I hope everybody is safe and sound here. I am 32 years old and for the last 4 years I’ve been drinking every night. I regularly drank since I was 18 but not every night.
A few months ago I started to feel the first symptoms of alcoholic neuropathy but didn’t care much until I figured out that it might get quite dangerous. (Burning feeling and pain under the feet and pain on my left arm and neck are my symptoms)
So last month I stopped drinking for 21 days and my symptoms were almost completely gone. I was feeling so well that I wanted to drink again on a beautiful sunny day, of course
First two days were okay there were no symptoms. However it started again when I went back to drinking daily. Now I am sober for 6 days and symptoms are disappearing more slowly compared to my first attempt.
I know neuropathy might cause tragic results in one’s health but I know I will be drinking as soon as possible if my symptoms disappear again. Especially this summer I have no idea how to not drink when I am on vacation.
Does anybody have a complete recovery experience from alcoholic neuropathy? I think I need to hear something like “do not drink for 3 months and you will recover for good” to find some strength to hold on.
You are addicted to alcohol. (You have an allergy to alcohol and you will never have a good relationship with it. It doesn’t work for you, just like people who are allergic to peanuts.) Addictions are poison. Poison is unhealthy. Remove the poison - remove the alcohol - and don’t start the poison again, and the health comes back. There are so many stories of this here.
Another way to look at this: drinking poison or doing poison always has negative health effects. There is absolutely no reason to continue, and there are plenty of reasons to stop.
Changing to live a healthy, addiction-free life takes support; anyone who can do it on their own likely wasn’t addicted in the first place. Fortunately you have a community here on Talking Sober that can help. There are other resources too, podcasts, books, and recovery groups that help you learn and live recovery, and stay healthy (which means sober), at no charge: Resources for our recovery
Getting and staying healthy is more than just a temporary change. Don’t think about the long term though; just think about today. Don’t drink today. That is all that matters. Join a recovery group (there’s online ones too, like Online meeting resources or www.InTheRooms.com), hang out here on TS, read recovery literature (there’s lots at the resources link above), and make choices of what to do with your day (and resist the way your addict brain romanticizes drinking - it will try to lie to you that drinking would somehow make the day more fulfilling, as though drinking was some type of fulfilling hobby) - take it one day at a time and keep communicating with people who understand (don’t isolate yourself), and your health will return.
Alcohol can be toxic to nerve tissue. People who drink too much may start to feel pain and tingling in their limbs. This is known as alcoholic neuropathy. In people with alcoholic neuropathy, the peripheral nerves have been damaged by too much alcohol use. The peripheral nerves transmit signals between the body, the spinal cord, and the brain.
Thiamine, folate, niacin, vitamins B6 and B12, and vitamin E are all needed for proper nerve function. Drinking too much can alter levels of these nutrients and affect the spread of alcoholic neuropathy. Fortunately, abstaining from alcohol can help restore your nutritional health. This may improve your symptoms and help prevent further nerve damage. However, some alcohol-induced nerve damage is permanent.
My husband has experience with complete recovery from alcoholic neuropathy. He can never drink alcohol again or it will come back with a vengeance. Abstaining from alcohol is the only cure. He tried stopping for months and yes it would go away but as soon as he started drinking again, it was worse than the time before. He has finally accepted the fact that it does nothing but poison his body. He’s coming up on 2 years sober and has never felt better. His recent blood work is that of someone in their 20’s (he’s in his 50’s).
Get yourself to AA meetings and buy a big book and go through the steps . You’ll get all the advice you need from others who are sharing . Well done on your 6 days clean .
Why? I mean we know why, addiction etc… But what is your brain going to be telling you? That the symptoms are gone now so it is OK?
For me, physically holding on to the feeling of the sheer dread when I woke up after my last night drinking really helped. That is what happens when I drink. So whenever I thought I might be missing out on the tipsy carefree fun stuff I had this association… That is what happens when I drink.
Also the blackouts, arguments, mystery bruises, money spent… Etc. Play the tape forward and build a new association. Drinking gives you neuropathy. That is what happens when you drink.
Thank you all for your answers. I’ll take your advices.
That’s motivating. I will try to stick to this idea
Thank you so much. I surely will.
I am genuinely happy for you and your husband. Thank you for sharing your experience. I was hoping to hear a complete recovery story from neuropathy like yours.
I think you need to ask yourself if you want to be sober aside from the neuropathy?
Being drunk every day causes more than just nerve damage. What about the damage to your sense of self, your integrity, your happiness, your closest relationships? All those were severely affected with me…
When you start putting in the work to take recovery seriously to salvage the entirety of your life, you’ll no longer be in danger to go back out there once you feel off the hook for neuropathy. So, if I was you I’d start taking a closer look at the bigger picture, all the non-value alcohol brings to your life.
Maybe read some milestone stories on here, ppl tend to share what their lives looked like before recovery. Maybe you can relate.
The story isn’t actually about her husband’s body - it’s about him working a recovery program. (In his case he attends www.AA.org.) That’s what made the sobriety happen, and the sobriety is what made his body heal.
That’s definitely true Matt. My symptoms started to diminish by staying sober for 7 days. I will keep this going.
Hi Faugxh! The problem is that I always felt like “A drunk mind speaks a sober heart” while I was drinking.
I had an impression that I was able to find better solutions for my problems with a drunk mind. However for the last four years I have always been late to take the necessary actions.
I thought I was a functioning alcoholic. Drinking and thinking for long hours made feel like I was in a progress. In reality, an illusion of effort and success it was.
I was very successful at rejecting to see them. Time to be more honest with myself, I guess. Thanks for caring.
One day at a time The important thing is each day to do something constructive specifically for your recovery. That can be recovery group work or reading here on talking sober or reading something from Resources for our recovery, etc. Keep it up and you’ll get it
Hi @Lisa07 ! Yes it’s been 10 days and I’m pretty well. The burning feeling under my feet has completely gone, so does the pain in my arms and neck. Just the numbness under the feet stays for now.
Yet I am not interested to go back to drinking this time just because I feel healthy Thanks for asking.
The important thing is each day to do something constructive specifically for your recovery. That can be recovery group work or reading here on talking sober or reading something from 