How Much Drinking?
 

I am a 48 year old male. Have always been an enthusiastic drinker.
Over the last ten years or so, I got in the habit of drinking beer or wine about 5 days a week. Probably about an average of a case of beer a week.
I don't consider myself an alcoholic, but I guess most people don't.
I started having the tingling in my feet and then noticed that on my daily run, I felt like my left leg was flopping around uncontrollably.
My GP sent me to a neurologist and had the shock test done.
All tests came back negative, so the Dr.s diagnosed it as Alcoholic Neuropathy.
I quit drinking cold turkey. I don't need to drink, especially if it is causing this many problems.
My concern is that it is not the drinking that it is something else but the DRs stop looking for a different cause.
I really always consider myself a moderate drinker since most of the guys I hang around with drink the same amount.
Does anyone else have a similar experience?

Welcome to NeuroTalk :).

I have mild-moderate PN in my hands which probably arises from when I used to abuse alcohol.

You might find it helpful to check out this thread https://www.neurotalk.org/alcoholism...pathy-2-a.html.

You are most welcome to contribute to it. Many members find it a good place to share their experiences. They offer each other mutual support and encouragement.

All the best.

Did you experience any relief in your symptoms after you stopped drinking?

I've wondered if my neuropathy is from drinking. I've had a zillion tests and they haven't found a cause. Yet one neurologist was thinking out loud, ruling in or out various causes, and he didn't think mine was from alcohol (though I don't recall his reasoning). If you aren't getting the information or testing you need from your neurologist, find another neurologist. A lot of insurance companies will support getting a second opinion, or just finding another doctor. And if they don't, the hourly rate for specialists isn't that terrible (and you're saving money now by not drinking).

There's an interesting article in Wikipedia on Alcoholic Polyneuropathy that makes me ask a couple of questions. Are your symptoms symmetrical, or not differing much from side to side? Did your doctor prescribe nutritional support? Physical therapy? If this is from alcohol, symptoms should be largely symmetrical, and if your doctor made this diagnosis, he should have done B-vitamin testing and probably prescribed nutritional support.

Kudos for stopping. Especially as one advances in years, alcohol interferes with sleep, which interferes with recovery and can cause perceived pain levels to rise. For me, when I'm consuming alcohol, I overall have more symptoms. It's fun, tasty, and a nice little release, but it's also a depressant, and empty calories. And costly. Stopping is, at a minimum, a good experiment to see how your body responds (and it can take months and months for nerves to heal). I hope this resolves well and you feel better.

Thanks for your response.

As I see them alcohol and sugar are poisons to our body.

I don't know. I told my neurologist that at the end of every day I had between 2 and 5(6 on occasion) drinks...mostly beer. He said it had nothing to do with my PN, but I am not so sure. Lately, I have noticed that certain beers aggravate the PN, while others do not. Mixed drinks high in sugar also have an impact....like Margaritas.

I agree, a cold turkey is in order, then re-assess. Generally speaking I don't think alcohol is a PN precursor, but for us sufferers it might bridge that link to sugar and diabetes symptoms.

I know I will miss my nightly drinks, they do have what I would call a positive effect on my psyche, so ditching them will take some adjustment.

I first noticed it in my feet when I got out of bed. then a couple of weeks later it started in my fingers. it seems to be a little better now but the Dr prescribed some pills. so I dont know it I'm recovering or the pills are numbing the symptoms.
I am done with alcohol. I have never heard of PN until I started googling my symptoms.
I am a pretty active person. I run, cycle, play guitar and piano. this really sucks. it is affecting everything I do.

Cardinal...what prescription are you taking?

Did the Dr check for any B12 deficiency's?

If not too personal, what were your drinking habits? Never before 5 or an all day sipper?

They have stabilised with maybe some improvement.

Stabilization is the goal for me, I need to set a 'cold turkey' date and give it 30 days before comparing symptoms.

Yes, sounds like me when I was in my mid forties. I don't know if in-fact my PN was alcohol related(probably, to some degree) but having quit drinking over 12 years ago for other health reasons doesn't appear to be relevant. Indeed, I didnt even experience an obvious PN level until like 5 years after I quit drinking.

Of course, my doc declared my PN to be "ideopathic", case-closed. :rolleyes:

I tried B-12 methyl sub-lingual tablets for several months, my blood labs actually showed a dramatic increase in B-12 in the boady. But, no real evidence of tangible benefit for the PN.

So, eventhough my PN haven't gotten better, at least it hasn't gotten worse, and only has a minimal effect on my life.

I would usually have a few beers when I finished my chores or my workout.
I usually never drank on Mondays or Tuesdays. But Wednesday is a dinner out night. So I would have a beer before we left home, had a few at the restaurant, and maybe one when we got home. Thursdays were hit or miss depending what I was doing or if someone stopped by. Friday was always beer and pizza night. Saturday was start drinking when I had all of my work done. Maybe drink 4 or 5 beers. Sunday, again depends on who stopped by. But usually 3 or 4 beers at the end of the day. I would realistically estimate a case of light beer a week. Maybe throw in a bottle of wine, a couple of shots of bourbon, or some IPA on special occasions.
The B12, Iron, etc checked out OK.

Very similar here, except it's 7 days. We are rural and do not have garbage pick-up, so instead of running into town to buy beer then having to drive to the dump frequently I bought a Kegerator. I accept that some here are saying " 'Boom'...alcoholic" but my response is not to confuse laziness with true alcoholism;)

Anyway, the keg is usually Miller High Life(yeah yeah...cheap date), but right after my 'PN flair up' my Yee Haw Dunkle keg came in. I can say this, the Yee Haw has not aggravated my PN at all, but IPA and Miller certainly does. I have decided that when the Yee Haw is gone, I will do my 30 days on the wagon. I will follow up with my findings.

Here is a tidbit, my brother(12 years older than me) is a retired Oncologist. He drinks like a fish and has always drank like a fish(yes that means more then me). He has zero PN so the puzzle just keeps getting jumbled up and pieces lost thru the crack in the floor........