A few months ago, I had a surgical procedure and in one of the prerequisite blood tests, there was a far-out-of-range enzyme reading. About three weeks after surgery, my lower legs and ankles started swelling. The swelling went down considerably overnight, but before each day was over, you could hardly distinguish my ankle bones.

Of course, the combination of strange liver enzyme readings and lower limb edema sent me on a flurry of more blood work and more blood work and a cardiologist with all his procedures. Sonograms. Other "grams". Scans. Off to the liver specialist.  No one could figure out what was causing my problems. Everyone agreed it wasn't surgery related and, for some reason, decided that maybe I should just wait for a while and see what presents itself.

Then, I began to notice the bottoms of my feet were sensitive.  It seemed like the flesh was tender. It was uncomfortable to walk across the carpet in bare feet or even with socks on. Then my hands became sensitive and the tips of my fingers started drying out, as if the skin ws dying. There was a sort of numb feeling.

At this point, I began to fear I had Lupus. My legs and hips had also begun having bouts of aching so bad at night that it was hard to sleep. There was also a severe round of digestive problems and nausea that the doctors attributed to a mass of gallstones.

I've always been in excellent health and not doctor-oriented other than occasional check-ups, but I decided my age must be catching up with me. I'm 71-years old and still very active.  This was interfering with my quality of life. As I would dwell on my problems, something kept flitting around the edge of my thoughts. Then, as I dumped a packet of Splenda in my coffee one evening, I remembered the warnings about aspartame and how it was so safe to use, but turned out to be toxic and not safe at all. This idea hit me about the third time and I said, what the heck. I'll just leave it off and see what happens.

What happened, my friends, is unbelievable. After two weeks, the leg swelling is 90% gone. My feet and hands are normal.  The skin tissue on my finger tips is soft and pliant. Leg and joint aches are history.  Digestive problems are getting better every day, and I can't believe the upswing in my energy level. I'll wait a while and have the liver enzyme checked, but my expectations are very positive there.

I know after all these years, my body has absorbed a lot of the toxins and everything won't right itself in a few weeks, and may never completely. I would like to know if anyone else has had these symptoms and have become aware that Splenda has caused any part of it."

Thank you P.A. for sharing your story with our visitors.

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