Anybody Allergic To Aspartame(Nutra-Sweet)?

[redstateblues]

I've been keeping a food diary due to a weird allergic reaction(allergist didn't help) and I think I'm allergic to Aspartane.

[FloridaPat]

1. lots of people are. Also suppose to be linked with symtoms

simuliar to MS. Good thing to stay away from.

[ghostsofgiants]

2. ...

Consider yourself lucky. That shit is nasty.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. My doctor says no one should use it!

She recommends splenda for her patients who have glycemic problems (both my husband and I do). She says that studies indicate that aspertame can effect your brain, and I know the few times I've used it I've had a severe reaction-suicidally depressed. Don't know if there are other reactions, but it wouldn't surprise me.

[jeff30997]

5. What is Splenda ?

I never heard of it.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

19. Its a relatively new sweetener

it is made from the same chemical as sugar, but the molecule is a mirror image of a sugar molecule. So far, no bad side effects from using it have been reported.

[jeff30997]

4. Ok I'm not a snob or anything but...

It's called Aspartam and i think that the stuff is toxic...What do you think ?

[qanda]

8. Good thing you're not a snob

Because it's called Aspartame.

[redstateblues]

6. Of Course A Study(probably funded by Searle) Said :

In clinical studies there was no evidence that it caused any more problems than placebo-Yeah sure.

[Snow]

17. They're correct: I know the guy who did the study

in the mid-80's I think. University of Minnesota researcher. He gave me the papers he wrote because I was doing a study of ALS (lou gehrig's disease) looking for links between glutamate consumption and ALS. Nutra-sweet metabolizes to ALS. Anyway, he gave me what he referred to as the "long-term human studies". They were 6 weeks long. But Searle was correct, there were no more problems in the asparatame group than in the placebo group, and the study was done honestly even though funded by the manufacturer (I realize a number of you will be too cynical to believe that could ever happen), But yes, 6 weeks is waaayy to short to evaluate something like that. And with regards to the ALS link - there appeared to be something odd, but nothing I could really lay my hand on, and the field has moved past that.

[Snow]

24. Ooops - need an edit :

That sentence should read "Nutra-sweet metabolizes to glutamate"

[qanda]

7. If I even have a piece of gum with aspartame in it...

I immediately get a headache. I don't touch the stuff, but every now and then some manufacturer sneaks it into a product without me knowing, but I have an immediate reaction.

[didntvote4shrub]

13. EXACTLY my reaction

...I found it out when I went on Atkins a year ago, dropped Diet Dr. Pepper and started drinking Diet Rite. No headaches. Had a sugar-free jello, and WHAM! Thought, that's interesting; waited a week, drank a Diet Coke, and WHAM! Tried once more a week later - forget what food - same result and I haven't touched Aspartame since. I had near constant headaches I used to put down to stress, but drank a LOT of diet soda.

[lazarus]

29. Same here

I get a vicious migraine with even a hint of Nutrasweet.

Diet Rite is awesome. The stores out here in California finally started carrying tangerine flavour.

We also like Hansen's. They use Splenda, and their diet ginger ale is quite good.

[Swamp Rat]

9. It's poison

:puke:

[cindyw]

10. Me! I can. Just the smell of it in food can give me a headache. Eating

it is even worse.

[jfalchion]

11. Aspartane is awful

Splenda is great.

:kick:

[democrat in Tallahassee]

12. it gives me severe muscle spasms: I can't go near it

Spenda does the same thing. I contacted an internet research group and
told them about my symptoms and they said that they are hearing that a lot about both products.Also they said even a small amount can cause it.

[democrat in Tallahassee]

14. another thing to thank rumsfeld for; he pushed to get it approved

[CanuckAmok]

15. I am, and it's in freakin' EVERYTHING.

I've even discovered it in some toothpaste and pill coatings.

[PoiBoy]

16. Splenda is good, Stevia is better...

aspartame is poison... pure and simple... IMO, the best artificial sweetener is Splenda, but the best natural sweetener, IMO is Stevia, which is sold as a dietary supplement, not a sweetener in health food stores.

Some interesting Stevia links for you:
http://www.stevia.net/
http://www.healthy.net/nutrit/kitchen/foods/stevia.asp

in fairness, here's an anti-stevia link FYI (from 2000):
http://www.cspinet.org/new/stevia.html


:hi:

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

20. xyletol

made from trees, is also a good sweetener, but it is very expensive.

[gollygee]

18. It gives me nasty headaches. n/t

[AlFrankenFan]

21. I think I am too...

made me sick and almost throw up when I had a lollypop sweetened by aspartane.

[davsand]

22. I just gave it up a couple weeks ago.

I used to drink Diet Coke--all day, and every day. I had headaches from time to time, but I always chocked them up to tension or just muscle stuff.

Lately, however, I have been dealing with a really weird muscle spasm on one side of my face. It started out as an eye twitch (lower eyelid) and then spread to my mouth--to the point that one half of my face was drawn up in a spasm even in my sleep.

Now, I am the first to admit that my life lately has been super high stress--just awful--and I do not deal well with stress, however, this is just too much.

I had this same thing happen a few years ago (another period of very high stress) and it lasted for three weeks. I took muscle relaxants, I saw a neurologist, and finally they wanted to inject Botulism Toxin into my face to relax the spasm. Instead, I went to an acupuncturist and the spasm was gone in three treatments.

This time, I went to see a specialist in oriental body work. He does acupressure as well as a lot of really nice massage stuff. During my session, he asked me about my bottle of Diet Coke (I am not kidding, I had a bottle with me all day long) and he commented that Nutrasweet pretty much breaks down into a nerotoxin.

Sure enough, I started learning about it, and the truth is out there if you look for it...

I started taking a B complex supplement and gave up Nutrasweet and gradually, the problems began to go away. One day, I was in a hurry, and didn't stop to check the label and I ended up with a drink that contained Nutrasweet. The spasms returned. A few days later, just as an experiment, I drank a can of Diet Coke, and sure enough--my face spasmed up again.

Since that day I have not had anything with Nutrasweet in it at all and I am feeling much better.

Now, I drink unsweetened tea or water...

I am convinced that Nutrasweet is an evil chemical that is terribly bad for anyone who consumes it.


Laura

[redstateblues]

23. I'm pretty sure it is the thing that makes my lips and face swell

I had no idea it was so toxic- You sure don't hear about it on TV- hmmm- I wonder what would happen to the soft drink industry if people knew.

[bobthedrummer]

25. I've gotten really horrible headaches and nausea from it-it's poison imo.

I'm concerned about the possible longterm effects on all the folks that drink it regularly.

[are_we_united_yet]

26. Nutra-Sweet

does a number on me. Makes thinking clearly impossible. Maybe thats whats wrong with the freepers.

[happynewyear]

27. Weight Watchers diet is loaded with this crap

I was on this diet ~10 years ago and I kept getting sick. They push this crap in their diet and foods.

I kept getting sicker and sicker and eventually ended up at a neurologist. I was then diagnosed with a serious neurological condition which I am still (and will always be) dealing with for the REST OF MY LIFE!

I wonder how much this aspartame had to do with it exactly?

I won't go anywhere near it now - I use succanat for a sweeter rather than sugar.

Lesson: STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ASPARTAME!

:dem: :kick:

[ChoralScholar]

28. Yes I are

I break out in itchy hives, and have sneezing fits.

I found out when I ate one of my mom's Weight Watcher's fudge bars.

Reminded of such after consuming a whole-lot of Coke C2. I didn't know it had Aspartame in it!!!

[lazarus]

30. Here's a surprise

Not.

That bullshit study on the most common sweetener, saccharine, came out just about the time that Monsanto was ready to roll out Nutrasweet. So, saccharine gone, Nutrasweet in. In 2000, Monsanto sold Nutrasweet, just as Splenda was coming out.

Monsanto once again turns a huge profit harming people's health.