| "I can't believe how familiar splenda-story25 is to me. I'm a 26-year old guy who was in perfect health before I started taking Splenda. I went on a low-carb diet to get a little bit leaner, but some of the advice Atkins gave made me very sick.
For me, it started when I went on Atkins. Atkins suggested replacing sugar with artificial alternatives. I could never sleep properly while on Atkins. I would wake up four or five times a night in a cold sweat. It would take me an hour or two to get back to sleep. I would eventually stop trying to sleep and just get up long before I was properly rested.
Of course, the lack of sleep caused me to increase my intake of coffee and tea, which lead to me increasing my uptake of Splenda. I never had any gastrointestinal problems with Splenda, so I put it all down to having something to do with the low-carb eating.
One and a half years later, long after giving up Atkins, but still consuming Splenda instead of sugar, I was at my wit's end. I was getting about 3-4 hours of sleep a night. I was an emotional wreck. I was too tired to even leave the house to go to work. I was always angry at the people I loved. I was irritated by things that didn't bother me before. The slightest noise during the night would keep me awake for hours. Walking out in public was a terrifying experience for me because everything would make me anxious. I had sweaty palms all the time and my temperature always felt way above normal. I tried changing my diet. I gave up alcohol and smoking. Nothing helped.
Then, it dawned on me. The only thing I was still doing was having Splenda. I did a bit of research on the Internet that morning and was convinced this was the problem.
That was three days ago now. I immediately tossed out the Splenda to see if I would get better. Well, I actually have energy now. I don't even need my coffee!! The day after I stopped the Splenda, I slept better only waking up twice and sleeping much longer than I had been able to for the past couple years. I'm getting much better every day now. My sleep is returning to normal. In fact, I slept 9 hours last night!!
I can't believe how happy I am now. It's crazy! This whole sleep thing is so novel and refreshing. I can't wait until tonight so I can go to bed. :) People who thought I had issues before are commenting on how much better I am now.
I too feel so naive for believing what the Splenda ads told me. If it's made from sugar it MUST be OKAY. WRONG!!! I really do feel sorry for the other people who are suffering and haven't worked it out yet, and I can't understand why this stuff is still on the market here in Australia.
The word must be spread about this stuff. I hope more people find this site.
A happy, sleeping, T. "
On 12 July 2004, we received an update from T.:
"Also, I forgot to mention many of the other side effects I was experiencing. Although some of them can be attributed to the severe sleep deprivation, it all came from Splenda:
- pain and hotness in my eyes upon waking and throughout the day
- strange headaches that went from my jaw to my temples and lasted day after day
- altered perception of reality, like I was sort of not there, or not me
- hot flashes
- increased temperature
- diarrhea every morning (it only occured to me a few minutes ago that this had actually stopped and was from the Splenda, as well)
- constant anxiety and panic attacks
- sensitivity to light
- irrational behaviour
- extreme irritability
- lack of interest in anything"
Thank you T. for sharing your story with our visitors.
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