I am doing this because I have noticed some strange symptoms when I drink a lot of certain beverages containing aspartame and/or caffeine (and we might as well deal with Splenda too), so I am going to see if my public declaration of these symptoms helps anyone else to come forward and reveal their own similar experiences. Maybe you think you are crazy or that it must be some other factor. You know hundreds of people who drink Diet Coke and none of them experience these things. Whatever happens, I am here to write it down. I go through cycles, so I see all kinds of things. Sometimes I quit one, sometimes the other, and rarely both. Strange things happen in all cases. I also sometimes consume huge quantities of both, so I see what happens then too. I'm talking on the order of 6 liters a day. That's three 2-liter bottles. Yeah, just me, by myself. I have tried Diet Coke, Diet Mountain Dew, Diet Pepsi, Diet Dr. Pepper, various cheapo brands, and I've sampled many others. When I'm off caffeine, I use Fresca, Sprite Zero, Crystal Light, and some iced teas, all with aspartame. Typically, I am settled on Diet Coke with Lime. That doesn't seem like it would be that important, but I have noticed different effects with each product.
Like what, you ask?
First off, when I drink almost any diet beverage made with aspartame but without caffeine, I get a tickle in my throat that makes me cough. The funny thing is I almost never cough at any other time in my life. I tend to think of coughing as a voluntary activity, and I have proven it by not coughing for years on end, no joke. I'll tell the story of why I feel this way sometime later. Anyway, these drinks create such an irritating feeling that I eventually have to cough to try to dislodge it. It feels like a hair is stuck right in the middle of a swallow, and I can't get rid of it. Of course I can't, because there isn't anything there. Does anyone else get that? Crystal Light is the worst offender in this department. I don't think I have ever swallowed any Crystal Light without coughing shortly thereafter. What is the deal?
When I drink these things, I gain weight. There has been some research out there suggesting that diet beverages may increase weight. I am here to support those findings. Because I go on and off of them every year, I can see the direct relationship. I am an amateur endurance athlete, and weight is something I would like to keep as low as possible, but it is extremely difficult for me when I am drinking caffeine. I have had luck cutting the caffeine and keeping the aspartame, and losing weight. Based on that, I am currently blaming the caffeine.
When I am addicted to drinks with aspartame, a lack of it gives me a specific type of headache. This pain is way in the back. I call it an occipital headache, because it feels like my occipital lobe is swollen and pressing against the back of my skull. I have sometimes thought that it might be stress from withdrawal tightening the back of my neck because massaging that area feels soooo good when I am trying to quit aspartame, but the feeling is really higher, right on the bulge in the back of my head. It can be remarkably painful.
When I drank a lot of Diet Mountain Dew, my eyeballs hurt. It was most noticeable when looking in any direction as far from straight ahead as possible. In other words, looking to the extreme right or left, all the way up or down, and all the way around, my eyeballs literally hurt. I have no explanation for this, and I can't figure out why it only happened with Diet Mountain Dew, but I swear to you, that is what happens to me.
Likewise, there are a couple of these beverages, notably Diet Mountain Dew again, that make my teeth very sensitive. I started using Sensodyne toothpaste at one point because I thought I was getting old and my teeth hurt a lot all the time. As it turned out, that wasn't the cause. It was the drinks. For some reason, this does not happen with any Diet Coke products, which is one of the reasons I tend to drink those when I fall off the wagon.
I'll add more as we go along, but this should get us started and generate discussion if any of you have had these experiences. If you have, let's get it out there.
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11 comments:
I've been coughing for years. In fact, a friend of mine has been telling me that and I said, "no, its only after I'm sick." I ran out of diet coke and hadn't bought more at the market so for the last 2 weeks, I stopped drinking diet coke and have been drinking only ice cold water. I discovered that drinking cold water quenches my thirst perfectly. I started drinking diet coke to stay up late nights computer programming. Anyway, that's another story.
But today, I stopped off at a fast food drive thru and bought a diet coke even though I hadn't drank any for 2 weeks. It was hot, and I was thirsty. Within a minutes after drinking some diet coke, I started getting a tickle in my throat and had to cough. I then realized that the diet coke was the culprit. I had some water in the car, but it had been there since yesterday and was pretty hot. I drank some anyway. Immediately it stopped the tickle! I still have a slight tickle feeling in my throat that hasn't dissipated yet, but its not strong enough to make me cough. I'm going to try this experiment again to confirm what I've encountered so far.
My work provides free Crystal Light in the break room, so I've been drinking more and more of it lately. Strangely enough, I've been coughing lately as well. I don't even notice it anymore. My family hears my occasional coughs and suggests that I see a doctor. I know I'm not sick! The urge to cough (tickle in my throat) is strongest immediately after drinking that Crystal Light or Lipton diet green tea with aspartame. This is no coincidence. I think I'll experiment too.
wow I think I am experiencing the same thing. I cannot stop coughing, and I think it has something to do with the Diet Mountain Dew that I drink every day, and any other caffeinated beverages that I might have (Diet Amp, Mio Energy, or Crystal Light Energy).
From what I've read, the coughing is possibly caused by acid reflux from the caffeine. Everything I've read about acid reflux says to avoid caffeine and carbonated beverages because they could give you heartburn (which I don't have), and/or give you a cough with a constant tickle in your throat. This sucks because I really don't want to give up the caffeine. I like it, and sometimes need it to get through work, then school at night. I just have work tomorrow though, so I am going to try a caffeine free day with just water and Propel Zero. It's weird because I'm hoping that stops the coughing of course, but another part of me doesn't want it to work because I don't want to give up caffeine yet.
This constant coughing sucks too much though that I'll do anything to get it to stop.
Me too! Coffee, Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi, green tea, all of them cause me to cough.😡
Club Zero causing me a tickly cough with past 3 months. Gave up for 3 weeks on hols. Cough stopped within 2 days. Home for 2 weeks and no cough. Drank Club Zero yesterday. Spent all night coughing. Diet coke does not cause me similar problems.
Drink crystal light at night and cough all night long! Thought it was my pillow! Thank God I ran onto this post!! No more crystal light for this gal!!
It's the crystal light!!
I've finally figured out it's the aspartame giving me this irritating cough. I'm cutting it out for sure.
I have had phlegm and clearing my throat issues for almost a year now. I have narrowed it down to certain items... Diet Coke, Diet Gingerale, Crystal Light. I thought I was the only one.
I drink diet sodas irresponsibly for sure and at first it was phlegm, then a tickle, and now a cough, i increase my water it definitely goes away. And its never consistent coughing, only while i drink the diet sodas.
I just found this and it’s almost funny. I stopped drinking soda but do drink Crystal Light. I cough almost always after that. I was speaking to my brother on the phone today. He was coughing and I mentioned that I always cough when I drink CL lemonade. He said he drinks CL ice tea and always coughs after.
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