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…

One can of coke won't rot your stomach. You need to be a consistent, coke drinker for it to affect your stomach, and even then, it is a serious cola habit, not the odd one here and there. I know someone who ended up in hospital with stomach issues from coke but she was drinking 4 litres a day.

One has caffeine in it, the other does not.

DC has caffeine.
Zero doesn't.

I have had bad stomach cramps from drinking coke before but I suffer with bad IBS so have to watch what I have anyway. So I think its possible

Reacting badly to artificial sweeteners is not uncommon. Your reaction though seems to be more gallbladder issues. If I were you I would try to get examined for gallstones and other gallbladder issues and stay off artificial sweeteners.

Well the OP isn’t you, or has multiple disabilities or passes out daily to know that they shouldn’t attend for it.

Swollen, severe stomach pain to where loss of consciousness happens is an A&E issue if acute appendicitis et al, but how would a non medical professional know that?

If you feel something is life threatening, attending A&E is the advice. Some people may not be as enlightened as you though on what qualifies as severe or painful enough.

I suffered pains like this last year and after a trip to A&E was diagnosed with gastritis. I thought I was dying at one point. Never really got to the bottom of what caused it but they suspected it was drinking a couple of strong coffees on an empty stomach.

Coke Zero does have caffeine in it. The difference is in the taste. Zero was brought out because it tastes (or is supposed to) like normal coke but with no calories, and lots of people don't like diet coke.

Could be allergic to aspartame. Used as a sweetener in Diet Coke etc, apparently it is actually banned in America as it is not good for people

You said the pain was like period pains and all your tests came back clear had you thought about Endometriosis ?

Could be allergic to aspartame. Used as a sweetener in Diet Coke etc, apparently it is actually banned in America as it is not good for people

No, it isn't banned in America. There were proposals to ban it in New Mexico and Hawaii but these were either rejected or not completed.

It is definitely harmful to people with phenylketonuria, and aspartame-containing products must carry warning labels for this reason. Like pretty well all food additives, there are risks to consuming it. People shouldn't be eating/drinking things with artificial sweeteners in, anyway, because they reinforce sweetness-seeking behaviour and are therefore likely to drive increased sugar intake.

Absolute bollocks. Do you have any proof? A link to this so-called “study”/experiment?

If you don’t, then it’s complete hearsay and a conspiracy theory.

Here’s what IS true:

“As of 2023, regulatory agencies, including the FDA and EFSA, and the US National Cancer Institute, have concluded that consuming aspartame is safe in amounts within acceptable daily intake levels and does not cause cancer. These conclusions are based on various sources of evidence, such as reviews and epidemiological studies finding no association between aspartame and cancer.”

And:

“Aspartame has been deemed safe for human consumption by over 100 regulatory agencies in their respective countries, including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), UK Food Standards Agency, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Health Canada, and Food Standards Australia New Zealand.”

Actual scientific studies generally tend to feed the animal models doses of the substance that are WAY above what is considered an “acceptable”/typical daily dose, so those studies where teratogenic/cancerous results have been shown need to be examined to ensure that the animals were not given the body-size equivalent of the human accepted daily amount (40mg per kg.)

I’m American and have never heard of this mysterious “experiment” you’re spouting off about - and I drink diet sodas so I’m not disinterested in the safety of artificial sweeteners - I did my research before I switched from full-sugar sodas to diet sodas.

This

My dp works for a cola company (uk based office) but they say virtually identical e things. These studies just arnt there and they spend millions on research showing how safe it is. You do have to be careful what you put in your body but a small amount of everything is ok

The data (not conspiracy theory): among a sample of studies of aspartame, 100% of the industry sponsored studies concluded that aspartame was safe, and 92% of the independently funded studies identified adverse effects of aspartame consumption. https://www.lightenyourtoxicload.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Dr-Walton-survey-of-aspartame-studies.pdf
Cited in: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0162198

This is incorrect, caffeine free coke zero exists.

Coke zero is coca colas sugar free version

Diet coke is different altogether

Both have caffeine unless you buy caffeine free versiosn

Aaaah, I stand corrected.
Thanks.
I don't actually drink any of them except a full sugar Coke once in a blue moon.

The UK version of Diet Coke doesn’t contain Acesulfane. Diet Coke contains citric acid and Coke Zero contains potassium citrate.

I may be American, but I'm not stupid.

I checked my facts before I posted. The ingredients in my post were literally copy-pasted from the UK Coca-Cola website. So unless you're going to tell me that the Coca-Cola official website is wrong (and wish to provide photographs of current Diet Coke cans made in the UK to back this up), then you are incorrect.

https://www.coca-cola.com/gb/en/brands/diet-coke
Click on "Nutrition" to get the full drop-down of ingredients seen here:

Attached also is a screenshot of the aforementioned ingredients list for Diet Coke on the UK/Great Britain site. I included the URL so that one cannot claim it's a screenshot from the American version of the site (though we'd spell it "color", anyway, so you'd be able to tell.)