I hesitate writing this post for a number of reasons. I never have been a huge fan of bloggers who week after week inundate their readers with a list of complaints. I mean we all have things that can bog us down. It doesn't make sense to share every frustration I have with the rest of the world. I do my best to portray a very realistic view of mine & my little family's day to day life. I just choose to share the happy and beautiful parts of it. Not that I am trying to "hide" the other parts, I just find they are a little less interesting. However things have been a little stressful lately. My little Sloan is having some health problems that are taking some extra time away from other things. She is suffering from several heath issues, her blood work has comeback and she has elevated levels with her autoimmune system. She has been referred to several specialists. Life has been filled with one Dr. visit after another. As a parent I am watching my child suffer joint pain, severe headaches, terrible back pain, dizziness, blurred vision, ear pain, throat pain, unexplained itching on arms and shoulders but no rash is present, mood swings, abdominal pain, chest pain, and fatigue. I am watching my daughter change right before my very eyes. It's scary & I feel so helpless. Sunday evening ended with an ER visit. At church she started looking a little pale, by the end of church her teacher wouldn't leave her until I came out into the hall. She was a little worried by her behavior and how sick she looked. By the time we came home from church she was pale and listless with slowed speech, pain in her right ear and her lips were turning grey and purple. She was shivering and running a fever. Low sugars and keetones were ruled out. She started running a fever and acting irrational. I called her Dr. and asked if I should be concerned or if she thought this might be an ear infection (Sloan suffers from these quite often). She thought it best to bring her in. At the ER they ran tests and couldn't find anything. She had some wax in her right ear but that was it. I've never seen Sloan look that sick before.
Someone dropped by my blog the other day. In one of her posts she mentioned something I had never even heard of before, aspartame poisoning. I thought, what the heck is that? So I googled it. Let me tell you it's scary stuff. Sloan consumes lots of sugar free foods & drinks in her diet. Most diabetics do. There is a list of 92 different symptoms, Sloan is suffering from quite a few that are on the list. The fact is most people who suffer from this poisoning are misdiagnosed as suffering from autoimmune disorders ranging from lupus to MS and a long list of other debilitating diseases. Since Sloan has elevated levels in this blood test that are pointing to one of these diseases, the Dr.'s didn't feel I was crazy.
I was almost to afraid to talk to her Dr.'s about this find, but I did anyway. They are on board to have her tested for this to rule it out before she visits all the other specialists. This could be what's causing all of her pain and suffering, if not then we will take the next steps needed to get to the root of her illness. I am in no way trying to self diagnose my daughter. I do however think that this is a possibility that is too real to ignore. Wouldn't it be wonderful if correcting Sloan's symptoms was something as simple as a change in diet? Eating healthy fresh and whole foods is something we should all be doing anyway.
You can find out more about aspartame poisoning by googling it. There are just too many sites to list.
If you or anyone you know has any further information about this, please feel free to email me. This information is new to me and I am still researching it. Of coarse the people who produce aspartame say it's harmless. To that I say, you are enjoying your multi billion dollar industry way to much to care about the health of individuals.
Hope everyone is well. I want you to know that I am visiting your blogs & I try to leave comments as I am able. I promise to keep you updated as we find out more about what's going on with my little Bologna. Hugs to you all!
