Elizabeth, Usually these sort of regressive slow downs are a matter of customizations slowing things down. The standard test is "emacs -q" to start without your initialization. If that restores your previous speed, then you know to start looking at your .emacs and customizations for the problem.
Kevin Buchs | Senior Engineer | SPPDG | 507-538-5459 | buchs.ke...@mayo.edu Mayo Clinic | 200 First Street SW | Rochester, MN 55905 | http://www.mayo.edu