Artificial Sweeteners and Their Serious Side Effects

I had years of sickness all the symptoms I had. Finally found out what was causing it. Been off Aspartame for 2 years. I drink veg smoothies in the morning and lots of water. I have been drinking some diet Pepsi because they took out the Aspartame was doing good then I started the symptoms again but this time it is worse. Doctors couldn't figure it out. I don't know if I will survive this. I looked at the Pepsi bottle and it said Aspartame. I never heard they were changing it back. I can't drink one swallow of aspartame and here I didn't know I was drinking it. They are killing people. It has got to stop.

Aspartame:

I never ate yogurt but tried the fat free/low fat. Pretty soon I was ordering 2 cases per week. Then would also buy gogurt. I ate nothing else. I would even eat them in my sleep. I went from 135 lbs to 230lbs in about a year. I stopped buying it and even with no exercise and a small amount of protein I lost 110lbs in 6 months. The addiction is real.

Hi everyone, just to let you know of my experience with aspartane.....I like a cigarette every now and again and have a fear of bad breath, so I was eating 2 boxes of eclipse mints a day for years.........my symptoms well that's epic in itself. They thought I had diabetes, virtigo, numbness of left side of my face affecting top lip, gums and teeth, under my eye, etc. etc. etc. I don't think I need to go on, but I'm not well.......HELP......I frequently go to the chiro, and have constant acupuncture; any other suggestions?

I drank Crystal Light exclusively for about 3 years and the more I drank it the more I wanted. I drank about 10 glasses a day. When I saw a video about Aspartame including some of the symptoms of it (like severe joint pain) I quit cold turkey. My knees used to hurt so badly that when I stood up I couldn't walk right away. I had to stand for a few seconds before I could walk, and I was in my early 40's! My vision had also diminished significantly during those 3 years, etc. I decided to quit all at once and I never thought I'd have immediate and disturbing and scary side effects from stopping. My hands and fingers felt like they were extremely swollen and I couldn't close them. I couldn't do normal things like grasp a zipper or even had problems picking up and changing my young kids. I had vertigo so badly that I could not get up and had to call my husband to come home from work. I had severe anxiety an nausea. I never ever go to the doctor, but during that first week off Aspartame I went to the doctor (I think they thought I was crazy) and the ER. These symptoms have never before or sense ever happened to me. I was "coming off of" the chemical Aspartame and it was slamming my body.

Here is a really interesting link to read about aspartame. It is hard to believe there are still people out there saying it is safe to ingest! http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dailys/03/jan03/012203/02p-0317_emc-000199.txt

@Chip: Thanx for your Aspartame testimony, maybe it will help prevent others from the (over) consumption of this man-made ingredient. IMHO, since not all aspartame users experience the severity you have, admits several or many factors which combine and contribute to a degree of sensitivity to the chemical. Zinc, Molybdenum, and Niacin deficiency can cause the incomplete detoxification of the wood alcohol in Asp; liver disease could also be a big factor in this case.

In alternative medicine, like you experienced at the chiro, the emphasis is placed on addressing the underlying causes of the specific disease and through health promoting diet & supplements, and many unconventional remedies seek a cure. So there's this psychological aspect of focusing one's attention from the gruesome details (like you reported) of the disease and fallowing bad side effects, to one of solutions and cures. This web-site is a local (worldwide actually, but local virtually) testimony of people who have endured the same type situation you did until they got introduced to alt med. I am one of these neglected folks.

There are effective protocols for improving brain health (search by disease and also Nootropic supplements). I have listed several common nutrients and herbs which improve brain health here on E.C. somewhere. From where you are now, there could be two phases of treatment to improve your condition: Beginner and advanced. Any improvement would be nice to see, since you have such advanced condition.

I'm a chronic gum chewer and Coke Zero drinker or I can now say I WAS since I kicked those a few days ago. I'm having muscle twitches and extreme fatigue so far. After reading the above comments I guess I can expect to feel that for the next 55 days? Great! It will be worth it though. After only 5 days I haven't needed to sleep with my humidifier and my husband said I haven't snored the last two nights! I'm looking forward to feeling better and better each day. For those looking for healthier alternatives to make detoxing from aspartame easier I have switched from Orbit gum to Pr gum which is aspartame free. I switched to Zevia diet soda which is sweetened with stevia and it is better than I thought it would be. Amazon offers a rainbow pack where they send a case that includes 2 cans of every flavor they offer. I now use monk fruit sweetener to sweeten my coffee in the morning. The only other sugar free item I used sometimes was sugar free maple syrup. From now on I will just use regular maple syrup. This has made my transition easier even though the detox side effects have been rough. Reading the posts here was very helpful as I thought I was getting some form of facial bells palsy with the muscle twitches on one side of my chin! ?! Crazy that one chemical can reek havoc on your system and the FDA allows it. I will be filing a complaint as well.

I just found out about this website a week ago. Some of the stuff seems pretty far fetched but some hits the nail on the head. This being one that I truely believe. I quit smoking about 3 yrs ago and started chewing gum to get over that habit, so now thats my habit mainly cause I feel I have sour breath. I am going to try the peroxide mouth wash method to remedy that. But back to my point I have been chewing the crap out of gum with aspertame in it and have been trying to cut down/stop and noticed that I have been getting some of these symptoms but most people have wrote about diet soda but havent read much about it being in gum, I guess the amount in the gum could cause the same effects?. Hopefully I kick this habit and these side effects roll out with the habit.

This site has been a Godsend to me over the past week. About a week ago, I began worrying that the muscle spasms and difficulty swallowing I had been having was related to MS. The next day, I went from drinking 5-6 diet cokes a day to drinking 1. I have been a very heavy diet coke drinker for many years. The next day, I began having even more symptoms. I began having heart palpitations, shakes, dizziness, insomnia, etc. I plan to stop the diet coke altogether later this week and I am scared to death I will have more symptoms. I feel I need to do it though, otherwise I really will make myself sick.

It's been reported that the big champion MS promoter Michael J. Fox was once awarded a truck-load of diet cola for doing a commercial for the manufacturer way back in the day when he was in good health, which really helped launch the Aspartame - MS connection. This observation has been disputed and I haven't researched it, but have little doubt because the profit industry always does the cover-ups and MJF seems to intentionally indulge and exaggerate his condition while on camera. MJF associates have reported this while saying he's just fine most-times.

After consuming multiple two liter bottles of diet coke daily for 30 years, it was suggested to me that my pain symptoms could be aspartame poisoning. I quit dc within a day and for a while everything was improving... My mind was clearer, the pins and needles in my face are gone, I could stand longer, and I could go on. However, two weeks into detox and I am having serious muscle spasms, confusion, and red ant sting after effects in my legs. I must say that my desire for real food is coming back. I do have two questions: 1) Are there any recommendations besides a good multiple vitamin and 2) how long does withdrawal take?

Wow! I love reading other's experiences and realizing all these symptoms I have been telling my husband about are REAL. I quit diet coke (over 20-year habit) right after Christmas 2011 and am almost one-month DC-free! I have had shakes, muscle spasms, twitching, and extreme moodiness. I also feel like I have had some depression, but this seems to be brought on by the stress of worrying that I have a chronic illness such as Parkinsons or ALS. Thank you all for sharing your experiences. It helps to know others are going through the same thing. I will never drink another diet coke in my life!!

Does vit. C mitigate the toxicity of aspartame, and if so, how much? Thank you.

All of Wrigleys Chewing Gum has Aspartame in it. I will bet that most people does not know that.

A lot of products have it, but the gums are most troubling to me since it is consumed in great quantity by young people!

Thanks for making me aware that my discoid lupus came after chewing gum for about a year….. grrrr.

Most sweetners have side effect and should on no account be used. I don't use any so I don't really know what Splenda is but I suppose that it is also a sweetner. People here in France must have been complaining so now most of the sweetners you see in the supermarket all of a sudden contain Stevia which is natural. I have just done a google on Splenda and found out that it hasn't been sold in the supermarkets here in France since 2009 but it seems to be a decision on the part of the manufacturer.

I've been using sublingual methyl-B12 drops when I feel a headache coming on. It works, sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly, but I don't know if it counters the effects of Aspertame.

Maybe a silly question but why would you want to counter the effect of aspartame, a chemical nobody should actually eat?

Hi Francisca,

This was actually meant for those who still continue to consume it (and other chemicals in processed food). I saw the other thread here on Aspartame and its side effects. I for one avoid that, MSG, high fructose corn syrup, nitrites and nitrates like the plague.

I know the feeling! I had it with MSG a few years ago. I ate a big bowl of chicken ramen soup (the really tasty cheap stuff) and within 15 mins I could barely even walk! I immediately went to the soup container to read what was in it... Yep, TONS of MSG (it was listed right up there first, along with "hydrolized this and hydrolized that" which is just another name for MSG. I went online to see what might help, and they suggested taurine (which I didn't happen to have on hand) and B vitamins. I took a couple of multi balanced B's and a LOT of water and started feeling better in about an hour or two. It was odd though... Never got the MSG headache, which I normally would have after eating MSG.

Anyway, thank for the heads up on Aspartame. I now attempt to avoid all of the crud the food manufacturers keep trying to push at us. They make it so hard to know what we are eating with all of the MANY names for these evil things. It is true, if it comes out of a box or a bag - it is usually not good for you. Best, Carly

Aspartame

I found out about the side effects of artificial sweeteners about 24 years ago. When diet pop first came out I started drinking large amounts of it I was 13, by the time I was fifteen I was having Grand Mal seizures. On new years eve at age 16 I had areally big seizure ( body arched for fifteen minutes followed by convulsions and remained unconcious until the next day) It was absolutely terrible. Shortly following this incident my Aunt called me saying she had read an article in a health magazine all about the dangers of Aspartame. She informed me one of the things it could cause was seizures. I stopped injesting anything with aspartame in it and have not had a seizure since. I have had a couple of times where I have injested it by accident and felt like I was going to faint and have a seizure, so now I am extremely carefull to check every label. As other artificial sweeteners have come out I have avoided them as well and do not allow my children to injest anything with artificial sweeteners.

The effects of these poisons has been known for a very long time! Sadly our government seem to care more about the big corporations than they do for the health of the common people.

ALLERGY ALERT! SUCRALOSE

I called Memphis, Tenn. today where the bakery offices are of this wonderful chain restaurant. Why? to confirm the no sugar wild berry pie had artificial sweetners. We quit buying this pie because everytime I ate it-I simply felt terrible i.e. head fuzzy weird taste in my mouth...the nice people at the bakery portion of the restaurant told us there was no sugar and no artificial sweetners as far as they knew in the wild berry pie. Last night I got a craving for the wild berry pie. After 3 pieces (dinner and lunch)I started to have heart palpatations which prompted my call to Perkins..And indeed-there is artificial sweetner-not confirmed sucralose..in any case FAKE CHEMICALS bodies don't like.