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I'm allergic to Splenda?

NOTE: Based on an unoffical consultation with a doctor, it's probably not an allergy to Spenda - just bad timing. She unoffically diagnosed it as a virus that covers you in spots. Looks worse than it really is!

Early last week I woke up with a rash. I shrugged it off to clothing that hadn't been completely rinsed so that I had some sort of soap-residue reaction. It seemed like a reasonable conclusion. But as the days continued on, just as it seemed to be getting better, it would kick back up and spread. Luckily, my clothing covered it all up so I didn't look like any more of a freak than usual. But one day turned into 4 days and 4 days turned into 7 days. Something just wasn’t right. So then I started thinking that maybe it was a reaction to something in the garden.

So after many days, I finally showed my spots off to my mom. She suggested taking Benedryl to see if that helps any. And for 3 nights I took Benedryl to try and reduce whatever is causing my allergic spots. While they seemed slightly better and not spreading any further, thank goodness, it still doesn't seem to be clearing things up. And then it would increase again. So I've come to a new conclusion. The only other change that occurred during this spotted time was that I tried drinking ice tea with Splenda. Today I checked online and sure enough there are other people reporting a wide range of allergic reactions. It really got me to thinking that Splenda, the brand name for sucralose, was the cause of my spots. Considering I just drank a little more of that ice tea this morning, it's going to take a few days to see if things improve. I won't be drinking anymore of that stuff. I'll have to find other decaffeinated ice tea mix.

I guess I can equate it to a nut or milk allergy. Some people have it while most people don't. I'm lucky I didn't progress as some people that blow up or end up in anaphylactic shock – considering I was still drinking small amounts of it for about a week after showing a reaction. With more diet food using sucralose, read those packages carefully, I wonder if the food manufacturers will have to put little warnings on the label like "This product may contain...". You frequently see that with nuts.

Posted: June 27, 2005

Updates

I think some of the spots are starting to fade, but there is still a lot of them.

June 28, 2005

Ok, this morning I really think I see a lot of improvement. I'm now about 48 hours from my last Splenda dose and I can definitely see lightening in the spots. I'm really feeling strongly it was the Splenda because the first few days of Benedryl really didn't do as much as I'm seeing now.

June 29, 2005

Mom's been asking me to see a doctor but since the spots seemed to be getting better, I didn't think it was necessary. She ended up bringing friend of her's that is a doctor for a quick unoffical housecall. The good news is that it probably isn't an allergic reaction at all. It's probably some sort of virus that experts really don't understand. Just like me to contract something goofy.

Anyway, turns out the most likely culprit is pityriasis rosea. Based on the information provided, it's just something I have to live with until it goes away. If I'm lucky, the usual life span of said-virus should end just about the time I have to go my cousin's wedding in a very nice back-less dress that I bought for the occassion. Otherwise, it will be last minute dress shopping for me to find something full-coverage. TMI?

July 4, 2005

I'm happy to report the bulk of the spots have disappeared and my dress-wearing is no longer in any danger. I no longer feel like a leper.

July 16, 2005

This entry has been popular with Splenda/Sucralose allergy web searchers. I have to admit I haven't tried my Splenda-sweetened Ice Tea again. I'm waiting until after the dress-wearing event just in case. Sorry I couldn't be of more help but my little experience goes to show that it may not necessarily what you think. The goofy virus I had didn't seem like anything I would have guessed, but if you start talking to people, you start to find other people that have had it - especially if you frequent a city it seems.

July 20, 2005

I'm happy to report that I was able to wear my dress without incident (or making people's skin crawl). There's a few little dark spots left but those should fade at some point. You just have to love those goofy viruses.

August 5, 2005

So I've been drinking that Splenda-sweetened ice tea for about 2 weeks now and I'm not worse for wear. Apparently the new low-cal, low-fat hot chocolate I've also been drinking lately is sweetened with it as well. No crazy red bumps to report, so as far as I can tell, I really am not allergic to Splenda. PS - a neighbor of mine may have come down with the same virus over a month ago, but the doctor seems to think it's an allergic reaction to something since she's overally itchy. 25% of the people that contract the virus I had do have excessive itch. Who knows, but Mom's doctor-friend agrees with me it's the goofy virus.

December 29, 2005

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