Numbness, pins and needles, burning pain of feet and legs, especially at night.
This can be caused by alcohol. Did you know that alcohol can cause nerve
damage and lead to neuropathic pain? Many people don’t know that.
And even worse, many people with chronic pain
self-medicate with alcohol to alleviate emotional pain, and they may just be causing
more damage to their body and more pain. Today I’ll answer some questions:
How much alcohol causes this type of nerve damage? Is this reversible if I stop drinking?
If I don’t drink at night I don’t sleep well, what should I do?
Are there any treatments for the pain caused by alcohol-related neuropathy?
So, let’s talk about alcohol neuropathy today
How much alcohol causes neuropathy? The higher the amount and the longer
the person uses alcohol, the higher their chances of developing neuropathy.
If the person drinks more than 100 g/ day for many years, it is almost certain they will develop it.
The symptoms start very mild and progress slowly, therefore, many patients do not even notice they
have numbness or gait problems, until the disease is severe and they start falling.
Alcohol-related neuropathy can affect people differently. Here are some examples of the
damage that alcohol can do to the nervous system: - Sensation problems that starts in the feet,
and progress to the legs, knees. It can also affect the fingers and hands.
These sensation problems are: numbness, pins and needles, burning pain, lancinating pain.
- Motor problems. These are muscle wasting and weakness.
- Proprioception, that is the ability to feel the position of our joints. This is how proprioception
works. If I close my eyes, I am still able to tell the position of my joints. Alcohol is toxic to the
nerve fibers that carry this information. Then the person loses the ability to sense
position and start tripping and falling. - Alcohol is also toxic to the cerebellum,
a part of the brain that controls balance. - And the autonomic nervous system
can also be affected, the vagus nerve can lead to swallowing problems, abnormal heart rate, sexual
impotence and sleep apnea. -
And alcohol is able to cause a certain type of dementia
Is it reversible if the person stops drinking? We don’t know exactly why alcohol causes nerve
pain. It may be the direct toxicity of alcohol on the peripheral nerves,
but it could also be a consequence of vitamin deficiency, especially thiamine or vitamin B1.
The damage that is caused by alcohol is irreversible. What is lost cannot be regained.
But if the person quit drinking they will halt the progression of more neuropathy.
It is important to remember that a person who drinks alcohol daily cannot stop abruptly or
they may have seizures and die. They need to reduce their alcohol intake slowly and
sometimes they need medical supervision to take medications that stop seizures and hallucinations.
Before I continue, please remember that this video is for educational purposes only. If you have a
medical condition causing chronic pain, talk to your doctor. If there is an emergency go to the
nearest emergency department or call an ambulance. What should you do if alcohol helps you to sleep?
Actually, alcohol is a terrible substance to take before bedtime.
In the few hours after the person drinks alcohol they will feel relaxed and fall asleep, but then,
the alcohol will decrease the amount of REM sleep. REM sleep is very important to sleep quality.
Are there any treatments for pain caused by alcohol?
The treatment of alcohol-induced peripheral neuropathy is very difficult
because we still do not understand exactly how to revert its damage. Once the nerves are affected
they are irreversible damaged. So, what we can do is to stop further damage by avoiding more alcohol
consumption and providing supplementation with vitamins, especially in the B complex.
Patients may need to take some medications that we use for neuropathic pain, such as gabapentin,
pregabalin, amitriptyline, or duloxetine. See the other videos that I have for each of these drugs.
Anti-inflammatory drugs and acetaminophen usually do not help with this kind of neuropathic pain.
Alpha-lipoic acid is an antioxidant that is sold without a doctor’s prescription.
It is thought to help with peripheral nerve pain.
But peripheral neuropathy is not the only problem that alcohol causes. Regular use of alcohol can
lead to cancer, gout, pancreatitis, depression, dementia, cardiovascular diseases, and anemia.
Alcohol may help the person to fall asleep, but it disrupts the quality of sleep. Therefore,
people should avoid drinking alcohol at least 4 hours before their bedtime.
Patients who take other sedating medications for pain should avoid alcohol.
These are medications like opioids, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, benzodiazepines,
muscle relaxants, and cannabinoids. Alcohol is involved in many motor
vehicle collisions, accidents at work, falls and fractures. You should avoid drinking before
any activity that requires attention, concentration, and operating machines.
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I post videos about diagnosis, treatment and prevention of chronic pain.
Watch my next video here. Bye