alcoholic neuropathy. muscle weakness. left hand.
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Hello!
2 weeks ago I woke up and found out that I have a muscle weakness in my left hand. I can't unbend fingers all the way so my left palm gets horizontally parallel.
Muscles of left hand got weak! I still can bend/unbend fingers, but not unbend all the way. My left arm is still strong. I can hold things, do pushups against the floor.
This is the only symptom I got. Right hand is OK, both legs are OK.
I was drinking for 2 weeks straight prior to that, drinking every day. I am 51 and I am in a good shape, no overweight, no diabetic. I do some jogging on a regular basis. At this time I don't have a medical insurance because I have been laid of recently. My year ago blood test result (I got it at home) showed that everything is within the normal range. Doctor wrote - All labs are OK.
I think I have an alcoholic neuropathy.
I am looking for your help, guys!
I bought vitamins B-12 (1000 mcg) and Super B-complex and for now I am just taking Super B-complex 1 tablet 3 times a day and I don't drink at all.
1 tablet:
vitamin C - 150 mg
Thiamin - 100 mg
Riboflafin - 20 mg
Niacin - 25 mg
vitamin B6 - 2 mg
Folic Acid - 400 mcg
vitamin B12 - 15 mcg
Biotin - 30 mcg
Pantothenic Acid - 5.5 mg

Could you, guys, please suggest the treatment?
regards.

This is rather difficult. We can't diagnose on the internet.

You really need testing for B12 and Vit D to see where you are at for those 2 critical things.

The only thing I can go on now, is the fact that you drink. Drinking alcohol depletes magnesium from the body. Magnesium is the muscle relaxing mineral, whereas calcium is the contraction one.

You can try soaking the hand and arm in epsom salts daily.
3 tablespoonfuls to a small tub of warm water. Or take a bath in it. 3-4 ounces in a bathtub with warm water.

If this works then go to oral tablets. Your goal orally is 1/2 the RDA.

This thread has information on how to select the best oral form (do not get magnesium OXIDE).

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread1138.html

Anything further, like arthritis, neck issues or Thoracic outlet syndrome, should be evaluated by a doctor.

Mrs. D,

thank you very much for your help!
I am starting with warm water epsom salts bathtubs.
if Magnesium is muscle relaxing mineral, then it seems what I need.
Should I continue with B-complex 3 times a day (I have found this on the Internet)? How long do you think it could take ( I hope it will eventually) to get muscle work back? Roughly, 3-6 months?
regards

Your b-complex is not very high dose. But it does have a good amount of thiamine in it, and that helps with alcohol metabolism.

The B12 is not very high, though. If your goal is to raise B12 blood levels, taking that separately as methylcobalamin would be the way to go. There is a B12 link in our stickies at the top of the forum page with lots of information on B12.

You may have some compression issue, due to arthritis in the neck or elbow, or beginning TOS. I'd not do the push ups for a while and see if you get a bit better with resting from that activity etc.

As we age our tendons become less elastic and easier to damage. Silica is one nutrient the tendons are composed of, and certain foods are high in it.
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/silic...e-in-food.html

The family of antibiotics called fluoroquinolones (Cipro, Levaquin and Avelox) are known causers of tendon ruptures.
How they do this is not understood yet, but can happen up a year after using any of these antibiotics. If you have had any of these antibiotics I would be cautious and not strain any tendon for a while.

Also there is a condition called "trigger finger", which comes with age, and also is more common in diabetics. This is when the tendon shealth gets "stuck" in the contracted mode in the hand. It is more common in one finger, but could happen in all of them. Here is a diagram:
http://www.davidlnelson.md/Trigger_Finger.htm
There is a little knob develops on the bottom of each finger tendon and if the hand contracts too far, the tendon slips over it and cannot release properly. Only a good hand doctor can deal with this, and it may require surgical release.

If relaxing with magnesium does not help, you will have to seek out a doctor for more details.

Mrs. D,

thank you very much for your help!

Mrs. D,

it's been awhile. I keep forgetting to let you know. I got my hand back in a little less than 3 months. All I did is B complex 3 times a day, epson salts baths for the entire body and stopped drinking alcohol. I did baths during 1st 3 weeks laying there for 1.5 - 2 hours (till the end of the movie), then I was a little disappointed because I did not see any improvement, so I stopped. The hand got back somehow rather unexpectedly just as it went down 3 months before. Have no idea what exactly helped if any of mentioned above at all (could be just immune system fought it off?).
I had to use my right hand to take something out of my left jeans pocket because the left hand was too weak to do that.
Of course there are much more serious cases here you help to deal with but for me it was serious! YOU on this site tried to help me, spent some time with me!
Thank You and this site very much!
I appreciate this!

Regards.

Thanks for the update. I am glad for you that things are improving.

Our bodies can do wonders if we learn how to facilitate that!

One basic thing is that when an injury or strain occurs, there are chemicals that cells make to rush to the injury creating inflammation. In some ways this helps to heal and in other ways it can hinder, if excessive. (some vaccine reactions are thought to be chemical storms of this nature-- called a cytokine storm).

When that happens, blood vessels contract and oxygen and nourishment cannot get to the injury, and waste products of the cells cannot get out. This then complicates the healing and delays it. By soaking in epsom salts, the magnesium in there
opens the tiny blood vessels and enables improved circulation.
Then the REAL healing can progress. This is true with most injuries. The use of ICE following an acute injury is to prevent the EXCESSIVE cytokine reaction, so that healing will be faster.

Too much ICE is not good. As well as too much HEAT, for any injury, therefore. The body needs a balance.

Alls I can say is: