of it as a "moral" issue - I agree with Rae that it really doesnt matter what the cause is, I mean it may matter from a MEDICAL perspective, but not a moral one, in my opinion ... I will admit that I WAS, a little hesitant to talk about what seems to be the cause in my case, bcos of feeling like their will be more of a "stigma" about it, than somone who got it in other ways, but Im not hearing any of that here so far.

My alcohol use started as self-medication for emotional problems and traumas from my teenage years, and it continued as a combination of that and a just a "drink to unwind and have a good time" attitude ... I dont think there is anything "wrong" with drinking alcohol, from a moral perspective, it's jsut that many of us who do, dont have a good perspective on the physical dangers and harms of "too much of a good thing" ... we dont realize or beleive that it will eventually hurt us, and we jsut carry on ... didnt Abe Lincoln say somehting like "Show me a person with no vices, and I will show you someone who most likely has very few virtues"?

Anyway, I dont think anybody should feel in any way discouraged from telling their stories here, or from looking for answers for their symptoms, bcos of the cause of the condition ... so keep talking, Mindy, MizzMg, etc ... you can see that this is a very supportive community, regardless of what road brought each of us here.

Mindy ... my alcohol use hit its peak in my late teens and early twenties (I'm 45 now), and has slowly and gradualy declined since then ... I do not understand enough about the process, to really know why it has taken this long to kick in, so to speak, and why it "decided" to do so only recently, but Im guessing it was jsut a slow and gradual process of the alcohol toxicity building up over time, combined with poor nutrition ... as someone pointed out right here on thsi thread (Glenntaj, I think), it does not seem to be established for sure weather the PN is caused by alcohol poisoning directly atacking and damaging the nerves, or from the fact that "heavy" drinkers tend to have poor nutrition to start with, and the alcohol tends to leech away what nutrients we do get in us, over a long period of time ... then you combine that with possible genetic predispositions, environmental (external) factors, and so on ... so the cause or causes can be much more complicated, Im sure, as Ive seen discussed here already, in the relatively small amount Ive read ... anyway, dont feel alone,and dont give up ...