Dear Betty

I am a 29-year-old research chemist, working at the University of Cambridge in England. In October last year I returned to England after living and working in Switzerland for three years. After two months in Cambridge, I started to feel really ill, I had clusters of migraines, aching joints, a flushed sore face, and chronic stomach acid. I felt tired and worn out and I couldn't think straight.

Everyone told me it was the stress of moving back to England and starting a new job in a new place etc. For a while I believed them, but after two weeks of very bad migraines I went to see my G.P. and he told me that I was depressed and prescribed me antidepressants. I turned into a Zombie, staggered to work every day but I couldn't do anything useful at all. During this time I was drinking two diet drinks per day, but I didn't realize there was a connection. (I have never really drunk them before, as they are not popular or so readily available in Switzerland).

My problems have been a nightmare, since I work with chemicals everyday it was just impossible to tell what exactly was wrong. I thought my problem was due to a chemical, which was used in the lab. and when for a couple of months I started to feel better, I put it down to the fact that people hadn't been using this chemical (thinking back it was because I had switched the diet drinks for normal Pepsi). Since the migraine medication I have been taking caused me to put on some weight I recently decided to go on a diet and I substituted all my regular drinks for diet drinks and then I was eating lots of products containing Nutrasweet to keep the calories down.

After two weeks of dieting, I was in a bad way with clusters of migraines, a burning face, flushes, aching joints and I couldn't stay awake. My face felt like I had really bad sunburn, in fact a friend told me that I looked like I had caught the sun. The only problem is that we are in England and we haven't seen the sun for weeks.

Last Friday I was desperately searching on the Internet for migraine triggers and I came across a link to Aspartame, I recognized all of my symptoms and I am sure that this chemical is at the route of all my problems.

It has been a week now since I have had any Aspartame in my body, my energy is coming back, my hot flushes and red sore face have gone and the migraines have stopped. My back has stopped aching and my knee joints are feeling much better. Last week I was taking anti inflammatories for my knees and I couldn't go up and down the stairs. This week they are feeling much better, hopefully next week they will be back to normal again.

As a research chemist I am truly horrified that this chemical is so widely used in so many food and drinks. The government here in the U.K have tightened up the health and safety laws for anyone working with potentially harmful chemicals. I use hundreds of different chemicals and have been doing for years without harmful consequences and yet I was ignorantly poisoning myself everyday drinking diet Coke from the drinks machine down the corridor.

My brain cells are functioning again and I feel like working and enjoying life again, instead of just going through the motions on Auto-pilot waiting for 7pm and the end of the day to finish.

I am writing to you, because I notice that all the information about this chemical comes from people in the U.S. If I can do anything here in Europe to bring peoples attention to this problem or in anyway help to get this product off the market then I would like to help.

Yours faithfully

Melanie