Splenda and headaches?

[torinsmom]

Anyone had an increase in headaches with Splenda? I have lots of headaches already, but they are usually not severe and go away with ibuprofen. On occasion, I take Fiorcet and my headache is gone in 10 minutes. Well, the last week I have had a really bad headache when I wake up every morning. I have just started a low carb diet, so I was thinking maybe that had something to do with it. I have been on low carb before and never noticed that symptom. This time I read a book that said nutrasweet can increase blood sugar and slow down weight loss. So a week ago, I started drinking water that has splenda vs. nutrasweet. Now I am reading that splenda can cause migraines. Has anyone had any experience with this before?

I am going to getj off the splenda and see what happens. I can't live without my diet drinks, though, so I will go back to the nutrasweet. I went off that once for 2 weeks and the headaches stayed the same.(I gained 5 lbs though!)

Marsha

 

[Lisa_M]

I get headaches when I eat anything with Splenda and stomaches with Aspartame. I diligently check to avoid all artificial sweetners.

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

I can't stand anything with Aspartame. Gives me headaches. Do a google search Aspartame. There is some scary data out there regarding it's effects on the human body. As far as gaining pounds - if you take ibuprofen regularly that can cause you to gain a couple of pounds.

I had a really good article about the effects of drinking diet soda. Basically it fools your body into thinking it's going to get a bunch of sugar, so your body dumps insulin to counter this effect - only there is no real sugar. Then you start craving real sugar since your blood sugar levels drop. Makes for a lovely roller-coaster result on your blood sugar levels.

My DH drinks diet soda by the two-liter bottle and it drives me crazy. He thinks it will help him lose weight. I just keep asking him how many skinny people do you see drinking diet ? Not very many...

 

[Diva of Dragons]

If I have so much as a sip of anything with Splenda/Sucralose in it, I am floored with a migraine! It's a very common "allergic" reaction.

The stuff is billed as being natural and "made from real sugar". What they don't tell you is that it is made from one sugar MOLECULE, while the rest is basically chlorine! You can find out about the true chemical content of it online. sweetpoison.com might have info. on it.

Not long after Splenda got popular, I read a huge article (maybe L.A. Times), about how it is manufactured, and how a huge sugar company switched its entire operation over to make, it because it's so much more profitable.

What gets me is that it is being marketed in sooooo many things, especailly "kids" snack foods. I have to read labels on everything. Sucralose is even in several OTC medications now. Makes no sense.

 

[luvmy3]

When I consume alot of splenda I get light headed and dizzy. I'm sure it could be causing your headaches as well.

 

[Nie0214]

I know 3 or 4 people who get bad headaches from things that contain Aspartame.

 

[torinsmom]

Thanks for the info. I really wish I could stop drinking all artificial sweeteners, but I really cannot stand plain water. Most of what I drink is the carbonated water with nutrasweet and that is what I switched(to the kind made with splenda instead) I will switch back to the kind with nutrasweet first to try to get rid of this terrible headache(which is worse when I lie down for some odd reason) Even my migraine medicine is not touching this headache!

Maybe I can figure out how to get off the nutrasweet as well. I may try the carbonated water with just fruit flavor and see how that is.

I can't stop the ibuprofen because that is all that keeps me from having 24/7 headaches. No doctor has told me how to go off ibuprofen WITHOUT having such bad rebounds that I can't function. It's like a crazy chain reaction that I can't stop. I'll be seeing a new neurologist in a few weeks and we'll see what they have to say.

Marsha

 

[mill4023]

I had never heard about a connection between splenda and migraines.

I get normal headaches all the time. Seems like I'm taking advil at least 3 or 4 times a week. I started getting migraines about 2 or 3 years ago. I get them about once every month or two. I probably use at least 6 or 8 packets of Splenda per day, because I use it in my coffee and drink several cups a day.

I'll have to try cutting it out for a few weeks and see if my headaches decrease. Of course, it could be a lot of other things too. My glasses need replaced and I stare at a computer all day long. Or it could just be all the caffeine. But it's worth a try to see if it makes a difference.

 

[C.Ann]

Any sort of artificial sweetener gives me massive headaches..

 

[LuvOrlando]

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[torinsmom]

It's not you, the link is pretty common... now whether or not the powerful artificial sweetener companies let the word out publicly is another thing entirely
:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_substitute

I get migraines from a good dose of every sweetener, except sugar and saccharine.... which is why the diet sodas when I was a kid didn't bug me at all. A few of the biggest culprits these days are Maltodextrin, Maltitol & Sorbitol which show up in the weirdest stuff these days to keep calories down on even non-sweet food. One such example are the Purdue breaded fully cooked frozen chicken strips... I bought some for my kids and was fit for a hospital bed in 1/2 hour.... its even in my canned chicken broth(last night I had a mind numbing migraine from the College Inn broth in my Chicken Stew)?!? I say watch all prepared starches and fluids.. its everywhere.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/migraine-headache/DS00120/DSECTION=causes

I can have the sweeteners in very small doses, as in 1 artificially sweetened drink every other day, but they seem to build up in my body over time so I need to be careful.

Recently my headaches dropped from 15 a month to around 5 and I think its simply because I stopped eating prepared foods and at restaurants... I think the biggest problem may have been corn syrup. Now I make almost everything from scratch and drink flavored seltzer and water with saccharine in my coffee with fat free milk. Also, I suspect the stores treat the fruit with a trigger too so maybe try giving it a good scrub if you eat a lot of fruit.

As for the rebound thing. I've had it. Try to take turns between 2-3 days on Tylenol then 2-3 on Motrin and alternate with the Fiorocet, which has Tylenol. But be careful with the Tylenol because it becomes toxic pretty quickly if you're not careful. I have a 3 day rule, and never take the same thing for more than 3 days in a row and this rule has helped me for 20 years so I guess it's reasonable.

Feel better

Thanks! I'll try the alternating. Tylenol does nothing for me, but excedrin works sometimes. I have to save the Fiorcet for real migraines because my doctor is so stingy with refilling it! I can have 30 pills last 3 months and they will still question the refill because it has a controlled substance in it. Well, don't you think I would need more than 2 pills a week if I was addicted? Sometimes doctors are idiots!

Marsha

 

[LuvOrlando]

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[olena]

Splenda and Truvia give me bad headaches. Sweet-N-Low doesn't bother me too much.

 

[toledo13]

Anyone had an increase in headaches with Splenda? I have lots of headaches already, but they are usually not severe and go away with ibuprofen. On occasion, I take Fiorcet and my headache is gone in 10 minutes. Well, the last week I have had a really bad headache when I wake up every morning. I have just started a low carb diet, so I was thinking maybe that had something to do with it. I have been on low carb before and never noticed that symptom. This time I read a book that said nutrasweet can increase blood sugar and slow down weight loss. So a week ago, I started drinking water that has splenda vs. nutrasweet. Now I am reading that splenda can cause migraines. Has anyone had any experience with this before?

I am going to getj off the splenda and see what happens. I can't live without my diet drinks, though, so I will go back to the nutrasweet. I went off that once for 2 weeks and the headaches stayed the same.(I gained 5 lbs though!)

Marsha

STAY AWAY FROM ARTIFICIAL ANYTHING!! It's all poisin. Check out this article: http://www.womentowomen.com/healthyweight/splenda.aspx

and this one: http://www.quick-weightloss-solutions.com/dangers-of-splenda.html

Stick to agave, or honey.

 

[tazdev3225]

My DH was diagnosed with diabetes a couple of years ago. He switched to Splenda and then was floored with severe migraines. He stopped and the migraines stopped. He can tell when he accidentally eats something with Splenda as an ingredient. It has the same effect on my one DD. I can't use Aspartame because I start getting weird problems with my eyes. We use no sweeteners or real sugar in moderation.

 

[Meriweather]

It doesn't bother me. None of them do. Doesn't bother DH either.
But a friend can't tolerate any of the artificial sweeteners.

 

[chell]

All artificial sweeteners give me migraines. I've not found one yet that doesn't.

 

[honugirl]

I can't do any artificial sweeteners, they give me massive headaches. I hate that so many things have them in them now. I went to go buy those single packets of green tea stuff (kind of like crystal lite) and they all had artificial sweeteners in them. I have to be careful with some medications because they contain them as well. I wish they'd stick to plain old sugar or honey.