Hi all, I'm hoping for some advice and viewpoints on my situation. For clarity, I'm talking about glutamate as a neurotransmitter, not as MSG (which I've seen come up a bit).

I'm a 28 year old male. Had a binge drinking problem for a few years now. I would drink heavily on the weekends, but never during the week. Last year I finally started to get a handle on it and drastically cut my alcohol intake. I was down to once or twice a month, and before all this happened I hadn't had a drink for 6 weeks.

End of May I went out with some work colleagues on a Friday and had a lot to drink. Next day was normal, just a standard hangover. However, it was a Bank Holiday on the Monday and therefore I didn't need to work. Stupidly I drank again Sunday night, more than on Friday and in a shorter space of time. The following week was sheer hell as I went through an acute alcohol withdrawal. Severe tingling headache all week, massive anxiety, insomnia, shaking, sweating, rapid pulse. About the only thing it stopped short of was seizures and DTs.

I went to the doctor about it on the Friday and she took my blood pressure etc. At that point I was already over the worst of it so she didn't think it necessary to give me anything. I still had the splitting headache.

The headache has not stopped since then, and that was 5 months ago. It definitely has improved in terms of severity - the first few weeks it was very bad all the time, but it's more of a dull ache or "uncomfortableness" now, with occasional spikes. I've been back to the doctor multiple times following the first one and have seen 2 different GPs. Both diagnosed tension headache. I've had some parasthesias in my head along with the headache.

That was the story up until week before last. Following both doctors' advice of it being a tension headache and given that it had improved significantly and I hadn't developed any further symptoms, it seemed like they were right and I went out with a few friends on the Saturday (24th). Had quite a few beers, but nothing anywhere near what I used to drink. Also the only alcohol I'd had in 5 months. The headache was worse the next couple of days but I put that down to the alcohol exacerbating it. I didn't have the same withdrawal symptoms again - a bit of anxiety on the Monday but not even any insomnia (which I did used to get when I was drinking heavily).

Then Saturday just gone I started to get very worried because I felt a bit of tingling in my little fingers. This went away after a couple days. I also had a bit of tingling in my left big toe and once felt some stabbing pains there. I've been concerned about the possibility of the alcohol withdrawal causing nerve damage since it happened. Today I've been getting pinprick sensations all over my body and randomly. I've also noticed a bit of twitching/jerking and maybe slight tremor in my hands. Around lunchtime today I also think I had some tingling and warmth/burning in my left foot. Ironically today has probably been the best day for the headache since it started.

Naturally I am now extremely concerned that this is neuropathic pain. My questions really are:

- I don't think any PN has been caused by the alcohol itself. I did not experience any of these symptoms until I went through the withdrawal. I had not had a drink for 6 weeks before then and I've always eaten well. From what I've read alcoholic neuropathy is caused by a combination of a chronic buildup of alcohol/acetylaldehyde and vitamin deficiency. I don't think a vitamin deficiency is very likely.

- Is it possible for the glutamate rebound from the alcohol withdrawal to cause neuropathy? I mentioned my concern about this to the doctor and he didn't seem to think it was a possibility. From what I've read the majority of glutamate in the system is in the brain itself. If the excess glutamate was causing damage shouldn't I also be experiencing cognitive issues with vision/balance/speech etc?

- I've suffered with anxiety for many years. This was discussed with the doctors and they put me on Sertraline (Zoloft). I've felt that it's helped with the social aspect but the possibility of the headache and now these parasthesias being neuropathy has basically been all I've thought about for the last 5 months. Is it possible that the anxiety of worrying about it and the stress caused by that and the withdrawal is causing the physical symptoms? Can these symptoms be psychosomatic and effectively created by my brain after my having read so much about it all?

- I found that aspirin was the most effective analgesic for the headache, which apparently is a known thing about tension headaches. I had to stop taking it though when I was put on the sertraline. What's the likelihood that the headache is PN if aspirin helps with it? I've read OTC painkillers are not effective against neuropathy.

- i'm not sure from reading whether transient parasthesias like I've been having are typical of PN. It seems like the tingling/burning sensations are usually constant, is that correct?

- Does the progression make any sense? From what I've read, PN typically progresses from burning/tingling in the hands/feet. I've had headache and parasthesias but not any burning or anything until today/this last week. I have no numbness or allodynia. If it was PN induced by the glutamate from the withdrawal shouldn't these symptoms have shown up sooner?

- I started taking a B12 supplement the last couple of days following advice on here. Can the B12 be causing the pricking sensations?

- Can I only expect it to get worse from here?

What I'm currently taking:

Sertraline 100mg
Vitamin D
Vitamin B1
Vitamin B12
Magnesium
Zinc
Coenzyme Q10
Acetyl L-Carnitine

I was taking a B complex but stopped because of the B6 in it.

If you managed to read through all that then thank you, it came out a lot longer than I expected.

Thanks for any help or advice you can offer.