The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Artificial Sweetener Link to Herpes
Posted by Robin (London, U.K) on 05/13/2007
Hi l would just like to thank you guys for this site, it's kind of changed my life, not wanting to sound too dramatic about it, but it has.l have been suffering from Genital Herpes for near on 15 years with recently an outbreak occurring almost weekly for the past 2 years, one outbreak would start then as soon it began healing another would start, it has had a very big impact on my life, almost controlling my life from day to day.l refused to take drugs as i felt it would be trading off one problem for another, l never take any kind of drug. But about a month ago I came across this site,, and started reading your messages on Herpes, l realised that I too have been having a very regular intake of Artificial sweeteners through sugar free gums and drinks, l stopped them immediately and started taking L-Lysine 1000mg a day plus Vitamin C 1000mg per day. modified my diet in a big way, cut out Chocolates wine beers and foods high in Arginine,( as an aside not sure if this is connected but l also suffered from Hay Fever and have a bad cat allergy ) but since starting this regime a month ago my Herpes attacks have stopped dead and my allergies have dramatically reduced still can't quite believe the changes that have happened and am kind of waiting for it to go pear shaped, but if it does I would still be happy with the fact that I have had at least a month in my life without Herpes. l thank you all each and everyone of you involved or who have contributed to this web site, l thank you from the bottom of my heart. keep up the good work
Artificial Sweetener Link to Herpes
Posted by Nadine (Atlanta, GA, US) on 05/12/2007
I have to say I am relieved that I have looked on this site today. I have been trying to be healthy with what I put into my body for quite some time but last week I slacked off. I had several diet sodas a I started chewing sugarless gum like it was going out of style. Mind you that I haven't had an outbreak in over a year. Well the other day, as you can guess, I had an out break. No more aspartame and sucralose for me.
Artificial Sweetener Link to Herpes
Posted by Sue (Alexandria, Minnesota) on 05/04/2007
I have just read your feedbacks about aspartame and I avoided it like the plaque. I never drink or eat diet foods. I never even thought about chewing gum. I have had oral sores inside my mouth and it seems to affect my entire body. I have flu like symptoms and have self diagnosed myself as having herpes simplex 1. I am going to quit chewing gum and see if this helps. I will keep you posted of my results. Thank you for this website! It is a God send.
Artificial Sweetener Link to Herpes
Posted by Jem (Sudbury, Canada) on 04/15/2007
I usually never have more than 2 breakouts a year. But since I have inherited my friend's deceased mother's staples, which included Splenda, I have had a break out 1/mth. As well Of late I have increased my intake of aspartame by chewing more gum than ever before as a diet strategy for weight loss and a substitute for food. Thank you sooo much for the info.
Artificial Sweetener Link to Herpes
Posted by KNOWLEDGE IS POWER (Perth, Australia) on 04/13/2007
Have heard two comments now regarding Oxygen Therapy or Hyperbaric Therapy. I am about to give this therapy a go. Also just wanted to say that I think this website is a fantastic forum and agree that the use of Splenda and Aspartame are huge culprits of outbreaks. I haven't had an outbreak for approx 4 weeks now, however I had a chinese dish today for lunch (around 1.30pm) and found out it contained MSG after eating it. I am now experiencing the tingling and itching sensations (now 11.05pm) which are my warning bells going off, so I've taken 2 l-lysine tablets. Not sure what exactly is in MSG but I'm about to search the net for some answers! Will be embarking on the Oxygen Therapy and low carb/high protein diets as protein contains natural l-lysine. Will keep u posted on how it pans out!! KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!!
Artificial Sweetener Link to Herpes
Posted by Chris (Cebu, Philippines) on 03/06/2007
Just read your article on
Aspartame and how it may trigger an outbreak. I am wondering if this is the cause of my current outbreak, as I have just traveled to the Philippines where the formula for diet coke contains Aspartame. After having my first diet coke monday morning, I started having an outbreak. Also know that I have been traveling a lot over the past 2 weeks.
Artificial Sweetener Link to Herpes
Posted by Jesse (Macon, GA) on 01/27/2007
I am so glad i found this site. i jus got a coldsore like bump on my lip and i was thinkin that the cause was bc of something i had recently done with my boyfriend. turns out i lately have drank a couple of diet drinks and i have been chewing a lot of extra gum. thank you so much i was so worried. i am laying off the gum and diet sodas
Artificial Sweetener Link to Herpes
Posted by Rochelle (Grants Pass, OR) on 01/24/2007
After reading this article, it made me think about things. I have never had genital herpes until about 6 month ago when I started drinking three or four diet pepsi's a day. I just quit drinking them about a week ago, and I hope this was the culprit. I also have been reading all the labels of food I eat. I even threw away my gum. EXTRA GUM bad for you. I will let you know if this works. I haven't told my husband because I am so embarrassed about it. I just tell him that I am sore, and can't play...
Artificial Sweetener Link to Herpes
Posted by Jim (Port St Lucie, FL) on 01/20/2007
I dont' know what is causing my outbreaks ... but ever since i've been on nutrisystem weight loss program (2 months) i've had 4 outbreaks. it's been about 3 years previous that i've had one.
Artificial Sweetener Link to Herpes
Posted by Jason (Houma, Louisiana) on 01/18/2007
So here I am going over a year strong without an outbreak and BAM, I come upon the worst outbreak lasting as long as two weeks long. At first I thought okay maybe that was just a bad case and not even one week after the outbreak subsided...BAM!! another one just as bad appeared. Now I was getting really frustrated and after doing a little bit of researching I came upon this website and read the tales behind Splenda and Aspartame. I started to think about what it was I was doing differently and that's when it hit me, sometimes when I go to visit my parents (my father being a diabetic) I would drink some of this sugar-free drink he would make for himself mainly because there was nothing else in their house to drink besides water. The next day I go over to my parents house and into the pantry and grabbed that container which the mixing packets come in and what do i find in big bold print as part of the ingredients ? ASPARTAME !!!! never again will I drink anything from my parents house UNLESS it's water in a bottle and now I have a tendency to look on the back of everything I buy for those main ingredients..if you have herpes I suggest YOU do the SAME.
Artificial Sweetener Link to Herpes
Posted by Sore (Chicago, IL) on 01/18/2007
In late October I started drinking 8 - 12 cups of DeCaf coffee per day. ALong with this I used 2-3 packets Splenda per 1 1/2 Cups or up to 18 packets per day!!! I thought I was doing well. I started this in early October. Now I have used Splenda from time to time but never in this quantity. In late October I started breaking out and it would clear up only to break out again a week later. Instead of breaking out once or twice a year, I was breaking out every few weeks. I'd clear up and break out again. I wondered what was different. Initially I thought it was the stress of the Holidays. Well the holidays are over and it is still happening. I decided to do a search and found this site. I'm eliminating ALL sweeteners today. I'll let you know if my virus goes back to sleep.
Artificial Sweetener Link to Herpes
Posted by Annie (Seattle, WA) on 01/01/2007
Just visited my brother and his wife for a week in northern california. Splenda was not available in their home. Upon returning to Seattle, I resumed my consumption of Splenda (quite significant) and immediately (within 2 days) developed a severe herpes outbreak. Yikes. Will certainly monitor the situation and stop using Splenda for a while to see if this is indeed the cause. This was a low stress period for me and there is not other reason for the outbreak except perhaps having started taking L-Carnitine upon my return to Seattle.
Artificial Sweetener Link to Herpes
Posted by Linda (Houston, TX) on 11/23/2006
I wanted to add my story and am relieved to know that I'm not the only one who has experienced this. Approximately two years ago I began having herpes outbreaks (Cold Sores) with regularity and didn't know why this was happening. This occurred for several months in a row when I finally thought "what the heck is going on here". I then tried to figure out what I'd been doing differently. It took me about a day or two and then it struck me that I'd been consuming large amounts of SPLENDA. Which I normally don't use. I have a bitter orange tree in my yard with beautiful, but very sour oranges and I had discovered that these oranges make a rather delicious drink comparable to lemonade. Not wanting to consume so much sugar, I bought a box of SPLENDA and began using that. What a huge mistake! I was miserable and can't believe that I didn't put 2 and 2 together sooner than that. What's funny is that the sores would come on very quickly with little pain and didn't seem to last quite as long as they sometimes do, but they were horrible and frequent. I wonder how many people suffer needlessly and don't even know why? I relay my story every chance I get in hopes of helping anyone else avoid this stupid problem. Thanks for this web site!
Artificial Sweetener Link to Herpes
Posted by Anonymous (Los Angeles) on 11/04/2006
I came upon your website while searching for a natural healing for Genital Herpes. WOW. Am I surprise to find out information about this crazy chemical call Sucralose or Splenda. OK, here's my story: Two weeks ago on Monday, I went to work with a great new idea. That I will go on a sugarless diet. Why? Because people at work noticed that I do look a little chubbier. Before going on this sugar diet, I used to drink about a cup of coffee every morning with real sugar. I guess you can say the addiction to coffee kicks in and I just wanted some a little taste of coffle again. So, without destroying my commitment to a sugarless diet, I search around the office kitchen for those diet packet sugar and found some. I did the coffee with diet sugar for about 4 or 5 days and Well... You guess it. That following friday night, when I went to take a piss after having dinner with my girlfriend. My urethra was on fire, meaning burning sensation when I pee. HERPES OUTBREAK!!! and I seriously do agree agree with you guys it's from that diet stuff I took in. If I didn't come upon this website, I would not have made this connection. I am so glad I know this. I think I'll stick to real food from now on. Even Junk Food scares me now. The freaking USDA is as reliable as this country's Intelligence Agency. Thank you
Artificial Sweetener Link to Herpes
Posted by Chris (Canada) on 09/26/2006
I stopped using both Splenda and Aspartame and have not had a symptom for a month now. Was having constant problems for 3 years now and couldn't figure out why. This coincides with my starting to use Splenda and Aspartame for a low carb diet regimen. i believe you are onto something here.
