3 ms·

Daily reminder that aspartame is a really bad migraine trigger, this comment will get downvoted as usual, but hopefully other people suffering from it see this.

tekla 3y ago
We should post everything that could be a migraine trigger Sunlight, artificial light, weird smells, etc etc
- werdnapk 3y ago
  Well, the article and the post are about aspartame specifically.
nkozyra 3y ago
Has there been any study into the mechanism of this? I'm not finding it but it seems pretty cemented by migraine sufferers that it will trigger them. Most of what I'm finding about the association also lists alcohol as a much bigger trigger, which I hear (unsurprisingly, I guess) less anecdotally among migraine-suffering friends of mine.
- 542458 3y ago
  Note (per my other comment) the connection between aspartame and migraines is not extremely strong. Nonetheless, I've found one source that labels possible formaldehyde sensitivity. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/579335 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/579335 (http://whilesciencesleeps.com/pdf/328.pdf http://whilesciencesleeps.com/pdf/328.pdf) If this is the actual mechanism, it would suggest that those people should avoid formaldehyde-containing foods in general, like apples, bananas, grapes, onions, carrots, seafood, beef, and poultry.
obituary_latte 3y ago
Why would this get downvoted "as usual"? I suffer from migraines and did not know this so I appreciate the info very much. I will do just about anything to avoid a migraine as will likely most who suffer from them would. I don't get why HN would be against spreading this info?
- neonsunset 3y ago
  Because people not suffering from migraines did not have firsthand experience and assume it is the same as other conditional triggers such as sunlight or anything that induces vasodilation or especially vasodilation after vasoconstriction (workout + caffeine comedown into a hot shower can do you in easily).
  - Workaccount2 3y ago
    But you are running off of sample size 1. That's why people don't like your comment. There is a massive difference between "Aspartame causes migraines" and "Aspartame causes migraines for me"
- tux3 3y ago
  I haven't voted on that comment, but it's overconfident, it jumps to conclusions too quickly. It's possible aspartame is bad for migraines. Given that migraines are really bad, then you might as well avoid aspartame, it's not like you're losing much compared to the potential gain. But what's very bad is to talk like we know for sure. Maybe cheese causes migraines, maybe alcohol causes migraines, maybe not enough cheese causes migraines. Maybe we'll think something completely different a few years from now, because collecting good information is just incredibly hard. The truth is medical science hasn't figured it out yet. It's okay to try things and see if it works for you, but do it with care and humility. There's no secret knowledge being censored here. But overconfidence ends up doing more harm than good, so we should be more careful than that.
542458 3y ago
I think your phrasing is much too strong. Research shows that about 8% of migraine sufferers self-report that they believe that aspartame triggers their migraines [1]. Placebo-controlled studies show mixed results, and only at high doses (Along the lines of what you'd get from drinking 10-14 cans of aspartame-sweetened soda per day), and only for a subset of the migraine-suffering population, and only for those who don't suffer from cyclical migraines or status migrainosus [2]. 1: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2708042/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2708042/ 2: https://headachejournal.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/j.1365-2524.1988.hed2801010.x?casa_token=1t88CN-jJaYAAAAA:59Dc28LQZwV-IMqQFsZY6P7AbDtSNO_LqM3cf7ERvFc4JtcA6KcIZTfe3GLXEvsrnT93zH-PdZQo8GQ https://headachejournal.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirec...
- thebooktocome 3y ago
  Unfortunately, psychosomatic migraines are just as painful as ones with material causes.
- neonsunset 3y ago
  Alcohol consumption is explicit and alcohol is a known vasodilator. Aspartame consumption is often unsuspected because you have to specifically check if you are ingesting it (accidentally or otherwise) which would skew data from self-reports.
SketchySeaBeast 3y ago
Possibly cause, sure, but that stance is not the reason this comment will be down-voted.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
jollyllama 3y ago
Guy I know used to drink diet coke decades ago. In the 80's he started getting bad reactions. Terrible migraines with tunnel vision. He'd be useless for hours. He was told at the time "it rots your brain." He stopped but it would continue if he ever accidentally consumed aspartame. I never really knew what to make of it, and always wondered if there was a connection with PKU disorder.

tekla 3y ago

We should post everything that could be a migraine trigger Sunlight, artificial light, weird smells, etc etc

werdnapk 3y ago
Well, the article and the post are about aspartame specifically.

nkozyra 3y ago

Has there been any study into the mechanism of this? I'm not finding it but it seems pretty cemented by migraine sufferers that it will trigger them. Most of what I'm finding about the association also lists alcohol as a much bigger trigger, which I hear (unsurprisingly, I guess) less anecdotally among migraine-suffering friends of mine.

542458 3y ago
Note (per my other comment) the connection between aspartame and migraines is not extremely strong. Nonetheless, I've found one source that labels possible formaldehyde sensitivity. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/579335 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/579335 (http://whilesciencesleeps.com/pdf/328.pdf http://whilesciencesleeps.com/pdf/328.pdf) If this is the actual mechanism, it would suggest that those people should avoid formaldehyde-containing foods in general, like apples, bananas, grapes, onions, carrots, seafood, beef, and poultry.

obituary_latte 3y ago

Why would this get downvoted "as usual"? I suffer from migraines and did not know this so I appreciate the info very much. I will do just about anything to avoid a migraine as will likely most who suffer from them would. I don't get why HN would be against spreading this info?

neonsunset 3y ago
Because people not suffering from migraines did not have firsthand experience and assume it is the same as other conditional triggers such as sunlight or anything that induces vasodilation or especially vasodilation after vasoconstriction (workout + caffeine comedown into a hot shower can do you in easily).
- Workaccount2 3y ago
  But you are running off of sample size 1. That's why people don't like your comment. There is a massive difference between "Aspartame causes migraines" and "Aspartame causes migraines for me"
tux3 3y ago
I haven't voted on that comment, but it's overconfident, it jumps to conclusions too quickly. It's possible aspartame is bad for migraines. Given that migraines are really bad, then you might as well avoid aspartame, it's not like you're losing much compared to the potential gain. But what's very bad is to talk like we know for sure. Maybe cheese causes migraines, maybe alcohol causes migraines, maybe not enough cheese causes migraines. Maybe we'll think something completely different a few years from now, because collecting good information is just incredibly hard. The truth is medical science hasn't figured it out yet. It's okay to try things and see if it works for you, but do it with care and humility. There's no secret knowledge being censored here. But overconfidence ends up doing more harm than good, so we should be more careful than that.

542458 3y ago

I think your phrasing is much too strong. Research shows that about 8% of migraine sufferers self-report that they believe that aspartame triggers their migraines [1]. Placebo-controlled studies show mixed results, and only at high doses (Along the lines of what you'd get from drinking 10-14 cans of aspartame-sweetened soda per day), and only for a subset of the migraine-suffering population, and only for those who don't suffer from cyclical migraines or status migrainosus [2]. 1: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2708042/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2708042/ 2: https://headachejournal.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/j.1365-2524.1988.hed2801010.x?casa_token=1t88CN-jJaYAAAAA:59Dc28LQZwV-IMqQFsZY6P7AbDtSNO_LqM3cf7ERvFc4JtcA6KcIZTfe3GLXEvsrnT93zH-PdZQo8GQ https://headachejournal.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirec...

thebooktocome 3y ago
Unfortunately, psychosomatic migraines are just as painful as ones with material causes.
neonsunset 3y ago
Alcohol consumption is explicit and alcohol is a known vasodilator. Aspartame consumption is often unsuspected because you have to specifically check if you are ingesting it (accidentally or otherwise) which would skew data from self-reports.

SketchySeaBeast 3y ago

Possibly cause, sure, but that stance is not the reason this comment will be down-voted.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

jollyllama 3y ago

Guy I know used to drink diet coke decades ago. In the 80's he started getting bad reactions. Terrible migraines with tunnel vision. He'd be useless for hours. He was told at the time "it rots your brain." He stopped but it would continue if he ever accidentally consumed aspartame. I never really knew what to make of it, and always wondered if there was a connection with PKU disorder.