aspartame
 

i just an article about aspartame poisoning. it states that it can cause ms, mg and fibromyalgia symptoms. some people build up a toxic level and exhibit symptoms that mimic other diseases. i have nothing to lose except my numbness, pain and other problems. i stopped all aspartame products two days ago so i'll just keep that up for a couple of weeks to see what happens. its in sugar free products as well as some regular products. i'll check back with what i find out.

just little info: symptoms seemed to come on quickly, last june on. i have tingling, numbness in my legs, arms and face. my legs and arms (mostly legs) are stiff. i look like the tin man walking somedays. recently my muscles have begun to be jumpy. things are getting worse. mri's are coming out negative as well as emg's. doctors don't know what is going on.

A well meaning (I guess) friend kept sending me an e-mail about Aspartame and MS, hinting diet soda. I never drank any and have PPMS and am firmly sitting in a wheelchair. Never ate any "diet" food in my life. I consider it an "urban" myth type of thing and no one sends me such nonsense anymore. I don't think synthetic sweeteners are good because of other reasons. I think the cause is much more complicated IMHO.

i don't have much to lose by trying it. i do eat and drink alot of sugar free products do to my being a diabetic. just so tired of being ill that i'm somewhat desperate. won't do anything that could hurt me such as stopping my meds or taking supplements without doctors ok.

I don't think Aspertame causes any disease, but it does cause depression to worsen in some people and other symptoms. They did a study on the depression thingy. I don't eat/drink it anymore either.

what a bummer. just read different article that says it triggers or worsens such diseases. there goes that hope. so tired of feeling so crappy and not knowing why.

well, you are better off drinking water (as long as it's not downstream from a pig farm or next door to a nuclear power plant)

While I had that infection the last several weeks. I quit drinking pop and juice, and just drank water. Felt pretty good doing that, and for some weird reason I didnt have the caffeine withdrawal I usually have. The water made me feel a lot better than drinking pop, and I didnt have that funky aftertaste that the diet pop gives me.

I've started drinking pop again this week, but I find myself wanting water more often than pop now.

Dont forget, flavored waters are probably sweetened with aspartame.

It would be rather difficult for Aspartame to cause MS since MS has been around since the 1400s.

good point.

I simply cannot eat aspertame. it gives me a mind blowing headache. I am nauseous, and cant focus and simply must go to bed. its like my brain is bubbling. Awful awful stuff.

If I had my way I would vote to have it removed from our diets. Did you know your body converts it into Formaldehyde in your body? ick!

Oh yeah, I forgot. It gave me a headache, too.:(

Yes aspartame can cause migraines. I too can not eat it. It is in all gums...other than bubble gum now.

I agree it should be removed from our foods and drinks!

Have you noticed that many products now, even tho they are listing the first ingredient as SUGAR and including Sucrolose as part of the last few ingredients? Why do we need aspertame or sucrolose in pickles?! I got some very nice hot cocoa and the first ingredient was sugar, so I stopped reading, later on the head ache came. I read the whole label and there it was sucrolose! (splenda) Please read your labels.

I agree, there is sugar in just about EVERYTHING...

hidden in

Breads

pickles (mostly the sweet type) People have a salty sweet preference food manufacturers have learned

Ketchup (there is a new low sugar one by Heinz)and other sauces.

Low fat dressings (can be very high in sugar)

Most tomato pastes and sauces like Ragu etc. Hunts makes a no sugar added one. Sugar is added to recipes to counter the acids from tomatoes

Cocoa as already noticed

Reading labels can be a REVELATION!

Honey is also in alot of things. Honey is FRUCTOSE, and many people are fructose intolerant. So watch for this ingredient.
It is not a healthy alternative for 1 in 3 people who have fructose issues!

i love aspartame. diet coke before aspartame was nasty, and it's going to take more than anecdotal evidence to convince me its unsafe :)

It doesn't adversely effect everyone, just enough peeps, that it should NOT be added, automatically, to things we consume. The same with MSG..:eek:

still don't have much to lose by stopping eating anything with aspartame and see what happens. it may be why i have headaches almost every day. then again nothing may change. we'll see.

I chew sugar free gum like a beast. I'm sure if there was a glow in the dark meter of aspartame in one's body, you'd need sunglasses to look at me.

I started chewing the gum to curb the intense burning/pain of burning mouth syndrome that I have. I never drank large quantities of sugar free cola (drank the sugary stuff), though as it's been pointed out, aspartame, MSG, etc are in virtually everything these days.

mrsD, as you know I'm also a label reader. :) It's great to be conscious of what we're ingesting.

With all said, I don't know if aspartame causes me headache. I think I just am prone to headaches (before the chewing gum, I was getting headaches regularly anyways, think it's safe to say I can't avoid them easily). I do know of 1 type of gum in particular that happens to be sugar free (aspartame) that eases the burning in my mouth, so I stick with what works - relieving the burning for me is more important than worrying about the aspartame!

I am also pro-eliminate something in your diet that's unnecessary to see if it works, so have at it with trying to avoid the aspartame and good luck! I'm on a current campaign to avoid trans fats entirely (and I can only go by the amount that's disclosed on labels - I'm aware below a certain % they don't need to mention it). I found food in the USA at grocery stores (which differs slightly in some cases, entirely in others from our food selection in Canada) had zero trans fats for the most part (at least the foods I was looking at). Canada doesn't seem to have cracked down as much on Trans (!). Some things I look at the label on, shake my head, "Why is it that this HAD to contain trans? Surely they could have avoided the Trans by removing something!".

Good luck again! :hug:

The dark side of ASPARTAME.
 

I found this little comment many years ago somewhere on the Internet.

"After ingestion, aspartame is broken down into aspartic acid,
phenylalanine, and methanol.

Methanol is oxidized into formaldehyde and then to
formic acid, which is considered responsible
for the toxic effects of methanol.

Despite arguments that aspartame intake should not affect
blood methanol concentrations, animal studies have
reported the accumulation of formaldehyde adducts derived
from aspartame in tissue components.

This might be one explaining factor for reports on headaches
linked to the intake of aspartame."

jackD


p.s. The phenylalanine might be good for MS folks - I am still looking into this.

it takes about 5 minutes, and then I get a drunken feeling like I am confused and off balance and that lets me know I had some. 5 minutes later my head is banging! its an awful headache and it sends me to bed. it takes me at least a day to recover.

I found Aspertame in my COLD PILLS! its the chewable benedryl stuff that melts instantly. Yep, there it is. Aspertame. No wonder benedryl gives me a headache!

I have become such a staunch label reader. I cant do MSG nor artificial sweetners. Splenda, aspertame, equal its all the same to me. Almost instant day blowing headache followed by that washed out feeling for most of the next day. The same as if I was poisoned. ICK!

thank you everyone for your responses. as of right now i am no longer giving my children the sugar free drinks or any other products with aspartame. as for me i will make the changes a little more slowly to adjust to less sweetness. i can't use much real sugar do to diabetes.

TRy Stevia or Truvia its made from a natural plant and offers nice sweetness with no headache! Good reviews on it.

Dejibo having those porph symptoms
 

Dejibo, aspartame is contra-indicated for porphyria, which you suspect you
also have. Years ago I found it caused partial paralysis to drink a can of
"aspartame" sweetened pop. That was long prior to Porphyria dx.

I hate to say I'd like it removed legally. Because maybe it helps some people,
like people with diabetes that don't have other things wrong. But it's really not healthy, in my opinion, for anyone.

The headache complaint from aspartame has been around for a LONG time. It affects many people. I think it is real.

Aspartic acid is a neuroexcitatory amino acid. It and glutamate, both stimulate NMDA receptors which are pain receptors.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N-Methyl-D-aspartic_acid

http://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/567856
This is an excellent paper and if you don't belong to Medscape, you can join for free easily. It is worth it for this paper.

Magnesium is an antagonist to the NMDA receptor. That is why fixing low magnesium levels improves pain for many people.

Until 2009 it was banned by the FDA as a food additive because of possible infertility and cancer side effects.

The FDA semi reversed this and now allows Rebiana (an extract of Stevia) as a safe food additive. This is used by Truvia.

So, although the whole jury is still out on this, it seems that Rebians/Truvia is relatively safe.

I would still stay away from it if I were of child giving/bearing years...both sexes!!