Originally Posted by Jesse M

In a way, I know what addiction feels like. Man, years ago; and this is going to sound funny, so get ready to laugh...I could swear I was addicted to RC cola - those 2 litter bottles they sell for about a dollar. I finally stopped drinking that junk years ago, but it took me some time to do so. Don't know if Soda Pop is addictive, but this sure felt like it was.

Originally Posted by mrsD

Yes, some countries have a huge problem with alcohol...Russia I believe is very high with this problem.

Originally Posted by Dr. Smith

In a previous post, I mentioned that giving up coffee was harder for me than giving up beer. Well, caffeine is addictive and dependence-producing, and it's in coffee and colas (and tea, energy drinks, Mountain Dew, yadda, yadda, yadda... ).

Originally Posted by Wide-O

What I didn't know until recently is that they also add... salt to some soda drinks. Quite large amounts. Yes, to make you drink more. To mask that, they add a lot of ... sugar.

I forgot how much salt there was in normal coke, but it was astonishing.

Originally Posted by mrsD

And I learned something new about Coke (Pepsi included).
I purchased some antique apothecary weights on Ebay, for very little money (they are made of brass or bronze). I am going to use them in my art pieces.
They came pretty tarnished, so I used some brasso to clean one up. Brasso is very unpleasant, so I looked on YouTube for other
ways to accomplish this task. One suggested way is to soak the
"coin" in Coca Cola or Pepsi for about 10 minutes. That is how much acid is in those sodas! Very very sobering I think.

Originally Posted by Jesse M

I agree largely with what you've written here. The odd thing with me is that I feel like I'm more enticed to drink, or more so, look forward to the day on the weekend when I drink a 6-pack more than I did before my PN. I can't drink more than that without getting nauseously sick, so that 6-pack is really the limit for me.

Once, I quit drinking for an entire month and did not feel a bit better at all - I actually felt worse that month. But I figure that was from stress. I also have a spouse that badgers me a lot, so I get more stressed during arguments and that often triggers flare-ups. Honestly, it's her drinking that causes more stressful situations for me than the beer/alcohol itself. I also believe, had I had a wife that did not drink so heavily, that I, myself, would be less tempted as well.

That's not to say it's her fault - I just have to learn how to avoid her prompting (this woman does not believe drinking can hurt people like us, despite the fact that I say that every weekend!!!)

The reason, is that I feel more like relieving stress now than I ever did before, and drinking about a 6-pack of light beer every weekend seems to work fine for me. I can't say that I've noticed it making my pn worse or better. Before my pn, I drank about 8 beers (just 2 beers more than I do now) on a weekend (Friday or Saturday) and this over a long night as well.

Still, I am taking extra B vitamins on the weekend and other supplements known for protecting the nerves, so, there might be some possible shielding factor from the alcohol's overall effect.

Also, I never drink enough to get a hangover, and I do eat in between the drinks. Consequentially, it takes me about 6 hours to drink 6 beers, so maybe that, too, has something to do with my tolerance.

I did however, go to a party some months ago, and drank 9 beers once. I felt quite sick and nauseated afterward and quickly figured out that my body has set limits for itself. Thus I never did that again.

However, I never was a truly heavy drinker and I do not drink during any other days. Despite this, I would be considered a "Binge" drinker, since by definition, it fits anyone that drinks more than 4 beers in one night.

Now, since I no longer have any drug interactions to be concerned about (I quite my clonozepam sometime ago) so, I feel a tad bit safer drinking beer now-a-days.

I have noticed that I get buzzed much faster than I did before pn, and that's probably why I don't drink more than I do.

I listed some links below that perhaps echo what I've said here in some ways.

Mostly, it seems that drinking alchol in "Moderation" is essential to anyone who can't resist taking the drink or the peer pressure of the social climate. My wife is quite a heavy drinker in my opinion, so social gatherings with her are very difficult times, as far as restraining myself from drinking 4 to 6 beers. Still, it's difficult to say what is moderation?

I am 6 feet tall and 240 pounds and it takes me about 6 hours to drink 6 beers -would that be moderation or abuse. ...I do not know???

I'd be interested in knowing what you think of these articles.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4496727.stm

http://www.diabetesmadeeasier.com/av...and-long-term-

complications/neuropathy/is-it-okay-to-drink-alcohol-if-i-have-peripheral-neuropathy

https://www.foundationforpn.org/livi...neuropathy.cfm

http://www.diabetesmadeeasier.com/av...ral-neuropathy


http://alcoholrehab.com/alcohol-reha...nd-alcoholism/

Originally Posted by mrsD

Yes, I've seen the baclofen data. They have to use really high doses though, and baclofen is very difficult to discontinue. So I prefer the more gentle approach with the PharmaGaba. Hubby quit with no help. He does substitute chocolate for the alcohol though.

There is another issue with alcohol craving and dependence, which involves anxiety problems as symptoms. It is called Pyroluria.
Here is a good link on it:
http://www.drkaslow.com/html/pyroluria.html

This is more well known in Europe, but people in US are now finding that they have this too. It is hidden, and not tested for by doctors here.

I've met some people online over the years who tested positive for this...so it is real!

If you are interested, you can Google for more. Basically it involves a genetic error in heme production in the liver, making a byproduct called kryptopyrrole, which then complexes zinc and B6 in the blood making them unavailable for use in the body.
Providing these two nutrients with medical supervision, can correct this. I've seen estimates that up to 25% of people who become alcohol dependent (craving it) really have pyroluria and can be treated.

So it is not an easy task to deal with alcohol on so many levels.
It takes determination, and a precipitating event often to provide the momentum to actually do it.

Originally Posted by Jesse M

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Thanks, for being honest and your story is very familiar to me in some sense. Though I could never drink 10 beers for 4 days, even before PN; I certainly understand what you mean.

Not long ago, I went to the show to see the new Superman film (it's great, by the way) and my friend hands me a huge Pink Lemonade. He says there's about 2 or 3 shots of Bacardi in it. I figure 1 shot equals about 1 beer, so I start drinking, figuring I would not drink it all. ....However, I did.

When the show was over, I get up feeling pretty buzzed, but not overtly drunk. Still, he takes out the Bacardi bottle and I see it was a Pint and I notice almost all of it is gone, with him drinking about half of it, and me, the other half.

I was like -"Dude, I thought you said there was only a couple of shots in there. This is like half the freakin' bottle, man!"

He just shrugs and says: "Relax, man, that's not all that much!"

The thing is, when I get home that night, I have a big flare up that lasts until the late morning the next day.

Now, I get angry with myself, first off, there was a huge storm that day, very,very humid and hardcore rain - so, I knew my PN was probably going to flare up some anyway.

Then, I didn't prepare the drink myself (really, really stupid of me) also, for some reason, the drink simply didn't taste very strong to me. Why did I not notice that it had much more Bacardi in it then I thought???

I kind of figured all alcohol is the same for us, but I must say that despite what others claim, hard alcohol such as Vodka and Bacardi does indeed, affect me much worse than my regular light beers.

I don't know why that is? I hardly ever drink hard liquor, and perhaps it's what it is mixed with as well (usually some very sweet ice tea or lemonade).

My lesson was learned very quickly - in my particular case; do NOT drink hard liquor at all!

It is possible that the flare up was caused by the massive storm that day, too, but I feel it was probably a combination of both. Also, the longer, elapsed time I usually take to drink was not in action, as I had drank what equaled to about 6 beers in less than 3 hours that night at the show. I never do that with beer. So, that did not help either.

As it is, using some odd techniques, I have managed to cut my drinking down in half so far without much of a problem.

BTW; despite the Superman movie being about 2 and a half hours long- it was great, full of action and a fine story plot -- it really surprised me how much so...unless of course, my perception of its greatness was altered by me being buzzed. LOL

Originally Posted by Beachbum65

Thanks for the tip on superman my son wants to see it in 3D so we are going to go see it ,my grandson wanted to see Monster University last Friday so we went and it was really good also. I can't drink hard liquor either puts my PN in orbit. So I don't drink it at all. That lemonade had a lot of sugar in it also. Sugar makes my pain worse . PN is so strange I can no longer eat the way I use to either, no more bread, pasta, rice,pizza,candy, processed foods of any kind ,MSG,sodas basically everything I like,lol. But I dropped 50 lbs and feel much better. When I do go off my regiment I pay for it ! So I will have a few beers once an a while. I try to drink water all day long , always have water with me at all times. Took a water bottle and some nuts with me to Monster University ha ha never did that before. That popcorn and coke would have killed me I think ! What is the point of living if you can't reward yourself every now and then! I pushed it to far on vacation, but basically back to pre vacation pain levels now. 10 beers was just a snack for me at one point in my life. 30 beers a day was no problem for me,as my tolerance was so high. Don't know for sure if its alcohol, diet or some other factor I worked around dangerous chemicals everyday for years wore a mask but who knows, but I can change the alcohol consumption and diet that's all I can do ,and pray to God now! This is one dreadful disease that I can't wrap my head around yet, still learning and I am so glad that you are here and the knowledge from the people here, it is hard to live like this everyday and y'all understand that. Got the 4th of July coming up big beer day for me test. Going to keep it at 2 beers when the fireworks go off ! God bless !