Do you drink sugar-free drinks or otherwise use aspartame? Do you have an issue with frequent urges to urinate, or incontinence? Did you know that aspartame (and to some degree, most other artificial sweeteners) many times is the cause of these issues?
Before you resort to taking medications or having surgery, try giving up the aspartame for a week or so. Use Stevia, or even real sugar and see what happens. Aspartame irritates the bladder, causing it to spasm and making you feel like you have to urinate. The spasms also make you urinate more frequently. As little as one diet soda or packet of aspartame can cause issues in some people.
My mom has had an escalating problem for years. She also drank tons of tea with aspartame in it every day. A specialist told her that her bladder never developed fully & was too small. Another specialist wanted to put her on medication to control it and she refused. Before age 70, she was wearing a diaper to bed, had a 'potty chair' next to her bed because she couldn't make it to the bathroom in the morning and wore incontinence pads all the time because of leaking. She was constantly running to or looking for a bathroom. We couldn't go anywhere for long if there wasn't access to a bathroom.
I'd seen a Dr. Oz show that spoke about the subject and I told her she should quit using the sweetener and see if it worked. She scoffed at the suggestion, refusing to believe something so simple would cause such a huge problem. A year later, I saw a re-run of the show and realized I was having issues myself at age 50, that had started after being diagnosed with diabetes and switching to diet soda for my one soda fix of the day. I stopped drinking it and almost immediately I quit having to run to the bathroom all the time.
I told my mom - again, and asked her to try it. Like I told her, what would it hurt to use Stevia or real sugar for a week to see? So she did. Lo and behold, within a few days, her incontinence and frequent urges almost completely disappeared! She thought it was a miracle, I thought it was amazing. It didn't cure it completely, she still has to wear a pad at night and still has an occasional 'oops', but at age 74 she is pretty much free of the problem now!
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About 7 years ago I was diagnosed with type2 diabetes, I searched for diet products to replace my regular sugared drinks. After a few years of drinking Diet Pepsi, I noticed that I was having bladder issues, frequent urination, bladder accidents, and pain in my back and lower stomach.
I went to my doctor. She did tests, sent me to a specialist who could find nothing wrong with my bladder. The specialist ask about my diet, and liquids, when I told him I was drinking diet with aspartame, he told me to keep off it for a couple weeks and see how I felt. I did as he ask and the bladder problems disappeared!
His conclusion was that I (like many people) am sensitive to aspartame and that it had build up in my system. I was relieved to know this. I didn't want to have bladder surgery! So just a warning for all you DIET SODA drinkers! Be ware!
As a common guideline, all artificial sweeteners should be avoided, simply due to the fact that they are MANUFACTURED. If sugar is an issue due to diabetes, then Stevia, which is natural is acceptable as a substitute. Presently, it is a bit costlier than sugar, but it does not tax the pancreas regarding breakdown. FYI, one of the families responsible for the development and marketing of one of those manufactured artificial sweeteners has an hard line family rule - there is to be zero consumption of artificial sweeteners - EVER.
Wow, that's great! I'm glad you found the information, glad your mother finally tried it, and glad it made a positive difference. Incredible sometimes that there can be such simple solutions!
I have the exact same sensitivity to aspartame. I was fortunate enough to have a great urologist, who between the both of us figured out my problem with the constant pressure in my bladder as if I had a urinary infection. I also have MS.
Thank you for posting this! This is exactly the problem I've been having for the last several years.
I'm in my early 60s, and have always consumed more soda than I ought to, so of course I drink diet versions. I thought it was the caffeine that caused light bladder leakage, etc., so I changed to caffeine free soda, but the problem remained.
Every night, I wake up about every two hours to use the bathroom, and have been wearing incontinence garments because I don't get there in time either, even though the bathroom is about 8 steps from my bed (the room next to mine).
Now I know what I have to do, once I use up the soda in the house. I've always been concerned about what kind of chemical aspartame is, anyway, remembering the cyclamate and saccharine scares of the 1970s.
It always seems like we're better off, in the end, by sticking with the original food in moderation, than trying to save calories by eating some substitute concocted in a laboratory!
No one, whether you have symptoms or not should use those products. They are poison. Soda is not good for you either.
Lilac: Some of us don't have good water and paying for it is the biggest rip off ever conceived.
But, everyone is right. Here are the facts.
articles.mercola.com/
Of course this is one article and you should research more. But I stopped it and have never felt better. My blood sugar is down, and that might not seem relevant. But diet substitutes make you crave more sugar in real food so you eat more.
I find if I need soda, and yes, if we like it and find a way to have it without hurting ourselves, we should, I recommend Shasta Diets. I get a 2.5 Lt. in the dollar tree's and that is the best deal around.
Learn to read the labels. Sucrolose is the ingredient you want to see.
Good job with the post.
PBP
Sucralose (splenda) isn't all it's cracked up to be, either. I find it makes my feet and ankles swell up like overstuffed sausages. Who knows what else it was doing to me that I didn't notice.
Other than politics and bribes, the only reason aspartame has not been banned is the fact that it affects different people in different ways.
In your case, it was affecting your bladder. In my husbands case it was making his diabetes uncontrollable. After years of trying to get his blood sugar under control (he was up to 3 different medications and the doctor was almost ready to switch him over to insulin); I read an article that said that 5% of diabetics are affected adversely by aspartame. I convinced him to let me make the change to stevia and splenda (he would not give up diet sodas and at that time splenda was the only alternative - diet rc and diet rite now there is zevia). Within a month, his blood sugar was under control and he was down to one pill once a day (8 years later and it is still under control with 1 pill 2x daily).
Aspartame causes seizures in some people and has been implicated in lupus, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and many other health issues.
If you have any health issue and you are using aspartame, remove it completely from your diet for a two week trial; and, if you improve, then you know that aspartame either caused your health problem OR it has been making it worse.
I am a 75 year old widow. My son & daughter-in law live with me (thank). I was out in my garden working, when I noticed that when I started to get dizzy when I stood up after pulling weeds, thinking it was the heat that got to me, so went into the house holding on to anything that would support my body. My son said to me "are you alright Mom? I said yes, just tired, so going to lay down. 2 hours later, went to bathroom, and noticed a nasty dark yellow stain in my panty liner. Called my doctor & she told me just to come on in, which I did. Explained to her what had happened, gave me an internal vaginal inspection . I told her I was going to the batroom every half hour. Next came the urine specimen. It showed a problem with it, gave me a prescription to take for 5 days, and then gave me an appointmet for Oct the 6th. as she was going on vacation. OK?
Problem still existed & getting worse. My legs would not support my body anymore, slurred speech, no taste for food, lost weight, tired all the time.
My Son said " enough is enough, get in the car, I am taking you to the emergency room". He had to get me a wheelchair when we got there. Routine check in, blood pressure (low, lost 5lbs., tremors., all bad nothing good; another prescription.
Ok, I have had enough, now it is time for me to tak over my body . When I got home I ask my son to fix me pasta with butter, garlic, cheese, and coffee with sugar. If I wanted to get my body back in shape I needed nourshisment. Did it, went to bed, got up that morning and the nightmare was over .
The bad symptoms was gone. I make sure I eat breakfast, lunch and my supper, & drink plenty. No more sweetner's of any kind except sugar. So far everything is wonderful.
This had taken it's toll on my son, but now he said "mom I thought I was going to lose you". God was not ready for me yet. We are a happy family again!
"Please do not let this happen to you"
Thanks for your story.
roadrouser
Poor But Proud - I thought all diet soda still had the aspartame in it. I knew some had tried splenda, but thought it was discontinued in soda. I never look at the labels, because I only like diet Pepsi Max & diet DP. I'll have to look at the other stuff & see if I like it.
Speakeasy - I drank diet for years, trying to keep weight down, then switched back to full - sugar because I just don't trust the artificial sweeteners. Unfortunately, within a couple of years, I was dx with diabetes & had to go back to the diet. I read not long ago that it could make blood sugar higher in diabetics, but forgot about it - maybe that's why my blood sugar readings went down over the summer, I quit drinking any diet soda.
Now I'm back to my one-a-day habit, maybe I need to find the splenda version & switch! The Dr. my mom had for many years is Type 1 diabetic, she has always told my mom not to use any artificial sweetener but "the stuff in the pink packet" because the other stuff is bad for the kidneys & my mom has kidney disease that's in remission.
I remember when aspartame first came out in soda & I started drinking it. It took about 2 weeks for me to figure out it was the aspartame that was causing the severe, disabling migraines I was getting, when I'd never had migraines before.
Took me that long to figure it out because I couldn't think straight! When I started drinking it again a few years ago, I didn't have a problem with headaches, so figured I wasn't sensitive to it anymore. But I do notice that I don't feel well for a few days if I drink too many diet drinks.
Other than my daily Pepsi Max or diet DP, the only artificial sweetener I use is Stevia. I'd rather use real sugar & have found it doesn't affect my blood sugar that much if I don't use it in excess. And I never allowed my children to drink or eat anything with artificial sweetener in it - there are so many people who say they have problems with it & nobody has any idea what it does to growing bodies & brain cells, I just wouldn't take that chance with my kids.
Roadrouser - I'm glad you're doing so much better, & hope you continue. I know how your son feels, my mom is a year younger than you & has recently experienced the same problems you did - it was pretty scary!
Judy = Oklahoma
Judy, Do not use Splenda. Go to www.mpwhi.com and read some of the articles or better still read the Aspartame Resource Guide which has scientific evidence on Splenda. Sucralose started off as an insecticide. Read it on Wikipedia. In my opinion it still is, was even on a web site under insecticide until I pointed it out and they moved it to sweeteners. Dr. Betty Martini, D.Hum, Founder, Mission Possible Intl - www.mpwhi.com
I'm 43, and I was having the same bladder issues too. Having the sudden urge to go to the bathroom. I could hardly make it to the bathroom at times, I would almost pee on myself that's how weak my bladder was. My Dr. asked me if I was drinking any pop. I said "yes, I drink Diet Pepsi". He asked "how much do you drink a day?". "Oh maybe 3 cans a day.".
He said: "STOP. Right now. Start drinking water. Within a day, you will notice a difference." Boy was he right. I went through all the caffeine withdrawals, but it's so worth it.
Sheila
I've been trying to get the word out for the last six years. I spent time at the ob gyn every month getting medicine for extremely irritated urithra issues. Was like peeing glass. I use Stevia And almost never have issues any longer. I'm sure some food still has it that I miss skipping that gives me a little flare up. Where's our class action suit?
Yep, I made the connection when I was experiencing urinary incontinence. I stopped drinking Diet Coke for awhile in favor of coffee and was surprised when the "leaking" stopped. When I began drinking it again...there was the incontinence again. I looked it up on the computer and there I found this blog. Thanks, one problem solved.
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