DarjeelinGirl

For the last few weeks my memory seemed to be even worse than ever. Shoot, even my thinking processes were whacked - for the life of me I couldn’t think my way out of a paper bag. It was so frustrating, but I tried to pass it off as just growing older. I couldn’t remember people’s names even if I was talking right to them. Trying to get ready for my classes was near impossible and that really bummed me out. I could barely work with or remember basic commands on my computer. I thought I was dealing with depression again - but had no reasons for it – my heart is healing and my view on life is actually getting better these days. I seriously worried that maybe I was falling victim to premature alzheimers or something. I even had to fight off irrational thoughts that people hated me – I chalked that up to spiritual warfare and prayed a lot. I shudder when I look back at the misery of the last few weeks!

With so much to do and three kids to care for, I cried out to God desperately at times during that week. Then on Tuesday night I went to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. A container of low-carb creamer stood next to the coffee maker. As I poured the coffee, a conversation began in my heart. As if the Holy Spirit stood right there next to me, I heard, “Look at that. The ingredients. Sucralose. It’s just like NutraSweet.” Now I already knew that I couldn’t drink lots of diet pop or I would get all cloudy and feel air-heady. I can have maybe one or two cans a week. Then it dawned on me – sucralose is just like aspartame, an artificial sweetener – only for me it’s worse! I had only 1 or 2 tablespoons of that creamer a day – not like a can of pop a day. But the side-effects were so much thicker and deeper! So I threw the stuff out and used some powered creamer until I could get to the store.

On Friday morning Jamie and I went to SuperTarget to pick up some folders I needed for the SAT Essay Workshop I doing on Saturday. While there, we grabbed a few groceries. I remembered (a miracle!) I wanted some regular creamer and started to tell her about my revelation. She stopped cold in the aisle, her eyes wide, mouth open in shock. “Tell me again how you felt?” she asked. “I couldn’t think or focus. Couldn’t remember names or words. I just wanted to sleep. I felt all cloudy and really air heady.” She said, “Patsy, you left some of that stuff at my house and I’ve been putting it on my cereal. The other day I was so spaced out I couldn’t remember where to park my car to get to my house…”

Scarey! So I did a search, and of course, found lots of web pages about the dangers or side effects of sucralose, a.k.a. Splenda. Sure enough, of the myriad side-effects, depression, anxiety and a spaced-out or drugged feeling are on at least one list, plus a list of awful things it did to the test rats. Usually they wouldn’t even eat it. Here’s one that tells how sucralose is chemically similar to DDT! Jamie and I are definitely not the only ones to suffer from this stuff. I read that sites that try to expose the dangers of this stuff even get hate mail. Wow. We do like our sugar fix. Nevertheless, I am feeling much better and clearer now. No more artificial sweeteners for me – ever. It’s good to have my brain back.