Wide-O and Icehouse, that is awesome.

Congratulations to both of you .

I fell off the wagon started again( going through a divorce now) I feel so dumb today is day 1. My Pn is just as bad as it always was and I asked the Doc to give me the method of going of the medication. I figure to see if stopping drinking will work I have to be off the medication. My pain is probably worse than it was before I started the Neurontin.


I would appreciate any help you guys might give me, going to a AA meeting tonight after work. One day at a time

Sorry to hear, but you are not unique. Most of us have relapsed (probably a few times) and it's nothing to be ashamed of.

Meetings are OK, but so is accountability. That is what worked for me. Instead of being alone, I did whatever it took to surround myself with like-minded people. In my case, this was taking in a sober housemate, volunteering 8 hours a day and setting goals for myself that I verbalized to others. These three things have kept me sober now for 4.5 years....

The other thing that worked for me was keeping carbonated soda or water in the house to get a "bubbly fix" if I needed it. Yeah, it's weird, but for me it worked.

Congrats to starting again! We have your back...

Thank you in my post I meant to say I have 14 days not one day...thanks again

Hi eyeball1

Please don't beat yourself up about this - we all slip sometimes (I surely have).

"One day at a time" is definitely the way to go.

I think that Icehouse has some good ideas.

Thank you made it through the day ok, took my second set of Vitamins when I got home, had some headaches but nothing bad... I know this is going to take time I figure a year I just hope that its not too late for me 37 years of heavy drinking....I can walk but have intense burning in my toes and feet, that never stops....well at least i can walk. I read Icehouse's blog gives me hope he did it without meds?

Yep, he did. But, I have been on a vitamin regime for years, plus sporadic exercise (hiking and walking). But, no meds at all.

Well today was a good day did some stretching haven't even thought of poring that poison down my throat. Started to reduce my Neurontin as the Dr directed, even though he was against it.But the meds only cover up the problem even though my neuro could not pinpoint the cause of my PN, drinking has to be way up there as a possible cause.

Had some pain but tried to keep my mind off it, and tried some relaxation mediation. Burning today was more in the legs than feet and some in arms, but I have faith .

Hard to believe but I am beginning to feel slightly better! I dont know if its the stopping drinking or slowly getting off the Gabapentin. My pains are not as sharp and my burning is slightly less.I am taking many of the vitamins Mrs D recommended.


By the way I DONT DRINK, I don't say "anymore"..I just dont drink

First off, I would like to thank all of you for sharing your experiences, knowledge, and trials on this forum. I'm sure there are many folks that read forums like these and never post, but walk away with more knowledge, tools, ideas, etc.

My Story : 46 yr old. Heavy drinker off and on for 25+ years, progressing to alcoholic in the last 2 years or so. The past year, it got much worse, and I was barely passing as a functional alcoholic. In the last 2 months, I kept picking a date I would quit and find a reason not to. Sound familiar?

2 Weeks ago, I noticed an odd feeling in my left foot. Ignored it, because who hasn't had an odd foot pain every once in a while. A couple days later, it progressed to my entire foot and ankle feeling a little numb. Two days of that and I started frantically searching the internet. Never heard of alcoholic neuropathy. Reading all the articles scared the crap out of me; all of them stating it is likely not reversible. I quit drinking that day (9 days sober now). Two days later, cut out all aspartame also - drank too much diet coke also.

The symptoms got worse in my left foot and I started getting mild symptoms in my right. In the morning, right feels normal, left feels 70% normal, but by late evening, my left foot has been extremely numb, and feels like I have an ace bandage wrapped around my ankle. Motor skills are mostly there, but coordination and feeling is gone. Fortunately I've only had only a little pain - none of the burning/stabbing pain. Numbness and discomfort increases when standing for long periods (washing dishes, making dinner, waiting in lines).

For the last 5 days, since finding these forums and reading everything I could find, I started pro-actively fighting it. B-Complex, Methyl B-12, Benfotiamine, Vit E, Alpha Lipoic, Fish Oils, Magnesium. Healthy food. Epsom salt soak each night. 20 minute brisk (clumsy) walk, stretching, massaging. Bought some magnesium lotion today. I'm 90% sure I'm not pre-diabetic. Tested fasting levels and monitored post meal levels - all very good numbers. Going to do a self administered Glucose Tolerance Test next week to make sure. I'll get tested for Vitamin levels next week (as well as other blood work), but I'm sure I was deficient as I wasn't eating well the last five months. This weekend, nicotine is taking a hike. I couldn't stop both at the same time, but I know I can and have to quit and have more motivation than ever.

If I stopped it from getting worse, I can live like this, although uncomfortably. I might still be able to do most of the things I want to do with my children (hiking, biking, skiing, etc). I pray I've stopped it from progressing, especially after reading how bad it can get. I have hope (from reading all of these forums), that it will at least improve a little. Thanks to you folks, I have acted almost as quickly as possible. I now have an idea of how much this could affect my quality of life and feel like an idiot that I probably caused this. Big wake-up call.

My new mantra - "I Don't Drink". It will be a shock to my friends and family to hear that.

Thanks again everyone.