Sensitive to all
Non-Sugar Sweeteners!

by Elaine
(McKinney, TX)

Aspartame gives me migraines. I can have it in small amounts (mints or gum), but diet sodas are out of my diet.

Sucralose gives me facial/mouth itching, chest congestion, and throat swelling; I went to the ER once because I'd accidentally ingested sucralose, and the doctor kept telling me that I must have eaten shellfish, because it was just like a shellfish reaction! (I have no shellfish allergy.) I have to be really careful, because sucralose is in so many things now! (Cough drops! Mouthwash! Ice cream! Even popcorn!)

Saccharine makes me have dizzy spells if I have the pink stuff in my coffee. Fortunately it's not a very bad reaction. My toothpaste and mouthwash brands contain saccharine, but I can spit them out with no problems or side effects--unlike mouthwash that has sucralose, which almost sent me to the ER once!

I even react to stevia. A couple of years ago I thought I was going into premature menopause, but my doctor ran tests and I was fine. I examined my diet, and figured out that my hot flashes, night sweating, and mood swings had begun not long after I started using stevia in my morning coffee. When I went back to sugar, the symptoms immediately stopped. Just to make sure, I had a cup with stevia after a couple days without, and spent the rest of the day flushed and uncomfortable. It may be made from a plant, but it sent my hormones all out of whack!

So I have to look at ingredients all the time. I can't drink sweet drinks at restaurants because of the risk of sucralose. I stay well away from diet sodas. I only use plain sugar in my coffee. And I try to stay healthy, because if I ever develop diabetes, I'm sunk!