AOL Post Subj: hype? Date: 95-07-30 18:03:10 EDT From: RcktWalker As for me personally, I get dizzy and get headaches from Nutrasweet. Plus I don't like the flavor -- it tastes nothing like sugar to me. But I still drank diet cokes in an effort to lose weight yet stay awake at work. Until one day my husband noted that I was particularly cranky that day and I must have had a diet drink. That's when I realized that the nutrasweet was also making me very irritable and for the sake of my sanity, I went back to caffine and sugar. Caffine doesn't make me near as cranky. -------------- Date: Mon, 07 AUG 1995 17:46:20 -0400 Newgroups: bionet.neuroscience, misc.health.diabetes, rec.aviation.misc, sci.med, sci.med.diseases.cancer, sci.med.nutrition, sci.med.psycholbiology, sci.med.vision, alt.usenet.kooks Subject: Re: URGENT: NutraSweet/MENTHANOL/TRUTH To add to the anecdotal evidence: my wife is subsceptable to migraine headaches. Taking Aspartame, she'll get one every four or five days. Off Aspartame, she'll get one every six to twelve months. Eating an unknown food containing Aspartame will usually trigger a migraine in 24 hours. Needless to say, my wife avoids Nutrasweet at all costs, and has gathered considerable research on it. --------------- Date: Mon, 7 Aug 1995 12:07:32 -0700 To: xxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxx.xxx Subject: Aspartame info It started about 6 years ago when I was about 43 years old. At the time that is when the now popular term "presbyopia" started to become known. That , as you probably know, is described as the natural and predictable process whereby the flexibility of the lens in the eye begins to decrease and the eye loses it's ability to focus on close items. Hence the jokes about needing longer arms to read a printed page. My vision had been 20/15 all my life, and I was horrified that all of a sudden I needed reading glasses. Further, I spent many hours a day using a computer, and I had become privately convinced that I was developing an attention deficit because I had trouble concentrating. My genetic predisposition to type 2 diabetes had prompted me to eliminate sugar from my diet (mainly for weight maintenance). Of course the only widely available alternative is equal/sweet&low. The trip to the optical shop got me some reading glasses that seemed to do the job. I even got a pair that was optimized to the computer screen distance. However, I seemed unable to concentrate as well as I had in years past. Also my need for the glasses seemed to vary for reasons I could not explain. Sometimes I could read very fine print without assistance, and other times 1/8" letters seemed to swim on the page. At about this same time, I developed another pretty weird neurological symptom my hearing became hypersensitive to noise. Particularly on the telephone. When talking on a cellular, for example, a loud or distorted voice or sound would cause me to lose equilibrium and get very dizzy and disoriented. Basically, I got the symptoms of motion sickness. At this time I also became so clinically depressed I went on an anti depressant. I also have a strong genetic component of clinical depression. I was in therapy, taking my pills and wishing I were dead. In spite of excellent therapy and good medical help, I felt that my world was falling apart and that I was physically falling apart. About a year later, I was interviewing a bunch of job candidates in St Louis for a sales position. I had coffee with about 14 people during their interviews. At that point I would use one or two Equals with each cup of coffee. As the interviews progressed, I became very sick. I was wearing bifocal reading glasses, and every time I looked up from the resume's to look at the candidate, the little flickering change of perspective gave me this wave of extreme dizziness. I got so sick that I cancelled the interviews and went to bed. I thought I was having a stroke or a brain tumor or high blood pressure. I called my doctor who fedexed me some high blood pressure meds since I had a strong familial tendency for hypertension. I had had mild hypertension in the past, and the pills were a precaution against something worse. I was too sick to leave the hotel until the following day and I hurried back for an exam. I had layed off the coffee thinking that if my problem was hypertension that coffee would be bad. I went in for the exam and confirmed that I had hypertension and was given a prescription for that which controls it very well. The doc said to closely monitor my BP and see if caffeine was a factor. I could demonstrate no relationship between my caffeine intake and BP levels, so I went back to a modest coffee intake. Still, though, I found my hearing sensitivity and related disequillibrium seemed to return in the afternoons. I also scheduled my demanding intellectual pursuits in the mornings because I was unable to focus mentally and visually in the afternoon. I was pretty scared, since I had controlled the apparent cause of my problem, but the most obnoxious of the physical symptoms remained. The story I have told you happened over a period of several years. About three months ago I was sitting in my office reading in the morning (without glasses) a very small type face at the bottom of a magazine ad. I said "hey, This can't just be presbyopia and it is not just a fatigue issue. . ..sometimes I can see and sometimes I can't see!" It just hit me so hard that I had to investigate. I made an inventory of what I did all day long what I ate and drank, what I read, how much I used the computer, etc. The only commonality I could find was that I drank coffee all morning (abount 36 oz) which included a total of six packets of Equal. Then, at lunch I'd have a diet coke usually 32 oz. In the aftenoon, I'd have another diet coke and maybe a coffee. Thank God I'm not too reactive to caffeine, I'd be dead. Anyway the reduction in cognition and in vision coupled with the disequilibrium tracked and correlated almost directly with my aspartame intake. Eureka! I was trained in science, so I decided to eliminate the aspartame from my diet to evaluate the differences, if any, that I could feel see or measure. Interestingly, the symptoms were pretty much gone by the third day. I still need my reading glasses, but the size print I can see unaided is much smaller than before! I can concentrate much better, and the dizziness symptoms have disappeared. I now drink coffee with sugar and pepsi (sugared) in about the same schedule and volume as before. I was thrilled with the immediate and marked improvement in how I felt and what I could do. Note, I had never heard a single bad thing about aspartame before, in fact I could not have told you that aspartame is nutra sweet! By the way I decided to go back to nutra sweet to see if it triggered a return of the symptoms. After about 3 days it all came back. I then permanently quit using nutra-sweet. This is a controlled experiment with a single subject measuring what seems to be subjective data. Nevertheless, I am completely convinced that my body and nutra sweet are incompatible. Now, I no longer need anti depressants, I religiously take my antihypertensives and I feel immeasurably better. .... However since my small personal discovery I've talked to a young woman who gets instant migranes from nutrasweet and a close associate of mine who has similar visual effects as my own. ----------------- Date: Tue, 30 May 1995 09:15:26 +1000 Subject: Re: Protein and dyskinesias Reply-To: Parkinson's Disease - Information Exchange Network I am personally convinced that high intake of some proteins concurrently with levodopa interferes with its absorption. I was in the habit of taking my levodopa an washing it down with artificially sweetened blackcurrent. The effects on me were somewhat erratic. Sometimes all PD symptoms would be diminished, at othertimes some would remain. I then noted that the sweetener (marketed under the name of Nutrasweet) included phenylalanine which in turn has a molecular structure somewhat similar to dopamine. I switched to the sugar sweetened variety and all my PD symptoms were diminished - in some cases to the point of eradication. I believe that other changes to my medication, diet and lifestyle (more fibre, more exercise, less feeling sorry for myself) have also helped. I was examined by a neurologist on May 26th and he said that he found it difficult to believe that I had Parkinsons at all - he had not seen me before I started the levodopa + eldepryl + florinef + Vitamen E + high fibre + exercise + positive thinking. Right now I feel "normal" for the first time in three years. Incidentally, when I first started on levodopa I felt constantly nauseous and it was several months before I could take the medication without unpleasant side effects. --------------- Date: Fri, 4 Aug 1995 09:18:03 -0400 To: xxxxxx@xxxx.xxxx.xxx.xx Subject: Re: How Safe is Nutrasweet? Newsgroups: sci.med.nutrition I just recently gave up aspartame in my diet, and my headaches have completely disappeared. ANother thing that surprised me was that my eyesight is no longer blurry in the morning! That really amazed me. I had been complaining to the last 2 eye doctors about this, and they just shrugged their shoulders not knowing what may have been causing it! ------------------ Newsgroups: alt.med.fibromyalgia Date: Wed, 2 Aug 1995 14:10:08 -0600 Subject: Aspartame and Joint Pain - Reply Over the years since Aspartame has been introduced I have sworn off of it a number of times because I was always convinced it was causing me problems, headaches, tiredness, etc. Somehow it would creep back into my life. --------------- America On-Line post Subj: Re: Chronic Fatigue Date: 95-07-27 22:58:56 EDT From: SharonC958 xxxxxx: thanks so much for the information. it reminded me of a summer i spent in sunny hot florida. i was body building regularly in heat, and drinking a TON of this new iced tea with nutra sweet. i was having alot of problems with muscle cramping and kidney pain. i stopped srinking the stuff and it all got better. but i also moved to a cooler climate. gradually i started up with diet cokes etc. today is my 2nd day witout the stuff. it really takes work now. i could whip into a mcdonalds and grab a diet coke. now i have to think clearly about taking water bottles with me and finding alternatives to drink. but its ok. my doc doesn't think it caused my health problems, but was relieved to hear me say i was going to get off of it. its just one more contribution of poison to my already weak body. its funny that you mentioned that getting off may help me lose weight, because thats why i drank the stuff! what does our government allow to be marketed?!? --------------- Newsgroups: bionet.neuroscience,misc.health.aids,misc.health.diabetes,rec.aviation.misc,sci.med,sci.med.diseases.cancer,sci.med.nutrition,sci.med.psycholbiology,sci.med.vision,alt.usenet.kooks Subject: Re: URGENT: NutraSweet(tm) Destroys Usenet!!!! Date: 1 Aug 1995 23:36:36 -0500 Aspartame: I used to drink a lot of caffein-free Diet Coke and still drink a lot of regular and decaf coffee. I discovered that I felt weak and began slurring my words after drinking more than a can or two of Diet Coke, so I stopped drinking it. Drinking too much coffee affects me in entirely different ways. ---------------- Date: Wed, 2 Aug 1995 09:19:30 +0400 (EDT) Subject: RE: Nutrasweet... To: xxxx@xxxx.xxxxx.xx I've been a diabetic since I was 3. I'm 25 now. In that time, I've used saccharine heavily when it was all that was available, and initally used aspartame heavily when it first came out. Honestly, I think saccharine was the healthier choice of the two :-/ I recently decided to try to go aspartame-free. I haven't had any in two months now, and have noticed that I get less headaches and my blood sugars don't seem to swing around as much. I don't know if it's a placebo effect or for real, but it's still a good enough reason for me... ---------------- Newsgroups: alt.med.allergy Subject: Re: Aspartame and Joint Pain (There is a Connection!) Date: 1 Aug 1995 22:57:33 -0400 Yes, I have been plagued by severe joint paint. I tried to take numerous antiflammatory drugs only to have my stomach get so upset that I had to stop. For the past two years I have found relief taking Voltaren. If I take more than one a day my stomach gets upset. Several times I stopped taking the Voltaren only to have the severe joint pain return. Now I have learned the cause of my severe joint pain: DIET SODA. I stopped taking Nutra-Sweet containing products and no longer have joint pain. If I start taking Aspartame products it returns along with some mental confusion and dry eyes. I no longer have to take Voltaren and no more upset stomachs. ---------------- Date: Tue, 1 Aug 95 13:41 MDT To: xxxx@xxxx.xxxx Subject: Re: Aspartame and Joint Pain >:Mark: Thanks a lot! My Nutra-sweet experiences are similar. A few years back, I started experiencing severe Arthritus-style joint pain. Went to every doctor in the state, with no results...they could find nothing. Suspecting Nutra-sweet, a swore off the stuff...the results were amazing, but it took a year for thing to get back to normal. Which includes my normal water skiing, skydiving, and weight lifting. A few days ago, I accidentally swigged down a whole "Arizona Iced Tea" with Aspartame in it. All the pain came back big-time! Hope it goes away quicker than last time.... ---------------- Newsgroups: alt.support.mult-sclerosis Subject: Re: Aspartame and MS Date: 30 Jul 1995 07:51:26 GMT I do thank you for your research on Aspartame. I for one will never use it, also for life. It gives me terrible headaches and IBS. I think the people of the world have been deceived for at least 20 years. ---------------- Newsgroups: misc.fitness.misc,misc.fitness.weights,misc.fitness.aerobic,misc.fitness Subject: Re: Aspartame/NutraSweet Date: 29 Jul 1995 06:31:14 -0400 Nutrasweet was giving me heart palpitations. I stopped....even if I have a diet coke now, I can feel a difference. I avoid it. ---------------- Newsgroups: alt.med.fibromyalgia Date: Sat, 29 Jul 1995 15:15:44 EDT Subject: Re: FM and Aspartame (Nutrasweet) NUtrasweet is one of the things I have removed from my diet, and yes, I think it is worth it to go without. I feel better generally. I have also removed MSG and as many artificial things as I can. I can't say that diet is the cause/cure, but every little bit helps. ------------ Newsgroups: alt.support.mult-sclerosis Date: Tue, 25 Jul 1995 14:40:58 -0600 Subject: Aspartame reactions (was Re: Epilepsy caused by MS) The symptom I get almost immediately after taking any form of aspartame (even when I don't know I've gotten it) is nausea. The degree of nausea depends on the amount of aspartame digested. One of my co-workers baked a delicious cake (we have cakes at the office the first Wednesday of every month). About 15 minutes after eating it I started feeling real sick to my stomach and couldn't figure out what was wrong. Later I heard her tell the recipe to another co-worker, the icing had nutrasweet in it. Diet drinks do the same thing to me. Aspartame is also a common migraine trigger (recognized by most headache research centers as such) and I get migraines. ------------ Newsgroups: alt.med.fibromyalgia Subject: Re: FM and Aspartame (Nutrasweet) Date: 25 Jul 95 01:04:22 -0600 I've seen several patients with FMS who notice that aspartame increases their symptoms, particularly the IBS component. Others notice no effect. This seems analogous to migraines (which aspartame may also trigger in some patients) -- certain foods, smells, etc. trigger symptoms in some patients, and others in others. ------------- Newsgroups: alt.med.fibromyalgia Date: Mon, 24 Jul 1995 21:59:43 -0600 Subject: Re: FM and Aspartame (Nutrasweet Because of a severe head injury 16 years ago, I am sensitive to aspartame (and Ultram) because it can precipitate seizures. BUT my 2 cents has more to do with soda. If the theory about Fm being a problem with phosphate metabolism is true, then soda (diet or not) is a good thing to avoid. KyleAnne ---------------- Newsgroups: alt.med.fibromyalgia Date: Mon, 24 Jul 1995 21:09:44 +0000 Subject: Re: FM and Aspartame (Nutrasweet Ditto here. I used to drink Diet Coke and it didn't bother me. Then I started on Jolt Cola. Now, I cannot go back to Diet Coke. The same headache strikes after one sip or taste of anything with Asp. ------------- Newsgroups: alt.med.fibromyalgia Date: Mon, 24 Jul 1995 14:55:29 -0400 Subject: Re: FM and Aspartame (Nutrasweet Not using aspartame is no cure for me, but I avoid it like the plague because it causes lethal migraines. I do believe it's toxic, if not for all than for many. A Medline search will provide articles on its neurotoxicity, although some in the medical community still say its fine. -------------- Newsgroups: alt.med.fibromyalgia Date: Mon, 24 Jul 1995 11:24:12 -0700 Subject: FM and Aspartame (Nutrasweet) I am being cautious is swallowing hook, line and sinker the negative news on aspartame, and I have a lot more research to do on the subject before stating unequivocably that it is a poison. However, I have stopped using any products containing it for the past two weeks, and I have noticed the following: 1. Increased alertness, less brain fog 2. Increased energy 3. Easier to wake up in mornings and get going 4. Disappearance of intense cravings for carbohydrates 5. Able to cut back on Elavil and Soma 6. Sleeping better 7. Better diabetic control For me, anyway, there seems to be a connection. I'm not saying aspartame is to blame for all my problems, but it may have been a trigger as I began consuming large amounts of diet sodas, deserts, and hot drinks sweetened with it as an effort to lose weight back in 1985. I'll be interested in hearing what others in this group may have to say. .... (same person below) Date: Mon, 24 Jul 1995 11:23:56 PDT To: FIBROM-L Subject: FM and Aspartame (Nutrasweet) I haven't finished reading all the info you mailed me--only about 1/3. But I have remained free from aspartame for over 2 weeks now. Symptoms of the fibromyalgia have not disappeared, but have lessened considerably, especially the "brain fog" as it is jokingly called in the newsgroup. That alone is a great relief since my mother has Alzheimer's (she never used anything with artificial sweetners, so aspartame is not to blame). For the first time in months I feel focused on reading and doing my job. I have actually read three novels the past week, something I hadn't been able to do in a long time because of shortened attention capability. --------------- Newsgroups: misc.health.diabetes Subject: Stevia & Nutrasweet Date: 28 Jul 1995 12:29:46 GMT Preface: I used 2 packs of Equal a day to sweeten my tea plus my wife would either buy or bake a cake or pie with it ONCE IN A WHILE. My wife was drinking 8-10 cans of diet coke a day plus several glasses of tea which she was putting 2 Equal in each (about) 8 oz. glass, and the same piece of cake or pie. The numbness in my fingers is all but gone. I had been doctor diagnosed with a NEROUS coln, it has settled down to the point I think I am going to be able to get off the pills . I spent the better part of 2 weeks eating home made bread with a lot of All Fruit on it and generally just sitting instead of exercising. My BG was 94. I have to also say that I've started using Stevia so the BG reading may be at least in part to that. My wife BG has been over 200 for better than 2 years. It dropped 18 points within 4 days of getting off the Equal. She has had times.....a lot....when all she could MAKE herself do was sit on the sofa, she's got a LOT more energy than she did. She's been trying to loose weight for 10 years, she dropped 8 lbs. since we got off Equal. There's nothing scientific about what we' re seeing but it sure looks like it's working for us. A friend just lost her diabetic brother who lost a leg a few years back. We showed her the WARNING flyer and yep you guessed it, he had almost every symptom listed and the doctors NEVER COULD FIND OUT WHAT WAS WRONG. This lady said she wished she had had the flyer a few months ago, maybe her brother would still be alive. .... One other item I forgot to mention. I have severe arthritis in one finger. The joint hurts like crazy most of the time and there is almost always a spot on the side of it where my body is trying to get rid of SOMETHING hard, right at the joint. That has now gone away and the joint is still swollen but it doesn't hurt AT ALL anymore. ------------------- Date: Sun, 23 Jul 1995 14:45:31 -0500 From: vfreire@mindspring.com (Virgilio Freire) Subject: Nutrasweet, you conviced me xxx, I was drinking about 2 liters fo diet coke per day, and your comments in sci.med.nutrition convinced me, I quit completely, and am feeling great! ------------- More America OnLine (AOL) case histories: Jen35 - My sister had to give it up. It was making her head bob like Kate Hepburn's (really). Nutrasweet and caffeine, the Doctor said. At first we thought she had Parkinson's, but since she gave it up, she is LOTS better. --------------- More America OnLine (AOL) case histories: GotToLose - I used to avoid sugar entirely but not the desserts. Thus I consumed pudding, milk shakes, jello, etc. all sweetened with Nutrasweet. I would drink a quart of Crystal Light in 1 day. In 1990 I had 2 grand mal seizures. I haven't touched it or allowed my children to have it since. --------------- More America OnLine (AOL) case histories: Par T Bear - I have a problem with irregular heartbeat, and/or sometimes rapid, pounding heartbeat when I drink or eat anything that contains nutrasweet. I do not get that effect when using saccharin or sugar for sweeteners. And it doesn't take a lot - half a can of diet drink or less will do it. So I avoid anything with nutrasweet like the plague. --------------- More America OnLine (AOL) case histories: BIGGS BOY - I had terrible burning stomach pains I thought were ulcers. I consumed gallons of antacids and $$$$ of anti ulcer drugs. I tried cutting out different foods and found that diet soft drinks seemed to aggravate my condition. Cutting them out helped but not completely. Then I realized it wasn't the carbonation that was hurting, it was the aspartame. Stopping all aspartame intake solved my problem. I have challenged this many times and there is no question in my mind that this is the cause. I got pains once while chewing (non-diet, non-sugarfree gum.. or so I thought). But a look at the fine print of ingredients had "you know what". --------------- More America OnLine (AOL) case histories: Sleepdeprv - I had severe headaches whenever I consumed aspartame. I avoid it now and I never have headaches. I wondered how man others have problems? --------------- More America OnLine (AOL) case histories: APKolb - I experience severe headaches and joint discomfort when I consume nutrasweet. I also have a similar problem with minerals in the asparated form. I've been curious about a possible connection: aspartame - aspartate? [had another woman with the same complaint with the mineral supplements with Jenny Craig diet - she had bad reactions and of course couldn't use the deserts with all the aspartame either.)] --------------- Newsgroups: bionet.neuroscience,misc.health.aids,misc.health.diabetes, rec.aviation.misc,sci.med,sci.med.diseases.cancer,sci.med.nutrition, sci.med.psycholbiology,sci.med.vision,alt.usenet.kooks Subject: Re: URGENT: NutraSweet(tm) Destroys Usenet!!!! Date: 22 Jul 1995 18:11:48 GMT I dunno about the lady with the neat last name, but I do know that nutrasweet and its imitators cause me to grey out. Scared the daylights out of me on takeoff in a turboprop. Its not a problem - I just don't use it. Call me the fat flyer. --------------- Newsgroups: misc.fitness.misc Subject: Re: Aspartame/NutraSweet Date: 17 Jul 95 09:58:00 GMT I take Zoloft to combat chronic depression. The Doctor who prescribed it to me (and has gotten me out of a life threatening situation). Told me to never ingest aspartame. It affected the serotonin levels. (also alchahol, certain other nasties outthere...) --------------- Newsgroups: alt.support.diet Subject: HELP!!!need advice Date: Mon, 17 Jul 1995 16:59:48 GMT How bad are pepsi's and other sodas (i'm a soda-a-holic) and I just can't stand nutrasweet, it gives me an upset stomach. ------------- Newsgroups: alt.support.diet Subject: Re: HELP!!!need advice Date: 21 Jul 1995 00:12:51 GMT Yes, you can get used to nutrasweet, but I'm not sure that's such a good thing!! I recently weaned myself off a very long-term diet coke habit (can you say Super Big Gulp?) and I'm feeling a lot better. ------------- >Newsgroups: sci.med.nutrition >Subject: what artificial sweetener? >Date: Mon, 17 Jul 95 23:33:43 -0500 > >I'm looking for a good artificial sweetener. I have severe reactions >to aspartame, so that rules out most commercially available sweet foods >and beverages that are sugar free. I know so many people that >experience some type of reaction to aspartame, I'm surprised that the >FDA has not removed it from the U.S. market. ------------- America On-Line Post ROSALY Writes that her daughter is allergic to NutraSweet, but she didn't mention symptoms or how they found out. ------------ America On-Line Post Jeffyjeffy Got off NutraSweet on the advice of a retired brain surgeon. ------------ America On-Line Post Peach La Her financee diagnosed with Angiodema about 7 years ago, totally disabled. Swelling of face, eye, tongue, cheek, hands, feet, genitals hospitalized twice. Drinks a 6-pack diet coke daily (conservative guess). They even contacted NutraSweet 3 years ago (sent them a survey) but nothing came of it. His tests are negative on every disease they can test for. Suggested she have him tested for methanol toxicity. ------------ America On-Line Post JoanG30895 This girls said "My nails split down the middle and my hair fell out. Stopped all Nutrasweet intake and my nails cleared up and hair is healthy. Wonder what it did to my brain. By the way this had been going on for years. Did not know there was any relation to Nutrasweet and my problem. Only discovered it after stopping the product." ----------- America On-Line Post Lifestars This is some kind of organization out of California. He remembers reading about a young woman in the San Diego area that died from a heart attack and the medical examiner put on her death certificate that she died from an aspartame induced heart attack. ----------- America On-Line Post Nknown Summer of 93 having muscle spasms in neck, horrible pain, went away after getting off aspartame (had been drinking an iced tea mix with aspartame 4-5 times a day. Prior to that, tried a packet of Equal in a cup of coffee - within minutes had blinding headache, nausea and had to leave her job for the rest of the morning. Her mother uses saccharin with no problems. ----------- Subj: Thanks for the aspartame info Date: 95-07-14 12:00:42 EDT American On-Line Post Thanks for all the aspartame info. It is convincing enough, in combination with my own mild reactions, that I will stay away from aspartame. ----------- Subj: Re: SWEETENERS substitutes Date: 95-07-10 22:55:27 EDT American On-Line Post HI Thanks for the info on NutraSweet I have a girl friend that drinks 6 sodas in less than 20 minutes. and has alot of insulin reactions and goes into comas very often.. I very rarely drink the stuff because it tastes to sweet to me. Also she has kidney problems and doesn't it a protein. She is totally blind also. I am going to give the information to her I hope it will help her and pay close attention to it also. ----------- a)Subj: Re: METHANOL TOXICITY Date: 95-07-10 20:37:22 EDT American On-Line Post Well, Bill went to the grocery store yesterday and bought a case of real coke!!!! He still has 4 or 5 diet cokes left wich he will finish but he says that he is committed to trying this. I had my last Nutrasweet a week ago and am becoming a label reader as well as spreadng the word to friemds and family. Besides Bill's agioedema I told you about, He also experiences joint pain, diminished vision, headaches and other things wich you have listed. ----------- Newsgroups: alt.support.mult-sclerosis Subject: Re: Aspartame and MS Date: 12 Jul 1995 23:17:16 GMT I get the same headaches. I'm told it is from the methonol that is released when the major componants break down . Well, so much for diet anything now a days. --------------- Newsgroups: alt.support.mult-sclerosis Date: Tue, 11 Jul 1995 19:32:20 -0400 Subject: Re: Aspartame and MS I am not trying to argue for or against the use of aspartame here, but I would like to point out that I was able to drink lots of Diet Coke and other products with aspartame in them for several years. Then, I started developing horrible headaches each time I drank a Diet Coke. Jello and pudding made with aspartame also caused these headaches. I had to stop using the product altogether. My husband, who does not have MS, has developed the same problem. Has anyone else had this happen to them? ------------ Newsgroups: alt.support.mult-sclerosis Subject: Re: Aspartame and MS Date: Tue, 11 Jul 1995 09:52:45 -0600 I also have MS, and do not use aspartame. My mouth goes weird when I do have it. I don't need to read labels, because even if there is a trace of aspartame in anything my mouth goes fizzy, so instantly know it and don't eat or drink it. ------------ Newsgroups: alt.support.mult-sclerosis Date: Tue, 11 Jul 1995 01:55:38 -0700 Subject: Re: MSLIST-L Digest - 9 Jul 1995 to 10 Jul 1995 On the subject of Aspartame: Do you all know that it is in some of our medications? The FDA does not require that pharmaceutical companies print out all ingredients, so I don't know which ones contain aspartame, and I get really sick when I use it. It's very dangerous and the Government has known this for at least 20 years, yet they allowed it to be put in just about everything. Give me my cyclimates back:-) ------------ Newsgroups: alt.support.mult-sclerosis Date: Mon, 10 Jul 1995 09:49:25 EDT Subject: Re: Aspartame and MS I have never had Nutrasweet cause an exacerbation; BUT when I quit using it for 2 weeks and then started again, I discovered it was what was causing my arms and legs to "buzz". I would have never believed it if I had not tried an elimination diet. ------------ Newsgroups: alt.support.mult-sclerosis Subject: Aspartame and MS Date: 8 Jul 1995 10:46:20 -0400 I used aspartame until 2 weeks before my first major exacberation, as I associated it with symptoms leading up to it. I suggest no one with MS should risk the possible involvement in their situation by aspartame by using nutrasweet, or anything including nutrasweet, such as diet coke. ------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jun 1995 15:01:22 EDT Sender: Brain Tumor Research/Support Subject: Research - aspartame A friend of mine had a summer job in an ampitheatre. She started having periodic dizzy spells that gradually worsened to seizures. After the worst one, she ended up in a coma. After puzzling the doctors for quite a while, she was diagnosed as having epilepsy and put on the appropriate drug. When she returned to her normal life, the problems continued despite medication. Finally, a friend of the family provided info on nutrasweet (aspartame). My friend had had free access to a fountain soda machine when she worked in the amphitheatre and had been drinking a lot of Diet Coke. The summer was hot and the Diet Coke was free. When my friend finally heard the aspartame info, she of course stopped her intake. Her problem completely disappeared. She is fine (off all medication)) as long as she avoids nutrasweet. The only problem she has had in years was once when she was served something that had nutrasweet (and she didn't know it)....she felt dizzy immediately. ------------ >>Newsgroups: sci.med.nutrition >>Subject: Re: How safe is Nutrasweet? >>Date: 5 Jul 1995 05:03:48 GMT >> >>In the 1980s Common Cause did an extensive investigation into Aspertane >>(Nutrasweet). I'll look for my copy of the articles, but you might want >>to contact them directly. The state psychiatric hospital where I worked >>in quality assurance the psychiatrists charted that patients exhibiting >>Parkinsonian tremors should not receive any food or beverage containing >>Nutrasweet as it increased the tremors. >> >>Common Cause noted that Nutrasweet was approved for use in foods three >>months after Reagan came into office. Scientist who had studied >>Aspertane did not recommend it for use in foods because when heated it >>breaks down into toxic elements. >> >>I will try to find the Common Cause article so I can give you the date >>of the publication. But the quickest thing to do is to get the phone # >>for Common Cause and ask them for a copy of their study. >> >>Good luck. I NEVER use aspertane (Nutrasweet) or any food or beverage >>containing it due to what I have seen as side effects in patients with >>Parkinsonian tremors. ------------ Date: Mon, 5 Jun 1995 16:08 EST To: immune@weber.ucsd.edu Subject: the evils of aspartame has anyone heard of aspartame being addictive? i haven't, but suspect that this might be the case. i seem to recall seeing a post on this list about phenylalanine alleviating pain by causing elevated levels of endorphin. is this true? more questions: how does aspartame lower serotonin levels in the brain? are there any studies documenting mood changes due to the use of aspartame? also, are there any natural substitutes for sugar that are not harmful (and also won't pile on the pounds?) another interesting thing... isn't dry mouth/eyes one of the side effects of aspartame? i guess that would be really good for the soft drink manufacturers... the ideal product!! one that first quenches and then causes thirst! i am finding this vein of posts very interesting... i recently sent mail to the list regarding my own problems (which led to responses from many of you, urging me to be tested for lupus). thankfully, a battery of tests revealed nothing 'wrong' in the autoimmune spectrum. but i am left with the same problems as i have had for years... i am a huge consumer of aspartame, and now am wondering if this might be the cause of my problems. it is scary, but despite the numerous posts (most, i believe, from Claire Gilbert) regarding aspartame, i am still using it (i actually prefer it to sugar, and crave it if i haven't eaten any for a while...), and cannot seem to kick the habit. ----------- Newsgroups: misc.health.diabetes Subject: Aspartame = memory loss??? Date: Thu, 25 May 95 23:57:00 -0400 I was talking with the doctors and nurses that I worked with during one shift, and many of us had neurological adverse effects from NutraSweet. The doctor said that there isn't much research on it, but it's a common complaint with patients. One nurse has numbness develop in her mouth immediately after consuming the product. I, myself, experience migraines from it. Another nurse has an elevation in blood pressure and sees auras and has blurry vision. Although they are all different complaints, they all relate to the neurologic system. ----------- Newsgroups: misc.health.diabetes Subject: Re: Aspartame = memory loss??? Date: 25 May 1995 09:47:05 -0400 Nothing surprises me about Nutra Sweet. I was drinking diet cola, eating nutra sweet laden ice creams, youguts ets. One evening I collapsed...head felt like it was exploding, I was dizzy, momentarily blinded, heart racing...I was very scared and my husband panicked. After under going tests to find out if I had a brain tumor or a stroke, it was determined by my doctor that I was having a reaction to NutraSweet. I was told by doctor and several nurses to avoid it at all costs. Regular sugar in moderation only. Seems more & more people are having reaction to it..don't know long term affects of the stuff. I have never suffered memory loss from it but nothing surprises me... ----------- Newsgroups: misc.health.diabetes Subject: Aspartame = memory loss??? Date: 24 May 1995 15:15:37 -0400 I was at the grocery store yesterday trying to find an easy to measure sweetener pack for my Kool-aid. While I was trying to decide which of the many packages would be the easiest, a nearby clerk offerred to help. Turns out he has diabetes too. But then he shocks me with this story of how he had been a Nutrasweet freak when it first came out and after about 2 years, he began suffering annoying memory loss (he was way too young for "normal" memory loss). He didn't think much about it, thought it was just age (yeah, early 20's will do it to you!). But he moved around that same time, and 6 months or a year later went back to the town he'd lived in and couldn't remember his friends names! People he'd known for years! Went to his doctor who told him to lay off the aspartame. After about 6 months of limiting his aspartame to just a can or two of soda a day, he was back to "normal." I was floored, but mainly because I've been experiencing memory loss lately. I figured it was normal for someone of 35, although it did seem odd that it came on so noticeably quick. I thought it was related to another health problem, and it may be, but it is also odd that for the past year I've been upping my water intake to 8-10 glasses a day by drinking that much aspartame sweetened Koolaid. ----------- Newsgroups: alt.support.diet Subject: Re: no carb questions re: aspartame Date: 2 Jun 1995 22:43:53 -0400 Just putting in my 2 cents . . . Several years ago, I read an article in Psychology Today about aspartame, which said it was found in lab tests to increase seizures in epiliptics. I can corrolate this w/two experiences: an ex who started drinking diet sodas and started having seizures on a daily basis after seven years of control on Dilantin; my poor Sheltie, who is okay unless someone leaves a half-full glass of soda around and then the poor thing has a reaction. Say I'm crazy, many have, but the final experience, memory loss, is something I can say has increased over many years of aspartame use. Any others w/similar experiences? ----------- Newsgroups: talk.environment,sci.environment,tor.general,ont.general,can.general Date: 2 Jun 95 12:53:09 GMT I know this is only anecdotal but my sister at age 32 with no neurological symptoms her whole life had two grand mal seizures in the space of a few days. This was after a summer of drinking large quantities of Crystal Light, a lemonade mix sweetened with Nutrasweet. No antecedents or siblings have ever had such symptoms. This was several years ago, but we (my family) eventually decided to lay off aspartame. I guess I do believe that there are people with a heightened sensitivity to aspartame. It is an easy thing to avoid. ----------- Newsgroups: alt.med.fibromyalgia Subject: Re: FREE NESTLES SWEET SUCCESS Date: 4 Apr 1995 01:20:17 -0400 And on the subject - does anyone else have severe reactions to Nutrasweet? I get a headache from a soda and once had convulsions after eating a slice (okay, a rather *big* slice) of chocolate cream pie made with it. Which is the reason I'm familiar with products that have it - unfortunately, it's no longer as well marked as it used to be - I tried the Slim Fast powder without reading the ingredients and have terrible headaches before reading the label. I ignored it the first day, thinking it was just eating less that caused it. [continued in a later post] Re: ASPARTAME...............LINKED TO FIBROMYALGIA...? Date Thu, 7 Mar 1996 10:10:10 -0600 Newsgroups alt.med.fibromyalgia This is very interesting to me! I've never been able to track the onset of FMS to accidents or virus like a lot of the people here can - mainly because I have a lousy sense of past time. I do know that my last and severe (to the point of convulsions) reaction to Nutrasweet wasn't too long before my symptoms started picking up speed. Unfortunately, I'm not very objective about Aspartame and am likely to be too willing to believe the worst. I shudder when I see pregnant women drinking it because it affects me so badly and doesn't affect my mom. ----------- Newsgroups: alt.med.cfs Date: Sat, 8 Apr 1995 06:01:52 -0400 Subject: Re: MED: Nutrasweet (fwd) >> Wow, I had no idea that it could cause so many problems. >> >> xxxxx >> >__________ >Count me in on the aspartame, too. Gives me headaches, nausea, and >worsens the brain fog. Besides, I can't STAND the taste! Heyheyheyheyheyhey...... Sorry to barge in here. I just gotta. I'm a sporadic browser in this group and haven't been tuned in lately...could you Aspartame-sensitive people get in touch with me? My friends think I'm whacked when I tell them that aspartame makes me feel dizzy, out of breath, nauseated, clammy and that it makes my heart race. I don't have CFS, but I am hypersensitive to several things, aspartame it particular. Also, do any aspartame-sensitive people out there live in fluoridated areas? Thanx :) [updated information] Re: NUTRASWEET Date Mon, 30 Sep 1996 20:56:31 GMT Newsgroups sci.med.nutrition,sci.med.immunology,sci.med,sci.med.pharmacy,mi sc.health.diabetes,alt.conspiracy,alt.drugs,alt.med.allergy,alt.support.epilepsy Good of you to post your experience -- I had a similar one, only my symptoms were really terrifying. At first, I thought I had developed an allergy to nitrited pepperoni, since the worst attacks always happened after I'd eaten pizza, which I always ate with diet peach or raspberry soda. I quit the combination until I had a SEVERE attack (pounding heart, irregular, weak pulse - weird since my heart was *hammering* - difficulty breathing, dizziness, nausea, headache) after downing about 12 ounces of diet Pepsi. The next day I ate some of my favorite pizza with a glass of water and nothing happened. A couple of days later, I drank 6 ounces of peach soda, had a reaction, and haven't touched the stuff since. It was quite a shock to "suddenly" develop such a reaction to something I had been drinking for several years, especially since it had been touted as NATURAL, and I had no allergies up to that point. My doctor tells me it is not unusual, and that people often just chalk it up to caffeine (which I still drink fearlessly and painlessly along with my tea and coffee), without actually BOTHERING to find out for themselves. There are reams of terrifying legal and research material out there for anyone who doesn't just want to snort at the idea of Aspartame being dangerous. I cringe when I see clueless parents feeding this poison to their toddlers, but after an experience with an utterly indifferent mother, I don't bother telling them they might be ruining their kids' health. Nobody wants to hear bad news. But hey, the vision in my left eye quit deteriorating ABRUPTLY when I quit aspartame (I lost about 50 feet of vision in it). Makes me kind of suspicious! And I feel *so* much better! My craving for sweets left me as well. Isn't it a relief?! :) ----------- Newsgroups: alt.med.cfs Subject: Re: MED: migraines (fwd) >>Me too on the Nutrasweet. Horrible headache. <<< Another 'thumbs down' on the Nutrasweet from me. I also get head-aches and a kind of very unpleasant sensaation throughout my body - kind of like a nervousness but I can't really describe it. I just know it makes me very uncomfortable and I avoid it at all costs. Also, I know some people prone to seizures who say it triggers them. ----------- Newsgroups: alt.med.fibromyalgia Subject: Re: Nutrasweet Date: Wed, 8 Mar 1995 20:27:18 GMT YES! I started getting migraines in '88. Before that time I usually drank 1-2 diet sodas per day and used packaged Nutrasweet on cereal, etc. It took a few migraines to realize that they were being triggered by the Nutrasweet. I got FMS/MCS in 1991, and still react badly to Nutrasweet. I get the headaches, but also nausea, and the shakes. I stay away from it in any form now. ----------- Newsgroups: alt.med.fibromyalgia Date: Thu, 2 Mar 1995 11:17:57 -0800 Subject: new member/Nutrasweet After reading all the posts about nutrasweet, I wanted to add my experience with it. In mid-1984 I started using the tablets in my tea (one tablet in my one cup of tea daily). Shortly after (the 4th of July, I remember!) I awoke one morning with a stabbing pain in my right big toe. Of course, I did not connect it to the Nutrasweet -- why would I, especially back then? My doctor tested for various things, but could find no problem. The pain gradually, over a couple of months, worked its way up my leg, and stayed in my knees for several weeks. Then to my hips, for several more weeks. It finally ended up in my shoulders for several months, and stayed in my left shoulder for nearly two years. I was referred to a rheumatologist, and I made the "mistake" of mentioning that I was in therapy -- and you know the look on his face at that.......However, he did a bone scan, which showed inflamed joints, and I was diagnosed with "polyarthritis" (many joints) and started taking Feldene (after trying many others first) with limited success. I even had cortisone shots in my shoulder (about 7 or 8). Early the next year, after this "diagnosis", I moved to another city with my then-boyfriend. I quit work for awhile, which resulted in drinking only 2 or 3 cups of tea a week, versus 5 or 6. You can guess that my shoulder was not quite as painful, but still enough pain to medicate. Gradually, I switched to herbal teas (vs. Twining's English teas) and did not need to sweeten them at all. Over about 4-6 months, my shoulder "un-froze" and became pain-free. I attributed it to a less stressful lifestyle and sheer good luck. Then one day, I opened a drawer while cleaning and came upon a packet of the Nutrasweet tablets and realized I hadn't used it for over a year. Bingo - the light came on! I actually stood there for several minutes staring at that package. I can't tell you how SURE I was that the Nutrasweet had caused my problems! But I decided to test it out with a cup of herbal tea and one nutrasweet tablet. I didn't really believe, though, that only one tablet would bring on any symptoms, so I drank the tea and went on about my business. Twenty minutes later, the large vertabra at the base of my neck started pulsing very painfully. That convinced me. So now I don't use anything with Nutrasweet, though I have occasionally eaten it because I didn't read a label carefully enough. Had some in frozen yogurt last year, unknowingly, until I awoke in new pains. Went to the freezer, and there it was on the label, in small print. I did write to the manufacturer, in 1990. Got two pages of mostly the expected "of course, it's safe and tested, etc.", but the last paragraph contained a few lines about the Center for Disease Control receiving 500 "reports" (note they don't say "complaints" about adverse reactions to nutrasweet, and the CDC has "conceded that some people may be unusally sensitive..." to Nutrasweet. ----------- Newsgroups: alt.med.fibromyalgia Date: Wed, 1 Mar 1995 10:46:15 -0500 Subject: nutrasweet I have been working with a nutritionist with some success. She equates Nutrasweet reactions with MSG reactions. These include flu like symptoms, achiness, sore muscles, irratible bowel, just the thing we all have enough of already. So, at her suggestion I have eliminated MSG and nutrasweet and really do notice a difference. ----------- Newsgroups: alt.med.fibromyalgia Date: Mon, 27 Feb 1995 16:23:42 PST Subject: Re: Nutrasweet Lines: 10 Makes me dizzy and gives me headaches. I quit drinking it several years ago, before I had FMS. ----------- Newsgroups: alt.med.fibromyalgia Date: Mon, 27 Feb 1995 22:30:16 -0500 Subject: Re: Nutrasweet Several months ago, there was a fair amount of discussion about this. I believe the chemical in nutrasweet is called "aspartame." And a fair number of people who are chemically sensitive do better staying away from it--me for one. Watch out, it's in things like sugarless gum that you might not think of right away. You also may want to eliminate carbonated beverages, and cut back on sugars as well--there've been periodic discussions of all of this on the list since I discovered it in October. ----------- Newsgroups: alt.med.fibromyalgia Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 08:32:50 -0500 Subject: Re: Nutrasweet I too have suffered debilitating headaches from Nutrasweet. Haven't touched it since I discovered the cause and have never had another migraine-type headache since. ----------- Newsgroups: alt.med.fibromyalgia Date: Mon, 27 Feb 1995 18:17:58 -0800 Subject: Re: Nutrasweet I've always known my body did not like nutrasweet/aspartame, but I never connected it to the fms...hmmm..... Wonder if it has to do with our chemical and amino acid imbalances? ----------- Newsgroups: alt.med.fibromyalgia Subject: Re: Nutrasweet Date: 27 Feb 1995 22:07:33 GMT My mother was diagnosed with FM about 3 years ago and at the time was taking 15 tylenol per day, several vivarin and drinking at least a six-pack of diet coke. Her doctor at the time (thankfully) told her to quit all three, and she does think that aspartame (nutrasweet) was responsible for the horrid headaches she so often suffered from. I know nutrasweet gives me a headache, and I don't have FM. On another note, my grandfather-in-law (how many of you have that relation?) recently had surgery for bladder cancer, and his doctor said off- handedly that it was probably caused by all the diet drinks he consumed. I wasn't there for that conversation, but it does make you wonder. ----------- Newsgroups: alt.med.fibromyalgia Date: Mon, 27 Feb 1995 20:17:56 -0500 Subject: Re: Nutrasweet Yes xxxxx, I have a problem with both caffeine and Nutrasweet. I have allergic reactions to Nutrasweet. Norenia ----------- Newsgroups: alt.med.fibromyalgia Date: Mon, 27 Feb 1995 17:05:07 -0700 Subject: Re: Nutrasweet Yes, yes, yes -- ME, I have definite problems with nutrasweet. I can't eat/drink anything with nutrasweet without feeling nauseous (even when I *don't* know there is any nutrasweet in it). For other people I know it acts as a migraine trigger, etc. ----------- Newsgroups: alt.med.fibromyalgia Subject: Nutrasweet Date: 27 Feb 1995 11:50:41 -0700 At my last appointment, my dr commented that most of his FMS patients smoke, most of them do better when they don't consume caffeine, and most of them have side effects from nutrasweet. He said that he is not implying anything, just stating an observation. I have heard about the smoking and caffeine before, but has anyone ever heard about problems with nutrasweet? [continued in a later post] Re: ASPARTAME...............LINKED TO FIBROMYALGIA...? Date Thu, 7 Mar 1996 06:00:00 MDT Newsgroups alt.med.fibromyalgia I can't blame the onset of my fibro on aspartame, but I do know beyond a doubt that nutrasweet makes my fibro symptoms much, much worse. My doctor pointed this possibility out to me, and when I stopped eating anything with nutrasweet, I felt better. ----------- Date: Thu, 15 Dec 1994 15:47:15 -0500 Subject: Re: Re- any info on headaches? X-cc: Multiple recipients of list SOREHAND Nutrasweet can trigger terrible migraines. ----------- Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative Subject: Re: ** What is best tasting diet soda ?? Date: Wed, 05 Jul 95 17:19:58 -0700 Well, up to last month my daughter and myself had been drinking lots of diet coke, pepsi or any other diet cola. My daughter had been getting head aches and I had started to get pains in my head. I went to a seminar and they had a speaker on there who was a Dr. who specialized in eating and drinking healthy foods. He mentioned that diet pop that used aspartane(sugar substitute)can give reactions like headaches, upset stomachs, nauseous. It appears that aspartane breaks down into methylol alcohol which, if you drank it in the pure form, would cause blindness. My daughter and myself no longer drink or use anything that has aspartane in it if possible. My daughter's headaches are gone and I no longer have pains in my head. This is just a personal observation, but I was glad I went to that seminar. I hope others benifit from my personal experience. ----------- Newsgroups: alt.support.attn-deficit Subject: Re: NutraSweet Date: 4 Jul 1995 23:10:22 GMT (I've not been diagnosed with ADD, but both MSG and Nutrasweet give me headaches.) ------------ Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine Subject: Re: Aspartame - How important a trigger? Date: Mon, 19 Jun 1995 02:48:14 GMT For me, even a few sips of a diet soda of any sort equals at least two days of full blown migraine. Always. And the (*&% stuff (aspartame) is even in "light" yoghurt. Luckily, I've always been conscientious about reading labels... ------------ Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative Subject: Re: Nutra-Sweet Date: 21 Jun 1995 13:39:24 -0400 XXXXX, side effect for me is that I get dizzy when nutrasweet is consumed. Not so dizzy if not on empty stomach, but still some. I know 3 people who have this reaction. One, like me, has a mild reaction. One passes out. None of us turned this in to the FDA. ------------ Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine Subject: Aspartame--How important a trigger Date: Sat, 17 Jun 1995 17:40:19 GMT Aspartame is a trigger for me. I drink nothing diet and avoid all products with that lovely Nutra Sweet seal. It's an automatic sign to stay away. ------------ Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine Subject: Re: Aspartame - How important a trigger? Date: 17 Jun 1995 21:02:01 GMT In additional to nasty headaches, aspartame increases my dyslexia problems. I tend to transpose letters (sometimes entire words are written backwards) and have problems speaking quickly (like reading a weather bulletin over the air). As another person said, the Nutri-sweet label is like a scull and crossbones for me. ------------ Newsgroups: alt.med.fibromyalgia Subject: Re: Survey for individuals with Fibromyalagia Date: Tue, 13 Jun 1995 08:11:19 GMT > Oh BTW, my son took my NUTRASWEET away from me, and I started feeling > better....about 6 months later! But, boy does that stuff make me ILL > now...wonder if it was all along? Diet's=sick=not worth it.... I had no trouble with nutrasweet or coffee until I got sick. After that, one drink of either with start a migraine within minutes. Weird huh?? ------------