Hey Gang!

Ok, this is going to sound nuts (actually, coming from me, probably not! ) BUT, for the past few years I've been suffering from horrible chronic anxiety. I was talking to a patient in one of the hospital I work in, and she said that she too had suffered from this horrible problem, BUT, she told me she was addicted to using Aspertame sweetner in her coffee, and once she stopped it, her anxiety stopped (bear with me, this does relate to my pouch).

I've been a smoker for over 25 years (I'm 41), but I never liked the taste of it (just like the affects) so I've always chewed mint gum (don't want to say the brand name for fear of a law suit! LOL!) It never, in a million years, occured to me that the Aspertame in this gum I chew, could be responsible for my anxiety attacks, but after googling it I discovered thousands of pages telling of the horrible side effects of comsuming this seeminly harmless sweetner. I have, for more then 20 years, chewed at least one pack of gum a day, and each piece has 18mg of Aspertame, that's a lot! (I also smoke a pack a day, I know I know, don't say it!). So, I thought I'd see what would happen if I stopped chewing it, that was a week ago, and guess what? My anxiety has all but dissappeared!!!

That being said, the 1st day without the gum, my pouch began to go out of control. It's been a week, and it's almost unbareable. I've double doses of meds, trying to bring it under control, doc says it's really bad pouchitis (I have chronic pouchitis), but have never had it this bad....NOW, here's the kicker, after trying to figure out why it's flaring out of control I found an article that stated Mint is very beneificial for the GI tract. I have ingested tons of mint from the gum over the years..and now that it's gone I'm getting sick? That's just too much of a coincidence! So, because of a simple little thing like chewing gum, I've suffered paralying anxiety attacks for years, but my gut was fine, now, the anxiety is gone, but my pouch is out of control! I know, it sounds crazy, but I swear, this is exactly what's happening, I know my body well, but I never thought gum would affect me like this!!!! I'm looking for alternate sources of mint, but ALL gums have artificial sweeteners now, so maybe mint tea? I have to try it, I can't take much more of this, some choice, anxiety or pouchitis...if I have to choose, I'll take the pouchitis, the anxiety is far worse then any physical ailment! But, I just want to be healthy!!!!!

My question to you all, have any of you ever heard of something like this?? It never occured to me that something as innocent as gum, or more accurately, Aspertame (approved by the FDA, how, I'll never know) could be so harmful!! They should come with a warning label!!! Thanks for listening, and feel free to respond, I'm interested in any and all comments,

Cheers!
Eric

Wow! Who da thunk? But I don't ever do artificial sweeteners because somewhere in my brain I think they aren't all that good. You'd think that the tiny amount in gum wouldn't make a difference but there you go.

Yes, start drinking mint tea and see if that helps things. Oh, and don't put artificial sweetener in the tea. Sugar is good, sugar.

kathy

All fake sugars give me really really really bad diarrhea so I check labels very closely. I rarely chew gum but recently I did get some and I spent a good half hour at the checkstand reading ingredients. I found ONE brand that used sugar and that's the one I bought. I will try and find it and email the brand name to you with the hope that they have a mint flavored gum. You are not crazy, nor am I

Sue

Try Glee gum. They have peppermint and spearmint flavor (among others). I came across this stuff at Trader Joe's here in the States about five years ago. All natural ingredients. No aspartame. The flavor may not last as long as some of the "mainstream" gums, but that is peanuts of an issue compared to not having to deal with anxiety or having to deal with increased digestive/pouch problems.

P.S. Interesting story behind the approval of aspartame and the involvement of an individual who would later become a Secretary of Defense. Look it up if interested. I usually heed advice/directives of the organization mentioned in you post and then head the opposite direction when it comes to foodstuff and most other things as there are too many agendas behind their decisions.

I know mint helps with digestive issues, I use to put a few drops of mint extract in water in my childrens bottles when they got gassy. Worked much better than the drops that are available. Ginger can also help.

As for aspartame...that stuff is evil! It has been linked to several problems including people being mis-diagnosed with MS. I believe that it caused my initial flare with UC while Iwas pregnant 6 years ago. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and had to give up my pepsi. I have never liked diet soda so I was drinking a lot of Crystal light and within three weeks I had my first UC flare. I know I was genetically likely to have UC cuz it runs in my family but never had any symptoms until I drfank the Crystal light which is loaded with aspartame. Ever since then if I would drink two glasses or cans of diet soda withit I would be running for the bathroom as well.

Hope you find a way to get your mint

Not that this is gum related but the other day I saw on the news that drinking diet sodas while pregnant would increase premature birth by 37 percent. I belive they said they tested 600 women and 37 percent delivered a few weeks early.
I personally stay away from artificial sweetners, there is no way I could keep my good looks if I lost weight. Double chins are hard to keep, triple chins are even harder to keep away!