To think Diet Coke caused my visit to A&E?

[Lalalalalalalaaa]

At the weekend I was so unwell I rang 111 and ended up in A&E with severe stomach cramps that lasted days. I was really worried- they came in waves like period pain but when they kicked in a was bent over double and unable to move. Really scary.

Doctors were great but everything (bloods, urine) came back normal. I’ve been racking my brains to see if i ate/drank anything that may have caused this and this morning I suddenly realised that Diet Coke is the out of the usual thing I had on Friday- my symptoms came on after drinking it. I don’t usually- my husband got it as Coke Zero was out of stock. I also generally don’t drink a lot of fizzy drinks but was tired, saw it in the fridge and took it to work.

Now, I have one friend that swears she will never ever drink Diet Coke as it “rotted her stomach” to the point she needed surgery (I’ve messaged her for some more info!!!)

How likely do you think it might be that Diet Coke has caused this reaction? Has anyone else ever had awful side effects?

I’m scheduled in for an ultrasound but wondering if something like that will even show anything up if it’s that…

Sound like food poisoning or viral

A relative of mine developed colitis which the doctors suggested was due to addiction to Diet Coke (she drank multiple cans a day). She also had a child born with a malformed heart, whether that was connected IDK.

It’s possible - some people react really badly to artificial sweeteners. But if you normally drink Coke Zero without an issue then I’d be surprised if Diet Coke was an issue.

Extremely unlikely - many people (myself included) drink multiple cans of Diet Coke a week. It will not have “rotted your stomach”

Are you sure it wasn't just trapped wind that can be really painful.

Agree with other posts - sounds like gallstones to me as well.

DH also ended up at A and E with awful stomach cramps (query appendicitis). They’d be flaring up for a while and he also narrowed it down to fizzy drinks. In his case from a certain supermarket own brand. He had also had some ibuprofen the day before and was likely a combination thing. Whilst lots of people are saying no if you google it artificial sweeteners are actually a common cause of IBS. Not everyone gets iBS though so of course most people are fine with Diet Coke.

If my experience is anything to go by, they won’t either. I had exactly the same symptoms as the OP (I don’t drink Diet Coke) but only discovered I had a large gallstone nearly ten years after the attacks (having had no pain in between) during a private fasting ultrasound ordered for a gynae issue during which the consultant radiographer checked my gallbladder ‘just in case’. Ten years previously I’d had all of the tests possible for every eventuality/organ in the abdominal/pelvic region but no one had conducted a fasting ultrasound - which I later discovered is the test you need to check a gallbladder. Apparently if you are fat, fair and forty you are most susceptible to gallstones. I was all three at the time…The consultant declared the fact it is a large gallstone as ‘lucky’ because it is too big to get stuck in the bile duct ( the issue with smaller ones). Despite his cheerful pronouncement I did not buy a lottery ticket on the way home 😂

@Lalalalalalalaaa you need to ask for a fasting ultrasound test. Hope you feel better soon, the pain was up there with childbirth.

I can't drink any of those drinks that say diet or zero sugar they make me ill stomach cramps, diarrhea and vomiting. Its the artificial sugars in them.

I never drink diet versions of anything because the sweeteners and other shit in it are so bad for you compared to the sugary version. I just steer clear of all of it unless having a treat when out and about/Christmas ect. But if I had to choose, I’d rather have something sugary than something toxic.

Do you have other things with that kind of sweetener in? It is unreasonable to think of it as like "diet coke should be band because it made me ill" kind of thing, as loads of people drink far more than you and are fine. However, people can have sensitivities to loads of things, you in particular having a sensitivity to one or a few of the artificial sweeteners in diet coke, and the dessert, is not unreasonable at all!

I avoid eating or drinking anything that is sugar free as it really upsets my tummy. I ate some sugar free Polo mints instead of the original ones, in error one day and ended up with the worst cramps and diarrhoea ever.

@Lalalalalalalaaa artificial sweeteners are nasty !
If your scan comes back clear then just stay away from them. Hopefully you won’t have the symptoms again.
Do some ready up about them and see what you think .

Wow! This is so interesting. DP actually works for the cola company and let me say this is incredibly unlikely. Glad you are better

I can't believe you went to A&E for this.

They’re not. Coke Zero is designed to be sugar free but to taste more like the original full sugar version, so there are significant differences in the ingredients, including the sweeteners used. Diet Coke uses aspartame as its only sweetener, but Coke Zero uses both Aspartame and something called Acesulfane Potassium to sweeten. Diet Coke also differs in that it contains citric acid, while Coke Zero contains potassium citrate, which can be an irritant.

I had a very similar sounding pain issue a few years ago and ended up in hospital as they thought it was gallstones but it was diagnosed as gastritis - an irritation of the stomach lining. I had not had any fizzy drinks or anything at that time. The Dr’s never knew exactly what did cause it and I’ve had milder versions of it since then but never as bad as when I was taken to a&e

Did you drink it with pizza or something fatty? It’s probably gallstones.

What food did you eat?

For all of you saying artificial sweeteners are ‘bad for you’ - you do realise the volume you’d need to drink for them to have any effect don’t you? It’s something ridiculous like 100s of cans a day!

Trapped wind??

Dizzy drinks could cause that!

if you’re sensitive to them it only takes a small amount. And there are studies in the USA which show that long term they can have an adverse effect on your health and potentially increase the likelihood of some cancers as well as cardio vascular disease. They can also have an adverse effect on some health conditions.

“rotted her stomach” to the point she needed surgery

This is medically impossible and I would be careful talking or taking advice from someone like this. Sounds like a person with attention-seeking or health hysteria behaviour.

Some types of fizzy drinks with sweeteners give me really bad gas to the point I actively avoid them. It does feel like severe period or food poisoning type cramps but goes away after a few hours.

They're in normal coke as well these days due to the sugar tax. Smaller amounts but still there. Very hard to avoid them if you like a bit of fizz. At home I have posh cordial and soda water if I want fizz

Yes! I developed digestion problems, constipation, bloating and really bad anemia… all investigated by GP couldn’t find a cause… I chewed huge amounts of sugar free gum…. I stopped it because I thought I might be ingesting air with all the chewing 🙄…. And all symptoms went away. I had one piece of gum a few weeks later and symptoms returned. It’s the aspertum…. Terrible stuff!

The way you have described these sound quite similar