Beyond her clinical practice at AspenRidge, Courtney finds solace in outdoor activities, sports, reading, and cherishing quality time with her family and beloved dog. Originally from Boca Raton, Florida, Danny moved to Denver to study at the University of Colorado and earned a master’s degree in counseling. Danny spent the first nine years of his career working in youth residential treatment.
Symptoms of Alcoholic Neuropathy
- When a person drinks too much alcohol, the levels of these vitamins get altered.
- The main toxicity of consuming too much alcohol is related to nerve tissue.
- Electrical nerve stimulation sends a small electrical current through the skin and nerves that can help with sensitivities and pain, making it an option for treatment.
- Symptoms that occur in the arms and legs typically affect both sides.
- They may notice a weakness in their hands or that they have lost some of their coordination.
You may also have to work with healthcare professionals, including going to physical therapy on an ongoing basis. This can greatly diminish your quality of life if you have nerve damage from excessive alcohol consumption or addictive patterns of alcohol intake. Long-term heavy alcohol use, particularly when accompanied by nutritional deficiencies, can damage the body’s nerves, leading to a host of painful and debilitating symptoms. Alcoholic neuropathy can affect both sensory and motor nerves, causing pain, hypersensitivity, numbness, muscle weakness, and what does alcoholic neuropathy feel like lack of coordination and fine motor controls, largely in the extremities.
- Drinking too much alcohol can cause problems with getting enough vitamins, especially thiamine, which is important for the health of the nerves.
- In addition, they may order blood tests to check for vitamin and nutrient deficiencies.
- When you consume a lot of alcohol, the nerves become even more vulnerable to damage.
- In the same manner, numbness and lowered ability to feel pain sensations can make people more apt to cut themselves or otherwise damage the skin.
- When you pair that with pain and hypersensitivity, it becomes difficult for the hands and feet to function.
Alcoholic Neuropathy: Symptoms, Causes, Treatments
Especially if you have been drinking heavily for many years, coping with alcohol use disorder is not easy. But with the proper resources to help, you are better set up for success with sobriety. Heidi Moawad is a neurologist and expert in the field of brain health and neurological disorders. When significantly limiting or stopping alcohol consumption, receiving ongoing support is essential. She typically works with people interested in taking a holistic approach to treating their addictions.
Exams and Tests
Understanding that recovery from alcoholic neuropathy is a long-term, often variable process, allows us to work towards the best possible outcomes. With the right approach and support, we can achieve significant improvements in our symptoms and quality of life. Initially, they may be barely noticeable but can progress to more severe and disabling conditions if alcohol consumption continues. Severe alcoholic neuropathy may cause motor weakness due to nerve damage. Our muscles need to receive a message from nearby nerves in order to function.
- The eyes too, might reflect the toll taken by excessive alcohol consumption, showcasing signs like redness, dryness, and sometimes involuntary rapid eye movements, often referred to as “alcoholic eyes.”
- She enjoys singing and dancing in kirtan and reading ancient Vedic literature like the Bhagavad Gita and the Srimad Bhagavatam.
- Doctors will help you mitigate the damage, while a physician may prescribe various supplements that will replenish your system.
- Studies show that alcoholic neuropathy could be the result of the direct toxic effect of alcohol or its metabolites and nutritional deficiencies (for example, thiamine deficiency).
In general, it takes years for alcoholic neuropathy to develop, so a long-standing history of heavy alcohol use is typical. Some people experience a faster onset and progression of alcoholic neuropathy than others. It’s not completely clear why some people are more prone to this complication than others.
How long does it take to develop alcoholic neuropathy?
This will help reduce the impact of nerve damage and manage the condition. While managing alcoholic neuropathy, nutritional deficiencies must be addressed, as they play a vital role in the recovery process. Some common deficiencies to watch out for include vitamin B1, B6, and B12. Ensuring proper nutrition will aid in minimizing the damage and enhance the recovery process. Your doctor will recommend supplements and dietary changes to address these deficiencies.
When speaking with a doctor, a person should be honest about how much alcohol they consume. There are several possible causes of neuropathy, and knowing about a person’s alcohol intake can help the doctor to make an accurate diagnosis. Originally from Nashville, TN, Jordan moved to Colorado with her family at age five. She has worked in behavioral health since graduating with her bachelor’s degree in 2019. Jordan developed her clinical approach in various inpatient, hospital, outpatient, and private practice settings. Jordan continued her studies and earned a master’s in clinical and mental health counseling.
- Free radicals are unstable molecules with versatile structures, allowing them to initiate long-chain chemical reactions with a plethora of other molecules, causing cellular damage in the process.
- It is important that you completely remove all the alcohol from your system.
- But when the damage is too severe, especially to the liver, patients may need a liver transplant.
- She spends most weekends in the mountains hiking, fishing, 4-wheeling, and camping.
- He received his bachelor’s in health and exercise science with a concentration in sports medicine and eventually earned a master’s of psychology in addiction counseling.
- Treatment will depend on the type, location, and severity of your symptoms.
- Electromyography (EMG) and nerve conduction studies (NCV) will then be necessary to assess, not the cause of the prospective neuropathy, but the severity of the nerve damage.
Define what your health means to you and stop living life in pain!
To diagnose alcoholic neuropathy, medical professionals will generally perform a few tests or exams to determine the severity of the disorder and what can be done to treat and manage the symptoms. The journal further reports that alcoholic polyneuropathy is likely caused by nutritional deficiencies and the depletion of thiamine that is caused by heavy and long-term drinking. Alcoholic neuropathy, also known as alcoholic peripheral neuropathy, refers to damage of the nerves due to chronic and excessive alcohol consumption. Affected nerves include the peripheral nerves, primarily located in the arms and legs, and the autonomic nerves, Alcoholics Anonymous which help regulate our internal body functions.