Although, strictly speaking, unrelated to migraine an article in the UK Daily Mail 10.7.2010 on diet sweeteners and early births reminded me of an experience out with friends earlier in the summer.
It’s no secret to readers of this blog that I personally avoid aspartame, even though some well-respected scientists declare there are no health risks associated with it. I recommend you do your own research on the Internet and choose which of the opposing camps you prefer to believe.
However, while I avoid aspartame whenever possible I don’t make it my life’s mission! Perhaps I should take it a little more seriously in future. A friend invited me to have a drink and I asked for a lemonade, specifying that I did NOT want a diet one. Well, whether my friend forgot, or the bar staff ignored her, I don’t know. But I was served a diet lemonade and on checking the label, sure enough, there was aspartame listed. Not wanting to create a fuss, I just kept quiet and drank the lemonade, complete with aspartame. Sure enough, a migraine followed.
Did I “think myself into it”, was it the aspartame, or would I have had a migraine that day for some other reason? Who knows. But in future I shall be more assertive about my wish to avoid drinks containing artificial sweeteners. My life can go on quite easily without these substances, and if avoiding them helps me avoid migraines, that’s good enough for me to make the slight extra effort involved.
Tags: artificial sweeteners, aspartame and migraine, migraine aspartame, migraine cola
I had daily (!) migraines for the last 20 years about, but I am totally cured now. This happened totally accidentally. I went to the doctor because of an ear problem called Meneire and got tablets for this (novartis) that has the side effect that it lowers the blood pressure. About 5 days after starting these tablets, my migraines stopped. This is now 3 months ago, my life really improved! I have my own blood pressure at home and it changed from 150 to 120, I believe that my too high blood pressure was the reason for my migraine.
That’s a great story and very interesting. Thanks.
So often in the complementary therapy world we tend to think of drug-side-effects as BAD. It takes a story like this to remind us that there can be good results too.
I have found that any kind of fake sugar is a migraine trigger for me.
I can taste artificial sweeteners as soon as I they are on my taste buds,I avoid them like the plague,I was migraine free for 15 months and then on 19th October one just hit me,I don’t get bad headache pain,but the terrifying aura which totally freaks me out and then for weeks after I keep thinking one is coming back,but I on the 19the October when it hit me out of the blue I looked back at what I may have included in my diet which was different,I knew I had eaten some jelly a few weeks previous at a church buffet and it tasted like sugar free jelly,I also had a craving for corn flakes which I was an absolute piggy for and ate quite a few bowls full,added to this I ate some cheese and onion crisps which I knew had MSG in them,but they were so scrummy I just ate around 4 packets at least,I feel this is the cause of the aura and I have been bashing my brains for the answer,after reading this site I feel it is the corn flakes which also have malt in them,and also the MSG .Either way I am not taking any chances and staying off these foods I don’t care if I seem antisocial my health is the most important thing to look after and my emotional well being as after an aura migraine it scares to silly,the only plus side to the last attack was that I went off my food for a few days and when I weighed myself I had lost 8lb and it has stayed off,but its not something I recommend a natural weight loss would suit me fine.
Blessing to you all
Interesting that it was so long AFTER your “lapse:-)” that the problem surfaced. Shows the value of making careful note of what you eat in a migraine diary – even when you have been free for as long as you had.