Aspartame Poisoning - My Story

minxie_minx

Aspartame Free
Hi everyone, I know a lot of you have been asking me in another thread about my Aspartame Poisoning story.. so here it is.

The FIRST thing I will say, is, I don't want everyone reading this freaking out & throwing out their artificial sweetener supplies. Ideally I would like everyone to Google aspartame dangers & make the decision to give it up themselves, but I know that won't happen. I will however inform you on what COULD happen to you if you are overdoing the poison, like I was.

Before my Slimming World journey began in April, well, a long time before really - the first time being in 2008/9 I did a diet which some of you may be familiar with, called the Dukan Diet. I won't lie, the first time I did it, it was great. The weight came off SO fast & it seemed easy enough just eating protein & the sweetener sweetened up my tea to make me feel like I was having my sugar & I also put it into my Total 0% yoghurts & Quark so it was sweet, almost like cheesecake, yum! Back then I was with my long term (7yrs) partner & he was a control freak/bully & liked to drink & I could go on & on but you get the picture. I was in Uni doing my MA degree & even though by now I'd stopped the Dukan diet (once I got to my "I look fine" weight - I still used sweetener & ate as healthily as I could. I started to 'Up' my use of the sweetener, so I started to go from 2 of those small tablets in my tea, to 4 of them - NO reason for it, only that I have one hell of a sweet tooth & liked the taste. I was also upping my use of the powdered version on my Weetabix, in my Total yoghurt.. as well as guzzling Pepsi Max & eating a lot of Muller Light Yoghurts.

One day, the worst day of my life, I had a phone call in my class in Uni, from my mum to say my father was passing away. He passed away in 2010 of lung cancer which he'd battled for 5yrs. After this.. I began to eat, a lot. I felt bad because my dad had been so thin towards the end, around 6/7 stone & he was 5'8ish & there was me scoffing my face - but that was my way to deal with it. I also broke up with my boyfriend, which wasn't easy (but, the best thing I did, apart from joining SW of course)! I started to think to myself, right, if I'm eating all this food, I need to make up for it somewhere. So when I could, I would have my red milk & my weetabix - but then COVER it in sweetener. I would also have a HUGE mug of tea, but instead of two sugars I'd put 6 or so sweeteners in, yes I was up to 6 of them by now, to be honest I wasn't even counting sometimes. Basically making my brain think that I was having all this sugary goodness when I wasn't.

Moving on, I met new partner Colin (who is also doing SW with me)! I wasn't on the sweetener now - but when we both started to enjoy ourselves eating away together (take aways, chocolates at Christmas.. you name it, haha) - I started to think uh oh, the weight is coming back. I weighed myself & thought right, time to get healthy again & did the Dukan once again as a quick fix.. only this time, I had upped my sweetener to about 7 sweetener tablets in my tea, powder in the yoghurts and so on. One day I got shaky because of the NO sugar on the Dukan & Colin told me never to do it again. So I didn't, however, I did keep the sweetener supply. Powdered sweetener on my cereals, in the Total yoghurts, 7 tablets in my tea, in a big mug maybe 8.

Then everything started to slowly change. I started to get depressed. EXTREMELY depressed, over NOTHING. I would sometimes find myself crying, but if you asked me why? I wouldn't know. My weight was actually going UP & I looked all puffed up even though I was eating 'normally'. I started to feel short of breath more often & would often panic that I couldn't breathe. I also had a LOT, LOT more anxiety. My fear of the dentist became a full PHOBIA, which had me crying in the chair! I started to have migraines, BAD, BAD migraines - especially if I'd been out driving. It forced me to visit Specsavers. I wear contacts anyway, but in a space of less than a year my vision had all of a sudden jumped from a -4.50 to a -5.50 from nowhere, my optician who has known me since 14yrs old also said in the nicest possible way that I looked more 'round in the face' aka fat, lol (which wasn't nice but I knew it was true)!!

My mood & personality also changed. I didn't feel like 'me' anymore at all. It wasn't to do with weight or anything at this stage. I'm just talking about me. Some days Colin would come home & find me sitting on the stairs just crying. I also began to stutter, a lot. I have NEVER, EVER been a shy girl I am always chatty and bubbly and love a chat with the people in the local co-op. One day I went in & when I tried to talk.. I was stuttering & the frustration made me so upset. I got back in the car & cried to Colin saying "They think I'm pathetic, I couldn't talk to them, I feel stupid" - which I did. I also became short with Colin, who never does anything wrong! When I'd snap at him, I knew in the back of my head he'd done nothing.. (as us women do..) but I just picked on him!

I also had insomnia, very badly. I would stay awake from 1am up until 5am just lying there thinking about everything! The scariest moment came though one day when I came downstairs & went for my daily shower.. I got in the shower & started thinking about my dad.. then from somewhere & to this day I don't know where this little voice came from I started to call myself 'Pathetic, your dad wouldn't be proud of you, look at you' etc etc - (this was in reference to the fact that I didn't have a job but was trying my hardest since finishing my MA)! I came out the shower and came through to the front room to Colin upset as usual and he asked what was wrong. When he moved my towel, he gasped and asked what I'd done. I looked down & my chest (basically all my boobs & above) was scratched. I'd been so frustrated in the shower I had scratched myself. PLEASE believe me when I say that THIS was COMPLETELY out of character for me. COMPLETELY. I have NEVER (before this) & NEVER will again, self harm. I do not believe in it, at all.

I told Colin to call my mum & she came down afterwards & I just cried saying I "didn't understand what was happening to me". It was a VERY VERY horrible, strange feeling. Being trapped in this body that wasn't the bubbly chatty Anella (that's my name btw) - it was some moody, depressed girl. By now I was also struggling with my joints. No Joke. I am 26yrs old (25 at the time) & was holding the banister to go up the stairs & no it wasn't weight related as I was only 12 & a halfish stone (yeah overweight but not severely obese or anything). When I went walking I was short on breath & my feet would ache.

Colin & my mum sent me to the family doctor asap. When I went along.. he went down the dad route (he was my dads doctor as well). He asked me if I was depressed over my dad. I said yes.. then no.. then yes but no.. it was hard to explain. If you've lost a close one you'll understand. I do miss my dad, a LOT. I still cry the odd time, I really do, but I also remember more of the happy times. I am honestly not one to get all manic depressive about it, every single day. However, the doctor asked me a few other questions about health etc but he put the main thing as my dads passing (this was last year - & it had been 2yrs since my dad passing). He offered me anti-depressants but I refused. Sorry if I offend anyone by saying I am against them.. just my opinion.

A week or so later I had a call from the Dr asking me to come back in and see him. This was after about 4 blood tests. He sat me down & asked me straight about my 'dieting'. I said I wasn't on a diet anymore but was overweight bla bla bla. Then he asked me if I had some other symptoms which I answered yes to (all of them). He asked me if I was drinking many diet drinks & I said a few but not so many.. then I said, oh but I do use the sweetener. He nodded and half smiled and said a big 'RIGHHHT' - He asked me how much. At first I answered about 3 in my tea and some powder but he asked me how much again - he must have known I was lying & I said about 8 tablets in my tea sometimes.. and the rest.. he was shocked.

He told me I needed to cut it out of my life ASAP & detox my body (flush it out ASAP). He gave me some medicine that he normally prescribes to people with GOUT, to help my joints and also advised me to keep going for eye tests, as Aspartame Poisoning could also lead to blindness & he had seen how much my vision had gone down in a short space of time.

To cut this very, very (Sorry)! long story short, I have now been Aspartame Free since the start of this year & my speech has returned to normal, the depression has GONE completely, the anxiety, the short temper, the joint pain, headaches. My eye sight is the same for now - but only because I haven't been to check it yet (hoping it has improved)! Everything has gone. My hair is slowly growing back too.. my skin and hair both went completely dry and my hair started snapping off! I've always bleached it.. but with its condition it snapped from below my boob length to above my cheekbones which was horrible. It is growing back better than ever now though :D

It hasn't been easy though. Aspartame is like a a drug to me (you might laugh) but the doctor said it was like a drug addiction to me & it would be hard to give up! He wasn't lying either. In my first weeks of being aspartame free, I literally nearly cried in the isle of Tesco because I wanted some Cherry Pepsi Max!!! It was ridiculous. I begged Colin for just one bottle etc! He threw out anything that had aspartame in and even HE has given it up for me, after seeing what it did!

In my first SW meeting I had to tell my consultant about this because she was always suggesting products like Muller lights and Diet Cokes etc & all the puddings had sweetener in them. All sugar free cordials have it in. Luckily more products like the Danio yoghurts which are free of artificial sweetener & Alpen light bars are delicious! I now have my tea with honey & if I have a Total 0% yoghurt I have honey in that too :p The downside is I don't have a lot of exciting things to drink, literally water or tea (or milk)! I also have to check EVERY product while shopping just to make sure it's not getting back in my body! I have never felt better though!

So yeah, this is just my story of what it CAN do to you if you overdo it. Remember I had a LOT of it but I encourage everyone to do a quick google search of aspartame (they are actually trying to ban it in the US) - I would never want anyone to go through what I did, at all. What a hellish time I had. It scares me that I could have carried on and on.. I'm glad I found the cause & will never eat or drink that poison again!!

Thanks all for reading! x - I might upload some before/after photos if you like! x
 
Sorry that happened to you... I try to use sucralose (Splenda) or truvia.... But like you say it's in soo much :( bad in this huge quantities...
 
Sorry that happened to you... I try to use sucralose (Splenda) or trivia.... But like you say it's in soo much :( bad in this huge quantities...

Thanks for taking the time & patience to read, haha - & yeah it is in EVERYTHING. Nightmare when you're shopping & have to check everything! This diet can be done without them though, so there is hope for everyone who is avoiding Artificial Sweeteners.

Oh I also forgot to mention - I am not AGAINST the Dukan Diet in any way!! I didn't even follow it properly, I literally took the first phase PP (Pure Protein) & stuck to that for a LONG time instead of moving on! However in MY opinion it is a hard diet to follow as you have NO energy at all! x
 
I tried dukan too... Very hard and complex I found.... Too regimented.. Love sw x
 
I use Splenda but try to avoid it as much as possible.

What shocked me was that non-diet fizzy drinks nearly all have aspartame in too!!! My kids get them now and again

I'm in a group on FB for Scanbran recipes and some of them horrify me. They do a Scanbran challenge which involves eating 5 SB a day (which is great for weight loss and not bad for you at all) but they mainly make cakes with them - some recipes have 10 (yes TEN) tablespoons of sweetener in!!! Can you imagine eating that EVERY day before you even start with sticking in your coffee etc? I darent say anything to them though about watching the sweetener in case they dont take it well

I've read many similar stories to yours about the effects of Aspartame - can you believe its still allowed?
 
Thanks for taking the time to share this deeply personal experience. So scary to think something so widely available can be so harmful.
 
I tried dukan too... Very hard and complex I found.... Too regimented.. Love sw x

The only time I would praise it is if you were after a quick detox for a week or something! Desperate measures I mean, looking to lose a few pounds.. but long term, no. No way! Like I said I just did phase one for more than the recommended time! x

I use Splenda but try to avoid it as much as possible.

What shocked me was that non-diet fizzy drinks nearly all have aspartame in too!!! My kids get them now and again

I'm in a group on FB for Scanbran recipes and some of them horrify me. They do a Scanbran challenge which involves eating 5 SB a day (which is great for weight loss and not bad for you at all) but they mainly make cakes with them - some recipes have 10 (yes TEN) tablespoons of sweetener in!!! Can you imagine eating that EVERY day before you even start with sticking in your coffee etc? I darent say anything to them though about watching the sweetener in case they dont take it well

I've read many similar stories to yours about the effects of Aspartame - can you believe its still allowed?

Thanks for the message & NO I can't believe it's still allowed! What annoys me now is drinks like Sprite & Lilt (& many more) are actually using sugar AND aspartame together! Just so they can say X amount less sugar! My SW consultant always brings empty muller light pots (new flavours she's found) & tells everyone how gorgeous they are etc. I actually try and give people my own tips in the class - like to try some Total 0% with some honey which is LOVELY & hardly any syns! Also, I discovered the Danone Danio yoghurts (160g) with a strawberry sauce layer in the bottom.. 1 syn!! NO ARTIFICIAL SWEETENER. In my opinion MUCH nicer than those Muller lights which don't even fill you up. The Danio yoghurt is SO thick and fills you! Yum.

I was disappointed when she bought out the scan bran challenge thing. All the recipies had sweetener like you said. Plus stuff like the curly wurly cakes etc - ALL sweetener. Plus I believe that things like diet coke etc bloat you up (not everyone will agree) but whenever I used to drink pepsi max etc, my stomach always felt puffed up with air.. & I believe (again not everyone will agree, just my personal opinion) these drinks MAKE you hungrier! My doctor even told me that aspartame makes you hungry thus making you put on weight in the long run! Oh one more thing he also mentioned something about Chinese take away food.. ***Don't know if this is true I need to look it up*** but he said that you find aspartame in a lot of chinese food..? I never used to order sweet & sour type things anyway but will have to keep that in mind!


Thanks for taking the time to share this deeply personal experience. So scary to think something so widely available can be so harmful.

Thanks! I didn't want to post this much really, but I thought I'd be 100% totally honest. That's why I didn't leave ANYTHING out. Even my shower scratching episode, which I find absolutely embarrassing. I just wanted to show that these warnings online aren't just stories to scare you, they can happen to anyone (well, me)! You can all take my word that I am a completely 'normal' - whatever normal is - person & this stuff just made me loopy! Be careful if you are like me with a sweet tooth & are sneaking more sweeteners in your tea/on cereal/recipes. You won't even realise you're doing it until it has affected you somehow! x
 
Wow cant believe that happened to you! Glad your okay now, i have sweetner every single day i have 2 small tabs in my tea which cant vary from a few cups a day to quite a few and i drink diet coke and pepsi max, i dont think i have alot but i think i have enough, quite worried now as i dont think i can have my tea without sweetner :/
 
What a shocking story. Good job you have a switched on and caring GP.
I really don't like the taste of sweeteners, none of them. I was so exited when stevia extract came out in the supermarkets, but was badly disappointed as can't stomach that stuff either, the taste (to me) is revolting. Sucralose makes me gag, aspartame I can only have very small amounts in say the odd fizzy drink or a yogurt, as it upsets my tummy. I know that they used to have warnings on fizzy pop cans in the US, stating that aspartame has caused cancer in lab mice :eek:. I enjoy a good cup of tea and I need to have it sweet. I use agave nectar, all natural and only half the syns of sugar.
 
Wow cant believe that happened to you! Glad your okay now, i have sweetner every single day i have 2 small tabs in my tea which cant vary from a few cups a day to quite a few and i drink diet coke and pepsi max, i dont think i have alot but i think i have enough, quite worried now as i dont think i can have my tea without sweetner

Don't worry, you're not going to see a difference with that amount! However can I suggest you try some honey? I cannot live without sugar in my tea! Before sweetener I had to have two sugars! Honey is JUST as nice as real sugar, honestly. Give it a try. Just clear squeezy honey. Put at first a teaspoon in & see if you like it. I've cut it down to just a drizzle now so it's hardly any syns! Honey isn't too bad anyway (on syns)! :)

What a shocking story. Good job you have a switched on and caring GP.
I really don't like the taste of sweeteners, none of them. I was so exited when stevia extract came out in the supermarkets, but was badly disappointed as can't stomach that stuff either, the taste (to me) is revolting. Sucralose makes me gag, aspartame I can only have very small amounts in say the odd fizzy drink or a yogurt, as it upsets my tummy. I know that they used to have warnings on fizzy pop cans in the US, stating that aspartame has caused cancer in lab mice :eek:. I enjoy a good cup of tea and I need to have it sweet. I use agave nectar, all natural and only half the syns of sugar.

That agave nectar is similar to honey, which I use :) I was excited about Stevia.. but decided not to go near, just incase.. I haven't read up on it enough! Colin (the partner) says he hates the taste of artificial sweetener too! Awful stuff! x
 
Just been out to change kids juices... I checked and even robinsons squash has it in! Got them ribena and barley orange... Didn't even realise it was in them! The barley still has saccharin in though but no aspartame .....
 
Just been out to change kids juices... I checked and even robinsons squash has it in! Got them ribena and barley orange... Didn't even realise it was in them! The barley still has saccharin in though but no aspartame .....

Yep, It's in everything. Anything Sugar Free has it but even the 'normal' things are starting to sneak it in!
 
From what I've read sweeteners make you crave sugar because your brain gets the sweet taste, tells your body to produce insulin to counteract it then it has nothing to work on so it craves the sugar

This may be wrong but thats just what I've read and am happy to be corrected
 
From what I've read sweeteners make you crave sugar because your brain gets the sweet taste, tells your body to produce insulin to counteract it then it has nothing to work on so it craves the sugar

It sounds very similar to what the Dr told me, so I think you're right. So in the end, you basically eat more sugar = put on weight! Achieve nothing! x
 
I read an article once where it said the weight loss industry, doctors etc for a long time believed the problem was fat and so created low fat diets along with the creation of sweetners. Now they have discovered that it was never the fat content that creates the problem it is however sugar and its substitutes that create cravings, over eating and even mental health issues.

I just wish there was more help for those like myself who suffer from this addiction/over eating bingeing cycle than being overlooked or looked at with derision.
 
I am reading this book and she deals with the binge cycle .... Very good read :)

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I tried to Get it on kindle but had to buy the hard copy, if you go on her web site you can download free the first chapter, see if you like it, I got book for pennies on amazon :)
 
Basically it's just like sw advocates the power of eating as sw does for free foods..... It's fascinating stuff...
 
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