<p>We were recently at Walt Disney World and of course my diet changed while I was there: mostly processed foods and a lot of Diet Coke so I could keep moving. By the time we came home, I was woozy and dizzy and I noticed this happened as I was drinking soda and then after. </p>
<p>I am prone to vertigo and have been treated for it. I looked up “dizzy drinking diet coke” and see lots of talk about aspartame causing this. </p>
<p>Does anyone have any knowledge or experience with this? </p>
<p>Yes, aspartame makes me dizzy and upsets my stomach, so I avoid anything containing it. I can tell whether the diet drink contains aspartame or not by taking a few sips. Guess we are not alone:</p>
<p><a href=“Direct and indirect cellular effects of aspartame on the brain | European Journal of Clinical Nutrition”>http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v62/n4/full/1602866a.html</a></p>
<p>For some reason diet coke has more caffeine than regular coke, could it be also the caffeine?
I always thought diet pop was about the worst thing you could drink.
<a href=“Hearst Magazines”>Hearst Magazines;
<p>Aspartame is a migraine trigger for me, so I have to avoid it. I long for the “Coke Light” I can get in Spain and France!</p>
<p>A very interesting document:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dailys/03/jan03/012203/02p-0317_emc-000199.txt”>http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dailys/03/jan03/012203/02p-0317_emc-000199.txt</a></p>
<p>Aspartame gives me headaches too, really nasty ones.</p>
<p>I was gonna say, try Nuun electrolyte fizzies in your water, but I just read that it has sorbitol and can make people lose weight if they drink too much.( although one kind uses stevia-Ill have to see what that does)
( sounds like by losing water)
Ive been having stomach problems and I only drink one or at most two a day.
<a href=“Collections – Nuun Hydration”>http://www.nuun.com/products</a>
( although it might not be that, I also have been eating wheat and I generally try to have at leasta couple wheat free days every week, but with my busy social life- 
, I havent been very good lately)
So I guess I will have to start alternating more with Emergen-c, which uses fructose for sweetening.
Or I could drink more plain water!
I saw infuser pitchers at Costco, which looked interesting.
I could make my own concoctions.</p>
<p>I hope you feel better.</p>
<p>I didn’t get dizziness from diet colas, but I could see how increasing your intake of caffeine, coupled with the dehydrating heat and sun at Disney World could cause some dizziness, even without the aspartame factor.</p>
<p>I’ve had to pretty much eliminate my beloved diet colas (mainly Diet Pepsi for me) due to bone density issues. I have maybe one or two a week instead of one or two a day now. </p>
<p>My first thought upon seeing the thread title was “Dehydration, caffeine, aspartame.”</p>
<p>To be clear, I didn’t increase my caffeine intake. It’s just easier at WDW to get Diet Coke than coffee, especially drinkable coffee. And I carried a water bottle which I refilled. Thanks for the links. </p>
<p>Caffeine tends to dehydrate me, and I will feel dizzy and slightly nauseated. The feeling I have is that if I eat something, the dizziness will go away. But eating doesn’t address the issue. It took me years to learn I needed to drink lots of water to counter and caffeine I consumed.</p>
<p>Lergnom, caffeine has a strong diuretic effect. Perhaps not a problem at home or work, but if trudging around in the heat and humidity of Florida, it could contribute to problems. Drinking water is a good tactic, but depending on the person, their typical exposure to heat and humidity, it might be difficult to keep up replenishment of fluids and electrolytes.</p>
<p>My son gets headaches from drinking anything with aspartame.</p>
<p>I once “bonked” on a long, arduous bike ride in the heat. Could barely remember how to speak and became disoriented. But I managed to make it into a coffee shop and the person behind the counter gave me a giant glass of ice water and I recovered. You hit that wall and it’s dangerous. I get dehydrated from time to time while exercising. There are degrees.</p>
<p>I think the symptoms match well with aspartame, from the general wooziness - which is different from anything I’ve experienced from not drinking enough water - to a need to pee more often. </p>
<p>As an aside, a favorite bit from House is when he’s assigned to the clinic and a guy comes in chewing gum and complaining about gas. Sorbitol is a laxative. All these artificial sweeteners have issues, I gather.</p>
<p>^^^Yeah, lots of sugar free candies actually taste good but cause…er…“digestive upset” later on.</p>
<p>And the reason is apparently is that those sugar mimicking sweeteners (not aspartame) make it into the parts of the GI tract where real sugars would not make it, providing plenty of food for and promoting of growth of bacteria that feasts on this stuff - where such bacteria is not supposed to dwell! The result is gas, bloating and other issues.</p>