I’m 42, male, in reasonable general health (if slightly overweight) and run a small computer company near Oxford, U.K.
I switched to Aspartame-based sweeteners in tea and coffee several years ago. Over the past 9 months I’ve been suffering from bouts of diarrhea on an approximately twice-weekly basis usually without any apparent cause.
Over the past two months these had been getting more severe with bouts lasting several days. Unpleasant and uncomfortable but not accompanied by vomiting or feeling really lousy as one might normally expect from food poisoning or a stomach bug.
I tried various modification of diet (already having excluded almost all prepared foods in favour of a low-fat diet of fresh fruit, vegetables, chicken and fish) and
Three weeks ago I read ‘Aspartame. The BAD news!’ and decided to stop using artificial sweeteners or products containing them. Here in the UK this was a pelleted and Granular sweetener marketed as ‘Canderel’ plus the occasional diet Pepsi or diet Lilt. I did this just as an experiment (I’m a bit of a cynic about ‘Internet Scares’ I’m afraid!).
The diarrhea stopped within a day and hasn’t (fingers crossed!) returned. Bowel motions are now more normal than they have been for many months. I still have some digestive problems; I hope these will improve as the effects of Aspartame on my system dissipate and that there is little or no permanent damage.