A Discovery! - Fibromyalgia Message Board

Jessicarbbt · 11-16-2005, 07:52 AM

Okay... I have a story but I will keep it short. <G> Two years ago I had gastric bypass surgery for weight loss. I have since lost 150 lbs. and am healthy other than the darn fibro. I noticed that shortly after surgery the fibromyalgia took a dive for the worse and it has not let up since. Then about 2 months ago a friend wrote me an email, and sent a link to an article about fibro pain and aspartame... I was skeptical, but the truth is I DID consume a lot of it because after surgery I was drinking a lot of Crystal Lite since sugar was a no-no! SO ... I thought I'd give it a try and remove aspartame from my diet. Within 2 weeks I had noticably less pain. Then one day I drank several glasses of Crystal Lite again and sure enough, it wasn't long until my muscles were just screaming with pain. So back off of the aspartame. Then about a week ago I decided to have a Dannon Lite and Fit yogurt and since I had frozen it I was eating it kind of slow. About half way through all of a sudden my muscles were aching and burning like I had done 12 hours of housework... I read the label and turns out it too is sweetened with aspartame. So I totally believe there is a link. And perhaps that is the reason my fibro got and stayed so much worse after my surgery. I can't guarantee aspartame exacerbates our symptoms or not -- but based on my experience it seems pretty clear, at least in my case! Just wanted to share this with you all!

Gayle

bluelakelady · 11-16-2005, 08:12 AM

hi gayle,
welcome to our little family. i do not eat anything with fake sugar in it. i can believe what you found to be true for your body. i had a friend who drank tons of diet sodas for years. she now lives with dementia and her docs feel it is related to the fake sugars in diet soda.
hey, i am really proud of you. gastric bypass is a big choice and losing 150 is a monumental accomplishment! well done little sister. i have two friends who have had the surgery. bizarre enough one bears the same name as you spelled the same way. blew my mind when i read it! she had her surgery about 2 years ago as did her partner. they both have never looked back. it is a hard surgery for your body to adjust to. again i really, really am proud of you. you get a standing ovation and one of my not so perfect, yet famous cartwheels!
peace,
bluelakelady

Sun_Shine · 11-16-2005, 11:31 AM

Hi Gayle Congratulations on your weight loss! That is fantastic. That's really interesting on the aspartame. I have Fibro but, try to limit my diet soda intake luckily. But, now I'm wondering about my mother whom also has Fibromyalgia. She drinks about 6-8 diet sodas a day & is in constant muscle aches and pain. This is very interesting and worth looking into for sure. Thanks for the post!

Glojer · 11-17-2005, 09:20 AM

I don't do diet sodas, but I do know that just plain sugar if I have to much will make my fibro worse. I always do better if I stay away from sweets and a lot of soda etc. I do use splenda and eat a lot of yogurt with the splenda in it with no side effects so far.

Bye the way welcome!

Glojer