Sugar would be better than the Splenda. Artificial sugars are great at tricking the body they are real, so great in fact the body tries to process them the same way, which is why they are harsh on the kidneys. Refined sugar, is on the other hand, not much different than eating plants or meat for how the body treats and processes the sugar.

It is after all simply broken down plant matter, they remove the fibers, some of the more complex protiens and for granulated sugar they do so by boiling and dehydrating (allowing the sugar crystals to form) the sugar cane. After which point they grind the sugar crystals down to the form we see it in at the store.

Sugar can be made from a variety of different plants, corn plants yield high fructose corn syrup, a very simple sugar which has a higher frutouse "sweetness factor" than cane sugar. The sap of maple trees yields maple sugar, a slightly smoky flavored sugar from the processing of the sap to syrup. And there's a variety of simply syrups that can be made into naturally flavored sugar like the maple sugar, including honey.

As far as the body is concerned in processing these sugars, X amount of calories is stored, same as if you at the cane stalk, maple syrup, corn, apple...etc, the simple protiens get processed through the kidneys and sent on to the adrenaline system.

When you use artificial sweeteners the body thinks of them as simple protiens and sends it on to your kidneys and there they stay. There are no simple protiens for it to process, it tries storing calories that don't exist. And over time use of those artificial sweeteners being to form stones in your kidneys and slow your kidneys down.

The odd diet Coke won't kill your kidneys or send your running to the ER with kidney stones, in most cases. But it's still best to avoid them whenever possible.

As to the steriod use, I can't be much help there as I can't use steriods to begin with. But like with any medical treatment, and even making a choice between eating a burger or eating a chicken breast, it's risk versus reward. Steriods CAN lead to a multitude of serious health problems, they also may not cause any problems for you personally.

So you have to weigh your options, not just by what steriods MIGHT do to you, but also what MAY happen if you don't take them. Only you can decide if the benefits outweigh the risks. Is it worse for you to be able to move and have cushings on top of MS? Or is it worse for you to not be able to move but not have cushings? And is it worth the loaded dice roll to the favor of not developing cushings at all, to take the steriods and be able to move?

You pretty much have a 1 in 4 shot as with all of life's choices. Pick A: get benefit plus risk, B: risk without benefit, C: benefit without risk, D: no benefit plus no risk. That's life in a nutshell the probabilities can only be loaded to oneside or the other by our existing knowledge but it never completely removes the other possible outcomes.