Anyone experienced pain due to artificial sweeteners..?

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david081
david081 Posts: 489 Member
in Food and Nutrition
As part of a drive to reduce my calorie intake, I recently started drinking 'diet' soft drinks, maybe 1 or 2 litres a day. Last night I woke in the early hours with excruciating pain in the joint of my right big toe. The symptoms are very similar to gout, which I have experienced a couple of years back. My morning walk took twice as long today, due to the pain in my foot. Some internet research suggests Aspartame may be responsible for these symptoms - anyone with similar experience/joint pain, that goes away once the Aspartame is eliminated..?

Regards, David
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Replies

  • lucycassingena
    lucycassingena Posts: 110
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    I have heard a lot about aspartame, enough to keep me avoiding it, I dont think its bad in small doses but I know I certainly would rather drink water than a diet soda. It scares me.

    Also from the stories I have heard once it has been eliminated you quickly improve yes.

    Good Luck
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,018 Member
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    Besides the obvious answer, how would you know? Yes of course it must have been.
  • sbbhbm
    sbbhbm Posts: 1,312 Member
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    I don't get the joint pain, but I get blinding migraines- so does my mom. My vile, evil mother-in-law kept telling me it was all in my head... so she gave me some diet fruit juice one day and told me it was regular juice. 20 minutes later I had such a horrible migrain I actually vomited all over her new couch. Served the old hag right.
  • sallyaj
    sallyaj Posts: 207 Member
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    Aspertame (equal) doesn't bother me. The alcohol sugars that are in diabetic chocolates and lots of low-carb bars can give me stomach cramps.

    Dr. Attia over at The Eating Academy applies his chemistry nerd to the topic of sweeteners:

    http://eatingacademy.com/nutrition/what-are-the-side-effects-of-aspartame-stevia-and-other-sugar-substitutes

    I found it helpful.
  • sallyaj
    sallyaj Posts: 207 Member
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    David, could your gout be back? A lot of the guys in my family have it and an attack starts in the big toe for them.
  • now_or_never13
    now_or_never13 Posts: 1,575 Member
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    I have never experienced it.

    There is artificial sweeteners in a lot of things... some I'm sure you were eating prior to the switch to diet pop. Artificial sweeteners may of caused it... but it could of been anything else that caused it.

    I personally don't believe there is enough proof on artificial sweeteners out there to prove that they do affect the body as people claim. Some do have sensitivities to them though. In very large amounts I get migraines. But a pop or two, or a package or two in my coffee has never done anything.

    It's possible your gout is back.. you could of hurt your toe somehow in your sleep, it could of cramped up somehow, etc.
  • jsiricos
    jsiricos Posts: 338 Member
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    Migraines here

    Thats a LOT of diet soda tho.. soda makes you pee, sure you don't need to increase your potassium?
  • Illona88
    Illona88 Posts: 903 Member
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    I know they give me, and many other people, horrific migraines. So it's clearly not very good for you.
    But joint pain? I don't know. I think you should go to your doctor if you're in so much pain.
  • lorcart
    lorcart Posts: 406 Member
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    Blah! I get stomach cramps from hell!!! I get it with artificial sweeteners and also sulpher that they put on stuff like dried fruit to "preserve" it...and kill me!
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    There's a lot of fear-mongering regarding artificial sweeteners. Best to ask your doctor.
  • gwenmf
    gwenmf Posts: 888 Member
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    I've heard some of the same complaints you've mentioned. Here's a little info.

    http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/11/06/aspartame-most-dangerous-substance-added-to-food.aspx

    http://www.mercola.com/article/aspartame/hidden_dangers.htm

    I'm trying to wean myself off of it. It's not easy with all it's into.
  • srenea9
    srenea9 Posts: 142
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    My boss started eating Truvia, and she said that she was getting really bad back pain. Once she stopped eating it she was fine. She asked her doctor & they said muscle aches were a side effects from the sugar. I have never tried it, I eat Stevia & I'm fine.
  • jynxxxed
    jynxxxed Posts: 1,010 Member
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    If you're worried about it, stop drinking it and see if it helps.

    I was drinking diet soda fine for many months and just last week I got stomach aches every time I began drinking a can of it (I'd have about 1 a day). To be fair, I usually don't respond well to the non-diet variety either though. If you have any concern just see a medical professional or at least cut out what you think the cause could be and go from there.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    I've heard some of the same complaints you've mentioned. Here's a little info.

    http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/11/06/aspartame-most-dangerous-substance-added-to-food.aspx

    http://www.mercola.com/article/aspartame/hidden_dangers.htm

    I'm trying to wean myself off of it. It's not easy with all it's into.

    http://andevidencelibrary.com/topic.cfm?cat=4089&auth=1
  • kjm3579
    kjm3579 Posts: 3,974 Member
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    I get bad headaches from diet sodas. About a year ago I tried Splenda in my diet for just a few days and ended up getting so sick that I had to have my son pick me up from work. Took a few days for it to get out of my system after that and now I won't touch the stuff. I have also noticed from time to time that I have felt sick after eating things with sugar alcohols in them as well.
  • crabbok
    crabbok Posts: 66 Member
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    I used to drink a 12-pack of diet coke every day and then I started getting pain in my chest or heart. It scared the hell outta me and I never went back to diet sodas.
  • jsrussell2127
    jsrussell2127 Posts: 21 Member
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    see post below. sorry- just learning how to do this.
  • jsrussell2127
    jsrussell2127 Posts: 21 Member
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    I, too, have this reaction to diet drinks - ALL of them, except one. Diet Dr. Pepper. I worked at a CPA firm for a while and after tax season we all tried the Atkins Diet (the current fad at the time). Everyone was fine, except me, with the diet drinks. I couldn't even handle all the flavored waters. Soooooo, I began to look into it.

    It appears that I have some sort of reaction to a preservative called "Potassium Benzoate". The regular drinks/juices/waters, etc have "Sodium Benzoate", but ALL the diet drinks, flavored waters, etc have the potassium. All EXCEPT Diet Dr. Pepper. I changed from regular drinks to Diet Dr. Pepper and dropped about 10-11lbs without even trying. Now, that's all I drink except water with lemon.

    I can handle a small amount of Splenda, though. Oh and my grandmother and my father have the same reactions to diet drinks.
  • david081
    david081 Posts: 489 Member
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    Thanks for the input friends, I think I'll stick with H2O for now. I have poured the last of my diet drinks down the sink. I'm not consuming any of the substances (alcohol, high cholesterol foods etc) said to contain the levels of purin that may lead to gout symptoms, and the only recent change I made was drinking these diet drinks - hopefully it will clear up in a few days...

    Regards, David

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