Diet Coke and Joint Pain
cedarsidefarm
Posts: 163 Member
So, I've been losing weight for the last 30 days and I decided to reward myself with a glass of Diet Coke. I stopped drinking it when I started my LCHF diet about 70 days ago. Now I mostly drink tea, coffee or water flavored with cucumbers, lemon or lime. So I put a lot of lime in the Diet Coke to hide the chemical flavor and drank 3 glasses of it.
The very next day I woke up in horrible pain in my wrists, ankles and shoulders, even my legs ached. It was so painful I did very little farm work and thought maybe I was getting too old for this active lifestyle. So, I haven't drunk any more Diet Coke and the pain has slowly subsided to the point where I can work again.
So, I googled Diet Coke and joint pain and discovered it is a thing. Has anyone else experienced this? I've been drinking Diet Coke for years and had very sore joints getting worse and worse until I started LCHF without artificial sweeteners. No more aspartame or diet drinks for me.
Wow, it amazes me they allow such awful side affects without banning the crap or at least warning you about it.
The very next day I woke up in horrible pain in my wrists, ankles and shoulders, even my legs ached. It was so painful I did very little farm work and thought maybe I was getting too old for this active lifestyle. So, I haven't drunk any more Diet Coke and the pain has slowly subsided to the point where I can work again.
So, I googled Diet Coke and joint pain and discovered it is a thing. Has anyone else experienced this? I've been drinking Diet Coke for years and had very sore joints getting worse and worse until I started LCHF without artificial sweeteners. No more aspartame or diet drinks for me.
Wow, it amazes me they allow such awful side affects without banning the crap or at least warning you about it.
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I actually have recently. I get joint pain mostly from sugar but sometimes from aspartame too.0
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nooooooooo I don't want to believe it. Frack. guess I'll give it up for a while and see how it affects my own back pain...0
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I had to quit artificial sweeteners a few years back when I first started getting arthritis symptoms because my doctor said they would make it worse. I didn't want to believe it either but I did a few experiments with elimination and reintroduction and he was right. Now I am so used to plain coffee and tea that I don't miss the sweet taste.0
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Yes, it's a big THING for some, like me too! I gave up diet coke years ago, but not artificial sweeteners. Didn't correlate their effect on pain until giving them up then reintroducing them. The pain, and inflammation, was terrible! Hate you had to find that out!1
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Hello a little side note/question: when we say artificial sweeteners, is this excluding stevia? I have been reading that stevia is a natural sweetener (plant extract) so that's what I've been using. I just want to make sure I'm not misunderstanding.
I have done my best to nix aspartame. I did purchase some Skinny Girl and ICE flavored water products a few weeks ago and I'm usually pretty diligent about reading nutrition labels but I guess I missed that they contained aspartame. I also don't know why but I was craving those Ice Breaker Sours candies and nibbled on those for a few days and those contained aspartame. I noticed the times I had aspartame I got pretty bad headaches late that night or the following day. Now that you mention it, I haven't really had any joint pain lately but I also haven't been doing my strength training, just cardio at the moment.0 -
I experience this too, especially with Mountain Dew or diet Mountain Dew. Any diet soda will do it, too.
The real ginger ale (not the flavored corn syrup stuff, but the real "ginger brew" Jamaicain style) doesn't bother me.0 -
Hello a little side note/question: when we say artificial sweeteners, is this excluding stevia? I have been reading that stevia is a natural sweetener (plant extract) so that's what I've been using. I just want to make sure I'm not misunderstanding.
I have done my best to nix aspartame. I did purchase some Skinny Girl and ICE flavored water products a few weeks ago and I'm usually pretty diligent about reading nutrition labels but I guess I missed that they contained aspartame. I also don't know why but I was craving those Ice Breaker Sours candies and nibbled on those for a few days and those contained aspartame. I noticed the times I had aspartame I got pretty bad headaches late that night or the following day. Now that you mention it, I haven't really had any joint pain lately but I also haven't been doing my strength training, just cardio at the moment.
I personally have no issues when I use Stevia. I have the Sweet Leaf drops. I just don't typically use much because I've gotten used to everything unsweetened so it makes things too sweet for me.
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What I read was that the aspartame was a known allergen and it gives you an inflammation and pain reaction as if you had eaten something you are allergic to.
I have not read anything about other artificial sweeteners and I chew gum regularly that has Xylitol in it. I bet it does the same thing. I should do an experiment.
Just another thing to give up, sigh.....but it will help with the pain and swelling.1 -
I haven't had any issues with it but I may try a 30 or 60 day experiment to see if I notice any changes in how I feel...1
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Most all of us have triggers so we just learn what they are and stop pulling the triggers.
I just wished it had not taken me 63 years to figure out that simple fact. Keep up the success.
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FWIW I haven't noticed any other problems when I use stevia or Splenda. Aspartame and sugar bother me though.0
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macchiatto wrote: »FWIW I haven't noticed any other problems when I use stevia or Splenda. Aspartame and sugar bother me though.
Well, that is good news. I hope it is the same way for me. I am discovering how many things have aspartame. It's like sugar, hidden in many things.
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ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1474447/
Possible neurologic effects of aspartame, a widely used food additive.
It was in my supplement Magnesium Potassium Aspartate that I will toss out by Country Life. I was thinking I was doing something good by taking it. I need what brains I have left. 0 -
macchiatto wrote: »FWIW I haven't noticed any other problems when I use stevia or Splenda. Aspartame and sugar bother me though.
@macchiatto and @cedarsidefarm - Be careful with splenda powder - it spikes my blood insulin! Be careful with the liquids, too, for some people they can trigger lately migraines. I stick to SweetLeaf Stevia, too, and that's pretty much it...0 -
KnitOrMiss wrote: »macchiatto wrote: »FWIW I haven't noticed any other problems when I use stevia or Splenda. Aspartame and sugar bother me though.
@macchiatto and @cedarsidefarm - Be careful with splenda powder - it spikes my blood insulin! Be careful with the liquids, too, for some people they can trigger lately migraines. I stick to SweetLeaf Stevia, too, and that's pretty much it...
Curious; how can you tell your insulin is spiking? Is it certain symptoms or do you test it? I've used Splenda off and on for about 4 years and really have not noticed any effects.0 -
macchiatto wrote: »KnitOrMiss wrote: »macchiatto wrote: »FWIW I haven't noticed any other problems when I use stevia or Splenda. Aspartame and sugar bother me though.
@macchiatto and @cedarsidefarm - Be careful with splenda powder - it spikes my blood insulin! Be careful with the liquids, too, for some people they can trigger lately migraines. I stick to SweetLeaf Stevia, too, and that's pretty much it...
Curious; how can you tell your insulin is spiking? Is it certain symptoms or do you test it? I've used Splenda off and on for about 4 years and really have not noticed any effects.
Feeling hungry when it doesn't make sense to be hungry would be a possible clue. Most of us talk about artificial sweeteners triggering cravings. I believe it's due to insulin response. When my daughter used to inject mealtime insulin her hunger would almost immediately dramatically increase. The body knows that insulin will be a problem without glucose so it sends you fiendishly searching for it. Lol2 -
macchiatto wrote: »KnitOrMiss wrote: »macchiatto wrote: »FWIW I haven't noticed any other problems when I use stevia or Splenda. Aspartame and sugar bother me though.
@macchiatto and @cedarsidefarm - Be careful with splenda powder - it spikes my blood insulin! Be careful with the liquids, too, for some people they can trigger lately migraines. I stick to SweetLeaf Stevia, too, and that's pretty much it...
Curious; how can you tell your insulin is spiking? Is it certain symptoms or do you test it? I've used Splenda off and on for about 4 years and really have not noticed any effects.
@macchiatto - I have a few "symptoms" I get. I get hungry (or hungrier, when I might have just been feeling full or know I've eaten enough that I should feel full), I feel like I want something sweetish to end a meal, I have random thoughts of sweet foods, I get sleepy, I have brain fog or short problems focusing, or I full on narc out for brief intervals (postprandial somnolence)... The last one is the biggest red flag.
Also, if I'm totally in my macros, feeling good overall, but the darned scale won't move? Generally insulin is up and keeping my from fat burning...
My level was 9 uIU/mL when I first got diagnosed as IR in May 2014. I got it down to 5.8 uIU/mL last October (2015), and then this time, out of nowhere it was 15 uIU/mL. There were some mitigating factors, so my doctor wasn't as concerned unless it stays there when I go back, but it definitely explained why I'd been in a holding pattern for a while. *sigh*
EDITED TO ADD: I'm very insulin responsive, but for whatever reason, it doesn't translate to my blood sugars. I don't understand how it works... But according to the doc, considering the "whole picture" I'm not pre-diabetic, but my mother has T2, and so did her father, so I have to be way proactive on this.1 -
That's interesting. Thanks for explaining! @KnitOrMiss I understand the proactive bit. My parents, both grandmothers and one sister are/were all diabetic so I've always tried to stay on top of it, too. I did have that "lapse" so to speak into prediabetes. I'm not sure what my insulin level is. My dr checked it a year or two ago and said it was normal but I don't remember the number. I do suspect insulin resistance though b/c of how I really can't lose weight unless I go low carb, and how easily I gain weight at even moderate carb levels.1
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GaleHawkins wrote: »Most all of us have triggers so we just learn what they are and stop pulling the triggers.
Profound insight right there. SO MUCH is under our control!
But, for most people, they can't be bothered. They accept a diminished life experience simply because of inertia.
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