I Am An Addict...

And thank goodness my addiction isn't something like heroin, or cocaine, or (God forbid) COFFEE! No...I'm a MOUNTAIN DEW addict...plain and simple.

Remember last year when I did the trial experiment called "DOWNSIZE ME"? I went on a complete, no caffeine diet for 30 days...and, I have to say, I DID feel better following my horrid withdrawal period (friends around me did NOT feel better during the ordeal, but later witnessed the improvement). Once I had kicked the habit (so to speak), I found I had MORE energy and was LESS tired than my usual fatigued self. I also lost a smidgen of weight in the process as an extra bonus.

Well...somewhere over the past few months, I have fallen back ON the wagon and started guzzling my urine-yellow elixir! It was a subtle return to my diet at first...I found myself feeling waaaay too exhausted, so I grabbed the DEW off a grocery shelf a few months ago and downed one. I will admit, it tasted DAYUMED GOOD. And, slowly over the course of a few weeks, I found myself buying the tantalizing drink...first, only in singles...but later in FULL TWELVE PACKS. I was addicted once again.

This past month, I have been lamenting about my fatigue. I have certainly had many instances in my personal schedule to tire myself out (like working night shifts, meetings, etc.) and, with the worsening of my MS symptoms, the fatigue factor seemed an "unnaturally natural" course. I have felt tired for a REASON...perhaps even BESIDES MS. I have also noticed the aching returning to my joints and a horrible muscle stiffness settling in around my neck and upper arms. This, coupled with sores erupting in my mouth and what has felt like the beginning signs of a urinary tract infection, caused me to stop and examine my current MS status and routine. I have also (once again) started adding just a few pounds back from my recent hard-earned weight loss.

When one is a TRUE addict, it is difficult to point a finger directly at a cause...but I believe ONE of the culprits of my recent decline has been my intake of "The DEW". There IS scientific evidence out there that an increased intake of processed sugars CAN set up the immune system to begin to malfunction (not that mine isn't ALREADY malfunctioning due to MS...but you know what I mean!)...our bodies become more susceptible to infection as well as a shifting of fluids occur within the joints (causing pain). In other words, TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING CAN BE DAMNING...sigh...

So...I cut myself off...cold turkey...from "The DEW". I did this illness-defying act yesterday on my first of three days off from work...I knew I would need some "alone time" to pull the stunt off. LOL So far, so good. Except I have really been JONES-ING for an ice-cold DEW!!!! I never realized how unconscious I had become once again about drinking the darned stuff. I have been tempted to hit the dark alley behind the Pepsi Bottling Company just to see if I can SCORE some of the "juice"...it's about that bad.

I'm hoping once I get past a few days of life without "The DEW", I will begin to see some improvement in my fatigue, joint pain, and general health. If not...you'll probably be able to find me behind the dumpster at the Pepsi Corporation spending my hard-earned cash for a "hit" of the drink. I'll be the one hunched over in pain because my knees hurt, searching for a bathroom due to urinary frequency, and going by the street name, "BrainCheese"...