Anyone experienced pain due to artificial sweeteners..?
david081
Posts: 489 Member
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
Regards, David
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Replies
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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 Luck0 -
Besides the obvious answer, how would you know? Yes of course it must have been.0
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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.0
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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.0 -
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.0
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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.0 -
Migraines here
Thats a LOT of diet soda tho.. soda makes you pee, sure you don't need to increase your potassium?0 -
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.0 -
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!0
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There's a lot of fear-mongering regarding artificial sweeteners. Best to ask your doctor.0
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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.0 -
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.0
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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.0 -
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=10 -
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.0
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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.0
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see post below. sorry- just learning how to do this.0
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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.0 -
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, David0 -
I get really bad headaches from most artificial sweeteners. including Splenda.0
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i love aspartame - it is my friend, it helps me lose weight
I have no idea of its links to gout, but if you are having gout flare ups and thats the only thing that changed - then yeah quit drinking it.0 -
I think moral of the story is stay away from it? And dayum, 2 litres? You should really get off that junk all together, you will learn that stuff that sweet and artificial (whether it's normal or diet) actually tastes crappy. I used to like soft drinks but now I can barely stand them!0
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It keeps me up, i had to cut it out because I wasn't sleeping.0
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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.
I guess that makes you the winner! She will never tell you it is in your head again!
SOME people are "allergic" to aspartame and/or other artificial sweeteners. I however am not so I can't really say if it could cause a gout-like response.0 -
I have heard of aspartine poisoning. There are many articles on it. I started drinking diet sodas when trying to lose weight, and became very addicted, much more than with regular sodas. When I stopped drinking them, I had horrible headaches, and withdrawls. Diet sodas are bad, so are regular sodas. I haven't had one in 2 months, and I feel so much better. I have stopped using all artificial sweeteners as well.0
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I get terribly sick from any artificial sweeteners. I will get horrible migraines, terrible nausea and start feeling dizzy and just kind of out-of-it. I avoid them like the plaque - I don't see the sense in replacing sugar with chemical sweetners; have the real stuff in moderation.0
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It's probably gout returning. Go see a doctor0
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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.
Mercola is the biggest f'ing quack/fear-mongerer out there. Please ignore everything he says.0 -
From one Dave To another.... Google "Sweet Misery" and watch it. If you buy into what they are saying, and I do because of the effects I've seen on two members of my family, You may never let another artificial sweetener enter your system. It's really the worst thing you could put into your body IMHO. Water, moderate Coffee or tea, occasional cocktails. Good Clean living!
You won't regret it brother.....:drinker:0
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