Hi eyeball1

In my experience "one day at a time" is definitely the way to go.

Please keep us up-dated; remember that we are all here to support and encourage each other.

All the best.

Eyeball....we are with you along this journey.

Day 4 today.....felt a little better last night was able to sleep. Went for a walk which seemed to help the pain.
Woke up this morning with the terrible pins and needles all over my body now it has spread to arms and legs. Of course I expect one year for me to recover.
I WILL NOT DRINK NO MATTER WHAT

Took my vitamin mix and went to work, meditated before work asking my creator to remove the urge to drink. I feel even if my pain is irreversible I will not drink. Took my Neurontin at 1800mg now ,not sure it helps

Deep down inside I know I got this from heavy drinking I have accepted it even though the Docs cant prove it I for so long denied it , well it feels good to admit it I DAMAGED MY BODY FROM DRINKING.

I also feel I will get better maybe not 100% better but better, the body has the ability to heal itself my Doc says no way this way for life.


Thanks for your support on this board it really helps to know I am not alone.

[QUOTE=Icehouse;1186419]1582 days sober.

My doctor put me back on Alpha-Lipoic Acid and has me doing exercises to help with my "nerve damage". So far I can't tell a difference....SMH.

I will reiterate that I do NOT have any pain whatsoever, but I still walk with a bit of a gait and still get tired if I stand still too long. But, after 4 years of sobriety, I can honestly say that quitting drinking was the best thing I have done for my mind, soul and body....[/QUOTE


Most impressive Icehouse, way to go!! I think it is interesting that your doc put you on ALA. My PCP and my Neuro seem to be mostly agnostic about any supplements, except to occasionally mumble "a vit. B supplement might be a good idea." I take ALA and a slew of other stuff, I have no idea if any of it does any good, or if I just have expensive urine!! On the exercise front, I recently doubled the amount I do (simply put, I went from 30 minutes daily on a treadmill and stationary bike to 60 minutes). I noticed that I felt better after exercise, and my Neuro said basically I can't do anything that would make PN worse and can only make it better with exercise, I got so frustrated with the symptoms that a few weeks ago I just doubled everything. Lo and behold, I felt much better than I expected. There seems to be a "grace period" where I am pain free, and doubling the exercise more or less doubled the grace period. I'll take it. I also am on Day 6 of using the Quell unit, it is a wearable TENS unit and it has also been a pleasant surprise. In my poking around, I found this vid on how exercise stimulates the growth of neurons, nerves, etc. I thought of it when you mentioned exercise. Part 2 is also on youtube if you are interested. Cheers everyone!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFRRDmc0QjY

Welcome Eyeball, I think you will find not drinking gets a lot easier, but "a day at a time" is pretty much the only way to do anything, in my experience. Keep at it and sooner than you might think, it will feel more or less Normal, at least that's how it happened for me once I developed PN from the crap. I never was able to do sobriety very long until I got PN, sad but true. Good luck, welcome aboard, and if you haven't read all this thread, there is lots of good stuff on all the different supplements and other topics you might find of interest. Hang on, it gets easier!!

Hi all,

I've been reading this thread, and I find it so wonderful. It's uplifting and amazing. Congratulations to you all, you've done so much!

My story is somewhat long and complicated, but I basically have small fiber neuropathy. I'm wondering if anyone here has a diagnosis of SFN that is alcohol induced. I know the person who started the thread did, but it doesn't seem like anyone else does.

I have pure SFN that is not length dependent, so it's all over my body, from head to toe. It started back in the spring, but looking back now I know that it started far earlier with signs going back a few years. Hindsight is 20/20, isn't it? Part of my story is that leading up to the diagnosis I drank a lot of very strong beer, from 6% all the way to %15 as though it were beer. Now, occasionally I drank wine, but rarely, as I was really into beer. It was never from dependence and I wasn't addicted, so when I myself suspected the neuropathy might be from the alcohol, I stopped immediately. The doctors said nothing, but I wasn't going to wait around for them to figure things out. I read that alcohol can cause neuropathy and regardless that it can make it worse, like gasoline on fire. So I stopped. I don't really miss it, rather I miss my health. I'm only in my mid 30s.

Regardless of whether it's alcohol induced, I drank too much, and I should have known better. But I also had a terrible diet, didn't exercise, was quite overweight (I've since lost over 50 lbs and am quite thinned out), and had far too much stress. My guess at this point is that the beer and poor diet caused too much stress on my cells, too much sugar, and that it wasn't the alcohol per se, but beer, the grain and sugar, and the high carb diet - I'm on a keto diet now.

I've changed much and seen improvement, but I've also seen my symptoms expand to new regions and am experiencing new types of symptoms, so I worry. I know PN is quite unpredictable, but I'm still concerned, or that may be all the most reason to be concerned.

Anyway, I'd appreciate any thoughts, advice, ideas, etc. I'm basically curious whether anyone has such symptoms and has had alcohol induced SFN. I plan to post my full story on the PN thread too soon enough. Bare minimum, I wanted to say that I truly enjoyed reading all your stories, about your struggles, courage and perseverance. You are an impressive bunch! Keep it up!

Congrats Icehouse! Keep it going!!

1613 days sober.

Started on Zoloft a couple weeks back to conquer some social anxiety, the first day was horrible but all is well now. It seems to be helping a bit, which was my goal, so I think I will continue with it for now. The real test will be when I am back to work on Monday and have to deal with large groups again

1304 in this corner, yesterday also marked 2 years without cigs. Not all is well though as I have been neglecting my diet (and not just a tiny bit...). Working up the motivation to turn that around as well. (again)

Oh well, it keeps me off the street I guess.

Whoa! Wide-O is catching up!