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?

Btw I apologize to Mrs D who did provide evidence months ago that complete abstinence is one of the keys to healing nerves. I am always trying to test the waters it seems.

Also I hope my post did not upset any of you who have done so well staying sober for so long. It actually is hard for anyone to abstain from so many of the things that harm our bodies but in the moment we always think it won't happen to us... we will not get sik, we can quit anytime we want, etc etc. Your accomplishments in getting healthy and seeing improvements are an inspiration.

To be honest, I don't recall saying that, as I have been alcohol free since August 2, 2011 and have not "tested" the waters. BUT, what I do know from helping others like me (alcoholics) is that when we relapse the drinking problem can become worse. And, that is one of the problems. People think that time can cure alcoholism, and is a very minute percentate it can, but NOT in my case. And I dont care to try it out either

So, in my opinion, having one drink should not kick up the PN symptoms that you mentioned. But, we are all unique. I would try abstaining for a long period of time and see how it goes. If you don't have an issue with booze then try it again.

BUT, if you have any inkling at all that you are alcoholic then its best to leave it alone.

Good luck and keep posting here please!

Not easy. The first time I quit in Januari 2012 my symptoms improved at first and then got pretty bad after 2 months. I used that as an excuse to relapse. And yes, as long as I drank enough to go through the pain barrier, I was OK until the next morning when the pain came screaming back, worse than before. So I checked myself into rehab in June 2012 and never looked back. (nor am I going to).

It's always difficult to "diagnose" someone on the internet, only you know how much you drank, how easy it was to abstain, etc. Purely from a scientific POV, metabolizing alcohol creates all kinds of aldehydes that are pretty toxic, especially to nerves. While drinking a couple of nights in moderation might not have caused PN, nor made it "worse" clinically, it may well trigger some serious pain, I can totally see that.

Also: in many cases our fat cells are used to "store" toxins out of harms way, but if you are very skinny, you may be much more prone to the toxic effect of alcohol metabolization (not the "may"). But in the end we all are affected by alcohol in the long run.

Also: although our body does heal when we stay abstinent, serious damage can be done if we pick up again after a period of abstinence. It is well known and well documented; our body heals (slowly) but also loses it's tolerance. If I would drink - right now - the same volume as I usually did up until 2 years ago, I would go in a coma and die after a couple of hours. If you know Amy Winehouse; that's exactly how she died.

So no, while I do not think that those couple of glasses have caused any additional damage to your nerves, I do believe it is enough of a shock for your body to get thrown back into pain and discomfort. I did read your other thread, but I'm always careful not to comment if I'm not absolutely sure I can contribute something useful.

In this thread however I would say: remove the variable alcohol from the list of potential triggers, and do so for a longer time - with that I mean: at least a year. Yes, it can make you feel like you give up a lot, but don't forget that for most of us in this thread stopping alcohol intake probably meant we got our life back (warts and all).

I am sorry to read you are feeling so bad - I have been there. Tramadol can work, but the nausea is exactly what I had the first 3 weeks. Then I got used to it, but it did suppress my appetite. If you are anorexic or borderline anorexic, you might want to discuss this with your doc who might consider other pain medication (like amitryptiline that normally tends to make people gain weight, but is hit and miss when it comes to pain relief).

Important: I am not a doctor! All the above is just my experience combined with informed speculation. So please discuss this with your doc. But I can say with some authority that alcohol really should be avoided at all costs right now. It can be done, as in the end, it does very little for us, and can bring the best of us down. Hope this helps a bit?

Can I get an AMEN??

Thank you-yes it does help especially the part about shocking my body by reintroducing even a small quantity of alcohol. What I don't understand is the extreme nausea and diarrhea for the past five days. It must be an unrelated stomach virus on top of the PN. I saw my GP today and that was her diagnosis-along with some laughs when I asked if it was related to the drinking. She is a family practice doctor with little in depth experience with PN so I always take those insights at face value. I still wonder if there are any out there who have had stomach virus symptoms after having two drinks over the span of a few days....

Interesting about the Tramadol. I will definitely bring it up with my neurologist and nutritionist. Perhaps because I take it as needed this was not apparent to them-plus the whole ED road is new and my neurologist still labels me as idiopathic. I was recently put on 10mg of Amitriptyline so waiting to see if it works. So far all it does is help me sleep at night.

In conclusion, the risk of alcohol being toxic to my nerves is definitely not worth it as you said. It's better to avoid it completely and have a better quality of life in the end. You and Icehouse are a testament that you can improve this condition through abstinence and I am ready to do whatever it takes!!!

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!