All these physical maladies because of alcohell
Its a cold and its a broken hallelujah.
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 2,887
All these physical maladies because of alcohell
Reflecting again on how different my life experience is now that I made sobriety a priority. I can not believe how many physical problems I had that have been resolved since stopping drinking. It's mind boggling really.
Auditory hallucinations : I would hear ringing, buzzing, repetitious earworm like songs. Even went to a ENT. They wanted to prescribe me a low dose of anti dizzy meds. Chose not to take them. Now nothing.
Migraines : Saw a chiropractor and Internist. They all wanted me to start meds. I refused. Now, they are poof - gone.
Muscle spasms : Had a full neurological work up. I would twitch throughout the night. Debated about Gabapentin. Now its Gone.
Eyelid spasms : Thought it was stress related. Oh it was stress related alright... Gave me a low dose of Xanax. Now Gone.
Gastro upset: Slime, and bile and runs, oh my ! Had an upper GI and colonoscopy. Put me on Nexium. Didn't work. Gone.
Heart palpitations: Tachycardia. PVC's. Went to a cardiologist. Wore a Holter Monitor. Debated about Beta blockers. Gone.
Panic attacks: Couldn't leave the house. Agorophobic. Over it. Have been to psychotherapists for decades. Debated about anti anxiety meds for years. Significant reduction in general anxiety.
High Blood Pressure: General practitioner wanted to put me on beta blockers. Didn't try them. Got sober instead. BP this morning 115/74.
Chronic fatigue : Doctor wanted to diagnose me with CF. Of course I was "chronically fatigued" I hadn't gotten a decent night sleep in 20 years !! I passed out only to jolt awake at 3:00 am with panic. (Much less multiple decent nights in a row). Doctor wanted to give me ambien. In sobriety I sleep soundly and uninterrupted.
I imagine the medical industry and big pharma are quite disturbed when we get sober.
EVERY SINGLE ONE OF MY "MEDICAL" PROBLEMS HAS BEEN RESOLVED IN SOBRIETY.
Every. Damn. One.
Wow.
Auditory hallucinations : I would hear ringing, buzzing, repetitious earworm like songs. Even went to a ENT. They wanted to prescribe me a low dose of anti dizzy meds. Chose not to take them. Now nothing.
Migraines : Saw a chiropractor and Internist. They all wanted me to start meds. I refused. Now, they are poof - gone.
Muscle spasms : Had a full neurological work up. I would twitch throughout the night. Debated about Gabapentin. Now its Gone.
Eyelid spasms : Thought it was stress related. Oh it was stress related alright... Gave me a low dose of Xanax. Now Gone.
Gastro upset: Slime, and bile and runs, oh my ! Had an upper GI and colonoscopy. Put me on Nexium. Didn't work. Gone.
Heart palpitations: Tachycardia. PVC's. Went to a cardiologist. Wore a Holter Monitor. Debated about Beta blockers. Gone.
Panic attacks: Couldn't leave the house. Agorophobic. Over it. Have been to psychotherapists for decades. Debated about anti anxiety meds for years. Significant reduction in general anxiety.
High Blood Pressure: General practitioner wanted to put me on beta blockers. Didn't try them. Got sober instead. BP this morning 115/74.
Chronic fatigue : Doctor wanted to diagnose me with CF. Of course I was "chronically fatigued" I hadn't gotten a decent night sleep in 20 years !! I passed out only to jolt awake at 3:00 am with panic. (Much less multiple decent nights in a row). Doctor wanted to give me ambien. In sobriety I sleep soundly and uninterrupted.
I imagine the medical industry and big pharma are quite disturbed when we get sober.
EVERY SINGLE ONE OF MY "MEDICAL" PROBLEMS HAS BEEN RESOLVED IN SOBRIETY.
Every. Damn. One.
Wow.
Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: UK
Posts: 5,678
Wow, you sound just like me. All of my problems have resolved themselves in sobriety too 
I had alcoholic neuropathy which took a few years to diagnose. I went from having tingly little fingers to dead hands and arms every night, losing sensations in my right leg from my knee down, not being able to lift my foot of the floor from my ankle and walking with a floppy foot. All fine now, just the odd twinge of numbness
I had awful migraines, which again, took years to diagnose. They weren't like typical migraines or headaches. It just felt like my head had been trapped in a vice, for months... Then it would go away for a few weeks, and then come back somewhere else on my head. They were pretty scary.
I also had twitchy eyes, a freaky twitchy shoulder, popping noises in my head when I was trying to sleep/pass out...
Crazy anxiety too, borderline agoraphobic and frequent panic attacks when I was not at home. This was the worst bit.
And all the usual stomach complaints and chest pains.
I thought I was a hypochondriac, maybe not. My docs treated me like I was nuts but there was a lack of clear information on their part. I had always been honest about my drinking. I even had one doctor tell me alcohol doesn't cause nerve damage... none of them told me to quit until eventually a neurologist told me I'd need to quit completely to recover. I am so grateful that I did
I had alcoholic neuropathy which took a few years to diagnose. I went from having tingly little fingers to dead hands and arms every night, losing sensations in my right leg from my knee down, not being able to lift my foot of the floor from my ankle and walking with a floppy foot. All fine now, just the odd twinge of numbness
I had awful migraines, which again, took years to diagnose. They weren't like typical migraines or headaches. It just felt like my head had been trapped in a vice, for months... Then it would go away for a few weeks, and then come back somewhere else on my head. They were pretty scary.
I also had twitchy eyes, a freaky twitchy shoulder, popping noises in my head when I was trying to sleep/pass out...
Crazy anxiety too, borderline agoraphobic and frequent panic attacks when I was not at home. This was the worst bit.
And all the usual stomach complaints and chest pains.
I thought I was a hypochondriac, maybe not. My docs treated me like I was nuts but there was a lack of clear information on their part. I had always been honest about my drinking. I even had one doctor tell me alcohol doesn't cause nerve damage... none of them told me to quit until eventually a neurologist told me I'd need to quit completely to recover. I am so grateful that I did
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Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Planet Earth (most days)
Posts: 1,596
Originally Posted by alphaomega 
I imagine the medical industry and big pharma are quite disturbed when we get sober.
EVERY SINGLE ONE OF MY "MEDICAL" PROBLEMS HAS BEEN RESOLVED IN SOBRIETY.
EVERY SINGLE ONE OF MY "MEDICAL" PROBLEMS HAS BEEN RESOLVED IN SOBRIETY.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 380
Feeling like crap all the time was a big part of the reason I stopped drinking. My high B.P. led to medication. I told my Dr., "I'm getting off of these." I did. With exercise and abstinence. Now he says,"whatever you're doing keep doing it!"
Member
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: New England
Posts: 155
Awesome post Have been thinking lately about physical improvements I'm experiencing. My vision is better, vertigo gone and I had forgotten about the eye twitch, haven't had it happen in over 5 months...gee, been sober over 5 months...hmmm...
Have been thinking lately about physical improvements I'm experiencing. My vision is better, vertigo gone and I had forgotten about the eye twitch, haven't had it happen in over 5 months...gee, been sober over 5 months...hmmm...
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Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 987
So funny you wrote this today, AO, because I have an upcoming doctor's appointment next week and was going over my medical record today with the nurse so she knew what 'lingering problems' I would be coming in for.
As she went down the checklist (very similar to yours above), I thought, "Holy sh!t, I haven't had ANY of those things in over six months." As I kept saying, "No, no, no" or confirming, "Resolved, resolved, resolved," the nurse said, "Wow, have you adopted some radical new diet and exercise plan that we should know about that has caused you to be miraculously healed?"
I said, "Not really, just stopped drinking."
Her reply? "That'll do it."
As she went down the checklist (very similar to yours above), I thought, "Holy sh!t, I haven't had ANY of those things in over six months." As I kept saying, "No, no, no" or confirming, "Resolved, resolved, resolved," the nurse said, "Wow, have you adopted some radical new diet and exercise plan that we should know about that has caused you to be miraculously healed?"
I said, "Not really, just stopped drinking."
Her reply? "That'll do it."
Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 6,224
I totally relate to this post Alphaomega, the improvement in my physical health has been amazing. I forgot about the eye spasms, yep I had those too. My blood pressure medication has been halved and it looks as if I will go off it completely -- even at 58 with a long history of high bp in the family. I get up early with no problem, have no digestive issues, have taken up yoga and cycling in the space of seven months.
Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 5,937
Great post and great thread, alphaomega! I too had lots of symptoms that got worse with time. I'd had attributed them to getting older. Funny how I got a lot younger when I quit drinking. Some of my problems:
Fatigue- Like you I didn't really so much go to sleep as pass out. Woke up feeling like I ran a 5k in my sleep. Almost every day when the alarm went off I'd think, you gotta be f**kin' kiddin' me! It's morning/afternoon already?
Now I wake up feeling good and it's easy to get going.
Chronic joint pain- I attributed it to age and being a bit overweight but I would always wake up in considerable pain. And my knees and feel would hurt all day. Now zero pain.
Nausea- I would be incapable of seeing food without getting queasy for the first few hours, and I would wretch for an hour or two after getting up (kind of a dry coughing/ dry heaving). Completely gone.
Headaches- Probably due to constantly oscillating between hangover and withdrawals. I had a dull fuzz all the time that often flared into migraines. Gone.
Cold/Allergies- Not sure how to explain it. Seems that I had bad allergies, or at least all the symptoms. Watery eyes all the time, sneezing, runny nose, etc. All went away when I quit.
Tooth pain and dental infections- Plenty of dental pain, loose feeling teeth, infections, etc. Gone. Still have some dental issues due to decades of beer and alcohol but they're not getting worse...a work in progress.
Weight gain- This is a big one. I struggled to keep my weight in a good range; figured it was just due to getting older. In retrospect it's hard to drink 2,500 calories a day in addition to regular food and not get fat!
Depression- I had a general feeling of malaise all the time, and my outlook on life was bleak. I was fatalistic and didn't much care about my future. REALLY GONE!
Fatigue- Like you I didn't really so much go to sleep as pass out. Woke up feeling like I ran a 5k in my sleep. Almost every day when the alarm went off I'd think, you gotta be f**kin' kiddin' me! It's morning/afternoon already?
Now I wake up feeling good and it's easy to get going.Chronic joint pain- I attributed it to age and being a bit overweight but I would always wake up in considerable pain. And my knees and feel would hurt all day. Now zero pain.
Nausea- I would be incapable of seeing food without getting queasy for the first few hours, and I would wretch for an hour or two after getting up (kind of a dry coughing/ dry heaving). Completely gone.
Headaches- Probably due to constantly oscillating between hangover and withdrawals. I had a dull fuzz all the time that often flared into migraines. Gone.
Cold/Allergies- Not sure how to explain it. Seems that I had bad allergies, or at least all the symptoms. Watery eyes all the time, sneezing, runny nose, etc. All went away when I quit.
Tooth pain and dental infections- Plenty of dental pain, loose feeling teeth, infections, etc. Gone. Still have some dental issues due to decades of beer and alcohol but they're not getting worse...a work in progress.
Weight gain- This is a big one. I struggled to keep my weight in a good range; figured it was just due to getting older. In retrospect it's hard to drink 2,500 calories a day in addition to regular food and not get fat!
Depression- I had a general feeling of malaise all the time, and my outlook on life was bleak. I was fatalistic and didn't much care about my future. REALLY GONE!
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