Welcome to the thread Linter .

CIDP is an auto-immune disease with clinical signs which resemble alcoholic PN. Because of that its differential diagnosis usually involves asking a patient about his/her drinking. There is some information about alcoholic PN here Alcoholic Neuropathy: Background, Pathophysiology, Epidemiology.

We all have our personal stories, both here and in Part 1.

One of the hardest things that I have had to do was to accept that I needed professional help for both my alcohol abuse and clinical depression. Once I had done that everything else was relatively straightforward with some ups and downs along the way, which is normal.

Please keep posting here. Nobody will shout at you or judge you. We will all do the best that we can to offer you support and encouragement.