Hey everyone. Am hoping to hear some recovery stories. This is getting severely depressing. My symptoms started about 2 years ago. Started with cramping of the hands and feet. I attributed it to dehydration. 2 years later...I now know it has been caused by alcohol. It has progressed into numbness of my left foot, weakness of the legs and lower back, and severe stiffness of the knees. The stiffness of the knees is a recent symptom that I am hoping/praying is due to attempting to start weightlifting again. The leg weakness sucks for me, because at one time I was very into fitness and could put a 400# barbell on my back and squat. In my recent attempt at trying to fix my leg weakness by returning to weightlifting...I could only manage 100#, which most 12 year olds could do. Afterwards my knees became extremely stiff. I continued pushing myself through these workouts for 2 weeks until I got to the point I could barely walk. My lower back is a new symptom as well, and am hoping that is a result of the attempted weightlifting as well. But the weakness and numbness have been ongoing for some time, as well as a strange ring around my abdominals that stays tight all the time. Feels like I'm wearing a tight belt around my midsection. It makes walking difficult, and running impossible. I've seen a couple recovery stories on here. Was hoping to hear more from others. I'm only 38. And the thought of being disabled already, is depressing to say the least.