NoEinstein

Hi...wondering if there are any others who have had a similar experience with withdrawal? I've been a drinker for 20+ years of which 10-12 have been very heavy.

I haven't had a drop of alcohol in 39 days but am having a ton of neuropathy-like symptoms. Shooting pains, numbness, weakness, tender hands and fingertips, feelings of burning and cramping, a lot of steady aching and pain in my wrists...literally from head to toe. I thought physical symptoms were only supposed to last a week or two? Anybody else out there with prolonged physical stuff of a couple months or more after quitting. I'm pretty much scared out of my mind that this is much more than withdrawal symptoms and can't help but think the worst.

I have seen and talked to the doctor about this and have had bloodwork done. Everything was normal. I am scheduled for an MRI on Monday. I can't see a neurologist until March 12th. I've been honest with my GP about how much I have drank.

I'm not asking for a diagnosis, just hoping for feedback from some who had extended withdrawals that turned out to be just an extended withdrawal. Abstaining is not a problem.

Thanks

BullDog777

i had that, and if you aren't on any meds and your blood work came back ok, it's most likely anxiety. it can manifest itself in dozens of different ways.

Ken0331

I had some neuropathy in my feet from binge drinking. Poor diet + alcoholism.

Vitamins were helpful. B complex mostly. The feeling returned gradually after I stopped drinking and began to take better care of myself. Not sure how long, but one day I just woke up and realized it wasn't a problem anymore, probably 6-8 weeks?


I'd just keep following up with your doc, maybe get your B-vitamin and other levels checked if that wasn't part of the initial bloodwork. Some docs just aren't well-enough informed about alcoholism, so they limit the tests to liver & such, not knowing about the vitamin depletion aspects.

I learned early on in my Crohn's Disease I had to advocate for myself when it came to what I was going thru, and not trust that the doc was omnipotent, knew all the questions, and had all the answers.

Forward12

It will take some time for things to clear up. 20+ years of dumping poison into your body won't clear up overnight.
Stay clean, stick to your recovery plan, stay close to yours docs, and things will get better.

Dee74

Yeah I know it's hard but I wouldn't be too worried - a lot of these symptoms could be exacerbated by you worrying about your health.

Good to know you're seeing a Dr - let us know what they say

WaterOx

Have you made use of the search feature here? You'll find loads of stories of people with withdrawal symptoms. I have read many like yours. This sounds common. Let us know how the MRI goes!

Stayingsassy

If you ever had a reason to be experiencing some neuropathy, years of abusive drinking would be it.

I have a bit of it myself, it got better with heavy and consistent exercise, though I am still spinny and off balance quite a bit. Balance also takes a huge hit in alcoholics, and poor balance can sometimes last a lifetime after sobriety. I figure we shouldn't assume after decades of poisoning ourselves we will live totally unscathed. There are physical consequences.

Dave42001

Well said!! It’s amazing how long the poison stays in your body.. as mentioned, stay clean and hang in there, it gets better!

Great job on your time!! Keep it up!! Wishing you the best!

FindingMyNext

YES YES YES I had all those things and more... for months. Headaches, lethargy, aching muscles, terrible night sweats, blurry vision, tingly limbs, fingers and toes that were FREEZING, weird temperature fluctuations. And such exhaustion.

It got lots better after 3-4 months, and is still getting better. Some days now (8 months in) I feel almost normal.

I'm so grateful to SR because I, too, assumed it would get better in a week or two, but when I was still a physical mess weeks into sobriety, SR members reminded me of the preponderance of lingering symptoms and lots of reminders that it can take months (and even years) to recover from the damage we've done.
So: Patience. Lots of patience.

NoEinstein

Thank you to all for responding. It makes me feel so much better that others have gone through similar protracted physical withdrawals and come through it ok.

I had an MRI done on my brain this past week. It showed a mini-stroke in the back of my brain that "appeared old." It sounds like its an outlier and doesn't have much to do with the symptoms I have.

I have an appointment with a neurologist in 2 days that was moved up due to a cancellation...thankful for not having to wait until 3/12. Hoping everything checks out as normal with the tests that are run.

I do feel like some of the symptoms have minimally subsided over the last 2 weeks so I hope things keep trending that way. Thanks, again.

ScottFromWI

Glad to hear you got things checked out and have future plans to keep doing the same, it's always better to be safe than sorry in my book! Also good to hear that your symptoms are improving, I know I went through a whole bunch of odd things - both physically and psychologically - in the months and years after quitting.

I drank every day for over 2 decades as well so it would be unrealistic to think that there were no residual effects. I can attest that things have definitely improved over time though.

NYCDoglvr

I was a wreck for 3.5 months and I've read it takes about 90 days for alcohol to completely leave your body. And that's just the physical withdrawal. We alcoholics are thin-skinned and tend to over-react for a while. It can take many months and up to a year before we start to level out.

Congrats on 39 days!

August252015

To be blunt- YES. Extended withdrawals, which then are typically called PAWS - Post Acute Withdrawal Symptoms- can be explained well here - www.digitaldharma.net under the PAWS tab.

Introvrtd1

45 days today for me and i still get these quarky withdrawals symptoms every now n then like palpitations and anxiety.....they are less frequent and less intense but they do still come.....

i guess we need to hang in there....90 days is the big number to see how things improve from what i hear so...

hang in there