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Strange symptoms
Just over a year ago I experienced strange symptoms. I am 30 yr old, good health, don't smoke, don't drink. One morning I started having trouble speaking. Saying wrong words, couldn't read, could barely dial the phone, forgot phone numbers, wrote down wrong numbers when being told what numbers to dial. About a half hour before this had visual problems. It was like everything was jiggling. Wasn't "dizzy", just everything around me was almost like bouncing. Whole visual episode lasted about 20 minutes, trouble thinking, speaking, lasted about 10 minutes. Couldn't even get the names of my children right. Was very concerend. Went to ER, did CT-normal. Weeks later had MRI w/o contrast, US of heart, neck, thyroid. All normal. Blood work all normal except elevated Thyroid which later when re-checked was normal. Neurologist thought possible TIA, then changed to possible Atypical Migraine. No history of Migraines. Had dull headache when all over. Since then have had a few visual problems, and some dizzy spells. Nothing like what happened that day. Any ideas? Does this sound more like a type of Migraine? Thanks for your time.
Misaki, first, you are incorrect in stating that aspartame does not contain methanol. Aspartame is 10 percent methanol. You are incorrect in stating the methanol results from the metabolism of the amino acids in the product. Methanol is used to bind the phenylalanine and aspartic acid. Strike one.
Consuming methanol in a man-made product is NOT the same as consuming a fruit that contains methanol. The fruit contains the ANTIDOTE for methanol poising -- ethanol. The methanol in aspartame is not accompanied by ethanol. Strike two.
The "aspartame thing on the Internet" is no hoax. It has been called a hoax by the proponents of aspartame, and the "hoax calling thing on the Intenet" is the hoax.
You drink "lots and lots of Diet Coke," and none of your neurologists and professors have told you to stop drinking Diet Coke. Ergo, it's OK. That's pretty funny. It reminds me of something Paul Tillich once said: "The passion for truth is often crushed by the weight of undisputed authority."
You suggest people not blame aspartame, but rather search for a good neurologist. I agree with the good neurologist part, but the point I was posting to the many people here who have done just that, and who have had dozens of MRIs, CT scans, and other tests, but are no closer to understanding what is causing their symptoms than they were before they went to a doctor. I don't believe I have stated that MS is CAUSED by aspartame, although the cause is obviously not understood and is probably multi-factoral, and excitotoxins like aspartame may well be at least one of those factors. But the point really is that many people who have negative MRIs and other objective tests, and still end up being diagnosed as having MS by default, might want to consider the possibility that their systemic peripheral neuropathy is caused by something as simple as a neurotoxin they place in their body. And why not try abstaining for 60 days to see if it helps? Why do you need a double-blind prospective study when all you have to do is quit consuming the stuff for 60 days?
Consuming methanol in a man-made product is NOT the same as consuming a fruit that contains methanol. The fruit contains the ANTIDOTE for methanol poising -- ethanol. The methanol in aspartame is not accompanied by ethanol. Strike two.
The "aspartame thing on the Internet" is no hoax. It has been called a hoax by the proponents of aspartame, and the "hoax calling thing on the Intenet" is the hoax.
You drink "lots and lots of Diet Coke," and none of your neurologists and professors have told you to stop drinking Diet Coke. Ergo, it's OK. That's pretty funny. It reminds me of something Paul Tillich once said: "The passion for truth is often crushed by the weight of undisputed authority."
You suggest people not blame aspartame, but rather search for a good neurologist. I agree with the good neurologist part, but the point I was posting to the many people here who have done just that, and who have had dozens of MRIs, CT scans, and other tests, but are no closer to understanding what is causing their symptoms than they were before they went to a doctor. I don't believe I have stated that MS is CAUSED by aspartame, although the cause is obviously not understood and is probably multi-factoral, and excitotoxins like aspartame may well be at least one of those factors. But the point really is that many people who have negative MRIs and other objective tests, and still end up being diagnosed as having MS by default, might want to consider the possibility that their systemic peripheral neuropathy is caused by something as simple as a neurotoxin they place in their body. And why not try abstaining for 60 days to see if it helps? Why do you need a double-blind prospective study when all you have to do is quit consuming the stuff for 60 days?
Eight months ago I was experiencing severe headaches, even waking up with them. I thought it might be all the diet soda I was drinking. I stopped drinking the diet drinks. One day I woke up with tickling/tingling in my left foot. The headaches diminished but the tingling continued for 7 months. Two separate MRIs showed a small nodule in left thalamus and a small non-specific linear thing in the T11, T12 area on my spine. MS was suspected. Slowly, and I mean ever so slooowly, my tingling improved to the point I would say my foot is normal. A third MRI was done just a few weeks ago, and the nodule in the thalamus is still there (neuro is not concerned), and the linear lesion thing on my spine is gone. Which explains why my foot feels almost 100%. I was wondering if anyone has an idea of what it was I had. Oh, I am back to drinking my diet sodas...
You don't know me, so you can't talk about my medical education. Which, by the way, is one of the best you can get. Cajal (in case you don't know, he was nobel prize for doing research in neurohistology) was a professor in my medical school, in the same department I am doing neuroanatomy research since age 18. Maybe if you spent all the time I have studying biochem, physiology, pathology, etc., you would see that there's no proof at the moment of aspartame's supposed toxicity, if consumed in the amounts *permitted* by FDA.
>> So, what is aspartame? Aspartame is just a combination of phenylalanine (phe) and aspartic acid (asp). Those are two aminoacids just like the ones that can be found in your body's proteins.
>> Fruit and aspartame doesn't have "methanol". Methanol is made in your body as a result of aminoacids metabolism. And there's NO difference between the methanol that results from natural products and man made products - it's the same compound.
>> You can't consume isolated methanol but you can eat fruit. Why? Because there "isn't" the same amount of methanol in an apple than in a methanol bottle. And you don't have to go to medical school to know that.
>> I don't need to open my text books to know what a methanol intoxication looks like, and I don't find its treatment surprising because i know the mechanisms in which are based. Maybe if you opened my textbooks, and then spent 6 years studying them instead of reading what other people say on internet, you would see my point.
>> I have not yet found a single case in medical literature of some patient that has been cured from MS-like or lupus-like symptoms by quitting diet soda. If you know someone, please refer him to a MEDICAL DOCTOR to do further research.
>> You ask me about myself. Yes, I drink LOTS and LOTS of diet coke. But, alas, my one and only relapse appeared two years before I started taking it. And drinking soda doesn't make me worse, in fact, not drinking diet coke makes me a lot more tired. I'm a caffeine junkie, just like 95% of med students. And none of my neurologists, nor my professors in med school has told me to stop drinking diet coke.
It's well known by physicians worldwide that the aspartame thing on the internet it's nothing but a hoax. There isn't any article in Medline to prove it. But if people prefer to blame aspartame for their illness, instead of searching for a good neurologist and facing the dx, they're in their right.
I won't tell anyone what to believe. I'm only talking about evidence.
>> So, what is aspartame? Aspartame is just a combination of phenylalanine (phe) and aspartic acid (asp). Those are two aminoacids just like the ones that can be found in your body's proteins.
>> Fruit and aspartame doesn't have "methanol". Methanol is made in your body as a result of aminoacids metabolism. And there's NO difference between the methanol that results from natural products and man made products - it's the same compound.
>> You can't consume isolated methanol but you can eat fruit. Why? Because there "isn't" the same amount of methanol in an apple than in a methanol bottle. And you don't have to go to medical school to know that.
>> I don't need to open my text books to know what a methanol intoxication looks like, and I don't find its treatment surprising because i know the mechanisms in which are based. Maybe if you opened my textbooks, and then spent 6 years studying them instead of reading what other people say on internet, you would see my point.
>> I have not yet found a single case in medical literature of some patient that has been cured from MS-like or lupus-like symptoms by quitting diet soda. If you know someone, please refer him to a MEDICAL DOCTOR to do further research.
>> You ask me about myself. Yes, I drink LOTS and LOTS of diet coke. But, alas, my one and only relapse appeared two years before I started taking it. And drinking soda doesn't make me worse, in fact, not drinking diet coke makes me a lot more tired. I'm a caffeine junkie, just like 95% of med students. And none of my neurologists, nor my professors in med school has told me to stop drinking diet coke.
It's well known by physicians worldwide that the aspartame thing on the internet it's nothing but a hoax. There isn't any article in Medline to prove it. But if people prefer to blame aspartame for their illness, instead of searching for a good neurologist and facing the dx, they're in their right.
I won't tell anyone what to believe. I'm only talking about evidence.
I'm one of those who've been diagnosed at "complicated migraine". I definitely get the stroke-like auras usually without headache (sometimes rather mild, tylenol usually helps). I've experienced expressive aphasia (unable to speak or say the right words), generally out of it, right sided weakness-tingling-numbness)
I've had the "million dollar" workup - Heart / Brain caths, every blood test in the book, MRI/MRA's, CT's, multiple lumbar punctures. Everything normal, except for smaller than normal arteriest at the base of the brain. I understand this is a common finding in migraners.
I've managed these episodes with daily preventative medicines, (aspirin, verapamil, nortriptyline), avoiding trigger foods, and getting sufficient exercise.
Believe me, after 2 years, I still have a hard time accepting this neurological disease.
I've had the "million dollar" workup - Heart / Brain caths, every blood test in the book, MRI/MRA's, CT's, multiple lumbar punctures. Everything normal, except for smaller than normal arteriest at the base of the brain. I understand this is a common finding in migraners.
I've managed these episodes with daily preventative medicines, (aspirin, verapamil, nortriptyline), avoiding trigger foods, and getting sufficient exercise.
Believe me, after 2 years, I still have a hard time accepting this neurological disease.
Yay! I liked how you put that. You sound very knowledgeable. I have been dx with MS for over 6 years, and I never use aspartame. I can count on one hand the times in the last 10 years or so that I have had a diet drink. In fact, I don't drink any kind of soft drinks.
Good luck to you in your studies and also with your MS.
Good luck to you in your studies and also with your MS.
It sounds a lot to me like a TIA. Sometimes, I believe, clinical evaluation is the only way to determine a TIA, because none of the test(to my understanding) will show a sign of a "mini-stroke". I could be wrong, but this is what I heard from a person that had one. best wishes. chad
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