# Aspartame trigger?



## emlica (Jul 24, 2013)

So, I know in the past people have posted about aspartame on here and there's been at least one poster who's replied saying it's impossible for aspartame to cause D, it's perfectly safe, etc etc. I thought I'd start by saying that I am *not* saying aspartame is dangerous or evil or should be banned or anything else. It's just that I think I've noticed a correlation between drinking diet drinks and having D, so I think it might be a trigger for me, just like, say, fructose is for some people.

I'm (hopefully) recovering from a tummy bug, so I think I just have mild PI-IBS. In the last couple of weeks things have been much much better, and I'd not had any episodes of real D at all, just some slightly soft stools and a bit of gas. I thought I was on the mend. At the weekend, though, I had a really bad episode of D. The last time that happened was two weeks ago, and on both occasions I'd been drinking diet lemonade. I usually drink the full fat stuff - I was only on the diet lemonade because I was at someone else's house and they only have diet stuff. Thinking back to other times I've had D episodes recently (even before I had the tummy bug, I had a 'sensitive tummy', which may have been very mild IBS, I guess), I could well believe that they tally with consumption of diet soft drinks. I remember a couple of times being at the house of some relatives and having bad D afterwards - both times I blamed it on the barbecue, but one of them is diabetic and only has Coke Zero, which I was also drinking.

Google is a bit divided as to whether aspartame is a likely trigger for D - whether you have IBS or not. Any experiences? And am I right in thinking aspartame is mainly only used in diet / 'no added sugar' type soft drinks and sweets/gum? Or is there anything else I should be looking out for?


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## Amanda Nicole (Jul 14, 2013)

We can develop sensitivities to just about ANY food or food chemical - could be the aspartame, could be any number of other chemicals in diet drinks (dyes, preservatives, etc.), or it could be just about any other food/chemical that you consumed within a couple days prior to your symptoms. Food sensitivities can be tough to pinpoint - one of the reasons for this, as I already eluded to, is that unlike with food allergy (where symptoms tend to start within minutes), symptoms of food sensitivities can be delayed up to 3-4 days after consuming the offending food/chemical (so something you ate on Tuesday could be causing you issues on Friday or Saturday, for example). Food sensitivities are also dose-dependent, meaning you might not experience symptoms until you consume a certain amount of your trigger (or if you consume multiple triggers around the same time). There is a blood test available called the Mediator Release Test that can help you identify some of the foods and chemicals that you're sensitive to.


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## emlica (Jul 24, 2013)

Thanks, yes, I know it's a bit of a guessing game unless you're tested. I just wondered if anyone else had experience of suspecting aspartame as the culprit. It's been multiple different types of diet drink, incidentally - I've checked labels and the only thing in common (that isn't in lots of other stuff, anyway) is the aspartame. My suspected post-aspartame D has usually come on 24 - 48 hours after consumption. So, yep, it might easily be something else I've eaten over that period, but certainly between this last weekend and the one two weeks ago, there's literally nothing else that I can think of that was different and that I haven't eaten on other occasions.

I've noticed you promote this Mediator Release Test quite a lot!! But to be honest, to some extent, if someone finds their symptoms are absent if they stop consuming a certain food, and return when they go back to it (and that pattern is consistent), I don't see that it's that essential to get tested. I guess the test is just a quicker way of being sure. That said, I know of people who've had food sensitivity testing - whether it was this MRT or not, I'm not sure, but it was definitely 'sensitivity' and not allergy testing - and it's come back saying they're sensitive to loads of things, despite the fact that those foods demonstrably didn't cause distressing symptoms (the example I remember is that a friend of mine's results came back saying she was sensitive to citrus, but she drank two glasses of OJ every day without symptoms). I suspect it means that there is some level of sensitivity there, but not enough to cause noticeably troublesome symptoms - I mean, if it's just that it causes a little bit of extra gas, for instance, you're probably not going to bother cutting it out of your diet if you enjoy it.


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## psychgirl823 (Jun 3, 2013)

Hey emlica, I think you make a lot of great points about food sensitivities. Also about the aspartame it is in a lot of different things besides soft drinks. I used to get bad migraines after having any amount of aspartame. About 15 years ago I stopped eating or drinking anything with aspartame in it. I didn't have D with it. I just had really bad headaches and with some monitoring my Dr. figured out that was causing it. Once I stopped having it I was fine at least with the headaches. IBS diagnosis is somewhat new for me. I would try to avoid it for awhile if you could just to see how you feel. Sorry I can't help more, but that is at least me experience with it.


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## Amanda Nicole (Jul 14, 2013)

Some of the other food sensitivity tests are not as accurate (IgG testing, for example, is used quite often and according to scientific literature, it is NOT a suitable test to identify food-related reactions) - so it's quite possible that the other tests that your friends have used are showing some false positives. I recommend MRT over other tests because of it's high accuracy/reliability. In some cases, yes, you can identify some triggers on your own without testing. BUT in many cases, there are culprits at play that are far less obvious (triggers could be a chemical found in foods, such as tyramine, solanine, sulfites, phenylethylamine, etc.). Depending upon how a person's food sensitivities are manifesting, consuming a "trigger" may not produce a super obvious symptom - it could cause sleepiness, elevated blood pressure, elevated blood sugar, water retention, etc (some people have found that certain triggers can even cause snoring!) - so it's completely individualized and doesn't always produce an obvious GI response, etc. If you KNOW you have a sensitivity to a food and continue to consume it, this does put extra stress on the body (regardless of whether or not you experience an obvious symptom) and you can become more prone to illness.


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## Queensgirl52 (Mar 15, 2012)

Rather than bother trying to figure out which artificial sweeteners are safe and which are not (especially since they're not great for you anyway, even if you can digest them), I cut them all out. Life is much more peaceful without them. If I want something carbonated, I have seltzer or sparkling water. For flavor, I mix in some fruit juice.


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## rmiller1985 (Sep 13, 2011)

"The last time that happened was two weeks ago, and on both occasions I'd been drinking diet lemonade. I usually drink the full fat stuff"

If your lemonade has fat in it, you should get a new lemonade.









I'm with Queensgirl52. Just skip the artificial sweeteners.

Rich


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## SJN888 (Jun 18, 2013)

Asparatame definitely contributes to my GI problems (abdominal pain and D)....also gives me a fuzzy-head and fatigue. I drank diet soda (on and off) for 20 years before I noticed, so I don't think it always caused me problems...


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## Apples (Apr 30, 2015)

I would agree that i too have found a corrolation between aspartame and my episodes of diahorea.

I heard on TV, on a medical show, of this possibility.

I have been getting significant diahorrea episodes 1-2 times a week for many years. Requiring Loperamide 1-2 tablets to leave the house (usually to go to work).

Six weeks ago I stopped all forms of artificial sweeteners, in my coffee, foods and soft drinks. I made no other changes to my diet or medications or supplements.

In that time I have not had any diahorrea nor taken any Loperamide.

For me this says a lot, and is a major life change.

Perhaps I have never really had IBS.


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