Bruce, when you quit drinking did your PN get any better? Did you notice a benefit other than getting rid of the heartburn??

I started b12 shots in September 08 and quit drinking a couple weeks later. After 4 weeks, when the shots stopped, I took 5mg SL b12 and still am.

So here it is, 6 months later, and there has been some improvement in my feet, my brain fog and vision problems have mostly gone away, depression has definitely gone away, but there is no way of knowing if the improvement was because of taking b12 or my quitting drinking. Or a combination of both.

I saw a neurologist a couple weeks ago, and find it curious that he never even asked me if I drank, and wasn't particularly interested in knowing that I was/am b12 deficient. He seems to be as clueless as my regular doctor.

I think there are two basice issues with drinking.

1) overtime it overloads the metabolic systems that metabolize alcohol. The byproducts of this are aldehydes, which cause the side effects to the nerves. So taking Thiamine B1 may help since that is a cofactor in alcohol metabolism. Benfotiamine is a better version and now available at affordable prices.

2) alcohol is a vasodilator. When feet or hands get more blood flow all of a sudden, then the heat sensing nerves start firing.
This is then perceived as "burning". Stimulation of cold nerves will block this sensation..and menthol in its various forms is the agent most commonly used. Think about winter and getting really cold and coming in suddenly and ears/hands tingle as they warm up.