mountainsoft
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I have been addicted to carbonated soft drinks since I was a teenager. Horrible stuff, rots my teeth and God knows what else. But I couldn't tolerate any of the alternatives more than a day or two.
Last December I started having premature heart beats for the first time. I attributed it to the blood pressure medicine I was taking (I'm not a doctor), but the ER doc said it could be caused by the caffeine I was drinking (the only thing the ER vending machines offered at 3am.). So, I tried switching to caffeine free options - root beer, cream soda, sprite, etc. They were okay, but I noticed they were all extremely high in sugar. So, I decided to try the "zero sugar" options for cola and ginger ale. It took a week or two to adapt, but I thought I had found the solution. On the up side, I have lost almost 30 pounds this year just by dropping the sugar intake.
Unfortunately, my premature heart beats have continued on and off over the last year, despite trying the whole range of BP meds, beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, etc. It can get really scary, even though every doc says it's nothing to worry about. So I am constantly looking for anything that might be causing it (other than just my old broken body).
I took a closer look at the "zero sugar" beverages I've been drinking, and saw they were all sweetened with aspartame. The FDA and other agencies say it's perfectly fine, but there's a lot of controversy. Anyway, one of the supposed side effects is an irregular heart beat. True or not, I'm grasping at any possible cause these days. I drink about 2 liters each day, so I figured it was worth stopping for a while to see what happens.
It may just be coincidence, but within a day of stopping the aspartame sweetened drinks I had a really bad flare up of premature heart beats. I have also been having bad muscle pains, headaches, and am really tired. I was already caffeine free, so I know it's not it's not caffeine withdrawals. From what I've read, these are common "aspartame withdrawal" symptoms.
It's still way too early to come to any conclusion, and I'm not sure I believe all the health nut conspiracy theories anyway, But, I'm willing to try anything at this point not to have those pounding premature heart beats that drain my energy.
Anyway, I'm just curious if anyone else has stopped aspartame consumption and if so did you experience any withdrawal symptoms?
For now I'm trying stevia sweetened tea and sodas like Zevia. It's supposed to be more "natural" but who knows. I already know what natural sugar does to me, so it's a matter of finding the lesser evil. The "just drink water" thing has never worked for me, no matter what is added to it.
Last December I started having premature heart beats for the first time. I attributed it to the blood pressure medicine I was taking (I'm not a doctor), but the ER doc said it could be caused by the caffeine I was drinking (the only thing the ER vending machines offered at 3am.). So, I tried switching to caffeine free options - root beer, cream soda, sprite, etc. They were okay, but I noticed they were all extremely high in sugar. So, I decided to try the "zero sugar" options for cola and ginger ale. It took a week or two to adapt, but I thought I had found the solution. On the up side, I have lost almost 30 pounds this year just by dropping the sugar intake.
Unfortunately, my premature heart beats have continued on and off over the last year, despite trying the whole range of BP meds, beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, etc. It can get really scary, even though every doc says it's nothing to worry about. So I am constantly looking for anything that might be causing it (other than just my old broken body).
I took a closer look at the "zero sugar" beverages I've been drinking, and saw they were all sweetened with aspartame. The FDA and other agencies say it's perfectly fine, but there's a lot of controversy. Anyway, one of the supposed side effects is an irregular heart beat. True or not, I'm grasping at any possible cause these days. I drink about 2 liters each day, so I figured it was worth stopping for a while to see what happens.
It may just be coincidence, but within a day of stopping the aspartame sweetened drinks I had a really bad flare up of premature heart beats. I have also been having bad muscle pains, headaches, and am really tired. I was already caffeine free, so I know it's not it's not caffeine withdrawals. From what I've read, these are common "aspartame withdrawal" symptoms.
It's still way too early to come to any conclusion, and I'm not sure I believe all the health nut conspiracy theories anyway, But, I'm willing to try anything at this point not to have those pounding premature heart beats that drain my energy.
Anyway, I'm just curious if anyone else has stopped aspartame consumption and if so did you experience any withdrawal symptoms?
For now I'm trying stevia sweetened tea and sodas like Zevia. It's supposed to be more "natural" but who knows. I already know what natural sugar does to me, so it's a matter of finding the lesser evil. The "just drink water" thing has never worked for me, no matter what is added to it.