Neuropathy Symtpoms
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Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 101
Originally Posted by MC555 
Good to hear that things eventually worked out. My experience with neurologists (2 so far) has not been great. All of my physical tests, nerve tests and MRI’s have been normal so far and they seem to think nothing is wrong with me. I have been pushing them for a small fiber nerve damage test which one Neuro reluctantly agreed to, still waiting for the test and results. It’s frustrating when you clearly have physical symptoms and pain all day everyday with no diagnosis. I’m not even sure if alcohol has anything to do with this at this point, but staying sober just the same.
Do you have any symptoms while you were still drinking or did they all creep up after you quit? During your relapse of symptoms did they ever disappear completely for a period of time and then return weeks later worse?
Thanks again
Do you have any symptoms while you were still drinking or did they all creep up after you quit? During your relapse of symptoms did they ever disappear completely for a period of time and then return weeks later worse?
Thanks again
They kept getting worse after I quit. Some is attributed to withdrawal, but mainly I reached a damage threshold, and that damage doesn’t really arrest automatically with cessation. Alcohol actually helps your system bridge of those faulty nerve cells and hides the extent of damage until damage is considerable.
Yes, for the first year my symptoms would go away and then come back with differing severity. My chief complaints were always hand numbness and grip strength weakness. That came and went, and it gradually got better. Sometimes that came back, with the burning pain. But other weird stuff also happened. At about 5 months in, I woke up and my upper arms and shoulders just felt...weak. I think the term would be perceived weakness, not clinical. That lasted 2 weeks. It sounds benign writing about it here, but it was an incredibluly odd and distracting sensation. At 6 months, my triceps started acting like trip hammers, contracting so hard it hurt, relaxing, then spasming. They hadn’t given me the business before, and haven’t since, but it was enough to shake my whole arm. Let’s see, at 3 months the benign fascicuoatilns began in my calves and feet - 100’s of tiny muscle spasms a minute, mostly painless, some like little sparks of electricity. At 2 weeks my left eyelid began twitching and didn’t stop for 3 months. At one month the left side of my face went numb for an afternoon...what else...anyway for at least a year I had no clue on what would start or stop next. Not sure I’m out of the woods even now, but so be it.
Not medical advice, but one of my neuros said that sites of common nerve compression location injuries - carpal tunnel, cubital tunnel, thoracic outlet, are correlated with problems in alcoholics. Again - correlation, not causation. One hypothesis in the medical community is that even minor mechanical wear in these locations starts abrading the nerve, making that site more susceptible to damage. The type of damage (axonal, myelin - not sure which) isn’t enough alone to cause a legit nerve compression in non drinkers, but heavy drinkers tend to exhibit some of those symptoms.
FWIW, my NCV test indicated only a mild bilateral ulnar neuropathy. My neuro thinks it’s all the booze. My GP agrees, but has suggested i hedge my bets and wear the elbow braces
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Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 101
Originally Posted by NoahJ
Sorry to hear it continues for you. The onset of my symptoms was very sudden. My arm went numb and fingers started twitching so I thought maybe I should lay off the booze for a couple nights and see the Dr. But before my appointment withdrawal and the DT’s landed me in the emergency room for detox. So I don’t have much active history on living with the symptoms while still drinking.
They kept getting worse after I quit. Some is attributed to withdrawal, but mainly I reached a damage threshold, and that damage doesn’t really arrest automatically with cessation. Alcohol actually helps your system bridge of those faulty nerve cells and hides the extent of damage until damage is considerable.
Yes, for the first year my symptoms would go away and then come back with differing severity. My chief complaints were always hand numbness and grip strength weakness. That came and went, and it gradually got better. Sometimes that came back, with the burning pain. But other weird stuff also happened. At about 5 months in, I woke up and my upper arms and shoulders just felt...weak. I think the term would be perceived weakness, not clinical. That lasted 2 weeks. It sounds benign writing about it here, but it was an incredibluly odd and distracting sensation. At 6 months, my triceps started acting like trip hammers, contracting so hard it hurt, relaxing, then spasming. They hadn’t given me the business before, and haven’t since, but it was enough to shake my whole arm. Let’s see, at 3 months the benign fascicuoatilns began in my calves and feet - 100’s of tiny muscle spasms a minute, mostly painless, some like little sparks of electricity. At 2 weeks my left eyelid began twitching and didn’t stop for 3 months. At one month the left side of my face went numb for an afternoon...what else...anyway for at least a year I had no clue on what would start or stop next. Not sure I’m out of the woods even now, but so be it.
Not medical advice, but one of my neuros said that sites of common nerve compression location injuries - carpal tunnel, cubital tunnel, thoracic outlet, are correlated with problems in alcoholics. Again - correlation, not causation. One hypothesis in the medical community is that even minor mechanical wear in these locations starts abrading the nerve, making that site more susceptible to damage. The type of damage (axonal, myelin - not sure which) isn’t enough alone to cause a legit nerve compression in non drinkers, but heavy drinkers tend to exhibit some of those symptoms.
FWIW, my NCV test indicated only a mild bilateral ulnar neuropathy. My neuro thinks it’s all the booze. My GP agrees, but has suggested i hedge my bets and wear the elbow braces
They kept getting worse after I quit. Some is attributed to withdrawal, but mainly I reached a damage threshold, and that damage doesn’t really arrest automatically with cessation. Alcohol actually helps your system bridge of those faulty nerve cells and hides the extent of damage until damage is considerable.
Yes, for the first year my symptoms would go away and then come back with differing severity. My chief complaints were always hand numbness and grip strength weakness. That came and went, and it gradually got better. Sometimes that came back, with the burning pain. But other weird stuff also happened. At about 5 months in, I woke up and my upper arms and shoulders just felt...weak. I think the term would be perceived weakness, not clinical. That lasted 2 weeks. It sounds benign writing about it here, but it was an incredibluly odd and distracting sensation. At 6 months, my triceps started acting like trip hammers, contracting so hard it hurt, relaxing, then spasming. They hadn’t given me the business before, and haven’t since, but it was enough to shake my whole arm. Let’s see, at 3 months the benign fascicuoatilns began in my calves and feet - 100’s of tiny muscle spasms a minute, mostly painless, some like little sparks of electricity. At 2 weeks my left eyelid began twitching and didn’t stop for 3 months. At one month the left side of my face went numb for an afternoon...what else...anyway for at least a year I had no clue on what would start or stop next. Not sure I’m out of the woods even now, but so be it.
Not medical advice, but one of my neuros said that sites of common nerve compression location injuries - carpal tunnel, cubital tunnel, thoracic outlet, are correlated with problems in alcoholics. Again - correlation, not causation. One hypothesis in the medical community is that even minor mechanical wear in these locations starts abrading the nerve, making that site more susceptible to damage. The type of damage (axonal, myelin - not sure which) isn’t enough alone to cause a legit nerve compression in non drinkers, but heavy drinkers tend to exhibit some of those symptoms.
FWIW, my NCV test indicated only a mild bilateral ulnar neuropathy. My neuro thinks it’s all the booze. My GP agrees, but has suggested i hedge my bets and wear the elbow braces
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Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 25
Originally Posted by NoahJ
Sorry - that I wear the elbow braces for cubital tunnel syndrome to see if that helps.
I’m on enough vitamins to fill a pharmacy at this point and I’m not sure if any of them are helping, but I guess they couldn’t make things worse.
I also stopped drinking right after noticing numbness of the feet and leg pain, but then started up again after about of month of feeling better and the symptoms returned which is why I initially thought alcohol is the culprit, but the more this persists and the longer I obstain from alcohol the more I’m thinking there might another underlying neurological or muscle skeletal issue. Trying to have patience and continuing my sobriety in hopes things get better or I can at least get some sort of diagnosis for peace of mind if anything.
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Originally Posted by MC555
The variety of symptoms that people can experience with neuropathy type conditions is really strange. My main complaint is cramps, aches and soreness in the both calves and hamstrings. Recently I have been getting pains and soreness in the bottoms of my feet (especially in the morning getting out of bed) similar to planter fasciitis. My left hand hand has also become progressively more “tingly” over the past month. Kind of like cubital/carpal tunnel.
I’m on enough vitamins to fill a pharmacy at this point and I’m not sure if any of them are helping, but I guess they couldn’t make things worse.
I also stopped drinking right after noticing numbness of the feet and leg pain, but then started up again after about of month of feeling better and the symptoms returned which is why I initially thought alcohol is the culprit, but the more this persists and the longer I obstain from alcohol the more I’m thinking there might another underlying neurological or muscle skeletal issue. Trying to have patience and continuing my sobriety in hopes things get better or I can at least get some sort of diagnosis for peace of mind if anything.
I’m on enough vitamins to fill a pharmacy at this point and I’m not sure if any of them are helping, but I guess they couldn’t make things worse.
I also stopped drinking right after noticing numbness of the feet and leg pain, but then started up again after about of month of feeling better and the symptoms returned which is why I initially thought alcohol is the culprit, but the more this persists and the longer I obstain from alcohol the more I’m thinking there might another underlying neurological or muscle skeletal issue. Trying to have patience and continuing my sobriety in hopes things get better or I can at least get some sort of diagnosis for peace of mind if anything.
I saw many different doctors and had a lot of different tests, and like you none of them showed anything wrong physiologically. After a while our family doc finally said it was possibly anxiety related and prescribed me with an SSRI. I did not want to take it so I saw a counselor - and that opened up the door to a whole new solution I had never even considered.
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Join Date: May 2018
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Originally Posted by ScottFromWI
Just a thought here MC555, but have you explored the possibility that anxiety might be part of your issues? I was a classic health anxiety sufferer both during the final stages of my drinking and also well into the first 2 years of being sober. I obsessively researched things health related on the internet both neurological and physical. Any little twinge I felt in my body was something I would try to find and answer to. Balance issues, little dizzy spells, tingling in feet hands, shaking hands - i had lots of them. I self diagnosed myself with neuropathy, ALS, early onset dementia, parkinsons disease, various cancers, you name it I was convinced I had it. And I truly believe that I manifested many of the symptoms physically from my contsant obsession with them.
I saw many different doctors and had a lot of different tests, and like you none of them showed anything wrong physiologically. After a while our family doc finally said it was possibly anxiety related and prescribed me with an SSRI. I did not want to take it so I saw a counselor - and that opened up the door to a whole new solution I had never even considered.
I saw many different doctors and had a lot of different tests, and like you none of them showed anything wrong physiologically. After a while our family doc finally said it was possibly anxiety related and prescribed me with an SSRI. I did not want to take it so I saw a counselor - and that opened up the door to a whole new solution I had never even considered.
I have suffered from anxiety/panic attacks for a little over a decade (managed by self medicating with alcohol) so this has been on mind and even mentioned by doctors. I definitely think this has some part in my symptoms and certainly may be making things worse, but the level of pain in my feet and legs is beyond anything I have experienced before with anxiety. It is also pretty chronic at this point as I have had it every single day for 7+ weeks.
I am meeting with a pain management specialist who is also considering the anxiety/mental implications so maybe I’ll have some luck treating it on that front. Did your symptoms get better or subside once you started treating the anxiety?
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Originally Posted by MC555
. Did your symptoms get better or subside once you started treating the anxiety?
Don't get me wrong, I still advocate for anyone to get annual physicals and see a doctor if something doesn't feel right. But much of my problem was an over-reaction to something that was really nothing, and I literally made myself sick with my thoughts.
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Join Date: Jul 2018
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Jerking
I get the twitching, but I also get more of an involuntary small jerk in my muscles. Sometimes when I go to move my arm, instead of a fluid movement it jerks there. Or laying in bed and my calf will jerk. Like when I get twitches they’re multiple fast movements of the muscle alone. When something jerks it will move that whole body part. I’m a tad terrified, but I’ve also made it two days AF so I’m praying it’s detox symptoms that will subside. Anyone else experience this?
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Once I hit 50 I noticed that I’d wake up feeling pain all over, and it would be painful to walk. I’m on Day 5 now and the pain is subsiding...maybe because I’m more hydrated? Also my BP is going down, which I understand can help with chronic aches and pains.
Yet another reason to stay sober!
Yet another reason to stay sober!
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