I would like to share an experience I am still undergoing which blew my socks off.

About two weeks ago, ... posted a message to the NCN-discussion list (http://www.newciv.org) which contained the first article about what aspartame sweetener does in the body that I have ever seen which seemed to have a basis in scientific fact that could be experimentally verified. I've been a heavy user of aspartame sweetener since its introduction, and decided on the basis of this article to make an experiment of myself. Admittedly my "controls" are virtually non-existant, but I know myself well enough to know if something is changed. So I dropped aspartame sweetener from my diet "cold turkey" a little over a week ago. I made no other changes to my routine.

Didn't notice anything the first day.

The second day, I felt shaky, like I had hypoglycemia. Couldn't concentrate to save my life.

The third day, I suffered the third and fourth nosebleeds I've ever had in my life -- the other two came from getting hit in the nose! I felt like my heart was vibrating, along with the rest of my entire body, and I damn near passed out at one point. I did have to sit down quickly before I fell down.

The fourth day, I woke up with blood in my mouth. The shakiness and disorientation, problems with concentration continued, began to cycle in very strange "I'm okay one second, totally screwed up the next, oops, back to being just fine" rounds which lasted about twenty minutes apiece. I had developed hives on my left arm, and at some point during the day, without being consciously aware of having done so, had scratched them so hard that not only did I have scratch marks on my arm, I had BRUISED the skin beneath.

The fifth day, the shakiness started to fade. The disorientation cycle stretched out to about two hours in each state. The hives got much worse for about an hour, spread over my entire body, then completely disappeared. I got the first good night's sleep I had in a LONG time.

The sixth day, I woke up very groggy, and went to fix my coffee (don't lecture me, I'm happy to maintain that addiction!) and by habit (oh, yeah!) used the blue stuff instead of the sugar...I didn't realise I had done this until about half an hour later when I returned for a second cup and found the evidence. Not being particularly bullimic, I chose instead to monitor what effects a redose would have. Honestly, I didn't expect to observe much, since it was such a small amount compared to what I was "used to" -- but I did notice something. Something much like a "high", a subtle "lift" that was noticeable only because of it's absence in the preceding days. This faded in about two hours, and then I got a headache. That night, I almost couldn't sleep.

I put the box of the blue stuff well out of reach so I can't make the same mistake again, and in the past three days, I've slept better. Last night I slept a solid eight hours for the first time in about two years.

Well, my experience may be atypical, it may somehow be psychosomatic, or it may be indicative of a real physiological withdrawal/detoxification reaction. I can tell you that many of the symptoms described of toxic reactions to aspartame sweetener had afflicted me, particularly the autoimmune and connective tissue problems. I will be particularly interested to see over the next few months to see if those conditions, which had been brought under some control by DHEA, change any.

Those of you who use the blue stuff won't gain a ton of weight by going back on the sugar aspartame sweetener currently replaces for a couple of weeks to do your own experiment. I suggest you try it.

ADDENDUM: In the interest of scientific accuracy if anyone wants to investigate or document this better, I wanted to add a few facts not in the original post.

In 1995/96, when my health failed, the form it took was metabolic and endocrine system disruption, autoimmune activity. With no change in diet or activity level, in six months time, I gained 50 pounds. Hypothyroid was ruled out, the doctor told me that I had "just reached that age where weight gain could be expected" (35) and told me to exercise more. This despite the fact that I was having such severe joint pain, snapping and popping that I almost couldn't walk (I had been inactive for three years prior to the sudden weight gain due to joint pain). Sedimentation rate was slightly elevated, x-rays mostly negative ("age-related changes") -- no diagnosis from three different doctors over a year. They all just gave me pain killers and muscle relaxants. In addition, you may add to the list of symptoms

-- the appearance of early menopause (age 34-35)
-- severe dry/cracking skin (chunks of skin on my feet were falling off, there was no pain, just itching -- no fungus, no infection, doctors said "contact dermatitis")
-- severe sleep disruption due to pain and inexplicable whole-body tremor
-- a recurrent sensation of "burning" (dry, hot, parched sensation throughout my body but most concentrated in the hands and face)
-- severe dry eyes (I would have to have my husband give me a wet rag in the mornings to melt my eyelids loose from my eyeballs so I didn't tear them)

DHEA had an almost immediate effect. Within three days of beginning treatment with DHEA (25 mg/day) the pain was much less, I began to be able to sleep. Within a month my total energy was way up, my skin had begun to heal. Within three months, I was able to begin to take on activities, like light gardening. Within six months I was able to resume a light work schedule, working for myself. Within a year, I was almost completely recovered, with just occasional joint problems and a little dry skin. Beginning in October of 1997, I began to lose the excess weight, again without any real change in diet, I was a little more active, but hardly "exercising". As of last month, I had lost ALL of the weight, and am now slightly lighter than I was before the problems started and am continuing to lose weight slowly.

As of September 1998, I began to have unusual symptoms -- excessive oiliness, a strange smell, my hair started falling out, the joint pain started to get worse. I thought I had gotten a tolerance for the DHEA, so I upped the dose to 50mg/day. The symptoms got worse, so I went back to 25 mg/day, and the symptoms abated. Then I ovulated for the first time in nearly four years, and I knew what had happened, my endocrine system had come back on line. I discontinued regular doses of DHEA mid-September and the strange symptoms disappeared. I continue to take an occasional dose when I begin to have joint pain, one is usually enough to settle things down now.

I am going to be continuing to follow the course of what improves/doesn't improve as the months go by. As my experience with the DHEA has taught me, this may be a slow healing process. If anything interesting comes of that, I will forward the results.

As an aside which may or may not be of interest, when I first began to consume aspartame sweetener, I had been suffering from mental fogginess due to severe stress (from an external source). I noted with glee (at the time) that the aspartame served to lift that fogginess. At the time I was pretty sure that it was serotonin levels that were being changed, as I had read that phenylalanine is one of the building-blocks of serotonin.