It has been almost 2 months since I've blogged anything. I'm sorry for my lengthy absence. Let me tell you why I've been MIA.
As many of you know, I've been struggling with horrible anxiety attacks. I was doing better for a while, but then the bottom dropped out and I've been dealing with a wide range of issues. After seeing two different doctors and lots of blood work, I've been diagnosed with . . . .
* Adreanal Fatigue - which causes anxiety, fatigue and a fear of leaving my house.
* Ovarian Failure - which literally throws me into early menopause.
* Depression - that speaks for itself.
* Chronic Fatigue - so exhausted that I just can't function.
* Hypoglycemia- which is low blood sugar.
* Everything I ate tasted bitter, so I stopped eating. I know. . . not good.
I've tried naturally remedies, prescriptions, massage, accupressure and accupuncture, trying to find some relief and cure. Nothing was working at all. I was becoming more exhausted and more depressed. It was ruining my life, but I tried really hard to put on a smile and march forward for the sake of my family. It was awful!!
Then I had a heart to heart conversation with Dave. He explained how tired he was and just wasn't feeling great either. I told him that something was seriously wrong with me and I didn't know how much more I could take. So we began to list possiblities that only affected us and not our kids.
We came to the conclusion that we drank a lot of premade iced-tea that came in gallon jugs. It was green tea with ginsieng in it. It was supposed to be healthy. It didn't have sugar or caffeine in it. It contained Splenda. Even healthier. . . right? WRONG!!!!! My coffee creamer had Splenda, our ice-cream contained Splenda. I baked with Splenda. And since food tasted horrible to me there were days when all I had in my system was iced-tea. . . with Splenda. I drank a lot of it in a day. Up to a gallon.
So we Googled side effects of Splenda. Here's what we found. . .
*Anxiety
*Depression
*Metallic taste
*Ovarian problems
*Fatigue
*Heart palpitations
*Blood sugar issues
*Joint and muscle pain
*Memory problems
And the list went on and on. I was SHOCKED to say the least. I was suffering from ALL of these. There were even testimonials of other people telling about their health issues and they were all leading to one thing. Can you guess? SPLENDA!!!!
I immediately stopped drinking the tea. Oohhh, how I loved that stuff! I had already given up caffeine long ago because of anxiety issues, so that wasn't part of the equation. I began drinking huge amounts of water to try to flush out my system as much as possible.
The result. . . it's been almost 3 days and I feel like a totally differnet person. Seriously!!!! I'm not depressed, not one anxiety attack, no chest tightness, no bitter taste, I can read an email and actually remember what I read the first time. I'm not moody, my joints don't ache, I have energy and actually "want" to do things. I am amazed!!! Dave is sleeping better, has more energy and his joints don't hurt anymore either. He wasn't drinking as much as I was, but he's feeling a marked change.
So I went to the doctor to confirm this, and yes indeed, he confirmed that I was poisoning myself with SPLENDA. Literally poisoning myself. I was blown away. I was so incredibly relieved and also angry at the same time. The FDA approved this stuff and told us all it's safe and it's just like sugar. THEY LIE!!!! And I'm living proof.
I have no doubt that if we had not found the answer that it wouldn't have been long before I was admitted to the hospital for a nervous break down.
I am so thankful for God's healing hand and loving leading in helping us find the answer. I believe that this hunch was truly inspired my Him.
So, I encourage you to look for yourself. Google the side effects of Splenda. Take inventory of your health and especially the health of your kids. Save yourself the worry, and anxiety that I went through.
My prayer is that this blog post can reach out and help others.
(((hugs))) to you all.
P.S. Please feel free to share this information with your friends and family.
