[gardengirl447]

I hope you see this is not an excuse to an addiction.

Ok first off I don’t mind the taste of Splenda and I know all the media hype and tend to lean towards the Lou's opinion but, I guess every body is different. I have tried on multiple occasions to replace the sugar in my diet with Splenda. Each time I have tried Splenda I end up getting bad kidney pain and not to give TMI but after a few days my body would perform a complete "flush" of my digestive tract.

The first time the pain came on I went to the dr they said I presented all the symptoms of a Severe Kidney Infection; I was given antibiotics at the office. Well when the lab work came back no infection. So I stopped the antibiotics. I thought man maybe it’s the food from our weekly order out place so I stopped that still had pain. I eliminated everything i was eating at the time, the pain went away, then one by one tested each food that was part of my normal routine. BAM when I added the splenda back the pain came back. So I cut it out.

Then every couple months I think I am wussing out and need to "man" up and use it, each time the symptoms come on faster. This time Friday, I used 3 packs in my coffee, then Sat 1, Sunday 1, then Monday 3. No good.. last night I was doubled over in pain, couldn’t take deep breaths. My husband was lecturing me "why do you do this to yourself you know what is going to happen".

So that’s it. I am going to try to cut back the real sugar intake spoon by spoon so it’s a slow change. I am disappointed I cant use the simple solution. I drink 2 shot of espresso in the am - no sugar I just cant handle the brewed coffee with no sweet.

I found this blurb today all over the internet: "Due to the chlorine content in Splenda, sucralose can inflame swelling of the liver and kidneys, and calcification of the kidney, as shown in animal studies. If you experience kidney pain, cramping, or an irritated bladder after using sucralose, stop using it immediately."