I am 45 and while I'm somewhat overweight I work out regularly and am very healthy. I am in the habit of drinking one or two diet Coke's a day, and when I'm travelling can drink three or four.

I have noticed that when I am in my Diet Coke mode, I have a very difficult time walking down stairs and sometimes even just walking normally. It's like I'm 80 years old and I have arthritis. I went to an orthopedist who saw nothing wrong with my joints but I could barely walk.

I stopped drinking diet coke because I'd heard anecdotes about it causing people joint problems. In a very short time, the problem diminished. Within a week, it stopped. I did not change anything else. Then I was in a situation where I was away from home with limited food and drink options for a while, fell back into the Diet Coke habit and very soon my walking problem resumed. I could not walk down a staircase normally - I had to walk down a step with both feet before I could go down the next step rather than using one step per stair. Of course, I stopped using the product again - the problem went away and has not resumed.

I am wondering if anyone else has had this experience or if anyone knows of any science supporting a link between Diet Coke and joint and walking problems.

The aspartame (artificial sweetener) in Diet Coke is probably the culprit. Google that word to find out more.

Munch through this search:

nutrasweet neurological - Google Search (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=JnN&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=s&ei=vkysS62xBoOB8gbfgZ29Dw&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=1&ct=result&cd=1&ved=0CDsQBSgA&q=nutrasweet+neurological&spell=1)

Here's a good one:

Aspartame (Nutrasweet) Toxicity Information Center (http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/)