mrsD, you nailed it! You would think that wouldn't be true of people who are supposedly trained to be logical and unbiased, but what do so many of them do? Jump to conclusions, and particularly ones that take little of their time.

I too liked my strong drink in the past, but because of several surgeries and such, I was totally abstinate for several years--the same time when my PN started and escalated rapidly, continuing to get worse to this day. I can believe that maybe the party times contributed to my PN, but it makes no sense to me that it would keep so agressively making it worse long after I've stopped.

These days I rarely care for a drink. I've simply lost my taste for alcohol, so I'm taking no bows for that. But I never have and never will tell a doctor about my past because I don't accept the easy assumptions.

And dogz, you are absolutely right--none of this makes you a bad person. Most of my favorite people enjoy a few snorts! And who would trust a cowboy who didn't?