Since this is a forum that is focused on weight loss with the other benefits of fasting being more a welcome side effect, I figure that there are plenty of people who thought the same way I did before: "I know that artificial sweeteners may not be the best thing for you to have during a fast from a cleansing point of view, but they have no calories and thus shouldn't interfere with my goal of losing weight." I was really hooked on the sweet taste and felt like I really needed some kind of flavor if I was going to stay on the fast. HOWEVER, after my first cheat, I reconsidered, thinking that it might have been the sweeteners that were giving me cravings and also thinking that the sweeteners might be stalling my weight loss, since my weight loss had come to a creep and crawl. I ditched the artificially sweetened drinks, for a while only had water, and eventually transitioned to water with a squeeze of lime or lemon. I'm hooked on that now and have found that I've been having much better results in terms of weight loss, cravings, and perhaps most importantly, getting rid of my sweet tooth. I have cheated twice since then (gimme a break, I've been on this fast for a loooooong time, so two more cheats is not that bad), but I found chocolate and candy, once my favorites, to be waaaaayyyyy too sweet. It literally burned in my mouth. My weakness now is much more for hearty and salty stuff, but at least that doesn't have the Sugar in it.
I plan on going on veggies and then low carb to maintain my weight loss, and I plan on sticking to the lemon/lime water and not using any splenda products or splenda in my own cooking. I still occasionally have a diet coke if I'm feeling really sleepy and think I'm going to pass out on my desk at work, but that's once every week or every two weeks.