Hi All,

I have come to this forum to get some feedback from you all on whether or not my current symptoms could be as a result of Alcoholic PN - I am by no means expecting professional medical advice ... just a general discussion.

I recently turned 28 (male), and for the last couple of years have regularly consumed 10-15 units of alcohol a week (a small amount compared to some of the MASSIVE quantities I have been reading about on here!). This would typically be spread out over the week (3-4 days) and consist mostly (90%) of beer with the occasional wine on a weekend (half a bottle). I rarely went over the "recommended" max 21 units. I am in great shape physically, regularly running 20-30 miles a week over the last couple of years (I have found it a great stress reliever) and have a relatively healthy diet.

I have always had an anxiety in my head since 18/19 about drinking way too much alcohol, especially binge drinking and had a couple of episodes in my late teens/early 20s where i convinced myself I had some sort of alcohol related brain damage after a night of heavy binge drinking (20 units or so). I guess this has never left my conscience .... anyway:

5 months ago I was sent around the world for my job and had the opportunity to work in some great countries over a 2 month period. In the 8 weeks I was away i barely drank more than 5 pints....had actually forgotten about alcohol entirely!
However, upon returning home (to the UK) over the next 2 months leading up to the end of Jan 2016 I over-indulged and in the same timeframe (8 weeks) was easily having 21 units a week; again mostly beer with a new-found love of red wine. It didn't help that this was the xmas/new year period!!

The drinking culminated with a massive 8 pint (beer) session 4 weeks ago today - it was a 12 hour session with plenty of food etc with friends who I hadn't seen for months and we had a really good day out....I was pretty happy and although drunk, I wasn't hammered or wrecked - got home had plenty of water and went to sleep.

The next morning my symptoms started - tingling and pins and needles in my left hand, only slightly but enough to be concerned. I had never had this sensation before and immediately attributed it to my hangover .... started googling and bam, the first 10 hits that came up all said PN. I wasn't even aware of this condition and of course my panic and anxiety all set off as soon as i was reading "irreversible damage as a result of heavy alcohol consumption"....my anxiety sky-rocketed.

Since then, I have had blood tests etc that have all come back and reported that all my levels are fine (i don't have an exact read-out of all the vitamins etc) but everything came back 100% good/normal. I was told it was an over-reaction and my anxiety was causing the symptoms that I now have:

Pins and needles (bottom of feet) when walking, along with pain when walking too. As well as tingling in my face, head and chest occasionally along with some tingling in my palms and occasional pain there. Initially when I was told this was anxiety and nerves I calmed right down and my symptoms almost disappeared! Then when I went running a couple of weeks ago I felt quite a bit of pain in my feet along with a warm sensation of blood rushing in that area (which I have had since a few times a day, although that is decreasing in intensity now)....

Sorry for the long post - I am genuinely worried that I have something as a result of the 2 months of "moderate" drinking that culminated in a big binge (which I hardly ever do)....compared to a lot of stuff i've read online about people consuming 20-30 units A DAY for YEARS....I can't quite believe that I could have done myself lasting damage from a couple of months of "over-doing it" especially when I typically don't find myself reliant on alcohol or needing to drink.

Suffice to say, I haven't had ANY alcohol since my binge 4 weeks ago .... just still have anxiety....

I am planning to see a neurologist in the coming weeks to rule out any of this stuff.....its just so stress-inducing reading about all sorts of neuropathy that it makes you go mad!!

Thanks to all in advance Your stories of encouragement are very good to read, even if this is permanent it does seem that for most of you it gets better over time...