Does drinking help?
 

Why is it when I drink does the pain reduce? Is it a a function of the alcohol effect, its weird.?

Alcohol is both a stimulant and a sedative. It's like taking a tranquilizer. I used to get the same way when I was still drinking, before I knew the horrible role alcohol plays in neuropathy.

Ten feet tall and made of blue steel
 

If you drink enough the pain level gets drove down to nothing. If you search alcohol induced neuropathy here the stories will convince you to quit drinking. Respectfully, Ken in Texas.

Obviously, enough alcohol has a tranquilizing and pain reducing effect. (isn't that why when someone's drunk you say they are "feeling no pain"??)

Secondary to that, when you're drinking you tend to be distracted from other things - including pain. Of course, there's other healthier ways to distract yourself......

We know that heavy drinking can induce neuropathy that is tough to recover from. So, it's certainly not a good thing to drink heavily - neuropathy or not.

All that being said, I do drink socially but I limit it. One thing I have noted is that if I do drink a little more than usual, I will get a reduction in symptoms for a few days afterward. This I cannot explain, since the alcohol is long gone from my body. But, tempting as it is - that's a road I do not want to go down........

I do not drink, never have, but I have met loads of people with alcohol induced neuropathy. Not a pretty picture. That being said, I would imagine when one drinks to feel good, a whole bunch of endorphins are released in one's brain and you know what those endorphins do? They make you feel good.

So I guess there is an up side for casual drinking and a real downside for serious drinking.

Never drank much, never felt the need to. I once tasted scotch, spit it out and said 'how on earth do people sit in a bar and down glass after glass of scotch?"

But...I once went to a party (I was about 21 and never drank). I was sitting with all my cousins. They were drinking frozen daqueries (don't know how to spell that, lol), all my cousins were drinking one and it was so good I had five. They looked at me and said "are you serious?" I said "what?, these are good, they are not doing anything to me". I then tried to stand up and I was frozen in my spot. I could not move, they had to sit me down until I came around. Never drank a single drink again in all my life. Scared the stuff out of me. lol

Just wanted to share.

Mel

lol
 

First time trying Tequila shots using salt and lime slices. Had no effect on me as I had been sitting and drinking for a long time. I said"This is childs play". and when I stood up the carpet rushed up and slapped me in the nose. Ken in Texas.

If my dad had alcohol induced neuropathy, I never heard of it from him. It was never mentioned in the home or from my mom years after I was out of the house. He lived to almost 96, had a couple beers 2 weeks before he died and neuropathy was never a word I heard. He was hard core drinker all his life. He hardly took any meds in his life.

I think it is another one of those things , for whatever reason it can be bad for some and may not effect another.

But if you have PN, and it may be related to alcohol use, then probably best to avoid it..

Dear Ken in Texas. You are my brother. rofl.

Melody