I have had so many problems with artificial sweeteners.

Here are a list of the problems that I have when I have a diet pop or crystal light once a day for a week or so. It takes a bit to notice the problems, as if the sweeteners build up for awhile before wreaking havoc:

tiredness - not the kind of tiredness that you can take a nap and feel better, either, almost like the tiredness from being pregnant the first 3 months
fogginess- can't seem to get words out, am not as sharp with things, some memory recall problems
achy - my joints in my shoulders hurt, as do my neck muscles and my shoulder muscles
stomach ache - lower stomach, like I am making WAAyYY too much acid.
gas - evacuate the building, evacuate the building!!!! I can hear my stomach rumble, comes out of both the attic and the basement.....
irritable - most likely the combination of not feeling well + caffiene
headache - on the sides of my head, near my temples

I know for certain that aspartamine and splenda are the causes of these problems because within a day or two of quitting drinking pop or crystal light or using things like yogurt, pudding, etc. with either of those ingredients in them, I feel much better.

I checked out the FDA site b/c I wanted to give these sweeteners the benefit of the doubt, but after reading their approved studies, I googled "health problems and ______ (sweetener name)" Man, did I get an education! Sometimes testimonials speak louder than research studies.

I still have the occasional diet pop because I am not a rock solid, make no mistakes-kind of person and every once in awhile, I just want some caffeine and some popcorn w/o consuming a bazillion calories. I generally regret the slip-up!

So, where am I going with this? Just saying STAY AWAY FROM THE CR@P AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, was that too subtle?

I found this soda that uses stevia . It is pretty good tasting.
http://www.zorange.com/index.html

Easier than shaking a packet of crystal light into some water, way easier than feeling like sh!t all of the time.

My $.02