Checking in on all you folks, glad to hear a lot of you are doing well. Happy New Year! :grouphug:

Greetings everybody :).

I hope that 2019 is a good year for you all.

And you :)

2741 days sober.

All is well except for the the sub-zero temperatures here in the "South" :rolleyes:

It's been so quiet here that I assume you all are doing great!!

2741 days is great Icehouse :).

I wish there was a way of averaging temperatures. Admittedly it is summer here but more than +40 C and high humidity is not fun.

yeah, that's a little warm. It was -11C here yesterday :eek:

2429. Looks like our weather is pretty standard for the time of year. Austria is a nightmare though (crazy snow) and Italy has incredible rain storms.


Nothing spectacular here, but had to laugh finding out our parrot loves ... me playing piano. He accidentally flew into the room, perched on top of the piano, I started playing, and he didn't move for 20 minutes - which is 19.5 minutes longer than usual. :D Like dogs do he sometimes tilted his head showing deep interest.



I usually keep him out of there as you really don't want bird poop inside your piano, but he behaved (this time ;) ). I also thought the noise would scare him (a piano close by makes quite a bit of a racket!) but it truly seems like very few things can phase him.


Not even our cat...


Attachment 10234

Help and advice needed - do I have alcoholic neuropathy?
 

Hello all,
This is my first post on here. I am 35 and have been a fairly heavy drinker for 10 years with 2 periods of 2 years off so 6 years ish of 60ish weekly units sometimes more some weeks less. For 4 months now every morning and sometimes in the night I awake with numb third and forth fingers. I have no symptoms during the day. I had bloods by the doctor all fine apart from very low Vit D and slightly high choresterol. I have really cut down on boozing for the last three weeks and have seen some improvement. The doctor said he thinks it may be a trapped nerve and I’m booked into the physio in 3 weeks. The night after a heavyish drinking session (maybe 4 glasses of wine) it’s much worse. Should I stop drinking now? Or do these symptoms not sound like alcoholic neuropathy? I don’t think I’m an alcoholic and can go days without and can have one of two drinks and am not complused to have more. It is very destressing to me at the moment to think that I won’t be able to have a glass of wine with dinner any more. I’m now taking Vit d and multivitamins but without much improvement. I still have numb fingers at night! Any advice would be appreciated. Many thanks

Hey Muso, welcome here.


It's hard to say; in the best case, it is just a trapped nerve. That is something a specialist can find out.



But... if you feel immediate effect from not drinking for a while, you might want to give drinking a rest for a couple of months, and see if it goes away completely. If you then decide to test the waters again, you will find out soon enough if alcohol was the culprit.


Best advice I can give is to be as honest as possible with yourself, and not get hung up on words like alcoholism. There are almost as many types of alcohol abuse as there are types of people.


To be fully clear: neuropathy can have many causes, and alcohol is just one of them. It's best to read up on all those causes in the neuropathy section, but it sounds like you already suspect it could be linked to alcohol if I'm not mistaken? If so, not drinking for a couple of months will most likely give you a straight answer.

2769 days sober

It's warm. It's cold. The heat and AC needed on the same day.

Feeling pretty good...

Sounds good IH!

We just had the most surreal week of temps hovering around 18° to 19°C and sun from dawn to dusk. Usually this is the coldest time of year over here, but I could do some gardening in a T-shirt.

That sky was BLUE.

Attachment 10239

Several records of warmest Feb. days ever were smashed.
(sadly, back to a dark dank shade of gray, rain, and wind now)

Hi everyone, havent checked in and a while and I should have.

All is well I gotta say. I am by no means cured but I have been improving. I've spent the winter pretty dedicated to getting in better health. That means exercise and diet.

I am sticking to a low carb very low sugar diet and have lost more weight. And gym 4 times a week has resulted in muscle.

I am no gym freak, just a 41 year old looking to feel better and happy to be alive after the kind of life I had been living. I started off slow, just your basic routine that you find online, and I am seeing results. I could have pushed myself harder no doubt, but I've been consistent and it's working. Someone told me early on dont go out and try and get an A + every day. Just stay consistent and things will change over time. I applied the same logic to my diet and exercise and it's working.

So much so that i bought a pair of roller hockey skates last week and am on my 3rd day of doing drills. I used to play a lot of hockey up until I was 18 and it's awesome going back to my roots. I have 15 more pounds I'm interesting in losing and this will help tremendously. I just cant push myself in a gym like I do on a rink.

Also, after a chilly winter in NYC, I went down to Miami last week and let me tell you the difference in my pain was out of control. It was cut in half. Crazy.

Not much has changed on my med / DR feedback. I had some more tests done and there was slight improvement. I am comfortable with taking two doses of gabapentin a day, one in the morning and one at night, 600 MGs. I hope to lose my remaining weight and see how I feel come summer and maybe lower it down to 300 mgs 2 x a day.

Overall my spirits are up and I have gotten used to living with this condition. Would be amazing if it improved even more, but I am at peace with it. I hope all is well with everyone else. Will try to post more.

2800 days!

All is well here in the South :)

Congrats Icehouse! :sunchair::winky:

Good one Icehouse :).

ello just joined not sure if this is okay to start to post
 

hi i just been reading alllll these forum boards for the past few hours today and yesterday it is all i can focus on,
just coming off two weeks sober

off a weird sad depresing three months of drinking beer and had no idea that anything was happening/ tolerance, and my anxiety went through the roof

and the mornings i would get jolted awake and would just chug beer and try to get back to bed and i started noticing the tingling but only in my left arm and left leg and my brain but the beer calmed me down so i wasn't sure what was happening but i fell into sucha deep end chuggin at 5 in the morning when i couldnt get back to sleep because i was having withdrawals which i wasnt even aware were withdrawals

three day after quitting my left arm and left leg went numb and still are numb and it has been so scary and my hand pain and i have been panicking so much and unable to focus

its been wonderful reading all your threads

sorry my word jamble is such a mess

hello everyone

i havent even felt social lately all i have been craving is the beer fix it just became a beer fix > anything in life

things turned sour fast and lots of domino effect things and i couldnt cope at all

even as i type this i feel my left arm numb

it's jsut a weird and odd scary sensation

i have slight head aches too is this common?

i am going to get some more tests soon too, too scared to talk about until i see results

my attention span has been soo awful since stopped drinking

i never was one to drink everyday until january where i just went into a spiral because i had free time and was looking for work and it just all went down hill from there

it's been terrifying waking up and feeling numb and remembering oh wait this bad dream is real now

had the weridest sensations even at night just waves of electric shock running through body always at around three am,

they sort of passed

ah sorry for continuing to blab

i haven't been in any support/social circles in so sooo sooo long

it feels even weird to be typing and trying to be social right now


thank you for sharing all your knowledge i have been reading everthing for hours already and it is beautiful seeing everyone's support and stories and accountability,

i still have this fog of gloom over my eyes my brain, dizzy dizzy foggy foggy and the whole world still feels strange

thank you all and everytim ei see this emoji i feel better :hug:

sending :hug: to all

and i wonder how soon someone replies to this :hug:

Welcome qzqzqz :).

I think that you should be really proud of yourself for not drinking for two weeks.

Please keep on posting here; nobody will judge you but we will all do our best to support you and offer you suggestions.

:hug:

Thanks for sharing! We are a pretty good ear!

thank you for the welcomes

is numbness in one leg common?

my left leg has been very numb for two weeks
and foot pain and cannot sleep without having pressure on it

both my left leg and left arm are more numb than right side of my body
feel very off balance

Hey qz, welcome.


Usually, neuropathy seems to be on both sides; only feet, only hands, both, right up to the whole body and face. It takes many forms, and it's quite possible it could only affect one side. However I'm not a doc so it is best to check with those who could know. It could be a blocked nerve in your spine, or it could be, indeed, peripheral neuropathy. Most of us here have quite different symptoms, but we're all quite sure we suffer from PN.



In any case, with a problem like this it is best to say goodbye to alcohol. As you may have read here, it's not easy, but it is certainly doable. 2 weeks is a fantastic start, and I would say if you can do that, you can do 2 years, 2 decades, or lifetimes. (well, you only have one of those of course but you know what I mean. ;))


Important note: drinking temporarily numbs the pain, so when you stop it is quite possible it feels even worse for a while. That is very confusing, but you have to keep in mind that goes away.



Good luck, keep writing.

2500 days & hanging in there!



Two months (55 days) to 7 years.


20°C and 14 hours of full sun today to celebrate. :)

That is excellent Wide-O!

I hope that you enjoy the nice weather :).

Woohoo!! You are closing in on me...I'm starting to get worried!

The only way I can come closer is if you kick the bucket so to speak, so I prefer to keep a nice 300 day distance between us, thank you very much. ;)


I was just talking to the guy who inspired me most to go to rehab. He's celebrating 25 years this year. That's some serious time...

There was a day when 1 hour sober was so far away, there was a day when 1 day sober was so far away and there was a day when 1 month sober was so far away. Then 1 year happened. Now we are downward slope to the TEN year mark.

I never thought I would EVER be this deep into that thing called "sobriety" but here it is in all its glory.

I know exactly what you mean.


I remember the crippling fear of the first days. Is it always going to be this hard? Do I have to bite my nails and grind my teeth every waking second? Live with the fear of failing myself and others? Is that even humanly possible?



At the same time there was this resolve - I wish I could tap into that more, but I don't know how to summon it, or where it came from. It was just there.



And then suddenly you are in year 2 or 7 or 10 or 25... and today is nowhere near as hard as those first few. It is, in fact not hard at all, it's glorious indeed.



Unlike some other people. Today exactly a year ago a great musician died, in his 20ties. Addiction played a huge role in that, perhaps the primary one.


Why wasn't he able to tap into that resolve? Or something else, hope, faith, whatever. He knew the same guy that inspired me, I'm sure they talked about it, I'm sure he was offered help. Why couldn't he back away from the edge? I think we may never know. Unless science finds that switch?

Hello all. I have just found this three in the last week or so and have read all of your posts (ell almost all but will be going back to finish them) and wanted to say thank you and congratulations on amazing strength and courage and a job well done!

I do not know if I have neuropathy but suspect I may. I have Reynauds syndrome which was very recently diagnosed and am very susceptible to cold. Lately my middle and ring finger have been somewhat locking at night and I have to work it out when waking up. Additionally I have been feeling a tad bit dizzy lately at various times or weakness in legs just out of the blue when out for lunch at work or standing outdoors.

I know I have to stop drinking as my family life I realize now is being affected in my. Of being thoughtful enough. My wife does not know I drink as she has too much on her plate as it is. I recently had labs done and all was normal except for my liver enzymes were slightly high and I have been diagnosed with fatty liver previously. I am nervous even writing this as we speak however wanted to share to see if it gave me even a tiny kick in the rear end to get doing the right things. I’ve been listening to a lot of audiobooks on mindfulness and techniques for not feeling the need to bow down to your cravings as they are just thoughts and nothing more and we always have thoughts come and go so the craving too shall pass and pay it no mind. I feel like it’s helping me think of drinking in a different light and I am almost ready to take that plunge. I also however am terrified I am too late and i have already guaranteed that my sweet seven year old son will have to know a life without his dad who he loves so much and also experience going through his dad dying at such a young age.

Sorry for long rants but everyone seems so supportive and open here it’s very admirable and comforting. My questionnaire basically does this sound like neuropathy to you all, and also - have any of you had bad liver results or cirrhosis or liver scared in general, or does the neuropathy seem to come before the onset of cirrhosis?

Thanks for listening and for sharing all of your valuable information! Keep up the great work to you all!

Welcome srdub :).

Please keep talking here. Nobody will ever judge you but we will all do our best to support you.

:hug:

Yes, welcome!

Whether it be via meetings, cold turkey, rehab or whatnot; we will be here when you need to get it all out.

Good luck!

Thanks very much to you both!

Welcome srdub. I wanted to touch in this sentence in particular, because it is (was...) a well known feeling to me. "What if it's too late anyway?". Well, from all the data I gathered (and my own personal experience), in 99% of the cases, it is not too late.


A fatty liver usually means nothing life threatening (there are 6 year old kids who have it from drinking too much OJ - you get it from sugar and alcohol, which is fermented sugar), and neither does high liver enzyme count. Our livers are incredibly robust and can stand a LOT of abuse. In most cases they are back to healthy in 6 to 12 months. My tests were perfect after 5 months - and that was after drinking 1 liter of whisky a day for 10 years.



So... let that not be a factor in deciding what you are going to do. I have seen people who were yellow, with bloated abdomen, get back to health after they quit drinking. Sure, when you keep drinking you will get there in the end, but the chances are very very slim that you already irrepairily damaged your liver.



Your life is always worth fighting for. Not just because of your son or your family, but because you yourself are worth it too.



Give it some good thought. Fear that it's too late - as understandable as it is - is not a valid factor.

Wide-O,

Thanks very very much for taking the time and the insight. You are right and I will take that to heart. Have a blessed day!

2830 days sober.

Heading to the Poconos for a few days...I may even climb a mountain! (more like a big hill on this side of the Country)

Good one Icehouse.

I hope that you do get to climb the mountain/big hill :).

Hi Everyone. Just wanted to check in to see how everyone is doing.

Spring is moving along here in NYC and with that we have had some consistently cloudy / rainy days. Does anyone's pain increase along with this type of weather? Mine sure seems to.

Have had a few other accomplishments / milestones recently. I came up on a year without alcohol in April and I have to say it, when I first tried getting sober in 2016 it was never something I thought I would reach. Just didnt think a life without alcohol would be something that I would enjoy, and it was too complicated to keep relationships in tact with family and friends and be able to abstain. Turns out that is not the case at all. This year has been very fulfilling and I have learned a different way of living.

My wife and I took a trip to Puerto Rico in late March and I can report that I spent two weeks surfing. This was not something I could even fathom doing a year ago. A year ago I weighed 45lbs more than I do now, could barely stand for more than minutes at a time, and had next to no balance left. After a lot of hard work and focus, I have made some great progress. I want to thank the folks in this thread for inspiration to keep up the fight on a daily basis.

While my neuropathy has showed improvement at times, I think it's important to note that that isnt necessarily why my life has improved or why I have been able to incorporate new physical activities into my life. What I believe is also happening is that my body / mind is making adjustments and with those adjustments my quality of life has improved.

While on the trip in PR we went on a adventure hike of sorts and it was advertised as a cave tubing / zip line adventure. Turns out it was a 8 mile hike through pretty treacherous terrain. If I knew in advance what we were getting into I would have never done it as it was risky and breaking an ankle is not something that I would have wanted to do as it would have ruined our trip. But we got into it and I I pushed myself and it was amazing to not only get through it but to actually do really well on the hike. Make no mistake it was dangerous as hell with the lack of feeling in my feet and the limited balance as well as just general weakness but you would be amazed at what your body can do when it's pushed. It's hard to put to words what it felt like getting through it, or what it was like to be able to stand up on a wave in such a beautiful setting. Both were spiritual experiences that just give me more motivation to take it a step further.

My journey started around a year ago and I was beaten down and hopeless. Physically, emotionally, and spiritually in rough shape. I had a glimmer of hope, got a bike, and started slowly. Small achievements lead to bigger goals.

I still struggle here and there. Can't deny that. But I try not to let it get me down. I had hopes of the pain really reducing instead of me just making adjustments. I still have hope that I will "heal", but my latest EMG didnt show any improvements really. Well, improvements and also a set back. When i read up on Alcoholic Neuropathy, some say that it can be reversed but also permanent. I am a year in, maybe I see improvements next year, or the year after. I'm still fairly young, and I can improve my physical self even further which I plan on doing. It will no doubt improve my overall quality of life.

The one thing that does bother me is the dependency on Gabapentin. I am currently on 1800 mg a day. One 600 pill in the morning and 2 at night. It does have an impact on my ability to think and my memory. Maybe that is just the long term alcohol use though. I dont really have a way of knowing as when I try to cut down on it the pain gets way too intense. I used marijuana at night to sleep but I have cut that out the last month as I will need to take a test for a new job. It can be a concern for people that have addiction issues so I would suggest seeing a DR which is what I did. I have no desire to use it during waking hours. And there is a considerable difference in my sleeping as a result of cutting it out. Getting a lot less which is impacting my day to day which is what it is as of now. Will see how it goes.

Hope everyone is keeping up the fight. Remaining positive, and listening to others success stories have really helped me along the way. So thanks everyone who contributes to this board.

On_A_Freeway, that all sounds very positive to me.

Well done :)!

Great story of setting goals, reaching them, and not letting the PN get in the way!

Icehouse is late today! ;)

Who is awake at 4am EST??? LOL

2861 days sober...

It poured rain so I did not hit a mountain but my hotel had a HUGE gym so I ran (yes, I did) a few miles on the treadmill thingie....I thought I was going to die.

I'm off to Canada in a couple weeks (with a brief stop in Niagara Falls) so I will see how much trouble I can get in to in the Great White North!

Icehouse, 2861 days is excellent.

I hope that you have fun in Canada :).