Pick your poison...

Artificial sweeteners... there are several out on the market and there are folks with definite preferences and others that just don't care which one or if any.  We (Gary and I) definitely have a preference which one NOT to have... that would be aspartame (aka Equal) also listed in bold print in the 'ingredients' PHENYLKETONURICS: CONTAINS PHENYLALANINE.  Why am I writing about this?  Well I was posting on FB (surprise - LOL) and there was someone there that was having a reaction to Splenda.  Well that is our artificial sweetener of choice now, so I explained why we didn't do Equal... here is the cut and paste (so I don't have to retype it):

Gary (my DH) had been having 'dizzy spells' every once in a while - we though - mmm inner ear something. It wasn't interfering with anything really - just a hassle. since they didn't last long... As time went on - they became more and more frequent and more severe. It got to where they were coming a minimum of monthly and we really started to get worried... so trips to the Doctors (Kaiser) - after MRIs and lab test - Neurologist, Cardiologist, ENT specialist - no one could say what the cause of these dizzy spells were. They had gotten SO bad that with the nausea/vomiting they caused he would pass out (vegal nerve stimulation). They were also coming more than once a week!!  Well during this time my Dad read an article about the 'Evils of Equal' and passed it along to us. Since when aspartame is broken down by the body it is VERY similar to another neurotransmitter - it causes a multitude of symptoms... one of them is vertigo (as well as symptoms similar to MS) so for kicks and giggles we stopped ALL equal consumption. Which was really hard - since we were FAT and thought we were doing the 'right thing' going 'sugar free' (so glad there are other options now!!). Anyways - after stopping ALL Equal we waited - and waited - and waited for the next dizzy spell - it never came!! UNTIL he went through a fast food restaurant drive through and they gave him diet soda - yep with in 45 minutes he had a dizzy spell. Only one other dizzy spell since and that was with some Flavored Water. We didn't check the label close enough. 

Now the way I got MY information is via the internet - so needless to say, you need to take the info with a grain of salt (kosher please - LOL) any way... HERE is one link that is a good one.  Please read it... it might apply to you - or someone you know.