Aspartame dilemma.

I have tried to quit drinking my favorite drink.  Diet Dr. Pepper.  Now, my love of Dr. Pepper goes back to my childhood.  Dr. Pepper was the only soft drink my grandmother would drink.  She loved it.  Kept the fridge stocked with it when she could afford to.   My favorite though, is the diet version, but lately I've been reading some bad "reviews," if you will, on aspartame - the chemical that makes it taste so much like the original yet have no calories.

I can make you any drink on the Starbucks menu, yet I love Diet Dr. Pepper more.

I tried quitting the week before last, but after three days the craving was so intense I gave in.  I drank about 4 ounces, mixed it in with regular Dr. Pepper - which I had summoned from my husband during his latest grocery store run.  I have gone from drinking about 30 ounces a day to less than one, if that.  But not completely successful with the quitting thing. 

Diet Dr. Pepper isn't nicotine, or crack.  It's not even a social thing...I can drink anything, anytime.  It's a craving for ASPARTAME.  Bad stuff apparently.  I've had 3 doctors suggest that I have fibromyalgia.  I think I have aspartame disease.  Body aches all over, trouble sleeping, and there's a lot more if you drink too much of that stuff.

Let's hear from both sides of the issue.

What do you know about aspartame?  Do you drink diet sodas?  Ever tried to quit?  Know anything about the research?  Is this stuff really that horrible that the U.S. supposedly has a trust fund for all the medical lawsuits they expect to get because the FDA approved this chemical to feed to the masses?  It's in all sorts of foods now too.  Light yogurt?

Lemme hear from you.