Alcohol Neuropathy- Depressed and could use help!
 

Hello,

I would appreciate any help- as I do not have an appointment with my neurologist for another month :(

My family doctor told me I have alcohol Neuropathy 2 weeks ago. I am 23, and drank A LOT through college. I woke up shortly after new years and had tingling in my hands, feet, arms, and legs, and had the sharp electric pains all over my body with some MINOR numbness. My B12 and folate levels were normal. My family doctor said my symptoms will subside in 1 month. I have stopped drinking in hopes of returning to normal.

Since I have stopped drinking, my symptoms have gone away. Which is great. However I do have some questions-

1. Can my nerves regenerate? especially since my symptoms were minor?

2. How long does it take for nerves from alcohol abuse to regenerate?

2. When symptoms go away, does that mean my nerves have regenerated? How can you tell if nerves have regenerated?

3. When nerves have regenerated, can I consume alcohol again (NOT TO THE AMOUNT I WAS BEFORE)

Again, I appreciate any help. I really want to understand the situation, and the time table I am facing for recovery. I am so young, and would love to have fun with my friends again at some point.

Thank you!

Welcome to NeuroTalk:

Do you know what your B12 actual level was in numbers?
Lab ranges in US are very low and are sadly still called "normal", so you should verify that you are over 400 which is the new actual low.

Most alcohol withdrawal patients do better on a vitamin regimen.
B1 esp is lost with heavy alcohol use. B-complex is usually a part of recovery.

Here is one example that worked very well for one of our members.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread104096.html
IceHouse's posts chart his improvement over time. You might
try his mixture.

My B12 was at 700. Can this damage be reversed? can my nerves regenerate sinptoms were mild? I see some websites that say the nerve damage cannot be reversed, and some that say it can.

With good B12, this is where you stand:

1) heavy drinking depletes magnesium levels. Low magnesium causes nerve symptoms. So fixing this will enable healing.

2) heavy drinking depletes the metabolic pathway for B1...it gets used up. So supplementing this, either with thiamine or a B50 complex may help heal faster.

3) People who abuse alcohol, don't eat properly, and I would guess you don't consume many Omega-3's fats. These are used by the body to repair damaged tissue, including nerves.

4) People who use alot of alcohol, have metabolic pathways used up in the liver, where this is converted to glucose. So there is a period of adjustment when you start eating again, because other pathways are used for energy. You have to expect this shift to take some time and be uncomfortable. Many people who stop drinking, get carb cravings because of this. Try to not give into too much sugar or carbs, as this makes nerve pain worse. I've seen recovering alcoholics who get major addictions to cakes, candy, and the like. At first you can do some, but try to taper this off within a month or so. This is the metabolic shift from metabolizing alcohol to metabolizing other food sources.

People who crave alcohol may have a metabolic need for it because they have a condition called pyroluria.
http://drkaslow.com/html/pyroluria.html
What happens is that vitamin B6 and the mineral zinc get used up and excreted before they can work properly in our bodies.
This is a genetic condition, and otherwise basically harmless, and more common than one would think.
The loss of B6 and zinc becomes serious, leading to more anxiety and alcohol craving. So taking a Bcomplex helps again by providing B6. The zinc you would have to take separately, and OptiZinc is inexpensive and easy to tolerate. One a day of this may help.

So in answer to your question... yes you can probably recover.
And it will take time, to fix the damage. And YOU will have to make some efforts, to do so yourself. And as far as drinking again, if you have an alcohol problem it will always be there. Best to not drink anymore. Get some counseling or AA, support. If you have the pyroluria, fixing that will help reduce cravings and make this easier for you. No one here can say what will happen to you in 2, 5, or 10 yrs from now, but stopping all alcohol now is important for your recovery.

I would like to add, that if you also used other drugs, recreationally , which is common behavior, you need to stop that as well. Ecstasy has been shown to cause brain damage, that might be long term or permanent.. so don't be tempted by it.

Did you read the posts by IceHouse yet? They will reflect the path
you need to follow to heal.

Hi...mrsd is the best! She has helped all of us! I would take her advise about the supplements and such. I'm just curious though how long did the tingling and numbness last? You said you woke up with it on new years which was only 2 weeks ago and it's gone already? To me that doesn't sound a lot like neuropathy. I think for most of us our symptoms have started and progressed over long periods of time. Once you learn to take care of your body it can get better. It doesn't make sense to me that it would just go away that fast by just stopping drinking. I also am a heavy/daily drinker and I have been for about 10 years with only brief periods of sobriety. I have neuropathy but I do not think mine is strictly from alcohol use. I am 25. How did your family doctor conclude it was alcohol neuropathy? Did they run tests of any sort? I'm just curious because it doesn't sound right to me. I wish you the best and good luck with your neurologist!

Just a note..... drinking alot of alcohol, leads to low blood sugars, and these often show up upon awakening the next morning as numbness and tingling. This is not really a neuropathy, it is a paresthesia, which is a symptom, not damage. Paresthesias come and go, but neuropathy symptoms tend to stay around, all day long in some degree. (night time is often a little worse for some.

People who have PN will often have burning pain, and often it is most noticeable when retiring at night.

Also depending on the TYPE of alcohol consumed, there are other chemicals in beer, wine and most spirits. (vodka that has been distilled more than once has the least).
These chemicals can also cause nerve symptoms. The name for them is congeners.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congener
It is the aldehydes that mostly cause nerve symptoms.
Aldehydes are also byproducts of alcohol metabolism and the vitamin B1 is the metabolic cofactor for them. Aldehydes make you feel sick and when very high will cause vomiting. The alcohol abuse drug Antabuse, blocks aldehyde metabolism quickly and was supposed to be crutch or deterent for those who crave alcohol.

So it is not only the alcohol content, but also the amount and type of congener in the drinks, that will give nasty side effects.

Hey Keeping Faith!

Ya the Tingling and sharp electric pains were pretty pronounced for about 3 days, and after the 3 days everything pretty much went away and nothing was there. I have some real MINOR numbness in my right leg but I almost cannot tell. The doctor concluded that because of my binge drinking over my college years that she was certain it was from alcohol. She also gave me a CT scan and blood tests.

Yes, I can back the statement that if there is even a hint of an alcohol problem then its important to quit. As MrsD pointed to, I have posted almost monthly about my progress from a wheelchair to walking due to alcohol abuse. Tingling feet, numbness, vomiting, weight loss, 24hour drinking, etc.

Once I cleared the alcohol out, and took the vitamin regime in my posts (noted above) I have reversed alcoholic neuropathy and I am almost back to "normal".

But, for me, this meant abstaining from alcohol entirely. There is no dabbling, no going back, and if you can abstain its the best way to go forward.

Walking is not overrated.... :)

Hope you can stop
 

I know the waiting is tough. I just got to see my neruo and pain management after 2 months. I drank since I was 16 years old and now the neuropathy hit. so hang in there and watch the drinking.

Hey hardhits36, I'm a 28 year old guy with a similar issue. Numbness/tingling started in my feet progressed to real pain after about 3 days then slowly started getting better. I'm awaiting my blood tests to come back but I've started a B-complex, Benfotiamine regimen already and quit drinking. It's been about 1.5 weeks now since it all started and the pins and needles and numbness are still there sometimes, sometimes worse than others. I just wanted to check in with you and see how you were doing? Is there hope for return to a pain free state when catching it this early?

Thanks!