Aspartame

I like the flavored seltzer waters. You can get them at Kroger. They are not sweet at all but are fizzy and fruit flavored so basically you are just drinking water but it tastes better and you KIND of feel like you are drinking a soda. But just make sure you read the label and get the ones with no sweeteners what so ever. Some types have aspartame. The kind I like has nothing

You're not the only one that has reactions. My mother was a big diet coke drinker. She started experiencing numbness in her hands. My uncle mentioned it may be linked to aspartame so she quit drinking diet coke and has not experienced numbness since. As for substitutes, I am not sure. I usually drink just plain water, but was thinking about adding crystal light or a similar product to spice things up a bit. I don't know what kind of a sugar they contain so that may not be helpful at all.

Yep, I sure have. In high school I got terrible migraines and my glands under my arms and neck would swell and be so painful. It was awful! It also makes me just generally feel lousy and irritable. I have a good friend in the same boat. My one suggestion is READ ALL LABELS. Even things like bread, ice cream, soups and cereals can be loaded with sucralose. UGH. I'm really glad that you figured out what was causing it and were able to stop. I still struggle with Diet Coke. I absolutely LOVE Diet Coke. But I feel awful when I drink it. Yet I still want it! LOL

My suggestion would be drinks sweetened with stevia, a natural sweetener. You can get it in packets like sugar for coffee. They also use it to sweeten Vitamin Water Zero. Or, there are now flavored waters out that have no sweetener at all - I think it's called Hint.

Good luck!

I've always used splenda or sweet n' low (which i think is aspartame?). In fact, I use 3 in my coffee every morning and sometimes in sleepytime tea at night.

Never had a bad reaction to either..
Sorry to hear it had such a bad effect on you

I read this book, Skinny *****, and they bash the heck out of that stuff in there. Ever since I read it, I won't touch the stuff. They back their stuff up with facts, they're not just hatin' on it for no reason.

Apparently, it was denied approval by the FDA 9 different times before it passed and some sketchy events lead to it eventually getting approved. It actually makes your body store fat cells and increases appetite.

Stevia and truvia are good substitutes, they have no calories, and they taste like sugar. I like Vitamin Water Zero, it's one of the rare drinks that actually has stevia in it instead of aspartame, acesulfame, etc. Anything else labeled "diet" or "zero" I'm always weary of until I check the ingredients.

Just thought I'd share the info!

Well, it hasn't increased my appetite, and my fat is going away, so clearly its not a "fact".

so much scaremongering!

So you wont touch aspartame, but you will eat Stevia...

http://www.30thstreetclinic.com/general-reviews/100-stevia-dangers.html

...hmmm...touché.

Snarky people suck.

I got Aspartame poisoning this year. I gained 10-15 lbs. I was severely dizzy - coudlnt hardly stand up without falling back down - EVERY TIME. I was sooo sick. Had enough energy to sleep and thats about it. I was drinking this certain flavored water for about a year or two.......that had aspartame in it. I would NOT recommend drinking flavored water - thats what they use to sweeten them. Mine said it was 100% natural......nope it was not. I was having chest pains, stomach pains, naseous all the time, dizzy to the point of being dangerous, falling over randomly, severe headaches, gained weight, you name it I had it. One day I took a swig of water - and my stomach siezed up on me big time - thats when I checked the label of the water and looked up Aspartame...found the poisoning and stopped drinking the water, and I check everything now for that garbage in it.

I feel much better now. Its taken several months but I am finally feeling good and energetic - enough to start working out again :-) Stay away from that junk!!

We never use to worry about Aspartame, until 2 years ago now.....my partner was put on a different medication to try and control her `hemiplegic migraines' it was an anti-convulsant medication called Topomax - well the type she had had aspartame it in, didn't think anything about it, have aspartame in our diet as well, as lots of diet food have it in........then suddenly she started getting abscences, blanking out for seconds at a time, she got to a point she was having 60+ a day.....went to see doc, referred neurologist etc for EEG's......friend suggested aspartame as the cause......took aspartame out of her diet, came off the medication she was on and went on a different one, and low and behold what happened.....yep the abscences went away. neurologist finally diagnosed "non-epileptic abscences" he wouldn't acknowledge that it was aspartame that was the cause, but just said she had a bad reaction to that particular medication......Since then we have occasionally noticed her have the odd one, when we double check everything she has eaten, low and behold we normally find aspartame hidden somewhere.....she nearly ended up with a diagnosis of epilepsy, unable to drive for x number of years etc etc all because of ASPARTAME......now we scrutinise everything she eats, and funny thing is she hasn't had a hemiplegic migraine in that time either !!!

Zevia - it's a stevia sweetened soda. 0 calorie and delish.