joint pains and bloated stomach. Since she stopped her 1 glass of sugar free lemonade in March this year, her intestines are back to normal and the eye infection has not reappeared so far. It is more than admirable what you do for all of us - and there will be many more that will need this info. ------------------- From: xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.com To: MGOLD@HOLISTICMED.COM Subject: ASPARTAME Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2003 15:55:28 -0600 I was drinking the flavored water from Sams not knowing about the problems with aspartame. I started having severe dizzy spells to the point it would affect one side of my body. It was like I did not have control of my leg movement. Any movement of my head I would experience dizziness. My head felt foggy. I went to the doctor 5 times in about two months trying to figure out what was wrong. He thought it was fluid built up around my middle ear and put me on water pills for about two months. This did not help. When I would get the dizzy spells which where numerous times during the day it would drain all my strength. I lost most of my summer not feeling good. I had notice every time I would drink the flavored water I would instantly get a weird feeling in my head. I was telling someone about it and they told me that aspartame was not good. So I quit drinking it and all my systems have disappeared. I will never use this stuff again. I really believe it should be banned. My sister had been also drinking propel water and has been having problems. They are leaning towards MS. I believe the aspartame may be some of her problems also. ------------------- Yahoo Group: EntergeticMedicine From: Angela Date: Tue Apr 15, 2003 6:07 pm Subject: Re: [EnergeticMedicine] optic nerve inflammation I heard somewhere that South African adds aspertame to sugar. If that is true it is very difficult to avoid it. I am an aspertame poisioning sufferer and my headaches are on the right-rear part of my brain. Feels like swelling in my brain. I also have vision problems. The problem is that aspertame can now be put into anything without putting it on the label. ------------------- Living With Anxiety and Depression LWAAD MSN.Com Discussion Group Subject: General: Don't Drink the Diet Coke Stacy (Feb 6, 2003): I know, for a fact that diet drinks and any thing else, almost all chewing gum and candy (even the sugary kind, you have to read the labels) that contains aspartame is so, so bad for you. I have been suffering from severe panic and anxiety, dizziness all from aspartame. I recently began having severe night time panic attacks and traced them to a pack of sugarless chewing gum that I was chewing daily. I traced the diet drinks to my anxiety earlier in 2002, but didn't even consider all the other products. It's been a week since I've chewed the gum and a rash that I've had for three months has cleared up and my anxiety is steadily improving. Also watch out for MSG. I get almost the exact same symptoms. If you think about it, it's also a free form amino acid. Just thought this info might help some one. Also, if you're taking any meds for your symptoms and they are not getting any better, suspect an allergy to one of the many toxic subs out there. I figured this out when my xanax didn't help my panic attacks at all. Thanks! ------------------- Yahoo Groups: WhateverWorksWellness From: "Penny xxxxxx" Date: Thu Feb 14, 2002 10:50 am Subject: RE: [WhateverWorksWellness] Re: more on water, urban legends, smoking propaganda I get a highly uncomfortable dysphoria from consuming about half a soda drink with aspartame. It feels about ten times worse than having consumed way too much caffeine. I also get stomach pain. I avoid it like poison; to my body it is poison. Did you know psychiatric facilities do not serve it to their patients? Penny ------------------- Bodybuilding.com Forums > More General Categories > Nutrition From: xxxxxxxxxxxx (xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) Subject: splenda? Date: 03-13-2003 09:57 AM Well Tank this is what I have found on Stevia. It is SUPER SWEET stuff. One puff of dust from the box when squeezed can be tasted across the room within minutes. http://www.stevia.net/ As for Aspartame, I was damn near non ambulatory with a diagnosis of beginning stage Multiple Sclerosis last year. Needing leg braces to do what little walking I could do. At the advice of a collegue I stopped ALL intake (and that isn't easy cause it's in almost everything non-caloric) of Aspartame (phenylalanine) and now, 4 months later I am 100% ambulatory without assistive devices and bulking muscle like crazy. I don't mean to knock the product but for some people with unknown PKU sensativity (ME) it can be a long term death sentence onsetting MS. I wrote a thread on this and also have some pics up of my progress if you do a search of my name. ------------------- [Note: Due to numerous requests, we began updating this file/sampling of aspartame poisoning case histories on April 24, 2003 after a long break. See below for several years of additional aspartame poisoning cases.] -------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxx To: aspartame@holisticmed.com Subject: Yet another case Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2003 22:09:36 -0600 I am a 67 y/o RN with a master of science degree in management working in occupational and environmental health since 19xx. Through diet elimination strategy, I learned that my idiopathic pressure urticaria resulted from years of ingesting diet Pepsi and ingesting other "sugar-free" products containing Aspartame. The swelling was so intense at times that cortisone was the only relief. Now I carry an Epi-pen wherever I go. My allergist is xxxxxxxxxxxxxx, M.D. at the Medical College of xxxxxxxxxxx. ----------------- Curezone.com: Colloidal silver forum Subject: Re: Diet POP dizzy spell From: xxx < xxxxxxxxxxxx@yahoo.com > Date: 19:49 Sep 20 2002 (19:49 Sep 20) I was having dizzy spells, where I felt as though I had lost my sense of equalibrium. One was so bad I had to leave work that day (I am a school bus driver). It felt as though my brain stem had seperated from my spinal cord, or a least that is the only way I can think to describe it, everything went sideways for a second, then I felt as though I couldn't regain my balance. I have a friend who has MS, she told me she had had the same sort of dizzy spells before she was diagnosed. After a while I realized that everytime I drank diet soda especially large quantities ie. fast food serving, I would get dizzy. Now I try to avoid it but it's everywhere. It does not have to say "sugar free" it may just say "light" or "no cal" so read the ingredients on everything! I also have a friend who drank crystal light instead of water when she was pregnant. now her little girl has seizures but the doctors cant find a cause. ---------------------- Klever Registered: Dec 2002 Location: England 29-04-2003 05:47 PM TheSite.org boards > Anything goes > Diet coke withdrawls Since the day I found out what aspartame is, I have tried as hard as possible to cut it out of my diet, but in this day in age it is sooo difficult, they put aspartame in anything with sweetners, in that way coke would be better than diet, but please, don't go back to drinking the diet coke. When I cut it out, it was horrible, but within a week I was fine, I hardly ever drink coke at all now, but PLEASE DON'T go to the diet coke, rainbow is right, the aspartame is in no way good for u -------------------- Robot Lounge > GR FACTORY BREAKROOM > The Chemicals Thread Giantrobot.com forums atomiclotusbox 04-11-2003 03:22 PM aspartame is the devil. i used to have temporary fuzzy blindness spells. turns out i chewed too much winterfresh gum. stopped chewing it and never had those spells again. well, until last week, that is. i bought a back of spearmint gum and chewed half the pack in like three days. what happens? temporary fuzzy blindness spell. no shit. thanks for posting those links. more people need to know about this stuff. it's agonizing to me to know how so many people could improve their lives by just being conscious of what they ingest daily. so many ignorant people refuse to admit a link between what they eat and how they feel. i mean, that's just stupid to say there is no correlation but i know many many people who do just that. --------------------- http://www.pornisbad.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8718 Porn is Bad - Adult Webmaster Hell > Main Entrance > Confession Booth > This is a little spooky!! StacyCat Sinner I gave up drinking aspartene a while ago. I realized a few months after I did that my skin had cleared up. After reading a lot of stuff on it I will never touch it again! 04-30-2003 03:42 PM ----------------------- http://www.pornisbad.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8718 Porn is Bad - Adult Webmaster Hell > Main Entrance > Confession Booth > This is a little spooky!! Tam Hell's Dictator 04-30-2003 05:34 PM > My mom is diabetic! I am just over the line with it as well! My mom has > been using aspertain for years and drinks more diet Coke in one day then I > would even try to in a month. She has not had any side affects and does > not use any kind of sugar at all! I on the other hand have been drinking > diet pepsi (and any other diet colas) for the last 6 years! and {knock on > wood} have not had anything happen or noticed anything different! Well I have migraines something horrible and for a long time I knew all my triggers and I'd stay away from them...... so for months I have been having them again...... I just started using this shit about 2 years ago again......... and for that entire time I have been trying to find the one trigger that was causing the flare ups again. I stopped eating half the shit I was eating..... you name it, I went thru it. Little did I know that it was THIS shit and I have not had a headache in the week that I have been off of it. I have been having raging migraines again and they seemed to get worse all the time. Who would ave thought the shit in my damn VITAMINS was messing with me. ----------------- http://www.pornisbad.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8718 Porn is Bad - Adult Webmaster Hell > Main Entrance > Confession Booth > This is a little spooky!! goodgirl Hells Angel 04-30-2003 11:40 PM My husband worked in the nutrasweet plant for almost a year. He always came home covered in it. He said the same plant also makes anti freeze or something like that with it. He also said every person that works in the plant are way overweight, because they eat so much of it a day while working there. And it actually causes you to gain weight because your system slows down so much from it. And he also said the company that makes it knows that. So much for diet doing anything for you. __________________ Forum Index > Random Taggings > Issues and News http://www.spankmag.com/forums/disp_post.cfm/cc.43234/clt.30/page.html -=DerTodesengel=- posted 28 February 2003 9:35 PM (23k) Cherished Spank! UltraStar Delicious, delicious karma. Positive karma that is. Heh. Hey on a completely unrelated topic, anyone think that I may be allergic to aspartame, because of the fact that anytime I drink something diet I get an unbelieivably horrid headache and dizziness? Anyone? --------------------- Homesteading Today Forum Index -> General Chat Poor memory? It could be aspartame! http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/viewtopic.php?t=15990 neopossum Location: North Georgia Posted: Fri Feb 07, 2003 11:24 pm Post subject: Poor memory? It could be aspartame! Have you noticed your memory getting a little fuzzy lately? Can't remember names? Forgetting what you're supposed to be doing? Losing your car? I posted most of the following under the "Alzheimer's" caption a few days ago, but very few people have looked at that subject since. This information is important to anybody who wants to live cheaply because aspartame toxicity manifests itself in many forms, and some people spend tens of thousands of dollars on medical bills trying to figure out what's wrong with them when all they need to do is start reading labels and avoid aspartame. Many cases diagnosed as "Alzheimer's" have been cured when the diet was cleared of all sources of aspartame (NutraSweet). This is a severe neurotoxin that exacerbates any neurological dysfunction. Many patients who have been diagnosed to have multiple sclerosis have "miraculously" recovered within a few weeks after they removed all aspartame from their diet. I learned the hard way about the dangers of this so-called "food additive" that the FDA was bribed to approve. Drinking just two Diet Cokes per day, I reached a point where I could not even remember my address to tell a friend over the phone. I lost a career position because I could not remember the names of my board members. This went on for about eight years. When I finally decided to see if "those nuts" who said it might be aspartame were right, within three days after getting all NutraSweet out of my diet, the fog began to clear. Within about three months, my brain was working fine. After about a year, it seemed that my memory was better than before the bout with aspartame. I have since taught memory courses. I also taught Human Development to 7th quarter chiropractic students and gave them extra credit for knowing about the dangers of aspartame. Many of the graduating doctors later told me how much that knowledge helped them in their practice to aid their patients in clearing up a huge list of mysterious complaints. With what I know now, I would rather drink antifreeze than drink a Diet Coke. The stuff is in everything, even non-dietetic chewing gum, especially Wrigley's. For more information, go to dorway.com. Once you get past the bells and whistles, you can find some good, solid evidence to back up what I'm saying. One day, the lawsuits against NutraSweet, Monsanto, and the various major pushers of this poison, such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, etc., will make the tobacco settlement look like petty cash. The stuff not only wrecks your memory, but also causes cancer, panic attacks, etc., and very subtly eats away at your ability to make rational, logical decisions. Thus you have what I call "the Susan Smitt syndrome." It also causes you to gain weight by increasing your appetite for sweets. And it doesn't even taste good! If you want to live economically and a full, healthy lifespan you need to read labels with a magnifying glass and avoid anything containing aspartame, neotame, NutraSweet, or anything else that looks suspicious. It's in Equal, but it is not in Sweet'n'Low, which is saccharin and a little sugar. Even that's not good for you, but at least it won't kill you. -------------------- Homesteading Today Forum Index -> General Chat Poor memory? It could be aspartame! http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/viewtopic.php?t=15990 trulytricia Location: West Central Wis. Posted: Sat Feb 08, 2003 10:02 am Post subject: I also had a terrible problem with aspartame. I used the stuff for many years and all during that time I suffered from terrible depression. Everyday I would at some point have an awful sinking feeling, I can't even describe how bad it really was.I don't believe in getting pills from a doctor so I just lived with it.To make a long story short I discovered quite by accident it was the nutrasweet I used daily in tea and the couple of diet pops a week I would get.Since I quit using it I have seen many times when I would buy a diet drink at a gas station the next day that horrible feeling would return. PLease people if you know anyone who is depressed ask them if they use this product there's got to be alot of others out there. Another place to watch for this is in flavored water. ------------------- Homesteading Today Forum Index -> General Chat Poor memory? It could be aspartame! http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/viewtopic.php?t=15990 MIFarmGirl Posts: 100 Location: Good Old US of A Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2003 11:44 pm Post subject: Ditto on all the aspartame ragging! I used to drink the stuff because I could not handle sugar, until I started getting absolutely horrible headaches. Finally made the connection one day and stopped the diet pop - and improved tremendously. At one point I started drinking the diet soda again - and the headaches returned. So I know it was the aspartame. If I feel the need for soda, sparkling water with fruit juice really hits the spot. Caution on Splenda: yes, I know it's toted as the next non-calorie, okay to consume sweetener. But it is a byproduct of chlorine, and the long term effects have never been studied, either in humans, or in laboratory animals. Short term it has been linked to cancer, neuro problems - basically your typical carcophony of artificial sweetener linked health problems. Sorry to throw cold water - I thought Splenda would be the answer for me too - until I started reading about it. Guess I will have to make do with more natural things - fruit juices, and an occasional shot of sugar when the need arises! ---------------------- Homesteading Today Forum Index -> General Chat Poor memory? It could be aspartame! http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/viewtopic.php?t=15991&highlight=aspartame Annie in S.E. Ohio Posted: Sun Feb 09, 2003 4:10 pm Post subject: Aspartame IS bad news, as little as a quarter cup of any diet drink gives me the raging migraine headaches. So I have to read all food and drink labels very carefully. I worked for an internist for over 15 years, he was always wondering what was causing the sudden increase in cases of brain cancer ( brain cancer used to be extremely rare) over the past 10 years or so, I kept telling him it was the aspartame, I think he and the medical community are starting to listen! ----------------- https://www.efa.org/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=3&threadid=7428&messid=68539 FORUMS > LIVING WELL WITH EPILEPSY [ REFRESH ] Thread Title: Aspartame Warning! Created On Tuesday October 08, 2002 3:39 AM erminlady Tuesday October 08, 2002 3:39 AM I hope this is taken to heart! My cousin and my niece who have the diagnosis of MS both have been taken off Aspartame with dramatic improvement in their condition! My cousin is now out of the nursing home and back at home with her husband requiring only minimal help with her daily activities. My niece is out of her wheelchair and able to cook and care for her young children again. All because they stopped ingesting Aspartame. ---------------------- https://www.efa.org/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=3&threadid=6425&messid=58004 FORUMS > LIVING WELL WITH EPILEPSY [ REFRESH ] Thread Title: Foods Provoking Sz's? Created On Friday August 30, 2002 9:22 PM wobblesalot Saturday August 31, 2002 2:05 AM Great in put. I didn't realize Amy, probably showing my stupidity here, that vinegar like beer is ferminted. Huh? Wowzah - that can kill me with sz's and a headache but oddly it does occur reliably with a da or two wait. I can not get into my stpid diary becaue I am on stupid Dilantini and I have stupidly forgotten my stupid password but.... I forgot these: MSG - immediate drops and other sz types but what gets me is - it sends me into lilke a spiral.I don' t just seize for awhile. Get rid of it in my system. I get set up in a spiral. Aspartane - it' s bad for me. Sssets off absences, jerks and simpes and complex partials. Like clock work. But I do oh so grave a diet coke. Twice I've chated. Twice I've suffered. .... ----------------- http://www.calorieking.com/community/forums/posts.php?forum_id=11&top_id=6511 Calorieking.com Motivation & Success Stories Forum Re: small changes Author: PaminMaine Date: 7:26am, June 27th 2002 One of the changes I made was to no longer consume artificial sweeteners (aspartame, saccharin, etc). I had read an article a while back regarding joint pain and aspartame, but it took me a while to decide to give it up. I began using stevia (only a couple of days to adjust to the different taste - KAL brand is the very best!), but within a week the aches and pains in my back and joints had virtually disappeared. I now use only stevia for sweetening and cooking. Hope this helps someone. ------------------ http://www.einthoven.com/HyperNews/patient/get/arrhythmias/ventricular-diagnosis/18/3.html Discussion Forum for the Diagnosis of Ventricular Arrhythmias Forum: Ventricular Arrhythmias: Diagnosis Re: PVC's -My experience and what I am doing about it (Harry Roscoe) Keywords: PVC Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1998 02:34:21 GMT From: Harry Roscoe It is now 45 days since I stopped using all forms of aspartame/Nutrasweet and all of my PVC's have all but gone away. I get a seldom occuring minor hit of maybe 3-5 in a 1 hour period, but I also go 2-3 days with no PVC. TRY ELIMINATING ALL ARTFICIAL SWEETENERS> Check out the web page outlined in my original message. GOOD LUCK! ------------------ fiver2000 Registered User (7/15/00 12:56:05 am) Re: Really starting to get attention TimeBombY2000 > Chemtrails > chem trails and night manuvers http://pub5.ezboard.com/fyourdonchemtrails.showMessage?topicID=29.topic xxxxx, It may be the spraying, but then again, many of the symptoms you report are also common among people with aspartame poisoning. (aspartame is in Nutrasweet, diet drinks of all kinds, sugar-free gum and mints, Equal, flavored liquid Coffeemate, in Pedialyte and Augmentin, Children's Tylenol and Kids Centrum Vitamins, Metamucil ... the list goes on and on. There thousands of products that now contain aspartame. 92 symptoms (including yours - dizziness, fatigue, bloating, headaches) have been reported to the FDA by suffering consumers. Don't expect them to ban it, though. More info: http://www.dorway.com/badnews.html Many people don't think they're eating/drinking aspartame but it's in so many products if you don't read the fine print on the labels you may not know. --- Fiver, an aspartame "survivor" - finally free of it after 18 years of hell (fatigue, dermatitis, depression, anxiety, joint pain, mood swings, "brain fog", backaches, irritability, PMS, memory impairment and more ... ALL STOPPED WHEN I STOPPED USING ASPARTAME.) ------------------- http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive/9906/msg00734.htm The Ganoksin Project Forums Jewelry Making Subject: Re: [Orchid] Hand Problems From: xxxxxx Date: Mon Jun 21 19:09:08 99 Hi Folks, This may be a bit controversial, but the use of aspartame, also known as Equal, has caused me incalculable harm. I have joint pain that has caused me to becom e legally disabled. This is not only from my diabetic neurological problems, but also from drinking diet soda and using Equal to sweeten things. Dr Aspler, I know that you are a medical doctor so I am including some info for you and the rest of Orchid to check out. I have been aspartame free for over 2 years and the change is remarkable not only to the mitigation of the joint pain, but also to many other symptoms. I would be happy to discuss this problem off list with any one. .... ------------------ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive/199906/msg00788.htm The Ganoksin Project Forums Jewelry Making Subject: Re: [Orchid] Hand Problems From: xxxxxxxx xxxxxxx Date: Tue Jun 22 19:16:10 99 Hi Skip, I drank diet soda when that aspartame first came out. I would go on my daily bicycle ride which was a 13 mile trip around the Ocean Drive to my house. I would take a rest and drink one soda. This caused me to get very dizzy and lightheaded and I could not figure out the cause. Then I read that the aspartame changes to formaldehyde in your system if you drink it when you are working out and overheated. And we all know what formaldehyde is used for (frogs in jars and Angel Dust). As soon as I eliminated the aspartame the dizzy spells disappeared. Haven't touched the stuff since the first year they brought it out. ----------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: Blood test level question Newsgroups: alt.support.diabetes.uk Date: 2003-05-01 13:44:19 PST I wish it were just a matter of tasting the stuff (which I can). I'm one of those people for whom aspartame causes severe migraines. ---------------------- http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/Forum38/HTML/001238.html HealthBoards Bulletin Board Diet & Nutrition what is 'aspartme' and can it be harmful? creinha From:Bloomington, IN USA posted 02-28-2003 11:07 AM I was sick for a very long time. I was experiencing daily headaches, extreme fatigue, and depression. Doctor's couldn't find the cause of my symptoms. I finally ended up visiting a nutritionist. She determined that all my problems related to use of aspartame. About two weeks after I eliminated aspartame from my diet, symptoms went away. At first, I was really skeptical that aspartame was the problem but when the symptoms disappeared, I became a believer. Some time later, I read a book concerning the dangers of aspartame and it is very scary. I truly believe that aspartame is dangerous. I will NEVER use it again. I suggest you stay away from it too. --------------------- http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/Forum38/HTML/001238.html HealthBoards Bulletin Board Diet & Nutrition what is 'aspartme' and can it be harmful? ysone From:Roseville, MN, U.S.A. posted 02-28-2003 01:17 PM I have also had a very bad experience with aspartame. I was running to the doctor regularly for several years and had all kinds of tests done. They thought I was a hypochondriac and ended up giving me prozac for depression. That only magnified the problem because my system then had to eliminate two drugs instead of only one. After hearing that aspartame caused brain tumors, I stopped drinking diet sodas and my symptoms gradually disappeared. I truly believe that aspartame is very bad for people. --------------------- http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/Forum51/HTML/001100.html HealthBoards Bulletin Board Fibromyalgia aspartame survey gracieathome From:olympia WA USA posted 05-28-2002 12:07 PM I did eventually cut out diet soda and other aspartame containing products from my diet and I did feel much better. I tried Spenda (diet rite) a couple of times and got real sick and headaches from it. Now I just dont drink or eat diet anything. I cannot tell you in words how much better I feel. --------------------- From: xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx Sent: Sunday, April 04, 2004 4:33 AM To: mgold@holisticmed.com Subject: Aspartame! Dear Mark, I just stumbled across holistic.com's website and got very excited! I'm trying to figure out what to write about in my technical writing class, and I think Aspartame and MS-like symptoms would be perfect for me. I have another story to add to this website, but first I would like to ask you for recomendations for other websites, any scientific evidence supporting this, doctors that support this theory, etc. I think it would be great to write a technical report to the FDA or other authorities on this subject. Here's my story: I'm a 28 year-old male and about a year ago I started having MS-like symptoms. It started with a numbing sensation in my lips that moved to my tongue, nose, and the point between my eyebrows. A couple days later this sensation showed up on my finger tips. I started having vertigo and I was feeling more emotional than usual. A couple times I lost my balance and fell over which was very unusual. I didn't have any pain though. The first place I went for help was a chiropractor because I thought it was possibly caused by a pinched nerve. After I realized this wasn't working I tried acupuncture and chinese medicine. Finally, I went to my doctor only to find out these were MS-like symptoms. He was pretty sure I had MS, but to prove it he ordered a MRI. The neurologist I was seeing refered me to a neurosurgion and this scared me quite a bit. It turned out that I had a lesion in the tectal region of my brain. SCARY! He called it a tectal glioma and said it was a very rare brain tumor. He then ordered another MRI for three months later to check it's status. Fortunately the lesion was gone which proves I didn't have a tumor. He refered me back to the neurologist who took my films to a neurologist convention to see what they thought. It turns out they thought it was definitely MS. Shortly after all this, I received an e-mail that described how aspartame may be linked to MS-like symptoms. I used to chew lots of trident gum before I received the e-mail, and after I stopped using aspartame, my symptoms went away and have been gone ever since. I have no idea if it was the aspartame or if I really do have MS, but there does seem to be a correlation, and I haven't had any symptoms since I quit using aspartame. I must mention that one of my co-workers is going through the same thing I went through, and she drinks lots of diet pepsi. In fact, she's going to have a very painful nerve conduction test because nothing else has proven MS. ---------------- http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/Forum51/HTML/001100.html HealthBoards Bulletin Board Fibromyalgia aspartame survey Creeping Crud From:Indiana posted 06-16-2002 08:00 PM Update: I'm now 2½ weeks aspartame free.. I also cut out MSG (which, might I add, was a lot more difficult considering all of the products out there with MSG in them - no more Doritos or Stove Top Stuffing or Hidden Valley Ranch dressing or Campbell's Tomato Soup for me).. Considering how small the sacrifice was, I'm feeling remarkably better.. I have more energy than I've had in ages, the fibrofog is starting to lift and I haven't been as dizzy or lightheaded (which are all major improvements in my book).. It amazes me that something as seemingly inconsequential as drinking diet soda and consuming products laden with MSG might be responsible for the degree of my illness.. Why don't more rheumatologists suggest that their patients with FMS cut out these obviously wicked substances? It would've saved me a lot of trouble and years of feeling subhuman if I hadn't had to do all the research myself.. .... ---------------------- http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/Forum56/HTML/000100.html HealthBoards Bulletin Board Gulf War Syndrome Aspartame Poisoning Symptoms kelley64 From:Reno posted 04-08-2002 02:13 PM I can add a few symptoms to your list. I can't tolerate aspartame in large quantities... I get severe kidney pain, headaches and my periods get out of whack... The doctors thought I was nuts, but when I went off diet soda the problems went away. (the kidney pain and headaches immediately!) ------------------- http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/Forum58/HTML/000329.html HealthBoards Bulletin Board Headaches Migranes and aspartime? Karla From:madison, wi usa posted 09-02-2002 11:55 AM Aspartame definetly triggers migraines in me. It is not a good substance to consume. I quit drinking/eating diet/light products. You would be amazed at the number of products this stuff is in. It greatly reduced the number of migraines I was having. Good luck. --------------- http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/Forum58/HTML/000411.html HealthBoards Bulletin Board Headaches What Food Should I stay away from for Migraines? simeone posted 02-10-2003 07:35 PM Hi There You should stop anything with aspartame, diet products. Since I stopI do not have half of headaches I use to have. Good Luck and Take Care. ------------------ http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/Forum90/HTML/000131.html HealthBoards Bulletin Board Neuropathy Aspertame Cause?? Margo4337 posted 07-02-2002 11:57 AM My sister and I were talking a couple of weeks ago and she told me that she had stopped taking Aspertame in any food or drink because of all of the warnings and info from web sites she has read about. She encouraged me to go to any search engine and type in Aspertame and start reading. After I did, I decided on my own to stop drinking diet pop, etc. Within two days, my night time foot pain, pins and needles etc., had decreased DRAMATICALLY!! It is week 2 and still hardly any night time pain and the day time numbness seems to be slightly better. Just curious if anyone has ever related these two and wanted to spread the word in case it helps others from this horrible night time problem. Let me know! Margo ------------------- http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/Forum123/HTML/000176.html HealthBoards Bulletin Board Vitamins & Supplements Can Aspartame Cause Stoumach Problems? donnahc From:North Carolina, USA posted 06-17-2001 09:31 PM I have irritable bowel syndrome. I do not drink any diet drinks of any kind. I do not use equal, sweet n low, or anyother substitute. If I do, I will bloat and cramp really bad for the next couple of days. I drink coffee every morning with sugar. I use to drink diet dew every day, coffee with sugar sub. every am. I quit those products over 2 years ago, and I have alot less problems with my IBS. ------------------ http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/Forum41/HTML/000548.html HealthBoards Bulletin Board Diabetes Aspartame danger Paula Webster posted 12-30-2002 01:12 AM I wanted to warn my fellow diabetics about aspartame (NutraSweet, equal, spoonfull, etc) I loved pop and I drank almost a 12 pack a day. I became so ill while drinking diet drinks, but I didn't have any idea what was causing my problems. I could no longer walk very far. When I walked to my car in the drive way I would have to stop a rest 2 to 3 times to make it. I had extreme fatigue, extreme memory loss (I would forget easy words for things like "shirt"), I would suddenly lose my balance and stagger for no reason, I had blinding migrain headaches, and worst of all I had finally developed horrible pain in my body even my face. It was like having your hand in a vise and someone just continued to clamp down tighter. I had reached the place where I just moaned in constant pain. I never dreamed I would ever had my normal life back again. A friend sent me a article about aspartame and it's toxic effects. I stopped all forms of diet pop, food, whatever. After a few weeks, I thought I was getting better, but I was afraid it was wishful thinking. Five months later, I was walking Walmarts shopping again, I remember most words now although sometimes I have to think a few minutes first. After years of constant headaches, I rarely ever have any these days. But, best of all, the pain is gone!! I am about 98%pain free. All I changed in the 5 months was I didn't touch a drop of anything with aspartame in it. It goes under a lot of different brand names. Also, Monosodiumglutmate (MSG) is a nurotoxin that works just like aspartame in destroying nerve endings. So read your ingredients carfully. Aspartame can be listed as, "high frutose syrup" "certain numbers" "artifical flavoring" etc. Ever notice the number of electric carts that have popped up in stores for shoppers. Aspartame mimics MS, triggers diabeties, and so much more. There is no where near enough space here. Your quality of life may depend on your knowledge about aspartame. ---------------------- http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/Forum41/HTML/000537.html HealthBoards Bulletin Board Diabetes Sugar Free Products and Diabetes Simmer From:New York posted 12-25-2002 06:31 PM I believe that nutrasweet is dangerous to anyone not just diabetics. I used to get tingling in my hands and feel like I was on drugs when I was consuming diet soda and snacks. It was like moving in slow motion sometimes as I would move my arms. I don't take any medications so that explaination is out. It took about a week or two to get out of my system when I stopped using it cause that's when my symptoms went away. I then went to a couple of websites about it and it explained that it does have a culmulative affect and does cause such problems. One was discribed as feeling unreal. Natural furtose is safer. Even Slenda. --------------------- http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/Forum41/HTML/000537.html HealthBoards Bulletin Board Diabetes Sugar Free Products and Diabetes ldsbumpma From:Wise River, Montana, USA posted 01-11-2003 08:23 PM I just wanted to say that I can tell if I have had any aspartame because I immediately get a really bad headache. Someone told me that it was actually wood alchohol? Anyway, I use Splenda in moderation and have had no trouble with it but search every label to make sure it doesn't have aspartame. ------------------- http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/Forum41/HTML/000443.html HealthBoards Bulletin Board Diabetes Aspartame Toxicity Alohamensch36 From:Honolulu, HI posted 12-27-2002 05:20 AM [QUOTE]Originally posted by pburgbeanie: [B]Has anyone ever heard of Aspartame Toxicity? I have recently read alot about it on the web. Here's the deal, I drank diet sodas for 16 years. I would say from 2-4 liters a day. My wife made me a detox tea from herbs and stuff. Sweet Jesus have mercy, I thought He would take me then and there! Since stopping the diet sodas I have regain my memory, stamina and clearity of thought. Some can handdle that stuff, I can't. In case anyone is wondering the diet sodas did not cause the onset of my type ll. Here in Hawai'i we eat a very high carb diet. It's not a meal if we don't have a lb of rice! Hope this helped. ------------------- http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/Forum41/HTML/000443.html HealthBoards Bulletin Board Diabetes Aspartame Toxicity tenntod posted 11-30-2002 02:43 PM Hello, I can share a personal story with everyone about my experience with aspartame. It was about 10 years ago. I was a diet coke addict. I drank about 2 liters a day. Oh, I loved the taste so much and began noticing that I seemed more and more thirsty when I wasn't drinking my diet cokes. I'd estimate I drank this amount for about one year. Then one day I decided I was going to quit drinking diet coke. Mainly because I had read a article about aspartame tocicity. It was in a newsletter I received in the mail from Dr. Julian Whitaker. So I quit cold turkey. Within 24 hours my body began to detox. I had a headache so severe I thought my head was going to explode. I was thinking this was probably from the caffeine. Then the detox really hit me. I spent days in the bathroom with liquid green stuff coming out of my bowels. I developed a high fever of 105 degrees. The perspiration coming out of my body smelled just like turpintine. It was horrible. I saw spider's on the ceiling and wall. I went to my doctor and he said I had the stomach flu. Folks I'm here to tell you it was not the stomach flu. I was going through a very strong and horrible detox as the aspartame was coming out of my body. Pure chemical smells from the bowels to the perspiration to my breath. This put me in bed for 5 weeks. There is no doubt in my mind it was aspartame poisoning/detox. To this day if I accidently get even a super small dose of Nutri-sweet, my eyes begin to swell shut along with my throat. As far as I'm concerned it is deadly stuff. The things we read on the net are true. People call me radical as well. I'm really very conservative. If you'll do your own research with this wonderful tool we call the Internet you will learn about things like, "Monsanto (the maker's of aspartame) pay the FDA huge amounts of money to say their product is "safe." Ultimately it comes down to the fact that each individual must make their own choice whether to consume this product or not. I choose NOT! And I can't honestly say I feel the FDA has the best interest about my health in mind. Tenntod ------------------- http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/Forum41/HTML/000443.html HealthBoards Bulletin Board Diabetes Aspartame Toxicity bigmomma From:Glendale, AZ, USA posted 11-08-2002 05:17 PM Splenda may not be for everyone. I have had IB problems in the past, so that may explain my reaction. I ate one "candy" bar made with Splenda and was in the bathroom the rest of the night with severe stomach and intestinal cramps. Also, my daughter who doesn't have IB problems, had one fruit flavored drink made with Splenda and had the bathroom problem too. I also stay away from aspartame. I tend to be sensitive to non-natural substances. I can tell when I have accidentally sipped the wrong soda because my tongue and lips will immediatly go numb. Kind of like medicine head and later I will become an air-head (can't concentrate). It definitely had a bad effect on my brain so I stay far, far away. ------------------ http://www.coolrunning.com/forums/Forum4/HTML/001221.shtml How bad is Aspartame ? xxxxx from Boston Cool Runner posted Aug-10-2001 12:36 PM I am "allergic" to aspartame. I become dizzy, lose the ability to concentrate, feel VERY tired, and get headaches. All within a few hours of consuming, say, a 16 oz. can of Diet Pepsi or somethign comparable. For more information, take a look: http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/ --------------------- iVillage.com: Losing Weight #10570.1 http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-fblosing/?msg=10570.1 discussion title: STOP THE DIET COKE!!!!!!! message #: 10570.1 from: AKTDRUM date: Apr-19 9:16 pm From 1990-2003 I drank Diet Coke. From 1990-2003 I gained 50 pounds. I stand 5'7 with a small frame and was beside myself with frustration from weight gain. I did Weight Watchers, Nutri-System, Atkins, Jenny Craig, Phen Fen, Atkins again....with no results. Many people over the years have told me that Aspartame i.e. Nutra Sweet causes obesity. Of course that makes no sense at all, right? Well, long story short. I started seeing a neuro-muscular massage therapist in October of 2002 for constant muscle pain and numbness. I am a professional drummer and have been doing it for years, so I assumed that it was overuse of my muscles that was causing me so much pain. Anyway, my therapist told me that my muscles were completely saturated in acid and that most of them weren't even working. She then asked me if I consumed cokes and things like that. I answered yes and she said that as long as I'm drinking them, my muscles will continue to ache and not work. So, for that reason alone, I had my last Diet Coke on New Year's Day, 2003. Determined to keep the muscles pain from coming back, I stuck to it. In order to get my caffeine, I drink black coffee with NO sweetener of any kind, and unsweetened iced tea with lemon. Here is the catch....With no dietary changes other than quitting Diet Coke, January 1st, 2003 I weighed in at 149 pounds, and convinced that I would never be slim again. Today, April 18th, 2003, I weigh 120 pounds. No exercise, no dieting...NO DIET COKE. Please e-mail me if you have any questions at xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. I am now a size 6, down from a 10 and I have no muscle pain anymore. ---------------------- http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-fbkathysmith/?msg=9195.8 iVillage: Ask Kathy Smith re: Does anyone else have chronic congest... message #: 9195.8 in response to 9195.1 from: visiondoc date: Mar-20 9:31 am I eliminated a lot of that when I eliminated Nutri-Sweet (aspartame) from my diet. ............ ------------------ http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-fbwwatchers/?msg=16553.1 iVillage: Weight Watchers discussion title: I have a problem, even before I start... message #: 16553.1 from: iamroxi date: 9/5/2002 12:04 pm I have a problem, even before I start...*m* What do you do about sugar substitutes you are allergic to??? Has anyone else had this problem? I break out in hives from aspartame and nutrasweet containing products ANY suggestions?? Thanks! ------------------ http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-fbwwatchers/message.asp?webtag=iv-fbwwatchers&msg=16553.4 iVillage: Weight Watchers re: I have a problem, even before I start... message #: 16553.4 in response to 16553.1 from: 9093 date: 9/5/2002 12:27 pm Aspartame gives me migraines. You can do it w/o sugar substitues (m) I am not willing to try the other subsitutes because I don't want to risk a migraine. You don't have to rely on altered products to do the program and be successful! Some of your foods will have higher points values, but that beats hives, doesn't it? Some of the WW foods have aspartame, so you have to be careful what you buy. If you want to try some of the other substites, go ahead. But I am here to say, you don't need to use sugar subsitutes to do the program and be successful. -------------------- http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-fbatkins/message.asp?webtag=iv-fbatkins&msg=33525.8 iVillage: Atkins Diet re: Diet Coke emoticon: message #: 33525.8 in response to 33525.7 from: determined2bme date: Apr-20 2:44 pm I do not advocate consuming anything with aspartame in it. A year ago I gave up diet drinks at the advice of a well-educated cousin, who warned about the harmful effects of aspartame. I was having horrible abdominal pain and had multitudes of tests run to determine the cause (I'm sure it was gallbladder related, but that could never be proven.) When I followed her advice and got rid of every single product I ingested with aspartame in it, my abdominal pain magically went away (although it took a few weeks.) I also learned from her that as aspartame is digested it turns into formaldehyde and other harmful chemicals. Since I don't need preserving just yet, I stay away from the stuff. ---------------------- AOL Health Community: Illness/Condition Message Boards / Headaches & Migraines / Migraine Headaches / Re: Food Message 2 of 10 Subject 33 of 50 Subject: Re: Food Triggers Date: 2/28/2003 10:37 AM Eastern Standard Time From: xxxxxxxxxx .... And the biggest thing I have to avoid: NutraSweet or any other artificial sweetener. I gave up diet sodas and felt so much better. Now if I even have a stick of gum with NutraSweet I get a bad migraine. -------------------- AOL Health Community: Illness/Condition Message Boards / Headaches & Migraines / Migraine Headaches / Re: Food Message 6 of 10 Subject 33 of 50 Subject: Re: Food Triggers Date: 3/5/2003 2:36 AM Eastern Standard Time From: xxxxxxxxxx I have found a trigger for me is nutra-sweet i take 2 sips of a diet pop and i'll have a migraine.New york peppermint patties trigger one for me too. ---------------- AOL Health Community: Illness/Condition Message Boards / Headaches & Migraines / Migraine Headaches / Re: Food Message 8 of 10 Subject 33 of 50 Subject: Re: Food Triggers Date: 3/17/2003 8:35 PM Eastern Standard Time From: xxxxxxxxxxx Anything with aspartane is a HUGE trigger for me. I have stayed completely clear of artificial sweetners for years. I recently discovered a natural sweetner that is considered "diet". It is called Stevia. It does not trigger migraines for me. Let me know if anyone else has used this and how this works for them. -------------- Date: Tue, 5 May 1998 14:19:04 EDT To: xxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Subject: Nutrasweet Last night, I decided to do some browsing on the Internet concerning Nutrasweet. I have had severe problems in the past for many years with this stuff, but finally tested myself by leaving it alone for 3 wks. and found after just 2 wks. that I definitely could see a change in how I felt . My mother is experiencing health problems and my sister , who has also found that she can't tolerate it, and I started to do some research last night to find out why she is having this particular problem . .... Haven't been able to convince her of this yet. I asked her the last time I visited with her , to leave it off for 3 solid wks. and see if she noticed a change. She's reluctant to do it. I can understand it. It took a friend from October to August , three yrs. ago, to convince me to try leaving it off for 3 wks. . I'm so glad that I did. I had thought that I was dying. I could hardly function. For over 10 yrs. , I experienced chronic diarrhea , severe stomach cramping, isolation because of the diarrhea, dizziness, depression, low energy. I even had one doctor to diagnose me with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I was experiencing weakness all over, especially my legs. I've had two MRI's since 1988 , thinking that I might be developing MS, also. I couldn't eat out without coming straight home. If my daughters wanted to shop , I could only go to one store, and then, come home. If we went shopping and they wanted to eat out, we shopped at one store and then ate, and then came straight home. At home, when I cooked a meal, I didn't have the energy to wash the dishes until the next morning. Since going completely off that stuff, I have slowly regained my ability to walk the length of the mall, can stay away from the house for longer periods of time. I don't have to hold on to shopping carts to maintain my balance. I still have some cramping and diarrhea, but it isn't nearly as bad as it used to be. I don't break out in cold sweats anymore or feel faint , worrying if I'll make it to the restroom. Please forgive me for being so personal in this letter. No one knows how I've suffered due to this. If my letter helps one person to leave Nutrasweet alone , or help change Diet Coke , or get it off the market, it's well worth my time to write this. ----------------- Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 16:48:49 -0600 To: xxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Subject: My aspartame story. I would like to register a complaint about Nutrasweet. I have experienced headaches, short term memory loss, dizzyness, and seizure-like symptoms while consuming this product. Because of the above symptoms, I spent several years seeing neurologists who ran a litany of tests. Amazingly, all tests showed absolutely no abnormailities. According to the doctors they could not identify any reason for the seizures or other symptoms. Nevertheless, I should take the seizure medicines tegretol and neurontin. All along, I new there was a cause for the symptoms even if the neurologists couldn't find it. I am not one to give up without an answer. ...and I knew the seizure symptoms did not appear out of the blue. .... However, I remembered during a 3 month trip to Malaysia, during which I had no access to Nutrasweet, that I had no seizures, no headaches, no memory loss. Just a coincidence, absolutely not. Therefore, I decided to try a little experiment. That experiment was to end the consumption of all aspartame, and of my seizure medicine. That day was December 27, 1997, my birthday. Since this day, I have not had any seizures, any headaches, my memory has returned, and I feel 100 times better. Coincidence, not at all. I had been having headaches daily. I had been having constant memory problems which threatened the completion of my MBA. I had been having seizures regularly even while on neurontin and tegretol. Coincidence, that all the symptoms ended when I removed aspartame from my life. Absolutely, positively not. Seems to me that I may well be able to prove a causal relationship between the my consumption of Nutrasweet and my health problems. Therefore, I am in the process of searching for an attorney. For now, I realize that this is just anecdotal evidence, and that Monsanto doesn't give a damn about my health. Though in an very minute way they care about me because I will never consume that which is poison to me...Nutrasweet. ----------------- Date: Mon, 20 Apr 1998 15:52:36 -0400 To: xxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Subject: Re: Aspartame Victim I would like to tell you about my personal experiences with aspartame and what I feel that it has done to me..... In the last two years I have become a *heavy* Diet Pepsi drinker (approximately 2 two liters a day, plus NutraSweet in my coffe, and many so called "diet" products once my weight gain began.... and I the more NutraSweet I consumed the more weight I put on....) hearing things about how NutraSweet was bad for you, but never really knowing the facts. I don't know exactly how long after starting to drink that much of the soda my symptoms started to appear, but I would say that it was about six to eight months. For a little over a year now I have had to deal with *tremendous* weight gain. I always had a little bit of extra meat on my body, but I was always active enough to keep it level. I never changed weight much, but in the last year I have put on approximately 70 pounds, all in my thighs and hips. (This may or may not be all from aspartame, obviously, but I don't know....) In addition to the weight gain, I have had AWFUL mood problems. I have been diagnosed as manic depressive, and have started to have anxiety attacks. I don't know how much of my other physical ailments were caused by aspartame, but before I list them let me say that previous to my drinking the soda all the time, I didn't have any of the symptoms. I was an average, mostly healthy 19 year old girl. I have always had very very minor arthritis (since I was a child) and very light athsma (never "attacks", but it made normal colds worse)...... the rest of these things, I never had ever had wrong with me until I started drinking the soda all the time. anxiety attacks/panic attacks bloating breathing difficulties/chronic cough burning urination VERY CHRONIC FATIGUE depression (Very Badly) EXTREMELY EXCESIVE THIRST AND HUNGER face flushing thinning/losing hair extreme loss of sexual feelings (has caused huge problems with my fiancee and I) inability to concentrate insomnia (Severe) irratibility itching joint pains VERY marked personality changes memory loss/poor memory/not as good as it used to be EXTREMELY MESSED UP menstrual cycles numbless/tingling of extremities EXTREME WEIGHT GAIN I am now 21 years old, and I honestly feel like I'm an 85 year old. (No offense to anyone older, but I think you get what I mean...) I just don't feel young and full of life the way I used to. I thought these things were all wrong with me because of my "manic depression" that the doctor said I had. I thought that all of it was in my head.... I have spent time actively thinking that I am an awful human being, fat and lazy and worthless. Tracing these emotions backwards, I realize that they all started after my HEAVY consumption of Diet Pepsi started. I used to be vibrant, full of confidence and able to spend a day being physically active with the best of them. Now I can't do any of those things. [update] Date: Wed, 10 Jun 1998 To: xxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Subject: Re: My 60 days is over!! I am just writing to update my personal aspartame story. ;) Sometime a little over 60 days ago I wrote to you with my horror story about aspartame. I am the 21 year old who felt as though I were 95. I had a list of symptoms as long as my arm, and was convinced that my entire life was on a downward spiral into destruction. But now!! 60 days later and I swear to God I feel like a new person. My personality has just changed so much!! I feel like I did years ago, before I started putting that poison into my body. The panic/anxiety and depression and nastiness has just faded away. My sleeping patterns have returned to normal. I eat and drink like a normal person now, without the excessive consumption. I can move like I used to, without the pains and aches.... Just so many things about me have returned to how they should be. I'm 21 again and just so happy I could scream!! I just wanted to write to you and thank you for all the information you have out there about aspartame. I have told friends and family, I have taken the flyer to the supermarkets and other local places and I think that people who I have talked to about it have started to listen! It's wonderful. I am a tribute to the values of keeping that junk out of your body. It's an awful good thing my boyfriend loved me enough to stay with me through all the horrible mood swings and things I put him through.... He's getting quite the benifits also, from the me he used to know before I started to become a bitter old person. Thank you xxxxxx, for spreading the word about this. I appreciate it more than I can say. ----------------- Date: Sat, 28 Mar 1998 18:50:41 -0800 To: xxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Subject: Recent diagnosis of MS Hi. Thank you for being here. I have used Aspartame since it came out. I would use at least 10 packs per day! ACHHHH! Well, I started tripping and falling 2 and 1/2 yrs ago; before that, I was told that I was an early [30y.old menopause]! Well I called the tripping part "peripheral Neuropathy". Finally, a brain scan was requested-probable MS. Then 3 wks ago, I learned that ASPARTAME mimmicks MS! I quit anf PRAYED really hard. A spinal tap was done , and there are 4 or 5 bands in my CSF. .... Oh, and ASpartmae DID make me crave sweets, and I did NOT lose any weight! [continued] To: xxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Subject: xxxxxxxx Date: Thu, 14 May 1998 13:10:07 -0700 I had been OFF aspartame 3mos and was feeling pretty well; THEN I had a snowball. The tingling started in my legs and feet, I lost my balance, had a headache that persisted for 6hrs, couldn't sleep and had the bathroom urges.Asparatame DID IT!!!!!!!!!! All that money and detoxers have been wasted because there was aspartame in the syrup! No MORE snowballs!!!!!!!!! If I don't prepare it, if it doesn't come from a health dood store, AVOID IT!!!!!!!!! [continued] Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 11:41:35 -0400 To: xxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Subject: aspartame case Hi. Thanks to xxxxxx, I have been OFF aspartame for three months! I couldn't FEEL my hands and toes and would trip and fall!! Now I can feel them!!!! Chewing the sugarless gum or anyting with aspartame is really bad since it works through the amalgams and GETS into your BRAIN!!!! Then , the "doctors" will identify lesions and diagnose MS, when actually they are aspartame lesions. It is a deadly neurotoxin, and we need to get it OFF the market! EVERYONE has a side effect. Lord, help us! [continued] To: xxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Subject: GOOD NEWS!!!!NO MS!!!!!!! Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 15:13:55 -0700 Well, I have been detoxing from aspartame since Feb 1998, and TODAY, the #1 MS Dr. in N.O. told me that I presented as NORMAL with NO MS symptomology!!!!! ----------------- To: xxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Subject: Thank you Date: Sun, 14 Jun 1998 19:32:03 PDT I began to have head tremors about a year or so ago, and they were getting worse. Whenever I was tired or sitting still watching TV or (very embarrassing) in the middle of a meeting, my head would shake. To the degree that caused me great concern. I went to the doctors but all test including an MRI told me nothing was wrong. I knew better. So I got on the internet and put in "head tremors" that's when I found the aspertame reaction page. You have no idea what it was like to "Possibly" know what was wrong. After 2 months of giving up aspertame, my head still shook and I was about to give up, thinking I must be wrong, but into the third month of not drinking my usual 3 diet cokes a day, not only have the tremors let up, I can actual think much, much clearer and don't forget what I'm saying in the middle of a sentence. I feel like the "fog" I have been in has lifted. But that's only the beginning. Ten years ago I almost died... are you ready for this from seizures that had no cause, no cure. Back then I drank diet soda constantly also and gave it up during one of my "hospital" stays. They never did find out what was wrong with me. I was on medication like you would not believe when I was sent to a doctor at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, CT who decided to remove me from the unbelievable amounts of medications the previous doctors had me on to start from scratch. I was even scheduled to have surgery to have a part of my brain removed to stopped the seizures. But as she began to lessen my medication, I was able to stand up and walk across the room without having a seizure, I was able to remember who had just visited me, I could go on, but you get the picture. The final diagnoses because there was no other answer was and I quote "convulsive syncope brought on by non-epileptic medicines". I went from an invalid who could not move to an unbelievably busy person. When the tremors started, so did the fear. I will never know if it was the aspertame that almost killed me, all signs point to that fact, but I do know for a fact, that the aspertame caused my tremors and brain fog. Thank you for spreading the word, I look forward to feeling better and better every day. And please encourage people to not give up, the poison takes time to get out of your system. ----------------- Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 11:46:27 -0500 To: xxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Subject: Aspartame Illness Diagnosed............ I am a type II diabetic and had been taking Nutrasweet for years. I had noticed that stress and anxiety in my body, specially in the morning on waking up and stretchy legs at night. I felt uncomfortable with this unexplained stress but the doctors could not identify it. I had also noticed over the last several years difficulty in memory and attributed it to old age. I am 48 and thought that this is what starts happening when you get old. Oh yes, I had also noticed severe joint pain specially in shoulder, hips, and knees. I recently had some intense periodontal work done and was put on tetracycline medication for infection. Within one week I had an acute vertigo attack. I thought I was having a stroke and was whisked to the ER at the hospital. I was told by doctors that there was no explanation for this and given medication. The vertigo subsided as I told the doctors of my now morning stress and anxiety, and that my body was telling me something. About a week later the morning anxiety got so bad that I had to go to the ER again and beg for help. A triage nurse talked to be and both her and the doctor tried to convince me that since I was recently looking for a new job, the anxiety was in my head. They put me on Buspar. I kept on saying something is not right and even though the Buspar took the edges off the anxiety or panic attacks I felt like life was soon coming to an end. Very scary and depressing. Searching the net with my symptoms I started to see a pattern and then one morning last weekend a got a severe anxiety surge just after I had eaten some cereal with Nutrasweet spinkled on it. Could it be that I am allergic to Aspertene? I stopped using it and within several days felt like a new person. I can sleep at night and life is looking great. I thought I would pass this on to you. You can repost it or use this information at you see fit. Please in return let me know of possible organizations or others, specially diabetics that I can pass this on too. I wish I had known sooner, since I would imagine that serious damage has been done to my body and I am sure overall affected my life span. I am angry at how such a damaging product is still being used. [continued] Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 17:48:28 -0400 To: xxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Subject: So much improvement off aspartame. Just thought I would give you an update. I don't know if this is important in your records but I thought I would pass it on. When I had my acute vertigo attack and thought I was having a heart attack, I noticed a slurring or drooping of one side of my mouth, I think it was the left, but not sure. I told the doctors that I had this sensation and the looked puzzled since it is not common with a vertigo attack. It was temporary just during the initial attack. I have never had, and hope I never again, another vertigo attack so I really cannot compare the severity of my attack with anything else. It seemed to me that I was having a heart attack. Also, the vertigo attack and anxiety attacks were worst in the morning when just getting up. Just thought I would pass this on since you seem to be the center of data collection. Right now I feel great. My energy level has skyrocketed and my daughter who is 21 complains when she visits now because we are always walking or going somewhere. She used to like coming over to visit because we would just sit and veg. Have already lost 15 lbs in the last couple of weeks. It will be time for some new clothes pretty soon. This reversal in my body in no way can be a coincidence. Enjoy your list messages. ----------------- Date: Mon, 23 Feb 1998 11:13:01 -0500 To: xxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Subject: Aspartame reaction I found your site just in time and it has stopped me cold. I no longer use anything with Aspartame. In 1992, I was diaganosed with Severe Hypoglycemia. I was told to not ingest any sugar whatsoever, and I was put on a strict diabetic exchange diet. Months went by and in october I began finding a bunch of sugar free alternatives to those things I loved so much - ice cream, candy, hot cocoa etc. Well, after several months I began to develop acne. Keep in mind that I had never had a pimple in my life and I was 22 at the time. Well, I tried ewverything - accutance, retin a, euryderm etc. - It helped a little. Then in 1995, I began ingested a lot more nutrasweet - on my cereal, in my tea, several diet cokes a day. Well, I began to develop anxiety and sleep disorders - I did not sleep for a week. I became obsessive and plagued with worry. I thought it was caffiene - si I stopped it. It became a little better. Well, I still had pimples and in 1996 I got cystic acne and was still wired. After going from doctor to doctor and having my hormone levels checked and told that there was nothing wrong - I became frustrated. My face looked like hell - swollen and oily and it hurt - my self esteem was in the crapper. I needed to do something - so, I thought about the time when this started coming around. I traced it back to when I was diagnosed with hypoglycemia. That is when I started with nutrasweet - so in december I stopped. WOW, My face cleared up in about a month - totally. I have slept through the night for the last two months - no anxiety - nothing. I am happy to say that after having quit music from "performance anxiety" that I am able to do that again. Another thing I noticed was I no longer have back aches and my PMS is not as bad. Pretty amazing huh? And they say this stuff isn't bad for you. Well, I am living proof, as are all of the other people on here, that it is bad - VERY BAD - even life threatening. Thank you -----------------