Diet Coke

No I haven't but I wish you well VQ it can't be easy

Good luck VQ keep going it should get easier give yourself a treat with money saved .

An elderly male friend drank copious cans of Diet Coke everyday. He has various health problems including diabetes and he needed to lose several stone in weight. Various health professionals told him time and time again to stop the Diet Coke. There is a diuretic in Diet Coke which meant he had to get up at night to pee. He has now switched to Diet Pepsi (or similar I don't know which exact name) which doesn't contain this diuretic and is better for him.

He just needs to stop eating the large bars of Dairy Milk chocolate.

Good luck vq any addiction is hard to give up.
Did you watch Holby in TV last night ? A patient had developed kidney stones due to the copiotheamounts of diet coke he drank. Maybe a bit more incentive for you.

Copious amounts

I didn't see Holby City but I have no doubt that too much diet coke can't be good for anyone.

A friend recently did the same as you, VQ, although I think she was drinking even more as she lives in a hot climate.

She suffered for quite a few days but now she feels so much better and when she recently tried to drink some Diet Coke, thought it was disgusting!

Good luck!

I've heard that sugar-free and diet versions of food and drink can be just as bad as the sugar versions (not for the calories of course) because the body still thinks it is taking in sugar and produces insulin to match.

I used to take a can of caffeine free Diet Coke to work each day with my packed lunch and occasionally buy extra if thirsty. When I stopped work I stopped buying it and didn't miss it. In fact all the headaches I had been having several days a week also went, which I think were caused by the aspartame.

However I was buying caffeine free because I had cut out caffeine a few years previously and that gave me four or five days of splitting headaches and a jittery on edge feeling.

I'm reading all the 'why you should drink diet coke' sites I can find to keep myself going

I've no experience of this VQ but just wondering if sparkling water would help - sort of providing that fizzy kick?

Thanks for the idea but I don't like the taste of sparkling water.

I'm going to persevere although tonight I'm really craving it lol. Fortunately DH has gone out for a couple of hours and I can't leave the house alone so I can't give in and nip to the shops. The first time I've ever been grateful to have agoraphobia lol.

I managed to give up smoking. I just have to keep at it but I wish the thirst would go away. It's not a normal thirst. I have a really dry mouth which tells me I'm thirsty but my stomach is saying 'Hang on....just let me get rid of this half litre before you pour more into me' lol.

Aspartame is a killer, keep powering through and well done, you will be much better off without it

If you've successfully given up smoking this will be a walk in the park! Have you tried sparkling water with a little cordial? I love Bottlegreen's Elderflower cordial and Tesco currently do a very nice strawberry cordial.

If your mouth is dry, could you suck a sweet? Mind you, I guess the sweet will have aspartamine in it. I've started taking sweets to the gym/sauna, which probably defeats the object of going there but they've become my 'guilty pleasure'; I've never been much of a sweet eater in the past.Good luck, though; if you can stop smoking you can stop anything.

Aspartame is really bad for your body. Persevere with giving up the diet coke! One day at a time!

I agree with Morgana re aspartame - keep it up vq and when you feel like one read this thread!!

I wanted to buy some ordinary orange squash the other day in the supermarket and was appalled to find that I couldn't find any that was not 'diet' apart from orange barley. The amount anyone drinks in this house is so little that I would rather they had some sugar than aspartame.

A friend made me laugh years ago; she said she drank decaffeinated diet coke then thought to herself Why? I may as well drink water and save money.

I'm told by the rheumatologist that drinks like coke which contain aspartame are very bad for people with arthritis as it leaves a residue in the joints.

The more I read about it the worse it seems. The thirst isn't so painful today so hopefully my body is adapting but the craving is still there although that's par for the course when giving up an addiction. Today marks my first full week diet coke free.

Coke is very useful for cleaning the toilet bowl. It's awful for your body. Stay strong-I found it hard to give up an addiction to raw carrots. I ate so many my hands turned orange.

It dissolves teeth too!!

Did I meet you years ago joannapiano? I met a lady in a supermarket filling bags and bags with carrots and asked if she was making soup for a lot of people; she said no, she was addicted to them and the doctor had told her to stop eating them as she was going orange.

I am not sure that I believed her at the time and I didn't realise it could be an addiction.

Please try and gradually cut down on these drinks vampirequeen. Not only have diet drinks (not just Diet Coke) been associated with, surprisingly, weight gain but also new research has indicated a possible link to a higher risk of stroke and dementia.

I am very suspicious of artificial sweeteners and also think they have a horrible taste.

I think going cold turkey is the only way for me. I've tried cutting down in the past but it just increases again. Today is a challenge day. I go out to lunch with my mam and usually have a pint of diet coke with the meal. I learned when I gave up smoking that it's not just the chemicals that you're addicted to but the actions too. Years later a friend asked me to open her cigarettes and pass her one. The action of opening the packet, the smell of tobacco, the slowly pulling one out....all triggered a desire to smoke.

I just have to get through it. Mam won't help. Well she'll think she's helping when she criticises me for having got to this stage when really a 'well done' would be far more effective.

I think you have to plan ahead VQ and decide exactly what you will drink and stick to it. Last year I gave up,alcohol for 100 days. Going out I was faced with the same dilemma and found that planning ahead was the answer.

In lieu of your mum I'll send you a 'well done so far' ??