To think aspartame might be responsible for my severe chest pain?

[Istillfeelseventeen]

I started the Dukan diet two days ago and have been making the pancakes which require a spoonful of artificial sweetener in the recipe. I've never touched the stuff before. Last night I woke up with the most excruciating chest pain, honestly wondered if was having a heart attack. DH managed to convince me i wasnt but googled description of my pain and the word 'aspartame' came up straight away as a possible reason. This has really frightened me, I had no idea it could cause this

A tight feeling in the chest can be simply indigestion and it is often described as 'like a heart attack' if it is severe. I don't know what types of food the Dukan Diet involves but, if they are very different to your old diet, especially if the food is more raw or indigestible, then you could find you need some time to get used to it. Aspartame doesn't usually have such dramatic effects in such small amounts.

As has been recommended above, see your doctor if you're concerned.

Istillfeelseventeen did you know that diet fizzy drinks are still very harmful to your son's teeth? They do not have the sugar which might contribute to dental decay but they can cause acid erosion of the tooth enamel. For that reason I would limit the amount of fizzy drinks consumed whether sugar free or not.

Very true Hellon.

I would rather have one can of full fat coke, and then drink water the rest of the day, than any amount of "diet" drinks.

Apart from the vile aftertaste, a small amount of sugar will not do us any harm.

(the vile aftertaste of aspartame or any other artificial sweetener I mean)

Just read up on the Dukan Diet and it seems to involve a lot of meat & veg, is that right? If you go from a regular diet where a lot of the calories come from fairly easily digested carbohydrates to a high-protein one with a lot of veg on the side, you can find it very indigestible.... because that's how high protein/high-fibre diets work. Both take a long time to digest meaning that you feel full for longer. I know Aspartame gets a bad press but my guess is that if even if you ditched it, you'd still have the same initial problem ie. indigestion.

BTW.... try Gaviscon.

the first few days of Dukan are almost veg free too... just meat, fish and little else.. so really a complete shock to the digestive system..

Could be your gall bladder. I had this for over year and thought it was linked to a new med I'd been taking since the pain started. Turned out I had gall bladder disease.

It's very unlikely to be caused by aspartame as it has been proved to be safe. It tastes horrible though so why eat it?

You should, however, be concerned that you have unexplained chest pain and should go to see your doctor. I would also avoid fad diets.

@groovee... Did you get your gall bladder pain elsewhere as well as the chest area? It's definitely worth pointing out to anyone thinking of going on a diet with a high amount of fat in it that this will make any irritation of the gall-bladder worse.

I am one of those unfortunate people who have an adverse reaction to aspartame and I'm pretty sure that's what does it, as there is a very clear time association between consuming the horrible stuff and onset of moderate to severe gastric pain, which can radiate up into my chest, throat and shoulder. Not a heart attack or angina btw, and my gall bladder is as good as can be (investigated for something else last year). I am a doctor, so I know that studies say it is safe and this just counts as anacedotal but hey ho!

I notice it most with fizzy drinks - first time as a student many many moons ago when I drank a lot of flavoured fizzy water and couldn't understand why it was giving me such tummy aches until I noticed it had aspartame in it. I'd already stopped drinking diet pop for this reason. If I unwittingly drink somthing with it in, fizz bang whallop I get it and as other posters have pointed out, it's surprisingly common, even in full sugar pop. Last time I got ambushed by a can of fanta so I now check everything!

Sucralose is fine though.

Sooty got being a pedant but most low carb diets insist on you using Splenda as the sweetener because it doesn't have so much crap in it.

Low carb diets are dangerous if you don't follow them to the letter.

*sorry to be

I'm obviously a crap pedant

*sorry to be

I'm obviously a crap pedant

I haven't seen the recipe, but why does a pancake mixture need sugar in it in the first place? I never add sugar to pancake mix.

aspartame is awful stuff and can cause all sorts of problems,my son has to avoid it as it causes headaches.

Again it's another artificial chemical that tampers with one's body - would always say to stick with naturally occurring foodstuffs - remember a little bit of what you fancy does you good!
Thought that once upon a time there was supposed to be a link between aspartame and brain tumours?

Ok just got back from seeing my GP. Physical examination, blood pressure and an ECG. Everything seems fine, thank goodness.

GP dubious that aspartame could be responsible for this and thinks two days of weird eating (Dukan) more likely to have caused serious acid indigestion.

Ta-daaa..... Like I say. Gaviscon rocks.

And at risk of going off at a tangent ... I never cease to be desperately grateful and in awe of the fab NHS

Totally agree with the GP..these are common side effects

zantac is great too

I have found aspartame almost impossible to avoid so have given up trying. Good luck with the diet, I lost 9lbs in the first week when I did it. And I always made the pancake savory with a couple of slices of ham and folded it it over into a sort of sandwich.

Glad you are fine OP, you definitely did the right thing seeing the GP. Sometimes chest pain can be due to indigestion, or even pulling a muscle.
It is too tempting to self-diagnose.
But it's not worth taking the risk; especially with such classic symptoms of an MI such as sharp left-sided chest pain, which radiates down the left arm. Women of all ages can have 'silent' MIs too, where the symptoms are not that obvious. As I said, it's best to call an ambulance, or at the very least phone the GP or NHS Direct.