Curtin Call

My initial instinct was to not actually put the word “aspartame” on my website without changing those a’s to @’s so the “aspartame trackers” wouldn’t find me, but you know what??? I DON’T CARE.

I had been suffering from severe foot pain since the time I woke up on Friday. Not wanting to pay the emergency room visit fee, I was trying to put off seeing anyone until Monday, when I could call my primary care physician. I surfed the web, trying to figure out what I might have done to cause such pain. By Sunday, I couldn’t wait any longer and found out that I could go to a local urgent care facility and only have to pay the fee for an office visit. I was there immediately.

They looked at my foot, did x-rays to rule out that I hadn’t done anything in my sleep (after all, I BROKE MY HIP sleepwalking and never woke up!) then did blood work to test my uric acid level, sending me on my way believing I had gout. I was horrified. Old men that drink whiskey get gout. How could I have gout????

Go home and read about the foods that cause it, I was told. So, I thought and thought and thought about what I had changed in my routine recently. The first thing listed on one of the sites was “artificial sweeteners”. Ah-hah! Crystal Light! Over the past 10 days to 2 weeks, I have been consuming Crystal Light lemonade and/or iced tea on a daily basis. So I googled “aspartame gout” and what I found positively horrified me (again).

Well, I called yesterday for the results of the blood work and, sure enough! They were negative for gout. I have been taking the anti-inflammatory medication and AVOIDING Aspartame and in just two days, I would say the joint pain has decreased by ~90%.

If you don’t believe me, google “aspartame”. I can’t say how disgusted I am that the FDA has approved a substance that shows as many as 92 side effects. I can say that I’ll take my chances of gaining weight and use sugar when needed. At least that’s a natural substance that my body will know what to do with.