In the last two years I have become a *heavy* Diet Pepsi drinker (approximately 2 two liters a day), plus NutraSweet in my coffee, 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 minor arthritis (since I was a child) and very light asthma (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. These are:

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 fiancée and I)

Inability to concentrate

Insomnia (Severe)

Irritability

Itching

Joint pains

VERY marked personality changes

Memory loss/poor memory/not as good as it used to be

EXTREMELY MESSED UP menstrual cycles

Numbness/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. My story is lucky, because I know now that I found out in time before any of the irreversible symptoms of aspartame.... the horrible things like cancer and vision impairment

I have started my 60 days to test and see if the symptoms go away now. I am praying that they will... I just don't know about all this weight.... I hope to heck that once the pains in my bones go away and my breathing goes back to normal somehow, and the excessive appetite goes away that I will be able to start exercising and get my body back to normal again.

I have said out loud that I feel like I have been living inside someone else's skin... and now I know why.

I am going to write as many letters as I can to as many people as I can.... I want people to know my story, and know how awful this product is. It's POISON and it's ABOUT TIME that someone is doing something about it.

I commend you for what you have done, and I offer myself up to help out in Any way that I can. If you can let me know what all I can do, I would love to help you in your crusade against this evil awful thing.

I hope to hear from you soon.... As I said, I will help out in any way that I can.

Peace to you and yours,

Angela