For eleven of the fifteen years that I used Equal (aspartame) in my
coffee 21 of 21 clueless doctors only misdiagnosed and improperly
medicated me for my ever-increasing number and types of evermore
crippling and painful medical conditions.

Using, at maximum, the "allowable daily intake" (ADI) for a child
(one third that of an adult) my problems began with arthritis-like
pains and physical limitations.  However, none of the expensive
medications solved the "problem".  Those pains became so bad that
by 1992 (when I discovered I had terminal prostate cancer) I spent
$17,000 for an addition to the back of my home that would house a
new $5,500 medical grade Jacuzzi.  For the next three years soaking
from 2-5 times a day, at up to 108 degree F, kept me "operational"
and able to work.  By late 1995 my case of tinnitus (ringing in
the ears that causes balance problems) made it unsafe to continue
using the Jacuzzi.  Indeed... by that time the benefits of a
20 minute soak at 108 degrees F lasted only until I cooled down.

Early in 1996 I visited a rheumatologist for a "second opinion".
After reviewing my CAT, bone and MRI scans and the results of
his own tests he commented that the other 20 doctors seemed to
have been incompetent because my minimal type of arthritis could
not possibly cause my types and levels of debilitating pains.  So
he promptly misdiagnosed me for Fibromyalgia.  When those powerful
(and expensive) medications didn't work he misdiagnosed me for
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome... but those meds didn't work, either.
Finally, his last misdiagnoses was that perhaps I was imagining
all of this so he gave me a script for Prozac.

This powerful drug turned me every which way but loose over a
weekend of taking the pills.  I researched Prozac on an Internet
Drug Database and discovered it was for depression and "head"
problems.  I was NOT imagining my problems... nor was I crazy!
At that point I  gave up on the US medical system and resorted to
extensive searches on the fledging Internet for something, anything
to tell my why I seemed to be the first person on earth to be dying
from "terminal" arthritis.

At that time my problems were:

  What seemed to be terminal (crippling) arthritis and getting worse
  numb-tingling hands and feet
  combination carpel-tunnel/tennis-elbows that made my arms almost useless
  Fibromyalgia-like hot spots (all over)
  chronic-fatigue like exhaustion
  sleeplessness
  memory loss
  depression (and getting worse)
  had a few short blackouts (just long enough to fall down stairs)
  vision problems (and getting worse)
  bouts of what I called burning heels that made walking impossible
  shooting-stabbing pains in my legs (I was later told this could have
been misdiagnosed as multiple sclerosis).
  tinnitus

I was so desperate that I began a family web site that had a plea
for any information on any substance that could serve as a "silver
bullet" to kill my crippling arthritis-like pains.  No takers, of
course.

About the time I wondered if Dr. Jack Kevorkian had a full "dance
card" I chanced upon a holistic healing web site that had a newly
posted article "The 92 symptoms of aspartame poisoning".  I knew
nothing about "aspartame" and I thought "FDA" stood for "Federal
DRUG Agency"... not "Food and Drug Administration".  However, being
very desperate I was into reading everything.  Part way into the
article it mentioned "Equal" and "Nutrasweet".

That June, 1996 article saved my life.

The suggestion was that if one had problems their doctors could not
seem to cure... and they also used products containing aspartame, to
simply read labels and eliminate all aspartame for up to 60 days and
observe the results.

Within five weeks I went from an old man's shuffle (with a cane) of
around 50 foot at a time (and shrinking) to walking a new Super K-Mart
end to end and all around three times... with no problems.

With each passing week problems such as the burning heels, shooting
pains, numb-tingling hands and feet, "carpel tunnel" and other problems
evaporated.

Today, at the age of 64, I am 95% pain free and fully mobile.  Over
the past five years my vision has continued to improve.  My legacy
for trusting the FDA and using Equal is:

   maddening tinnitus
   massive memory loss, and
   I am now nine years into terminal prostate cancer.

I credit one or more of the many toxins (and carcinogens) in the
breakdown of Equal in my coffee with being the prime suspects in
my becoming the first among my long-lived ancestors to acquire any
form of cancer.  I credit a lifetime (60 years) of cow's milk and
dairy (all of it with a powerful growth hormone in it) with making
that cancer grow so fast it had already spread at the young age of
55... when I was diagnosed with having prostate cancer.

IGF-1 is a powerful growth hormone that happens to be identical
between cows and humans.  During 1997 I learned about cow's milk
and dairy. It took me a year to wean myself from my favorite cheeses
and ice creams.  The bonus... my cancer now grows over three times
more slowly!

There is a whole lot MORE wrong with cow's milk and dairy... and
this overview should be of help to everyone wondering why they are
fat, and getting fatter, sick and getting worse. (for specifics
with references read Milk, A to Z.

After my discovery I attempted to warn the medical system... and was
either rebuffed as an ignorant layman or never received a response.
I tried to enlist the help of the media... and was ignored.  I wrote
a certified letter of complaint to the FDA (1996) and to date I
have yet to receive a response.  A month and a half later I sent a
copy of that letter, with a cover letter, by certified mail to the
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)... and to date I
have never received any reply from them, either.

The fact that over 200 million humans (over 100 million of them
Americans) were ingesting this cumulative toxic poison bothered
me greatly.  One day while lamenting my own predicament... with
the thought that "if only someone had mentioned these facts years
ago I might not have suffered so... and might not be dying well
ahead of my time from terminal cancer"... an inner voice suggested
that I be that "someone" for somebody else.

Today, over five years later, I have donated around 12,000 hours
and several thousand dollars to spreading the whole truth about
aspartame, MSG, and cow's milk and dairy.  I do this because
it is the right thing to do.  Besides, at 59 and four years onto
terminal cancer (1996) NOBODY considered me to be employable.

Have I been helping to make a difference?

I think so.  The original three anti-aspartame WEB sites (1996)
have ballooned to over 95,000 today (google.com) and Monsanto's
"billion dollar seller" with continued good growth projections
is now a dying cash cow that Monsanto dumped on an investment
firm early during 2000. Yes... aspartame is still legal, but
it is no longer Monsanto's "flagship" cash cow.  By contrast
it took the anti-tobacco folks over 50 years to get the
"official" truth in print (we are still waiting for media/medical
system/government honesty to take root in the case of aspartame,
MSG and dairy).  Of note is that tobacco is still LEGAL, still
making the owners billions of dollars, and still hooking around
3000 new youths per day to that deadly product.  Aspartame is
on the way out.  MSG and dairy are not too far behind it.

With your help we can get a lot more people better... or perhaps
even well ... and for FREE!  Pass around the truth... and maybe
one day the media, medical system and our government will see
fit to tell the whole truth.  Folks would at least have the
same option as current users of tobacco... to make an informed
decision.

Dave Rietz, US Navy (retired)