My original assumption... that arthritis was trashing my life!(from 26 February, 1996)
Arthritis... something we all get sooner or later if we live long enough, strikes first at those who are genetically prone to develop the disease, especially if they break some bones. My father gave me the genes and then I broke my hip in 1975... and was rear-ended in 1987 where I obtain a crushed disk. Before arthritis became a significant detractor to my daily life I had many hobbies such as general all-around handyman (carpenter, plumber, shade-tree mechanic, ect.), But now I must content myself with being something of a computer weenie. I enjoy creating digital graphics, logos, business cards, greeting cards, pamphlets, advertisements... just about anything one can print out on paper.
Have you been to see a rhumatologist?
Some interesting developments in my struggle to obtain relief from arthritis pains. During my recovery from breaking my hip during 1975 the surgeon painted a very bleak future for me. He emphasized that the damage sustained normally triggered osteoarthritis, and that I should enjoy life because it was all downhill from this point on. Ever since 1979, when I was first diagnosed with osteoarthritis in the neck (in particular), I believed my slowly worsening and ever-more painful joint pains were caused by this disease. During a visit to the doctor treating my prostate cancer, and during an impromptu checkup, he inquired about my overall health. I responded that as far as the cancer was concerned, it was the least of my problems. Then I told him that the joint pain from my arthritis was really trashing my life. He asked if I had ever seen a rhumatologist to which I replied that I had been to a rhumatology clinic in 1988. That was when I had neck problems stemming from being rear-ended. They had run a battery of tests, taken some very fuzzy xrays, and told me that as yet I didn't need any operation. (They were quite mistaken, too, because I had surgery less than eight months later, after an MRI scan pinpointed a crushed disk! So much for those "experts".)
He repeated his question to which I responded, "Hell, doc, how do I know." "You doctors don't wear blazing neon signs across your chests proclaiming 'I'm a Brain Surgeon' or 'I'm a Rhumatologist' or the like". He chuckled at my response and then proceeded to set up an appointment with one of the more prominent doctors in this area. I kept the appointment, had a bone scan performed, and a bunch of other tests. On my second visit the doctor busily looked over the xrays and scans and muttered that he didn't see any indication of my cancer mastastisizing to my bones. I had expected that comment.
Fifteen years of BUM SCOOP, and some Startling news!
Then he dropped a real bombshell when he continued, "And I don't see where you should have much of a problem with arthritis, either!". Needless to say, but after being under the impression that my increasing pain and physical limitations were due to arthritis... this was a real shocker! After picking my jaw up from off the floor and regaining my composure I asked him to clarify his statement. He did so. Well, for the next couple of months he tried just about every type of high-priced medicine on me that he could think of, for "fibromyalgia", and some other more exotic and ill-defined or understood maladies. The first drug worked great, for about ten days. I was told to increased the dosage but the side effects really hit me hard so the doctor took several other approaches. None of them worked, but the side-effects were very significant!
During the past fifteen years I have visited something like twenty different doctors, and none of them had stated that my problem was NOT arthritis. That's a lot of "learned men", a lot wasted time, and a lot of wasted money. Especially so when considering that none of them had solved the problem, or even lessened it measurably. It is also one hell-of-a-long time to endure every-increasing pain! It was my wife who heard about DayPro, the only medication to ever greatly diminish the pain. But it is the sort of drug that the body learns to counter, and for a significant number of people taking it daily for a long period of time the body adjusts to it and it becomes a useless but expensive medicine sitting on the shelf.
Then, one day as I was surfing and exploring the Internet, I came across an article that caught and riveted my attention. It described how a very common ingredient, now used in a widening range of foodstuffs and drinks, was being blamed for an extremely long LIST of ailments... half of which I seemed to have experienced. That product is aspartame, more commonly known as "Equal". I have been a heavy user of this product ever since it hit the market (which has been a good number of years, now). I consume pots-full of coffee every day... but I like it sweet and creamy. In an effort to cut down on the calories I switched to Equal.
I stopped using the product. Over the next ten days everything seemed to get worse. Now, however, I seem to be improving markedly on a daily basis. After having consumed this stuff since coming to market... I imagine it will take a protracted amount of time to notice a really significant improvement.
One of the purported items in the commercial product is methanol... about ten percent, and as various doctors testify, the whole product is bad news. Dr. James Bowen told the FDA, Dr. Adrian Gross, a one-time FDA toxicologist, testified before congress, and Dr. Morgan Raiford (OPHTHALMOLOGIST) has given testimony. This is something that one should put in a vehicle..., or use as a paint-thinner, not introduce into their body. It is perhaps this item that has caused the majority of grief and pain, and perhaps a lot of the damage is permanent. Only time will tell.
Before forsaking aspartame I was at a point where I had to slowly mule-haul myself up four steps from my computer room to the kitchen, pulling myself hand over hand using a railing I had installed the year before. I felt and acted at least twice my age! For most of the thirty-five years of my marriage I was the one to do the grocery shopping. On one recent occasion I was sorely embarrassed because I had to use the little motorized cart just to get around the store. Then, after quitting aspartame, and feeling even worse for the next ten days, I began to improve markedly. After three weeks I no longer needed the railing, not even casually. After five weeks my feet stopped hurting so much and I could walk more often, and further each time. Recovery seems to be two steps forward and one step back... but I don't mind because the net effect is continual improvement! I shall report again at the three, and six month points, which will be the first of September and December of 1996. I hope, with all my being, that I will have a fantastic Christmas this year.
NEW: 8/3/96. It is fast approaching the 60 day time frame without the consumption of any of this product. Although I did not plan on reporting again until September, during the past two weeks I have made such great strides in overall well being that I just had to speak out. I have much less pain and increased mobility along with a chance to exercise again (albeit quite painfully!). Last week I was able to reach for the comb in my back pocket without the tremendous pain that once required a lot of maneuvering, just to gingerly retrieve a one ounce comb. Today I had enough confidence and agility to actually take my first unaided bath in over two years. Showers are OK, but I have always liked to sit and soak. No help was needed getting in or out of the tub, or in standing up or sitting down! Today, just like a kid with a new toy, I did just that... sat and soaked! I am once again using the jaccuszi that I bought six years ago to counter my increasing pains, and it is helping to accelerate my recovery. Again, the ONLY thing in my lifestyle that has changed... is the total exclusion of ALL packaged aspartame products from my diet! One other major item... those shooting stabbing pains that attacked my joints and muscles alike... as though an ice pick had just been thrust into the body... pains so sharp that they could cause me to lose my balance or wince, grimace and be embarassingly obvious... well they are now only a vivid memory as they have ceased to happen!
But perhaps the MOST telling was another visit to the K-Mart Superstore. Only three weeks ago I was still having a problem with getting around. Enough so that when I entered this K-Mart I felt I was good for only one quick tour, and even then I kept track of the availability of their little motorized carts for those who need them. After taking that first bath, Isabel and I revisited K-Mart. This time I made three end to end trips, and on the way to the check-out stand I did a mock dancing-run ahead of my wife, who was now beaming with relief and satisfaction at my regained abilities.
*** I now know WHAT aspartame is all about! ***
NEW 8/12/96
I have just had the pleasure of meeting, via E-mail, a person whom I perceive to be warm, caring, very concerned, and I must say is very angry when it comes to the subject of aspartame... our new major NATIONAL DISCRACE! I discovered this fine lady, and her resources, during a third and much more in-depth search of the internet looking for even more information. I sent a tentative message, thinking that perhaps she was no longer involved, or had a different address, or something that would prove to be a dead end. Instead, I was (and I don't use this word very often) thrilled to have her respond. Especially so when around twenty pieces of new source material soon followed that first contact! (I'm still reading and sorting it out!).
Her name is Betty Martini and she can be reached by snail-mail at Mission Possible, PO Box 28098, Atlanta GA 30358. She has given me permission to incorporate into my WEB pages any and all letters that she sends out. Here is one, dated 26 July, 1996, to the FDA concerning blanket approval of aspartame. This is ESPECIALLY bad news, because foodstuffs with aspartame should NOT be heated. Heat makes it rapidly break down into some very toxic crud!
UPDATE:
I am now 95% pain free, fully mobile, and I have what remains of my much shortened life. I still have 60 pounds of formaldehyde-laced fat to contend with... the problems of which did not surface until December of 1997 when I attempted to lose weight before Christmas. Thanks to the formaldehyde I experienced 45 days of diminishing problems from very erratic heart beats and blood pressure. There have been many lessor episodes since then... all tied into trying to lose weight.
I still have massive memory loss, maddening tinnitus, and as of June, 2000 (my four year mark with no aspartame) I am now eight years into being diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer... which I am convinced aspartame triggered in me making me the first among my long lived ancestors to acquire any form of cancer. I am equally convinced that a life-time of cow's milk and dairy, with its abundance of a powerful growth hormone called IGF-1 (identical between cow's and humans) is responsible for that "old-man's" cancer having already spread at the young age of 55.
  Sincerely
 WEBmaster and Victim
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