I share the same hope...I really just want to get back to the point where I can enjoy alcohol (a few drinks) socially with family and friends again. I significantly cut back in early April right when the symptoms began - that consisted of no more than 2-3 drinks a few days a week. Unfortunately there was no improvement and perhaps slight progession. For the last week and a half I completely cut alcohol out and have seen improvement - but it is like a good day/bad day thing (some days better than others), but definatly better.

Good luck with everything. 2-3 drinks seems like it shouldn't really have much impact as I was under the impression it was the excess that caused the damage. But also know it is different person to person and day to day. Crazy stuff.

Glad things are moving in the rogut direction now, hopefully in a month or so all is good!

It shouldn't, but the bad news is it most probably will (and yes, we are all different, but experience teaches us this).


Even though the complete reason for developing alcohol related PN is not fully understood (according to PN neurologist), it will be a combination of bad food habits (or even skipping food altogether for some), lack of vitamins (B1, B12 etc), your body height (!), the aldehydes coming from processing the alcohol, the congeners, reduced liver function, etc etc.


But once you have it, you become very sensitive to alcohol. Don't trust me on this, you will probably experience it. It's the dream of many to just go back to being a social and responsible drinker, and 99% fails in this - obviously depending if you had a real problem in the first place.


Please don't take this the wrong way: if you can do it, the more power to you! It's just that the statistics (and my experience) show you may waste a lot of time with it, and probably cause more pain than needed. No harm in trying to imagine a way of life without it, even if you don't plan on it yet.


But first things first: keep up what you are doing to turn it around or stop it in its tracks.

Agreed! But, for me, the fear of that one drink turning me back into what I was is enough to keep me sober.

I have 100X more life now than I did 8 years ago and I would never tempt myself with the drink on purpose..

Just my $.02

Totally with you there.

2954 days sober

Just got back from a weekend camping trip in a 22ft VW....life is grand!

Wait till next month...I have a special treat for you all

You're running for President!


OK, maybe not. Now I'm curious.

Safe to say I feel the same way. It took me a good 6 months away from alcohol, and a lot of work on myself before I started to see what the possibilities were with a life without it.

It would have been difficult for me to be talked out of going back to drinking after I found out about my neuropathy, but I sure wish I did listen to the message I was being told. I would take any improvement to my current situation if I could get it. Now my pain might always be as painful, and I might never gain my strength back, and I might always have to rely on medication because of it.

That additional damage is most likely not reversible, and from a long term perspective, is resulting in a decreased quality of life. The idea of a few drinks here and there, which could alone make it worse, as well as adding the risk of going back to old habits, is not the direction I can afford to go in.

But that's not something I could come to terms with while I was also fighting not to drink on a daily basis. My mind was too caught up in it all. I personally needed to take a step back and get my hands around not drinking, before I could really understand the situation I was in.

I always used to think about the fact that I wouldn't be able to enjoy that glass of wine in Italy or Spain, or that Guinness in Ireland. That made the idea of not drinking so difficult. In the end all I had to do was not drink just in the day that I was in, and rinse and repeat. Eventually my outlook on it completely shifted. That took time though.

So I am supposed to see the neurologist next week. Unfortunately I just got hit with shingles, so the burning and tingling on that side of my body is no fun.

I had a question, the EMG test or nerve conduction test can diagnose the neuropathy correct? So the Dr will be able to tell me if I have it, and to what extent based on these tests?

Lastly, are the test painful at all? Not a huge fan of needles......

Just trying to prepare mentally for my appointment.

Answer is “it depends” I’m afraid. They can measure signal delays on larger nerves, but have no real way to measure the smaller peripheral ones - that is done through biopsy (and not always 100% conclusive either).

In my case the results were 100% conclusive and enough for me to be determined “disabled” without any further questions.

Needles sting a bit but can’t remember any real pain from them.

Disclaimer: my info/experience is 6 years old, so there may have been improvements I’m not aware of.