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…

But what about an accumulation effect. If you are having small amounts every day over long periods of time.

my gum habit started when I was 30 and don’t cause problems until I was 38….

Coke Zero and Diet coke both use aspartame as sweetener, so if you normally have coke zero with no issues,Diet coke should cause no issues either. Coke is not great but unlikely to cause this.

Coke Zero contains a mix of Aspartame and Acesulfane Potassium to sweeten, so different from Diet Coke which only contains Aspartame. There’s also a difference in that Diet Coke contains citric acid, while Coke Zero uses potassium citrate. Not saying it’s the cause, but there is a difference in the ingredients.

Same. Everything is sugar free and full of artificial sweeteners, so difficult.

Same here. Losing a significant amount of weight can also reveal gallstones. I’d had a few bouts of what l now know was pain from gallstones, but investigations at the time didn’t reveal anything and the pain disappeared. A few years later in my late thirties l started dieting and lost about six stones over a period of a year, and a few months post weight loss l had a resurgence of that same pain only much worse - taken to hospital where they did a fasting ultrasound and found gallstones. The fat fair and forty thing also includes female.

My daughter vomits with excutiating pains if she has fizzy drink or red meat. She has IBD.

I am adamant that my one and only episode of gout ( in my left hip joint) was caused by the artificial sweeteners in Diet Coke . I drunk 3-4 2l bottles over a 3 day period which is very unlike me and about half way through I developed what I thought was back ache. At 2am on day 5 I woke with the most breathtaking pain I’ve ever experienced in my hip. My blood tests came back pretty normal but I had to have emergency surgery to flush the joint. They said I had gout crystals in my hip which is incredibly rare and they had caused the start of an infection. I was in hospital for 8 days as my kidney function went wonky after having 2 cans of coke on the ward. Apparently it’sa thing and after seeing the kidney Dr he said it could very well be the artificial sweeteners. I have 100% avoided that sort of thing since and in two years I’ve never had another single issue and I certainly don’t have gout either. It was just a very bizarre one off. Interestingly, my sister and a few friends were so freaked out about what happened to me that they did the same and one found that her recurrent water infections vanished and another managed to stabilise her tablet controlled diabetes .

I reckon artificial sweeteners are fine for you until your body says no. As you get older you react more and more strongly and eventually your body rejects it and says enough is enough.

I don’t think this is unusual - I had suspected gallbladder symptoms and once they had ruled out anything else I went home for another five days until they were able to book me an outpatients ultrasound. (It was Gallstones)

I drink pepsi max (same ingredients) regularly and I'm fine.

Start of gallstones?

My mum drank diet coke for years, since the 2000’s, a few cans per day, and a couple of years ago started having the same pain as you described, it was gallstones and she had to have an operation to have it removed. The surgeon told her no more diet coke in the run up to her surgery, as it was making it flare up worse and worse each time.

Drinking Coke Zero WILL put me in hospital and that’s because I’m coeliac and it has the same effect as being gluttened 🤷‍♀️ stop drinking crap that rots your stomach is my advice and ask for a referral to gastroenterology as sounds like you have the start of a stomach ulcer or an erosion there most likely caused by drinking coke

I’ve got IBS and Pepsi Max used to do that to me. I don’t drink anything coke like anymore, because it gives me migraines. ( I do manage to take some painkillers in small glass of full sugar coke when i do have a migraine without issue though 🤷🏻‍♀️). My old neighbour used to drink copious amounts of Pepsi Max and was always at the doctors with her IBS, I advised her to stop drinking it, she did and she’s been so much better since.

I avoid fizzy drinks as much as possible now and I feel so much better for it.

I had pain like this with gallstones. I had a quick ultrasound but only because the stone had got stuck and threw off my liver bloods. (Actually, at first they inferred I was an alcoholic but decided to look further when I told them that I don't drink).

Coke Zero gives me stomach cramps and diarrhoea but no where near as painful as you describe. I'm fine with Diet Coke though - they use different sweeteners. It does sound like a gallstone attack op.

Same here.
I hadn't thought of it perhaps being a sweetener but it makes sense (I don't drink many fizzy drinks but, like you, I do like a fizzy water).

I was actually poisoned once, food poisoning, and the effect is the same , sweating, nausea , throwing up etc ..

I don't think it's unreasonable that certain drink additives might not agree with your stomach. I would suggest keeping a food diary in case you get future discomfort and then you might see a pattern. Ignore the people who say they've been drinking it for years with no issues. You could say the same for any intolerance or allergy, we're not all the same.

I used to drink lots of diet coke (I say lots, 2 or 3 cans) and get the most horrendous cramps, sweats etc. I stopped drinking it and have not had it since.

This is Mumsnet. We don't do dose/response or LD50. There can't possibly be a safe dose of anything. Any chemical with a long name is definitely going to kill you. And anyone who says otherwise is either hopelessly naive, or in the pay of the manufacturer. HTH.

If I have any drink containing aspartame but in fact any artificial sweetener I get horrendous cramps and diarrhoea within ten oir fifteen minutes. It happened to me at Christmas when someone gave me a lemon fizzy drink, I never have them but didn't want to be rude. It was awful, so embarrassing. It happened for the first time when I had a bottle of peach flavoured water. Now I never ever have anything with any kind of artificial sweetener. Cramps, bloating, but uncontrollable trots...awful.

My mum always said it was a rotgut. I have fizzy drinks but despise myself every time I do 😂

It's unlikely OP

Why? You clearly have never had the sort of pain that makes you think you are about to die. I almost did the same thing when I had excruciating stomach pains a while back - so bad I nearly called an ambulance.
Until you have had what the op had, don’t be so quick to judge!

Might have triggered a gallbladder attack which is what this sounds like.

Yep, from 25 I'd go to a and e with pain so bad I thought I was dying and vomiting with it... 6 hours later it would pass, twice I had entirely white poo after. Took until I was 40 to get gallstones diagnosis

I'm disabled, with an extremely severe bowel condition, multiple chronic illnesses and in such massive amounts of pain, daily, that if I went to A&E for everything, I'd never leave.

You don't go to A&E for a tummy boo-boo.

Severe bleeding, chest pain, one sided weakness, or loss of consciousness. That's what A&E is for.