Diet and alcohol
 

Does anyone not feel any difference when eating a healthy diet? I've been eating gluten free, no sugar, mainly meats and veggies, sweet potatoes for the past 3 weeks. Not sure if I notice a difference. So unless you are gluten intolerant or have a food allergy, is there any benefit to eating so strict as far as neuropathy is concerned?

Also, I haven't touched alcohol in a couple of months. It's really tough, especially when i'm at social events when everyone else is drinking. Exactly how bad is alcohol to your nerves and how does it affect healing? Will drinking once a week be a bad idea? I used to drink to get drunk every weekend. For the first month of my symptoms I was drinking once a week. It was a nice stress reliever and a nice escape from reality so I didn't worry so much about my symptoms.

Various types of alcohol have OTHER chemicals in them which may impact reactions on nerves.

Wine has sulfites in it, which some people cannot stand. Also polyphenols which are migraine triggers, and affect blood flow by dilation (causing burning sensations), and the congeners of metabolism by the yeasts=aldehydes which are the prime irritant IMO of nerve endings. B1 (benfotiamine) aids in the metabolism of aldehydes. A common drug Antabuse blocks aldehyde metabolism and causes nerve damage. Flagyl (metronidazole) as well interferes with aldehyde metabolism and causes PN.

Beer has active yeast also. And the aldehydes. People with gluten intolerance would react to beer.

Dark distilled spirits have all sorts of chemicals in them. The most benign spirit would be the poly-filtered vodkas, like Skyy or Smirnoff, or the really high end ones that advertise filtering.
Those would be the least of the irritants. But the ethyl alcohol itself will affect nerves in all the alcoholic drinks.

I just learned that gluten is not only a problem for those intolerant and/or Celiac, but it is a trigger for FODMAPS dietary
symptoms.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FODMAP
A low FODMAP diet is gluten free also. While FODMAP issues are mostly GI, they can set up an inflammatory response which may become irritating to the lining of the bowel, thereby letting in peptides into the body's blood stream to trigger autoimmune responses. The mainstream medical community is now accepting FODMAP as a source of some disease in humans. New research is just starting that examines the GI flora as damaged and thereby causing disease as well.

Eating a high carb diet is thought to lead to impaired glucose metabolism, and that leads to pre- or frank diabetes, with is a major cause of PN.

I know for me, eating spicy foods, nightshade veggies, and MSG will lead to a flare of burning for a day or two or more depending on what I ate. Not all PNers have this sensitivity, but many idiopathic ones may have this hidden, since some foods may delay symptoms by a day or two and not be easy to target.

This is why it is important for people coming here to look at how they live... when trying to find answers to PN problems. Something is in their environment that may be a trigger for it all. Add to that a genetic weakness that overtime is eroding health and bingo the nerves start screaming. And people will have various combinations of these two factors and no one is exactly alike. Even identical twins do not show 100% concordance for illness. Which suggests a huge environmental factor in addition to genetics.

Alcohol induced neurapathy
 

If you search here using these words you will read some of the most heart-wrenching posts. To me it's about inflammation. Sugar is inflammation, alcohol is sugar. If you need to know I would advise starting with a meal low in carbs then drink to a point where you can feel a buzz starting then quit. Maybe you won't have to pay the fiddler. Any carbs consumed after the drinking will muddy the waters. I propose this scenario in the spirit of this is what I would do if I had to find out. Good Luck, Ken in Texas.

Hi Tunaboy
I came across some old neurotalk threads yesterday that relate to diet and neuropathy. Here's the link.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...ad.php?t=43699

In the second post by Wing42 there are 3 links - all contain useful info.
They are included in the Stickies but sometimes it's easy to miss them.
Hope you find them helpful.

Alchol is neurotoxic to nerves, and is a known cause neuropathies. Nope there is no benfit in going gluten free, unless you have celiacs, gluten sensitive, or wheat allergies. GLuten-free, is a hype use to keep people buying more expensive gluten free products, its not any healthier than gluten containg products, some people dont even know what gluten free is. the only people who benefit, are those people who gets an autoimmune reaction to gluten. Diets are usually bad, in many cases because you can be starving yourself of vital nutrition, and vitamins.

I have also had a very strict diet for over 3 months. No gluten , very little carbs ( maybe once a week I have a potato , went 4 weeks with no carbs at all) fresh fruits and veggies, juicing twice a day, lots of leafy greens, no suagr, caffeine or alcohol and very little dairy. All organic. Nothing that comes out of a bottle, can. , bag or box ( except beans and occasional can of tuna) . I have found zero difference. I have started to have a cheat meal over the last two weeks where I have bread and carbs, cus I feel like what's the point in being so strict if it's not helping. I will continue eating well overall, but will loosen up a bit. It's exhausting eating this way, it's sooo much work for no benefit.

No refined sugar I should have said. I put a few strawberries and blueberries in my juice

I second Mrs. D on alcohol, spicy food and nightshades being triggers for vasodilation and flaring. Add nitrates and sulfites in there, no Brats, Italian sausage or beer for me - Bummer! I don't have PN but a nerve injury with surgical repair and have noticed certain foods and any alcohol cause a pretty immediate reaction 10-20 minutes. Why aggravate things any more than necessary?

I haven't drank alcohol of any kind in over two years. It's been the best decision I've ever done for my health.

I eat anything and everything in moderation. Not a problem for me.