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Reported for the first time recently, case reports of “Aspartame-induced fibromyalgia, an unusual but curable cause of chronic pain.”

“A 50-year-old woman had been suffering from widespread pain and fatigue for more than 10 years leading to the diagnosis of fibromyalgia. During a vacation in a foreign country, she did not suffer from painful symptoms [and made a connection with the fact that] she had forgotten to take her aspartame. All of the symptoms reappeared in the days following her return when she reintroduced aspartame into her daily diet. [But when it] was definitively excluded from her diet, [it resulted] in a complete regression of [her] fibromyalgia symptoms.” After ten years of suffering.

“A 43-year-old man consulted for a 3-year history of bilateral forearm, wrist, and hand and [neck] pain [with] various unsuccessful treatments. A detailed questioning [followed] to find out that he had been taking aspartame for three years. The removal of aspartame was followed by a complete regression of pain, without recurrence.”

“The benefit/risk ratio of considering the diagnosis of aspartame-induced chronic pain is obvious: the potential benefit is to cure a disabling chronic [illness], to spare numerous laboratory and imaging investigations, and to avoid potentially harmful therapies; the potential risk is [what,] to temporarily change the patient’s diet. Thus, practitioners should ask patients suffering from fibromyalgia about their intake of aspartame. In some cases, this simple question might lead to the resolution of a disabling chronic disease.”

And, fibromyalgia is no small pain in the neck, affecting an estimated five million Americans—who should all be asked that simple question.

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