Fizzy Drinks and Wheezing?

[emmasue]

Has anyone else heard this from their GP?  My GP suggested I stop drinking fizzy drinks as he thinks the chemicals used to carbonate drinks can cause wheezing.  He did say it was from personal experience and he did a controlled exclusion diet to work out why his own asthma had become so bad.  He recons it is the fizzy drinks.  I will give up fizzy drinks (despite really liking them) but wondered if anyone has heard anything about it.  In the meantime, I am dosed up again on antibiotics with a bad chest infection.  If this weather doesn't improve soon, I think I might emigrate to a desert. 

[Hidden]

livestrong.com/article/5505...  x

[emmasue in reply to Hidden]

Thanks.  Interesting read.

[ReedB]

Hi, I stay away from fizzy drinks and definitely those that say no added sugar. There's something in them that doesn't suit me. 

I agree about the weather too, fed up with coughing in the cold! Hope your chest gets better soon x

[Piglets2 in reply to ReedB]

Aspartame or how ever you spell  it is the one to avoid in diet drinks!

But I can only drink diet drinks now because of being diagnosed as Steroid- induced Type 2 Diabetes

[diana-stoyanova in reply to Piglets2]

Piglets2 this was the first time I ever head of steroid-induced diabetes... Thank you, I researched it. If it is not too instrusive of me to ask, how long were you on steroid before you got the symptoms and were diagnosed with diabetes?

[Piglets2 in reply to diana-stoyanova]

I've been on steroids since 1989/90. 

Yes steroids help Peoplenwith Asthma, and other medical conditions.But Consultants /Gps don't inform the patients the Horrific Side Effects that go with them.ill chat again on my break at 4pm 

[diana-stoyanova in reply to Piglets2]

Damn, you started the steroids before I was even born... No offense, trying to lighten the mood. Anyway, my doc tells me steroids are standard treatment for my case. But I tend to fall in the risk groups - my polycistosys and the fact I've been gaining weight since I started the steroids in October. I don't really know how to cope with it all - I've been learning more and more horrific things about my condition, my meds, the food we eat etc...

[Piglets2 in reply to diana-stoyanova]

I've gone from dress size 10-12 to 20-22 ( since 07. 

Steroids have caused me to loose my natural Red Hair Colour ( now have to have foils) weight gain Steroids.

Now got No Thyroid Glands, my skin on my hands Esp paper thin, 

Water Retention, now I cannot take Steroids at all. ( and when I have no choice. My airways Swell I take chunks from my cheeks, and have severe Bladder Incontinence. Which has also resulted in Steroid Induced Prolapse of the Bladder) with poss surgery on the cards

[diana-stoyanova in reply to Piglets2]

Keeping in mind I don't even know some of these things you said (different country and all that), I still get the picture... Sad thing is, doctors don't really have a lot of choice. For a long time I thought you could have a healthy lifestyle and get better control over your asthma but my doctor (and some researches) say that this is impossible so you just have to take your meds...

[N230791 in reply to Piglets2]

I’ve gone off aspartame drinks all together as it’s not just my asthma that it affects it affects my epilepsy as well so I’ve gone on to cream soda which has sacralose instead so I can still have a fizzy drink but without the aspartame

[Hidden]

Hi EmmaSue It's a funny story for a GP to tell :)) well fizzy drinks are bad for reflux so I suppose it encourages Gord etc. I have suspected Gord and take Omeprazole so I avoid fizzy drinks. I never did like them anyway :))

Sorry about your chest infection make sure you get rid of it for good. 

The wind is cold here at the moment but the sun is warm when it comes out. I force  myself out to walk an hour a day nethertheless. It clears my head and my chest!

Take care Emmasue xx

[linlow]

In addition to the reactions created by carbonation there is a further issue to consider - fructose

The chemicals used in carbonation are just one aspect of the problem.  Another is fructose.  Not only does fructose aggravate respiratory conditions, there is a measurable link between consumption and prevalence that does more than implicate it as a causative factor.  This applies not only to the carbonated drinks but also some fruit juices eg apples, pears, mangos and watermelons.

Orange and grapefruit would seem to be exceptions.

realnatural.org/high-fructo...

fructositis.org/aboutfructo...

[Kinikea]

I never ever drink fizzy drinks and I still wheeze.  I wonder what the doctor was blaming it on?

[Piglets2]

Yeah I was told the same, and I agree with him Fizzy drinks do set my Asthma off. But wot i do now is let them go flat, then drink 

I was also told by a consultant ( only have) the regular fizzy drinks Avoid Diet because of the chemicals.

[Hidden]

I've never been told it, but I've certainly experienced my chest tightening after drinking them in the past.

These days I avoid fizzy or sparkling drinks - so mineral water and wine are included in the list.  But this is not because of asthma.  They give me IBS and I end up looking about six months pregnant.  Not fun, believe me.  

[Tugun]

Hi - My GP didn't tell me but I stay away from fizzy drinks as they do affect my asthma. Ginger-ale in particular but all fizzy drinks.

[emmasue]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I have gone cold turkey and have managed so far. It is trying to decide what to drink instead. I drink a lot of tea, but I like a cold drink with meals. Fruit juice tends to give me reflux so I tend to drink water or Liptons Ice Tea. I like variety so I have a feeling I will get bored of the watet. 😞

[Hidden in reply to emmasue]

I know it's probably boring, but go with the water.  It's what I do.  Like you I have issues with reflux - can't even manage tea (system doesn't like the tannin).  So for a tea/coffee substitute I have hot milky water (third of a cup/mug milk topped with hot water - you wouldn't believe the confusion this sometimes causes when I ask for it when I'm out:-)), and for a cold drink I use water.  The one exception to the latter is at breakfast when I have diluted cranberry juice.  This should cause problems, the only reason I think I get away with it is that I also have porridge for breakfast made with milk, and I wonder if that somehow helps to counter the acidity of the diluted cranberry juice (and it does have to be diluted: about 1part cranberry juice to three parts water).

[freefaller]

There was a discussion either in here or the British Lung Foundation forum about this about a month ago about the carbon fizz.  Definitely something to avoid.  I never did get on well with carbonated drinks and rarely drink them anyway.  Now, however, I need to take my Itraconazole capsules with a drink of coke.  So pour it and leave it to go flat!  My Uncle used to put a couple of spoons of sugar in a glass of coke when I was small so that I could be like my cousins and drink the darn stuff - how I still have my own teeth i don't know.  Took the fizz away though and I could drink it.  Still don't particularly like the taste though.

[CathyFox]

This is really interesting. I love ginger beer but it seems to trigger a really heavy wheeze, I have been trying to figure out whether it was something that was odd about my asthma triggers but it seems it affects a few of us.

[Scoobyfox]

Hi, I know this is an old post, but I’ve just stumbled across it! For years I have suspected a connection between fizzy drinks and the immediate onset of wheezing and asthma attack. Every time I had a Coke or Sprite (low cal, but I don’t think it matters which) I would need to have a shot of ventolin even before I had finished the drink. I have stopped drinking fizzy drinks altogether now. Definitely not worth an asthma attack. Stick to still drinks.