Approximately 3 years ago while trying to cut back on sugar I began drinking a lot of Crystal Light Lemonade. At the time I was an RN on a cardiovascular unit. I have had very rare occasional PVC’s throughout the years, but after approximately 3 weeks of drinking the lemonade I began having runs of bigeminy and trigeminy (PVC’s every 2nd or 3rd heartbeat). This left me exhausted and short of breath. I placed myself on a cardiac monitor at work to print out tracings of what was happening and made an appointment with my doctor who immediately sent me to a cardiologist.
While awaiting my cardiologist tests results back I noticed one night that after I put a piece of sugar-free gum (with Aspartame) in my mouth, the runs began. I cut out the Aspartame, but it took several weeks for the toxicity level to decrease and my heart rhythm to return to almost normal (I still tend to throw PVC’s more frequently than before, but no! runs). M came back normal. I mentioned the Aspartame to the MD and he had no idea if this might be the cause. By the way, I had given up all caffeine 3 years before and had an otherwise very healthy lifestyle. I am very careful to avoid all Aspartame and research any new sweeteners that arise.