I NEED TO VENT
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rhondavis
I NEED TO VENT
[b]Hello all. I just had to vent. I must get some sleep! I've not slept at night in days. Something is causing this RLS to get worse. I have tried to put my finger on it. I just don't know. Does anyone know if the use of nutrasweet (aspertame) can cause RLS? I have also developed mid-back pain. Between the back pain and the RLS I am absolutely miserable!! I'm tired of taking hot baths 2 & 3 times during the night. Any comments? Thanks, Rhonda
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Penguinrocks
- Posts: 703
- Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2005 6:03 pm
- Location: Massachusetts
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Hi Rhonda,
I'm so sorry !!!!! And believe me, we all know how you feel. That's what makes this site great.
Anyway, do you have allergies? Are you taking any antihistimines?
I don't know about the nutri sweet, but in my humble opinion, natural is better. We have enough chemicals getting pumped into us with the RLS....one things for sure, we'll all be very well preserved!
Sorry, just wanted to try to cheer up...i know how crappy this all can be and i have it everywhere, not just legs.
Vent away.......
Penguin
I'm so sorry !!!!! And believe me, we all know how you feel. That's what makes this site great.
Anyway, do you have allergies? Are you taking any antihistimines?
I don't know about the nutri sweet, but in my humble opinion, natural is better. We have enough chemicals getting pumped into us with the RLS....one things for sure, we'll all be very well preserved!
Sorry, just wanted to try to cheer up...i know how crappy this all can be and i have it everywhere, not just legs.
Vent away.......
Penguin
Beware the Penguin
Oh, Rhonda--
Sounds like you're having a miserable time!!!!
So sorry to hear that! Glad you came here to vent, though. We can alllllllll relate!!!
Interesting that you mentioned Nutrasweet. I know a little about that, though I'd never made or read any connection between it and RLS. Here are a few facts about it that might be relevant.....
By the end of the 1990, more than ten thousand aspartame users had reported more than one hundred different negative reactions/symptoms of aspartame use according to the FDA. I've never seen the list, but maybe RLS exacerbation was included/maybe not. Either way, that's a lot of people with a lot of problems.
Phenylalanine, a major component of aspartame, is an amino acid which, when combined with caffeine, as it is in many diet drinks, is more stimulating to our bodies than caffeine alone.
Aspartame's ingredients also compete in our bodies with the uptake of tryptophan, the amino acid needed to produce seratonin in our brains. Low intake of tryptophan/low levels of seratonin in the brain area common, and responsible for a wide variety of conditions and mood/personality issues. At the very least, depletion of your natural serotonin levels could easily make your mood/ability to cope lower, making your PERSPECTIVE of your RLS severity worse.... if the other facts listed didn't directly affect RLS. (But I personally wouldn' be surprised if they DO. )
Oh, and unrelated to RLS, but something many people have not heard... aspartame is a product people use to limit sugar/calories, obviously, but the chemical make-up of the substance makes it both addictive (making you fill up on more diet foods containing it and leaving most people consuming fewer and fewer healthy foods) and detrimental to the brain functions that allow you to see yourself objectively (so most people who are using aspartame to feel better about their weight, even if they lose weight, actually end up feeling worse about it emotionally!)
Rhonda, I was fortunate to feel ill the first time I ever tried Nutrasweet back when I was a kid and it first came out. So I never ate things with it if I knew it was an ingredient. I know a number of people, including my mom, however, who consumed it for decades before finding out it was causing them a variety of problems, small and larger.
I don't know why you thought to ask about it specifically, but if you've recently started consuming it (or in larger quanitities lately) and you feel worse in ANY way, my humble advice is to be VERY careful and consider either cutting way back or discontinuing its use. The same goes for Splenda (sucralose) and ascesulphame potassium (ascesulphame K). There is plenty of information out there (though the FDA isn't talking too loudly) to suggest that there are many problems with these sweeteners.
I personally would not be surprised if they also had a negative effect on RLS... or frankly, any OTHER disease or disorder. Personally, I have four "alphabet" disorders, and I know for a fact that aspartame would have exacerbated the other three of them... IBS, PMS, and GAD (a chronic anxiety disorder.)
Anyway, off my soapbox... and sorry to preach at you right out of the chute!
Glad to have you here, and I hope that you can put your finger on the back pain cause, as well as the increase in RLS. Life without sleep and with RLS discomfort/pain STINKS! Hang in there and vent ALL YOU WANT! That's why we're all here!
Hugs--
Sara
PS... Penguin, just realized I repeated you just about word for word in my opener to Rhonda. Great minds think alike? LOL Hugs to you, too! Dawn!
Sounds like you're having a miserable time!!!!
So sorry to hear that! Glad you came here to vent, though. We can alllllllll relate!!!
Interesting that you mentioned Nutrasweet. I know a little about that, though I'd never made or read any connection between it and RLS. Here are a few facts about it that might be relevant.....
By the end of the 1990, more than ten thousand aspartame users had reported more than one hundred different negative reactions/symptoms of aspartame use according to the FDA. I've never seen the list, but maybe RLS exacerbation was included/maybe not. Either way, that's a lot of people with a lot of problems.
Phenylalanine, a major component of aspartame, is an amino acid which, when combined with caffeine, as it is in many diet drinks, is more stimulating to our bodies than caffeine alone.
Aspartame's ingredients also compete in our bodies with the uptake of tryptophan, the amino acid needed to produce seratonin in our brains. Low intake of tryptophan/low levels of seratonin in the brain area common, and responsible for a wide variety of conditions and mood/personality issues. At the very least, depletion of your natural serotonin levels could easily make your mood/ability to cope lower, making your PERSPECTIVE of your RLS severity worse.... if the other facts listed didn't directly affect RLS. (But I personally wouldn' be surprised if they DO. )
Oh, and unrelated to RLS, but something many people have not heard... aspartame is a product people use to limit sugar/calories, obviously, but the chemical make-up of the substance makes it both addictive (making you fill up on more diet foods containing it and leaving most people consuming fewer and fewer healthy foods) and detrimental to the brain functions that allow you to see yourself objectively (so most people who are using aspartame to feel better about their weight, even if they lose weight, actually end up feeling worse about it emotionally!)
Rhonda, I was fortunate to feel ill the first time I ever tried Nutrasweet back when I was a kid and it first came out. So I never ate things with it if I knew it was an ingredient. I know a number of people, including my mom, however, who consumed it for decades before finding out it was causing them a variety of problems, small and larger.
I don't know why you thought to ask about it specifically, but if you've recently started consuming it (or in larger quanitities lately) and you feel worse in ANY way, my humble advice is to be VERY careful and consider either cutting way back or discontinuing its use. The same goes for Splenda (sucralose) and ascesulphame potassium (ascesulphame K). There is plenty of information out there (though the FDA isn't talking too loudly) to suggest that there are many problems with these sweeteners.
I personally would not be surprised if they also had a negative effect on RLS... or frankly, any OTHER disease or disorder. Personally, I have four "alphabet" disorders, and I know for a fact that aspartame would have exacerbated the other three of them... IBS, PMS, and GAD (a chronic anxiety disorder.)
Anyway, off my soapbox... and sorry to preach at you right out of the chute!
Glad to have you here, and I hope that you can put your finger on the back pain cause, as well as the increase in RLS. Life without sleep and with RLS discomfort/pain STINKS! Hang in there and vent ALL YOU WANT! That's why we're all here!
Hugs--
Sara
PS... Penguin, just realized I repeated you just about word for word in my opener to Rhonda. Great minds think alike? LOL Hugs to you, too! Dawn!
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Penguinrocks
- Posts: 703
- Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2005 6:03 pm
- Location: Massachusetts
- Contact:
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IanFraughton
- Posts: 65
- Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2005 7:11 pm
- Location: Vernon, BC
- Contact:
Rhonda,
Sorry to hear your plight as well. Did you eat anything with sodium-phosphates or phosphates in general in it. I realised last night after I ate a grilled cheese sandwhich with processed cheese that my legs were going crazy and the only thing I could trace it to was the cheese. I really don't think it was the tuna sandwhich I had earlier as it was on 12 grainbread(yuk! not my fav). That was all I ate until dinner so maybe try to remember exactly what you ate that day and try them one at a time to see if you get a reaction.
Peace
Ian
Sorry to hear your plight as well. Did you eat anything with sodium-phosphates or phosphates in general in it. I realised last night after I ate a grilled cheese sandwhich with processed cheese that my legs were going crazy and the only thing I could trace it to was the cheese. I really don't think it was the tuna sandwhich I had earlier as it was on 12 grainbread(yuk! not my fav). That was all I ate until dinner so maybe try to remember exactly what you ate that day and try them one at a time to see if you get a reaction.
Peace
Ian
I call my pacing the "Waltz of the Damned". Anyone care to dance...?
Aspertame/Nutrasweet
Sara,
Fascinating info on aspertame, I'll have to do some research on that. I did a search on this site because I recently noticed my RLS would kick in if I had an afternoon Diet Coke (pretty rare that I drink soda). I generally don't eat fake sugars, much preferring the real stuff! I've also noticed that my RLS often increases after chewing sugarless gum with, you guessed it, aspertame!
Certainly medical science, but it could prove to be an interesting connection for me. Thanks for the info,
Heron
Fascinating info on aspertame, I'll have to do some research on that. I did a search on this site because I recently noticed my RLS would kick in if I had an afternoon Diet Coke (pretty rare that I drink soda). I generally don't eat fake sugars, much preferring the real stuff! I've also noticed that my RLS often increases after chewing sugarless gum with, you guessed it, aspertame!
Certainly medical science, but it could prove to be an interesting connection for me. Thanks for the info,
Heron