Reading here about alcohol causing PN I have been thinking of a relative and I am wondering how much drinking does it take??? Like a whole lot, a little, social? Does anyone know if moderate drinking can cause it?

thanks

Hi, it is a difficult question to answer as we are not all exactly the same, eg, some diabetics with terrible long term sugar levels don't get any signs of neuropathy yet others can get it a prediabetic levels.
I think with alcoholic neuropathy they test for low levels of thiamine [B1] and usually a poor diet, but saying that the above still applies, I guess the only way to tell for that particular person is to stop the alcohol completely and see what happens.

thank you Brian!

I agree with Brian.

Some people can drink and some people can't. Excessive intake however will stress the metabolic pathways in everyone eventually.

We know that certain Asian people, don't have the proper genes to metabolize alcohol, and that is the starting point.

With the human genome research still just beginning, we will know more in the years to come.

Oh yeah, I'm one of those peopIe who can drink. And drink. And drink. In fact, I drank so much, my feet sweIIed up and started to hurt. Oh yeah, I'm one of those peopIe that can drink. And now I wish I wasn't.

Hi Brue...I can relate a little. I have been drinking daily for almost 10 years. I also have neuropathy. Mine is not as bad as most here but it does effect my sensory nerves as well as motor. My question for you is when you quit drinking did you feel any relief? If so how long did it take? I don't think mine is due to alcohol necessarily but it's a concern of mine now that I have this going on. And also when you say about the swelling I have that going on too. Was that neuropathy related or just from drinking to much in general? Hopefully you don't mind my questions...

Hi
The sweIIing is from the nerves that drive the capiIIaries being damaged. FIuid accumuIates. Edema is the medicaI term. I use compression socks, and best pIace to get them is discountsurgicaI.com - they have every kind there is. I take a diuretic when my Iegs and feet get too swoIIen, you pee out the excess Iiquid. The sweIIing is directIy reIated to the neuropathy and to the drinking. The onIy reIief I got from quitting aIcohoI is from the sweIIing. If you keep drinking, you wiII keep sweIIing constantIy. I did not get any reIief from the neuropathy pain, the damage had been done. However, it hasn't spread past my feet since I quit drinking. This is aII you can hope for because the neuropathy probabIy won't get any better, but it sure as heII probabIy won't get any worse. My advice is to quit drinking for awhiIe, because the sweIIing went up around my knees and caused excruciating pressure on my knee joints - unbeIievabIe!! That doesn't happen anymore. Get off the booze - whatever it takes -- Bruce