Hey everyone,

I have a question to people having the same problem or maybe had the same problem and can give me some advice on what to do.

I've been drinking heavily since I was 16, mostly during the weekends but when I entered college it became a daily habit to go out and drink heavily. I'm talking 15+ drinks every night. Of course I didn't drink everyday but still it was too much. I also didn't eat healthy.. you know the drill, get up drunk get a quick bite from that pizza shop accross the street and off I went.

I'm 24 now, so you can say I've been drinking and living that life for 7 to 8 years. Never felt I was dependent since I could easily give it up for a month or so, when I had to work during the summer.

But I started walking strange, feeling very foggy, it got difficult for me to think clearly, shaking hands and I also started having trouble talking normal, erectile disfunction etc. I felt something was off so I went to visit a neurologist. She told me I probably had neurological damage, had tested my reserves and my small brains got, well, a bit smaller. (size does matter!) She gave me thiamine and vitamin B supplements. But I didn't quit drinking.

After 4 months of taking my supplements, getting physical exercise, eating healthy and drinking less she saw some improvments. But there was still some damage left.

To cut my story short, I'm still taking these supplements for another 6 months and I'm trying not to drink. I'm at 2 weeks now, but I know I will still get drunk from time to time..

Now my question to you guys: At my age and with my record of drinking, can neurological damage completely vanish when I stick to my diet, don't drink and take my supplements. Will I find my stability again when I walk, will I regain some of my brain capacity that was lost and so on?

Share your story or comfort me with your advice

Leompia,

Did any of this thread help you at all? Your symptoms are similar to what I experienced back in 2009 before I drank myself into a wheelchair.

Yes, they did. Especially your story. You should be proud of yourself man, really. But like I said in my post, I had some 6 years of heavy drinking and bad diet. I'm taking my supplements, trying to exercise and not drinking for a month now, and things are getting better already.

I'm 24 years old, so in a way I'm blessed I'm doing this now.

I just wonder if I will recover enough to regain my full intellectual potential. And I wonder if drinking once in a while ( a heavy night out every 2-3 weeks) will harm me?

I saw drinking as something that calmed me and made me loosen up.. I don't necessarily crave for it, but I guess I will miss the going out and go wild part from time to time. Not sure I need to give it up entirely or just moderate my use..

There is a link on this thread to Psychcentral
About a study done on young college age adults
that demonstrates nerve damage even when
Weekend alcohol is consumed.

There are also studies you find on Google that
Show binge drinking is very damaging
in and of itself.

And nerve damage is no fun at all....wheelchairs may be fun to play in , but when you drink yourself into one and it becomes your life then you quickly realize how overwhelming the alcohol can be on the body, and more importantly the brain.

I found this forum (and particular thread) through a Google search. I have been researching alcoholic PN because I am almost certain that I have it. I have been a long-term, every day drinker for probably 15-16 years now. I don't binge-drink, unless it's one of those "very special occasions" like being on vacation with friends. (I do NOT like getting beyond tipsy and I hate it when my friends make fools of themselves by doing so.)

My drinking escalated around 4 years ago when one thing after another in my life was going wrong (I kept saying "What else can go wrong???), and I just didn't care about myself or my health or what would happen to me. I would get up in the morning and have a few ounces of vodka just to make me happy enough to stay out of bed. That few ounces would make me "happy tired", so I'd go back to bed for another hour. Then I'd wake up crabby, so I'd reach for some more vodka. I would drink pretty much all day long; however, I followed the "one drink per hour" rule and never really would get drunk.

Well, it appears that constant flow of alcohol, whether I was getting drunk or not, was damaging my nerves. In May 2013 I started noticing numbness in my feet. It progressed to tingling, then "walking on rocks". I researched what the problem could be, knew almost for certain it was alcoholic PN, but kept drinking in spite of it. At that point I was still mad at the world because "nothing was going right". (Can you tell I am a pessimist?)

Across the next year, the numbness creeped up into my calves and is now about halfway up my legs. I still figured oh well, I'll manage. The research I had done (before I found this site) had mentioned taking a barrage of vitamins, all of which I was doing faithfully. I figured the feeling would eventually reverse. But then two wake-up calls happened:

A month ago, I was sitting at a stoplight and it was a long wait. My foot slipped off the brake and I bumped the car in front of me. I scrambled to find the brake again but as you know, my feet are numb. No damage was done, and the people in front of me were nonchalant about it (thank GOD they weren't sue-happy or thugs or something), but needless to say, I was beyond MORTIFIED by this. Then:

A couple weeks ago, the tips of my fingers went numb too. That scared the bejesus out of me, because that told me, it's spreading, not getting better. So Sunday was my first day of "let's see how you do without getting up and taking a drink right away". I actually was just fine, didn't have any withdrawal symptoms, and haven't really been craving alcohol. Since then I have had just a few drinks in the afternoon and evening, all spread out. Mainly because of habit and because I get bored. (I do "freelance" work for a company from home and with the economy the way it's been, they haven't had a lot of work for me, so I watch a lot of TV, and along with that goes having a drink.)

Anyway...this thread has been so informative to me, and I thank you all for baring your souls. I have been so ashamed of developing PN. I really wish I would have known this YEARS ago - it would have scared me enough into not drinking so much. I think this disease / condition / or whatever you call it, needs to be PUT OUT THERE for heavy consumers of alcohol to learn about. I had never heard of it, only diabetic PN.

I can say that am thankful that I don't have the severe pain that everyone mentions, just maybe an occasional (once per month) sharp or strange pain that disappears almost immediately - my BIG problem is numbness. If I could accurately describe it, my feet feel like two big sponges. They don't get cold, like I have read about. The only time they hurt is when I accidentally step on something (a rock or something), uneven pavement, or something knocks into my foot. But I do admit, the way I walk has changed. I have to be careful that my shoes are still on - they could be behind me!

Again, I thank everyone here for your candor. It's been really eye-opening.

Welcome WannaGetFeelingBack.

Yeah, welcome!

Um, not sure where to start, but I will keep it short. Your story is very similar to mine as I had no pain, but I had the numbness in my feet and hands. The first two fingers on both hands were almost completly numb and my feet felt like walking on a bouncy castle all the time. Very tough on the balance and gait.

My solution was getting off the alcohol and letting the vitamins repair the damage (albeit slowly). As you have read, I was in a wheelchair due to this and now I can walk and play with the best of them. I am still unable to run, but then again I am not trying real hard...LOL.

We are here....

Thank you both! When I made that post, it just felt good to finally "get it out". I haven't talked about this to anyone - I am embarrassed and I don't think most people would understand. I'll be checking in periodically here to see everyone's progress, as well as report on my own.

I was a hermit for a couple years, afraid to show people what I did to myself (drinking myself into a damn chair) and it really took a toll on my mind, body and life. I was ashamed of what I had become, but once I found the root of the problem, and started to rectify the situation then all things worked out.