Hello. My name is El and I’m a chronic label reader.
(murmurs all around, “Hi El..”)
How then did this one ingredient slip past me repeatedly, and for SO long that it finally made me sick? Easy. It hid inside of something that I’d never even really considered to HAVE ingredients. My gum.
I have been having minor to major GI issues for a few years now. Three to be more exact.
It all started on March 1, 2006. When I got out of bed that day, it was the first day of my new habit of choosing not to smoke cigarettes anymore.
On March 1, 2007 I did a fabulous happy dance through my house as I celebrated one entire year without a cigarette. There was a little less celebration over the fact that I’d not only gained 30 pounds, but that it had put me up over 200 pounds which is where I’d SWORN to never go again.
To curb the eating, I began to chew gum. Freedent gum. I have dentures and this kind of gum is my only option because all others stick to my teeth and are near impossible to get off. I started walking every day and let go of my food by chewing anywhere from 4-6 sticks of gum each day.
Because I was also trying to lose weight that I knew would only stay off with a life change, I also at this time changed the diet of my entire family. Loads more fruits and veggies and whole grains and WAY less sugar and processed foods. Over the years since as I’ve become more and more health conscious our diet has become more organic and even MORE natural. Nothing but better.
It was around this time that I noticed a lot more gas and bloating. The squeamish should skip the next lines. I also became very regular, having a BM after my morning coffee every single day like clockwork, but it wasn’t quite right. Never solid. Always mushy and unformed. I was also beginning to experience a lot of cramping in my lower abdomen, but I chalked it ALL up to my high fiber, low sugar/fat diet and the fact that I drink 2-3 cups of coffee a day which has a laxative effect for most people.
Now we fast forward to Sunday 7-25-10
I woke up feeling off. My whole GI was upset and irritated. I ate almost nothing all day.
The next day (Monday) wasn’t much better. My husband suggested that the “strong enough to stand a spoon in” coffee that I drink might be irritating my stomach and maybe I should lay off for a few days. I agreed that he may be on to something and decided to drink none for a bit.
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday I drank tea in place of coffee. I was not improving. Actually, I was feeling steadily worse. My appetite all but gone, I was eating only small amounts of this and that, here and there.
Saturday dawned in a dark shadow. I felt awful. My stomach in knots. Diarrhea to the extreme. No nausea, but no urge to eat at all. I spent the entire day in bed.
I had no fever, chills, body aches, sore throat, runny nose, headache…. nothing. Just massive GI upset with painful cramps and bloating.
Sunday rolled in just as darkly as Saturday had. Sunday 8-1-10. I’d been growing more and more uncomfortable for an entire week now. I didn’t get out of bed much Sunday. I came out to socialize with my family and sit in a chair for 10 minutes, 2 or 3 times over the course of the day, but spent most of the day holed up in my bedroom watching reruns and movies in bed.
Sunday evening, Mike took the boys to Dairy Queen (our Sunday evening family “thing” in the summer) and I stayed home in bed feeling awful. I was watching a movie and trying to relax and my attention was drawn to the fact that my mouth was dry and my breath didn’t feel all that fresh… especially after not eating for 2 days. I got up and went over to my dresser and popped a piece of gum into my mouth.
I made it back to my bed as the fresh, minty flavor of the gum flooded my mouth. My stomach twisted and wrenched inside of me.
Just then, a voice in my head, just as clear as if it came from an invisible person standing beside me said, “It’s in the gum, silly girl.”
I walked back over and picked up the pack and turned it in my hands, trying to locate the ingredient list, hoping it would be available on the pack and not just on the box that the packs arrive at the store in.
INGREDIENTS:SUGAR, GUM BASE, CORN SYRUP, LESS THAN 2% OF: GLYCEROL, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, SORBITOL, SOY LECITHIN, ASPARTAME, ACESULFAME K, BHT (TO MAINTAIN FRESHNESS). PHENYLKETONURICS: CONTAINS PHENYLALANINE
source~ http://www.wrigley.com/global/brands/freedent.aspx
“Oh my God!” I thought. “What in the hell have I been eating!?”
I don’t DO “sugar free” specifically because I don’t do artificial sweeteners. They’re chemicals. They’re unnatural and as far as I’m concerned, NOT good for you in any way. Yes, you get less calories if you drink a diet soda, but I think the sugar in a regular soda is the least of your worries when it comes to what’s in it.
It never even occurred to me that there would be aspartame and sorbitol in gum that wasn’t sugar free.
So, knowing only that they are artificial sweeteners that are bad for me, I went to do some research. Turns out sorbitol is a LAXATIVE.
I’ve been ingesting a laxative, 4 to 6+ times a day for roughly 3 years straight! Holy CRAP! No wonder my GI tract is upset and irritated!
I spat the gum out and threw away every last piece I had. You’d think that’d be the end of it, but if you did, as I did, you would also be VERY, VERY wrong. This was just the point at which my body began to detox.
Wednesday morning @ 5am, I reach the peak of my resistance and drove my trembling, weeping, doubled over self to the emergency room. The first thing they gave me was an IV of saline and a shot of ativan (anti-anxiety) so I could stop shaking and bawling.
I tried to explain all of the above to the ER doctor but he clearly felt me hysterical and kept using words like flu and virus and parasite and e-coli. He wasn’t listening to me at all, but I figured there was no harm in eliminating all other possibilities. I did notice, however, that the more of that saline that dripped into my arm, the better I seemed to feel. I’d been drinking plenty of fluids because people die from dehydration associated with diarrhea, but I got the impression that I should drink even more. This was actually when the “detox” concept really hit me.
This is also when it hit me that, over the past week, as my appetite shrunk more and more, and the GI symptoms increased, I was also actually chewing MORE gum than usual. Mostly just keeping the rotten tasting cotton mouth at bay, but unwittingly increasing my toxicity level AND immediate side effects. Hence, every pain and discomfort was steadily increasing.
So, the hospital discharged me an hour later with a diagnosis of “gastroenteritis” brought on due to the flu, which basically means, you have a bellyache and we’re not sure why. But they did take blood, urine, and stool samples and promised to have my results in three days. Stay hydrated and come back if you don’t get better.
At this point, on this Wednesday morning, on this day 11 of my “illness,” I am officially down 9 pounds.
I spent Wednesday and Thursday, shaking, crying, and detoxing in bed. Friday was a little better and Saturday, even more so. Saturday evening, my appetite even reared it’s head and I ate some applesauce and crackers.
Sunday morning~ 8-8-10, I woke up with a grumble in my belly, but it didn’t launch me from my bed in a panicked dash for the bathroom. It coaxed me from my bed with the promise of abating if I’d only go into the bathroom… and I did… and it did.
Official weight tally… Day 15, down 13 pounds.
Sunday I ate a pretty steady amount of food all day. Very small portions of very bland food, but I ate about every 2-3 hours. A lot less grumble. A lot less pain and cramping.
Lots of enter, no more exit :)
And finally, this morning… Monday. Day 16. I woke to the radio of Mike’s alarm clock at 7am, taking note that I’d actually slept all night. I feel almost completely normal. Still a little soft in the stool, but sure not like before.
The hospital, which has definitely failed to impress me, didn’t call with the results of all my tests until this morning. They gave me a clean bill of health. They found NOTHING. Apparently they’re standing by their peculiarly symptom deficient diagnosis of the flu.
Whatever….
I’m going to find a doctor to do, probably, a colonoscopy on me. I’ve been overdosing on laxative, every day, for the past 3 years. I want someone to LOOK in there and make sure there’s no damage.
So this is my testimonial. Look at the list of ingredients on the things you eat. Even if they’re things you only chew and not swallow. Even if it’s not actually food.
And I highly recommend avoiding sorbitol at all costs. I know I sure intend to.
* * * * * * * * * * *
My affirmation until Monday, 8-9-10 on the New Moon~
I AM a miracle in motion~ Only more miracles can come from me*
Enjoy my post? Visit my Donation Box, post a comment or recommend me ↓ to friends!
