852 days sober.

Have not ran yet, she tried her best this weekend but I was stubborn and let my procrastination step in.

But, here is the good news. After 4 years, I will travelling to see my kids for the first time in 4 years in about three weeks.

See? Sobriety does pay off.

On a PN note, somebody commented the other day that if they didnt know already, they would have no clue I have PN (or had?). Apparently the catch in my gait is barely noticeable.

Woohoo!

Keep up the good work folks!

That's some serious good news! (apart from the slacking in the athletic department obviously )

Day 538 here. Winter seems to be getting to me a bit; I am at my ideal weight, have finished most of the work that needed to be done around the house, a bit more pain, a bit more tinnitus, a bit of a "now what?" feeling.

Mind you, I've been on a high ever since April (when the pain subsided), and was doing the DIY with the same kind of... addiction I previously used to slug away whisky. I suppose I do have some kind of addictive personality. Also, we had one of the darkest Novembers on record, first frost outside, dreading the holidays (always had that).

Funny thing is: I realize for 100% that having a drink would not improve that temporary rut for a single second. Weird: it just doesn't seem to be a valid "option" anymore.

Thought I'd do a check-in as well. Day 110. Living without booze has been surprisingly easy so much so I keep thinking why'd I wait so long and do all this damage to myself. Then I think, well what's done is done, can't change the past and focus on today. Tomorrow might not be so easy.

Neuropathy wise, the stabbing pains seem to be less, the numbness in my hands is gone and I seem to regaining sensation slowly in my legs. The doc was fiddling with my ankles the other day and I could actually tell when he was touching me and when he wasn't. Note, I've not mentioned the neuropathy to him. He was looking at something else.

Biggest problem mainly is standing or walking for periods of time. I was at a social function tonight (didn't even bat an eye at the free beer) and stood for three hours. I had to take breaks and sit from time to time and afterwards walking back to the car was excruciating. From what I can tell this is a neuropathy symptom (at least it seems such from reading this thread and others). Hopefully this too will get better over time. Funny though, I never had the heaviness or cramping that people report, but my feet are sore in an arthritic sort of manner most days (nothing that an advil can't cure if I can't ignore it which I usually can) and sheesh, as I mentioned, being on them for any period of time hurts. That sound familiar to anyone?

Anyway that's my checkin. I love this thread and find it so inspirational. I check it weekly!

Thanks for the check-in! Looking forward to following your progress as time goes by. So, besides staying off the drink, are you doing anything else to alleviate the PN?

In my case I had weakness and heaviness, but mainly the tingling. No pain to speak of but highly uncomfortable.

Day 120 report here: Some slight improvement overall since day 90, nothing dramatic but hey I'll take it! As a couple of you mentioned above, beer doesn't even seem an option and I seldom miss it. Occasionally a friend will ask me if I want a drink or why I am not drinking and occasionally I say: "I have peripheral neuropathy." That pretty much ends the conversation about that since the eyes are now glazed over for them.

Wide O ...I hope your tinnitus didn't make an appearance because i asked you about it! That crap can drive ya nuts.

Oh well, the beat goes on. Keep up the good work everyone!

Nah, heheh, it seems to have been a warning to slow it down a notch. In the mean time it has subsided again. Don't ask me how it works, but for me it is directly linked to stress.

According to this song (if you don't listen too closely) the beep goes on.

Good to see we're all still at it. Nice work!

Edit: maybe we don't say this enough; after the initial detox and adaptation to a sober life, it seems to be a lot easier than we could ever have hoped, for 95% of the time. It's that 5% that we have to manage, and be weary of. It can trip us up, but most of the time I honestly don't even think about alcohol. It's not the "constant-craving-and-panicking-about-caving-in", that I feared so much, at all. (at least for me that's how it works)

I believe the standard vitamin regiment:

300mg Benfotiamine, 200mg, r-Lipoc, a B complex (Jarrow's B-Right), 4000mcg Methyl B-12. Then a standard Centrum & Fish-oil.

In addition I'm working on losing weight (down 60lbs, but plenty to go). Need to get exercise, and quit smoking (again! started in rehab after quitting for 5 years prior).

That's how it's looking like it's going to shake out for me personally, it was the same when I quit smoking. Didn't bother me except once in a great while.

However if I need any reminder of what will happen if I touch a drink again it's what happened when I started smoking again when I was in rehab. Didn't even miss a beat, right back to two packs a day.

That is one of my driving forces. I look back to where I was 2 years ago and I am quickly reminded of where I do NOT want to go. Homeless, in a wheelchair, on the verge of death and estranged from my family. While I no longer have cravings, I do wonder what would happen if I just had one drink. Then I shake my head, get someone to kick me in the *** and go on with my day. One drink is NOT worth what I have rebuilt and the respect I have gained via sobriety. Plus my PN has dropped to almost undetectable.

Great to hear of such great news of your progress Icehouse!! and everyone else on this thread!

I'm approaching my 1 year of sobriety (343 days at the moment) and it's been quite a journey already, but it's been so worth it.

I'm under 30, suffering from PN and at times can't believe I'm on a thread like this talking about alcohol abuse, since I'm still so young, but here I am! The consequences of losing control and letting the party get the best of me and my body.

For those whom might be reading on and not on the forum, here's a little bit of the symptoms I was experiencing:

I had lack of sleep, lack of coordination, vertigo, headaches, terrible acne, restlessness, lack of concentration, stomach problems, loss of sensation (leading to me not even able to pick up a quarter), tremors, twitching, irregular sweating, heart palpitations, cold hands and feet, and a whole bunch of other wacky conditions.

I want to say with the helpful advice and members of this forum, that I've conquered most of those conditions and the only issues I have left lingering is irregular sweat, and numbness and cold hands and feet linger on.

I have used all of the supplements that has been mentioned, but not Alpha Lipoic Acid nor CoQ10 which I'll start to take to help my PN in the future.

This is a daily struggle for me and will be going forward. The hardest part is going to bar/clubs with friends and not drinking along with them, but it's gotten easier accepting it. I don't need alcohol to have a good time, but that doens't mean I don't think about it and at times miss it.

That being said, I wake up everyday with the lingering conditions reminding me I'm stronger for it being out of my life. Since then I've only see positive things happen in my life and I can really start enjoying life again without alcohol and accomplishing things I've yet to accomplish.

With the New Year approaching, I know I will only become stronger and wiser from all of this and finally start to set even bigger goals in life than just conquering alcohol abuse.

Thank you guys for all the knowledge you've shared and I wish the absolute best for all of you in the New Year that's on the horizon!!