The diet soda I usually drink recently changed from another artificial sweetener to Splenda. It took me a while to make the connection, but following this change, I started having very severe headaches at the base of my skull, unusual pain and swelling in my throat and neck, and ear pain. I struggled with this for a few weeks, not able to figure out what the problem was. Also, although I'm less assured that Splenda is the cause, I gained 12 pounds in the last month and have felt very lethargic without any significant change in my diet or level of activity (other than the change in diet soda). I have been a constantly healthy, 6'1", 180 pounds for several years.

The Splenda crossed my mind finally because I have had similar headache problems with MSG and certain foods. When testing this, I stopped drinking the soda and made sure that nothing I ate had Splenda in it for a few days. It took a couple of days for the headaches to completely go away, but they did.

Yesterday, I tried drinking a cola with Splenda again. I developed the same headache and throat swelling within hours of its consumption. I will not consume any more products with Splenda."

Thank you J.B. for sharing your story with our visitors.

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