Splenda and my Sore Burning Tongue

As some of you may know, I was diagnosed with diabetes in July.  Since then, I have lost 15 pounds and my sugar is closer to normal than it has been in a long time.  In my effort to lose the weight and keep a more healthy blood sugar level, I have changed my diet and made exercise a part of my day. 

One thing I've missed is soda.  I never was a really big soda drinker but I would have maybe three or four a week.  However, all that sugar is now a big no no.  So, I started drinking diet drinks.  To my surprise, they were quite good, especially diet Dr. Pepper or diet rootbeer.  After a while, I really could not tell the difference between a full sugar drink and these diet drinks.  So, I would have one or two a day. 

Then I noticed something.  I started developing very sore bumps on my tongue.  I've had bumps on my tongue before but these were quite painful and stayed with me for a lot longer than the normal bumps I've had in the past.  I figured it was the diet soda, more specicially, maybe the citric acid that so many sodas have in them.  So, I stopped drinking them....for about two weeks.  Then I caved in and bought more.  I went back to my two drink a day habit.  After a while, the bumps came back.  However, another disturbing new symptom emerged.  I developed a very irritated burning tongue.  I've never had this before.  I decided to quit the sodas again . . . for three days.  Burning went away and the bumps.  Then, one day, while at my mother-in-law's house, I noticed she had diet coke.  So, I had a couple of glasses.  Within about an hour, the burning started again.  I finally put two and two together and realized is must be the diet drinks.  But what was it in the diet drinks?  I've known for a while that sucrolose (aka Splenda)  is probably not the best thing to put into your body but I never had a reaction to it before.  I decided to consult the internet.  I was quite surprised to learn that a burning tongue is quite a common symptom after drinking anything with Splenda in it.  I found that Splenda has quite a dark side to it.  It is the trade name for sucralose, a synthetic compound stumbled upon in 1976 by scientists in Britain seeking a new pesticide formulation. 

So, after reading up on Splenda I decided to just go cold turkey.  I'm now back to my flavored seltzer water with a bit of juice in it.  Now, if I could just find a good canned soup without MSG in it.  More on MSG in a later post.