Aspartame

[WonderfulDreamer2]

Just curious as to the number of people here who think they may have had problems with Aspartame.
For months now I have felt tired, irritable, my muscles and joints ache, my head is always hurting. I can't seem to get enough sleep (although I take Ambien), at times I feel jittery for no reason. I don't do caffine due to an irregular heartbeat. Almost 2 weeks ago I ended up in the ER due to sudden and rapidly progressive muscle pain that went from my head to my knees...it was the kind of muscle pain you would feel the day after an intense workout when you haven't done one in a while. My knee's and hands were so swollen the next day I couldn't move...literally. My DH has been having a lot of the same symptoms. I feel like I have been living on Tylenol and Ibuprofen for a while now and it never seems to quite do the job...I still hurt all the time.
Today we were talking about the number of diet drinks we consume. It hit us both that perhaps that was the problem since we were BOTH having these issues.
So who out here in DIS Land has cut the Aspartame and found it made them feel better....not just a little better, but a lot? I just got off the Fibromyalgia site and have every symptom. Just curious about your experiences.

 

[wowsmom]

I used to drink a lot of diet sodas back in the 80s when aspartame was first out. I started getting horrible headaches (shooting pain), stomach cramps and leg cramps. I finally made the connection to the aspartame one day when I'd been fine and then drank a diet sparkling hawaiian punch and it all started up.

A couple of years ago, I was taking an over the counter allergy medicine, not realizing it had aspartame in it, but was having a creepy-crawly feeling in my arms and stomach cramps. When I stopped the medicine, they stopped.

If I were you, I'd stop the aspartame for a couple of weeks and see how you feel.

 

[WonderfulDreamer2]

We just tossed the few cans of diet soda we had out. We said we would go 1 month and see what happened. I need to do my research though because I feel deprived just drinking water. Thanks for answering.

 

[helenabear]

I don't often talk about the muscle/joint issues I used to have because it's just a PITA to bring it up most of the time. We aren't sure if it was a direct correlation or not, but it was assumed I had fibro as well. I had those issues while drinking lots of diet. Now that I have been off diet I don't deal with *any* of that anymore. I think it took a while for the symptoms like that to finally go away.

My biggest noticable thing was how my metabolism changed. I switched from diet to regular coke and lost 10 pounds.

Drank the same amount too. If you look up aspartame you will see bad side effects about how it not only makes you feel hungry, but it slows down your metabolism.

I now avoid all "fake sugars" because of issues like this. Splenda gives me massive headaches and with all the issues I had with aspartame, I won't go back. Sadly it gets hard now to avoid it as it is even in chewing gum

 

[babytrees]

Stop the aspartame right now. I get immediate migraines....it's nasty...We can tell in our house when something has aspartame in it.

 

[mirthmaiden]

I have to admit I'm a certified diet pepsiholic. While I don't get headaches, I do get very occasional fybro-like symptoms, but then I have a massive amount of stress in my life too. I haven't heard anybody mention memory loss, but Aspertame has been linked to it. I tend to attribute my STM loss to Aspertame overdose. But again, I have so much going on that it could just be from overdoing it.

Like the other posters have said, I would cut out the Aspertame for a while and see what changes you get.

 

[WonderfulDreamer2]

Crap, I forgot about the memory loss issue (and for once, that isn't a joke). My STM is crap. Thats it.....I'm off it. Thanks so much to all of you have answered thus far.

 

[phorsenuf]

I was a huge caffeine free diet coke freak up until 3 weeks ago when I started on weight watchers. I just stopped drinking it and haven't had any since. Unfortunately I still feel the same as I always have. I also suffer from Fibromyalgia but I'm still having lots of pain.

 

[KristinBelle]

I drank the last of the diet soda with aspartame the day before yesterday and for the first time in a long while I didn't wake up with a headache! I've switched back to regular soda and I'm trying to drink more water.

For a couple months now I've had these occasional days when I felt so tired a and worn out. I'd even get stomach cramps with a horrible headache, I couldn't figure out what was up. But then a friend told me she had problems with aspartame similar to what I described so I figured it was worth a shot. So far so good, I won't be going back to drinking it.

 

[KristinBelle]

My biggest noticable thing was how my metabolism changed. I switched from diet to regular coke and lost 10 pounds.

Drank the same amount too. If you look up aspartame you will see bad side effects about how it not only makes you feel hungry, but it slows down your metabolism.

How much soda do you drink a day? I ask because I just switched back to regular soda too.

 

[Msslaydbug]

It doesn't seem to affect me but my mom has sworn for years it gives her the worst headaches.

 

[cybrkitn]

The only problem aspartame gives me is an upset stomach. I can't have it in drinks or food. Only happens with aspartame. I'm fine with Splenda.

I tried googling it, but haven't come across any reliable sources. The official aspartame web site doesn't mention any side effects. The closest thing to it are just the myths listed. But I can tell you first hand that there are side effects.

 

[acadia1960]

Any type of artificial sweetner gives me headaches and stomach cramps, but the worst offender is MSG-Monosodium glutamate.

 

[cybrkitn]

I have to admit I'm a certified diet pepsiholic. While I don't get headaches, I do get very occasional fybro-like symptoms, but then I have a massive amount of stress in my life too. I haven't heard anybody mention memory loss, but Aspertame has been linked to it. I tend to attribute my STM loss to Aspertame overdose. But again, I have so much going on that it could just be from overdoing it.

Like the other posters have said, I would cut out the Aspertame for a while and see what changes you get.

And I thought my DH was the only one! I would buy 7 bottles of DP bi-weekly (that's when we get paid) and he would finish them all within 1 week or less. It worked out to be about 1-2 bottles a day (literally). He hasn't had any side effects from the aspartame though. He's just addicted to the caffeine.

 

[LadyyRedd]

You could try Diet Rite. It has Sucralose instead of Aspartame. Aspartame gives me all sorts of issues, but Sucralose is fine. And the Diet Rite doesn't have caffeine and they have more flavors than just cola.

Kimya

 

[MzDiz]

I had a whole list of symptoms from aspartame. I gave that up and switched to regular, then started to learn about high fructose corn syrup. Now I only buy natural sodas, and that's pretty rare. They're pretty expensive and I don't need the extra calories anyway.

 

[GeorgeG]

I drink a lot of Diet Coke... a lot! At my age it's not always easy to determine what causes what aches and other symtoms, but as for the headaches, I get them if I don't have my Diet Coke in the morning. My neighbor across the street is the same way. Neither of us drinks coffee or tea.

I'm diabetic so I'm not sure switching to regular Coke is such a good thing and I've really gotten used to the diet flavor. I should probably try the Diet Rite and see if that changes anything. I've also read that Aspartame can mess with diabetics. So, why do I still drink about 6 Diet Cokes a day? It's probably my only addiction. Do you think there's a patch for this?

 

[Aidensmom]

Aspartame gives me headaches.

I try to avoid artificial sweeteners as a whole because I just really don't like the idea of putting "artificial" stuff in my body, but I do drink diet sodas with Splenda in them now and then and they don't seem to bother me. I don't drink them very often though so I don't know how I would react if I drank them regularly.

There are a lot of drinks out there besides sodas, which seems to be where most people get a lot of their artificial sweeteners. I drink a lot of water and herbal teas, they are calorie free too.

 

[WonderfulDreamer2]

I'm guessing I'm gonna stick with flavored water such as Propel or stuff like that. You guys have been a lot of help.

 

[helenabear]

I'm guessing I'm gonna stick with flavored water such as Propel or stuff like that. You guys have been a lot of help.

Unless you are willing to switch to another artificial sweetener, sucralose, I'd avoid Propel as well. That has Splenda in it. I know some here like it, but I find it horrible for headaches. Some have stomach issues as well. I know some claim it is "safe" but I would stay away from that as well. If you look at how it was created, it is rather scary. JMO