PB, this is the reason I stick around, in the hope that I will make even the slightest impression on anyone that may be debating their life with alcohol. Now, I am a firm believer that you can't "beat" alcoholism, but you certainly can control it. Keep up the sobriety and I will be here if you have any questions!

yes, "beaten" is the wrong word. Chosen recovery perhaps. I'm under no illusion that this will be easy and rehab was the easy part. I do know it was the right thing to do and I feel fantastic.

Ok folks, 793 days sober. Spent a little time in Charleston, SC (what a fantastic piece of history) walking for miles on ancient sidewalks and beaches. A little tiring but gelato makes all troubles go away....LOL.

At dinner I was surprised to find 'sherry' in my crab soup, but fortunately it did not trigger any old thoughts or urges.

WE can do this!!!

I posted previously that I was diagnosed with PN, alcohol related, earlier in the year. At 60 days without alcohol, I can report some continuing, slow, modest improvement. I don't have as much fatigue as a month ago, and can climb stairs much easier. My feet are a little less numb, but no dramatic improvement. However, I do notice that my feet, for example, feel more normal on the gas and brake pedals in the car. A month ago I still had some issues with that.

I eat a lot of ice cream. Gotta stop that. I have quit drinking for a few months in the past, and don't remember these cravings for ice cream and sweets, but oh well, I haven't gained any weight, in fact I have lost by eliminating all the beer. Still, I gotta get the diet straightened out. But all in all, I am sloooowly getting better, and grateful for it.

Good Job Newstown!! Proud of YOU for hitting 60 days. I would not advise losing all the devices at the same time, ween yourself slowly

But, keep at it, keep busy and try and be accountable to somebody you trust.

You CAN do this.....

Thanks Icehouse!! I am glad you are on here. It helps a lot.

So I have posted on the PN forum before and scan this thread once in awhile. You see I am a 40 year old woman who was training for a marathon 2 1/2 years ago and not a care in the world-rarely saw a doctor. Today I am sitting here in bed barely able to dress and go pick my kids up fom school.

My doctors have diagnosed me with everything from B6 toxicity, to mercury poisoning, the dreaded idiopathic PN, Sjogrens Syndrome, etc. IVig did not help, gabepentin made me feel drunk, homeopathic routes have not been effective, steroids and plaquenil for Sjogrens made me crazy, and so on. I am underweight and have been a restrictive eater for years. I also consumed about 3 glasses of wine nightly. None of my doctors seemed to think this had anything to do with my condition but I quit drinking anyway to be safe. Every once in awhile I have a little something when out celebrating but I have lost the interest in it. I was an alcohol abuser before the neuropathy .. but giving it up was not too difficult.

My hours of research online led me to anorexia neuropathy. I went to an eating disorder specialist who confirmed that I am indeed what she terms an anorexic. So I am on a plan to gain weight and it was progressing despite some refeeding syndrome issues like constipation, gas, fatigue.

I was feeling good last week and my hubby convinced me to try one drink Friday. I felt great the next day and had a drink at dinner again on Tuesday with family and friends. I felt fine Wednesday. But yesterday I felt sick to my stomach, the pain in my legs was ten times worse, non-stop diarrhea and now today the pain, fatigue and nausea are so bad I am useless and in bed.

For those of you who have tried to have a sip (or is that even possible with alcoholism?) what happens over the next few days?? Icehouse you mentioned having a beer reverts you back weeks-can you tell me what happens? I am scared that this is it and I have put all my gains in jeopardy. The pain has never been like this nor the fatigue. I could have a stomach bug on top of it but it seems too much of a coincidence??? Will this pass if it was caused by the alcohol? And if that is indeed the cause why the delayed reaction?

What Icehouse said: you can deal with that later.

When I quit I had a terrible craving for all things sugary, and I indulged. I did gain weight - quite a lot - but it helped enormously.

After 9 months I adjusted my diet because I found it it didn't exactly help with my PN, and since then I lost a lot of weight. But I doubt I could have done it if it wasn't for the ice cream, cookies, etc. Or maybe I could have, but it made it a damn lot easier. Which means I'm now at day 480, and I really feel I can keep this up!

Well done on your 60 days BTW!

Thanks Wide-O! I know what you mean about the ice cream and stuff. I just love it. I dont remember that from any other time I tried to quit. Weird. But oh well, it's good stuff!

I'm going to cheat one day (at a time ) and call this my 500th day of living sober.

I can not stress enough how happy I feel compared to 500 days ago. It is simply amazing.

I also saved me 10,000 USD in whisky purchases. Well, it's virtual saving (d'oh!) but still, it's quite an impressive amount.

As for the PN: I just finished redecorating our main room; cleaning it out, move old stuff to the attic, remove floor, put in new floor, repair walls, put in new doors, even out walls around doors, 3 layers of paint (35 liters of paint in total), new lighting, put in new furniture... not bad for someone with PN. Some pain in the evening which is completely under control with medication, but then again, I suppose any 51 year old would feel a bit rough after this madness.

Weight also dropped to 94 kg now, which is scarily skinny. Can't remember ever being this skinny actually. Ho hum. Energy levels are through the roof.

Anyway: if you ever wonder if it's worth it to quit the booze: hell yes!