Grrr... Tums and aspertame

[OBob]

So, I'm just wrapping up day 13 of induction, and things are going great. One apparent side effect to the induction is that my prilosec doesn't seem to be working as well as it always has in controlling heartburn.

Anyhow, I make a special trip to the store tonight to get some sugarfree Tums. I spend several minutes examining the section, and particularly the bottle of Tums I find, but can't find any specifics on the inactive ingredients. I need some antacid, so I buy it and take it home.

I down two tablets, and just as I swallow them, I notice that the label peels off to reveal another label below it. When I peel it off, I see the inactive ingredients, and there's aspertame.

So, I have two tablets of Tums with aspertame in my previously clean-induction belly. Any thoughts on how much this is going to mess me up?

[Laurenfra]

Bob it may not matter at all. To me the risk of asp. is noting compared to being up all night. It is a sugar sub that stalls some people. The amount is small and you wont eat these like candy RIGHT? You may see no need for antacid very soon.

[sadie147]

In my 3 .5+ years on this WOE I've maybe had heartburn twice, and not even bad enough to justify taking something for it! I used to get it easily 4x per week. So laurens right, it may be likely you might not need an antacid soon!

As far as aspertame, it's different for each individual, personally it's never bothered my losses.

[Miss Phode]

I get digestive enzymse from the health food store for hubby who doesn't follow this woe, and he has never needed tums since. He just takes one before every meal. He used to have heartburn several times per week.

[ValidRouge]

My heartburn pretty much went away (and I have a hiatal hernia (sp?)) and I used to take pepcid complete EVERY DAY. I hope yours does too. However, on the two occasions I have had it I just went ahead and had my pepcid complete. There's no need to suffer through heartburn just to not eat some aspartame or some trivial amount of "bad" ingredient in an antacid.

[OBob]

Thanks for the word on the aspertame. I decided early on that I wanted to do induction as cleanly as I could, and have really worked hard at it. Atkins tells you to avoid the stuff, but I don't believe he elaborates on it too much. I was a little worried that my body would react as it would to real sugar, and that I might end up knocked out of lipolysis, and not see it again for 5 days. Sounds like it's a small risk, and it's probably not going to affect me. So that's cool. Long term, it doesn't really matter, since this is a way of life, and one little accidental setback wasn't going to derail that.

On the heartburn, yeah, that's weired. My mother has done Atkins (and is doing it now). She had a full-blown paraesophageal hernia that took two major surgeries to repair. She was on 2 doses of either Prilosec or one of the other prescription acid reducers a day, PLUS some other prescription strength stuff for when the acid reducers didn't hold back the acid.

On Atkins, she didn't have to take any of it.

I've been on Prilosec for several years, and have my own hiatal hernia. Prilosec hasn't been an option since about '99 I think; it's just something I've had to take at the beginning of every day or suffer. Because of my mom's story, I was looking forward to the prospect of not having to take it.

So, I've been surprised over the past week to find that the Prilosec has actually become LESS effective since starting Atkins. I guess if it's something that persists, I'll either up the dosage, see my doctor, or both. I'm sure that, whatever the short term issues are, it isn't going to hurt my reflux cause to get rid of this gigantic gut.

Cheers guys. Thanks again for easing my mind about the aspertame. I'm rarely this obsessive about things, but really want to do the "clean induction". It's Day 14 now, so I'm looking forward to a few more veggies tomorrow.


OBob

[MommaGlass]

I used to get heartburn 4-5 times a day. before Atkins. On induction i had pretty bad heartburn a few days in a row before it went away. I would dissolve a 1/2 tsp of baking soda in just a oz or two of water and shoot it. Doesn't taste the best but did the trick with instnat relief. Made me belch but that made my son laugh, so we all won. I am sure it will be a temporary thing. Good luck.

[swimr4]

That sounds funny obob......looking forward to more veggies! I know what you mean but anyone who doesn't know what we are talking about would think you are CRAZY!!!!!!

[sherice]

I am also ok with aspertame