DIET COLA CONCERN

[FLAME43]

Does anyone know if Diet drinks exacerbate RLS, mine seemed worse, since i have been drinking them

[Eryl]

It seems that artificial sweeteners are more inflammatory than sugar, so it makes sense to me, as I believe that rls is caused by inflammation of the nerve endings. I've cut out all sugar and sweetened foods and have almost eliminated my rls. I think that you need to wean yourself off the taste of sugar. It has no nutritional value so doing without it won't affect your health negatively.

[Pluto46 in reply to Eryl]

This is interesting Eryl. What type of rls did you suffer from? I'd expect similar rls symptoms to be amenable to similar interventions, but since rls seems to come in multiple flavours, it's difficult to know whether one type of intervention will pay off.

[Eryl in reply to Pluto46]

I mostly suffered from the itchy sensation in the joints, but occasionally from uncontrolable twitches. It's so nice being able to lie in bed, totaly relaxed and the only sensations are gravity pulling me down on the bed and slight breeze from an open window.

[Pluto46 in reply to Eryl]

My brother's pestering me to give up artificial sweeteners and statins, but is stumped when I remind him that I've had rls since the age of 18, and been using sweeteners for only about 10 years.

[FLAME43 in reply to Pluto46]

oh you see, it is confusing, but perhaps as we grow older we become more affected by certain food stuffs, just saying, i wish we had a more set book of rules on it

[Eryl in reply to Pluto46]

I first experienced rls after a Sunday school trip to a fair when I was seven. Makes sense to me no as I had eaten candy floss, sweets, toffee apples and anything sweet I that was available.

[Madlegs1 in reply to Pluto46]

When you say 'last ten years' using artificial sweeteners- do you mean actually adding a/s to your diet as opposed to ingesting food that already has them as ingredients,- such as " low sugar"? We've all been taking the latter without knowing what is in the foods. Thinking we were doing the right thing. Duh!

[FLAME43 in reply to Eryl]

thank you makes sense

[Madlegs1]

I imagine the artificial sweeteners would have something to do with that.

[Eryl in reply to Madlegs1]

Yes, I've edited my original reply to make that clear.

[Pluto46]

I would think it depends on how much you drink at a time. I drink quite a lot at the moment, but that's only because we're in the middle of a heat wave where I live. Otherwise, I take a gulp or two a day - not even a half glass full.

[LotteM in reply to Pluto46]

Drink water! Simple, plain water. And if you do long for ‘a twist’ dilute your diet coke or other drink,e.g. just a small splash in your water. A splash of lemon juice in water is quite refreshing too - and even more healthy.

[FLAME43 in reply to LotteM]

thank you going to have to try, having said that I am looking back at these last 4 days and the RLS is relentless, drove me to sobbing point, and have had no diet drinks whatsoever. Bought a packs yesterday, hence my enquiry. Opened a can this morning but i am not going to chance it. so will gauge how it goes without dietary sugars (and of course sugar which i gave up months ago)

[Eryl in reply to FLAME43]

Try some of the electrolyte replacement tablets they sell in sports shops. The ones that I use contain citric acid, vitamin c, magnesium, potassium, calcium, sodium, a hint of green tea and a little flavouring. The flavouring does contain a little artificial sweetener, but only a hint. You just drop one or two in a pint of water like an antacid tablet.

[FLAME43 in reply to Eryl]

that sounds promising Eryl, will give it a go and revert. thank you so much

[Restlesssinger]

I've found that if I drink a caffeine free Diet Coke, which contains aspartame, it bothers the RLS as much as if I'd had a regular, caffeinated Diet Coke. However, if I have one can per day of caffeinated Diet Coke that is sweetened with Splenda (sucralose) instead of aspartame, it doesn't bother the RLS (but only if I have it early enough in the day, e.g. noon or 1 p.m.) I have deduced from this that it's the aspartame that kicks up the RLS. I also use stevia (the pure powder, not the kind mixed with other ingredients) in my tea instead of other artificial sweeteners. I believe there are sodas sweetened with stevia, as well, but I haven't wanted to give up that one can of Diet Coke!