Symptoms & Treatment for Alcoholic Neuropathy

Constant pain in the hands or feet is one of the most bothersome aspects of alcoholic neuropathy. As the condition progresses, the pain may vary in intensity, sometimes diminishing for months before worsening again. People who drink too much may start to feel pain and tingling in their limbs. In some cases, you can fully recover from peripheral neuropathy if your provider can find the cause and successfully treat it, and if the damage does not affect the entire nerve cell. For diabetic neuropathy, Matthew Villani, DPM, a podiatrist in Sanford, Florida, says he often recommends the multivitamin Metanx, which contains vitamin B12. As mentioned, long-term use of metformin can leave you deficient of this vitamin.

The Symptoms of Alcoholic Neuropathy and Treatment Options

• Malnutrition due to alcoholism can contribute to nerve damage and alcoholic polyneuropathy as well.
• The management of SFN should involve treatment of the underlying etiology in patients with an identified cause of neuropathy.
• N-acetylcysteine may have application in the prevention or treatment of neuropathy.
• Axonal degeneration and demyelination of neurons were seen in both humans and lab mice receiving alcohol.
• Both the toxicity of alcohol and nutritional deficiencies have been linked with alcoholic neuropathy, which is one of the most common but least recognizable consequences of heavy alcohol use.

More recent research, however, suggests that alcohol can directly damage nerves. The evidence points toward alcohol-related peripheral neuropathy being a form of toxic neuropathy, rather than nutritional neuropathy. Alcoholic polyneuropathy is progressive and gets worse over time, as the damage to the nerves increases with continued alcohol abuse.

Alcoholic Polyneuropathy – Signs, Symptoms, And Treatment

After assigning the patient to a typical clinical pattern, the assessment of primarily axonal versus demyelinating nerve damage by NCS/EMG is a critical next step for further differential diagnosis. Most neuropathies are axonal, recognizable by reduced compound muscle action potentials (CMAP) in motor nerves, reduced sensory nerve action potentials (SNAP), and normal or slightly reduced nerve conduction velocities. Spinal cord glial cells are implicated in the exaggerated pain alcohol neuropathy state created by diverse manipulations such as subcutaneous inflammation, neuropathy and spinal immune activation [65, 66]. It has been recognized that spinal cord glial cells, astrocytes and microglia are activated by neuropathic pain or peripheral inflammation [42]. Thiamine, folate, niacin, vitamins B6 and B12, and vitamin E are all needed for proper nerve function. Drinking too much can alter levels of these nutrients and affect the spread of alcoholic neuropathy.

Treatment Process

Additional testing of the kidneys, liver, upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract, and the nerves directly can also identify nerve problems. Seeking professional help is the best way to determine an appropriate treatment plan for both the nerve damage and alcohol use. Once a person has completed a medical detox program, additional treatment for neuropathy can be integrated into their recovery treatment plan. Sensory symptoms, caused by damage to sensory nerves, usually begin in the feet before progressing to the legs, hands, and arms. Usually, when sensory function becomes impaired above the ankle, they will also spread into the hands, a distribution known as the stocking-and-glove pattern.[5] Symptoms also often develop symmetrically. However, vulnerability to neuropathy and its severity and speed of progression varies.

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The first step for addressing alcohol-related neuropathy is to go through alcohol rehab or otherwise stop drinking. From there, you can work with your healthcare team to determine the best treatment plan based on the severity of your condition. If it is confirmed that ALN has caused your symptoms, it’s essential to understand the impact of this diagnosis on your quality of life and the steps you can take to preserve nerve function. Other causes can lead to neuropathy besides alcohol, so your healthcare provider may order additional tests to confirm what has caused your symptoms. For instance, they may check your thyroid function, neurons, electrolyte levels, and heart health. People with peripheral neuropathy usually describe the pain as stabbing, burning or tingling.

• Specifically, the study demonstrated worse NCS study dysfunction amongst wine drinkers, than those who drank beer or spirits alone [6].
• Further assignment to one of these two forms of injury is essential for subsequent stratification of genetic testing.
• Importantly, patients may occasionally suffer from more than one disease causing their peripheral neuropathy.
• It has been recognized that spinal cord glial cells, astrocytes and microglia are activated by neuropathic pain or peripheral inflammation [42].

The first step in treating alcoholic neuropathy is abstaining from alcohol, sometimes through rehab. Abstinence can prevent the progression and reoccurrence of neuropathy and, after a few months, improve symptoms in some people. For the most part this review consists of non-interventional studies for which generally accepted tools to evaluate risk of bias are not available.

Treating alcoholic polyneuropathy must begin with treating a person’s alcohol use. If a person is still drinking, the first recommended course of treatment is to enter a medical detox program, followed by an intensive inpatient rehab program. What’s known is that symptoms of alcoholic neuropathy can affect various systems throughout the body. For instance, this condition can disrupt the body’s ability to sense temperature changes, making a person more likely to suffer heat stroke or burns.

• The subgroup without thiamine deficiency, considered to be a pure form of alcoholic neuropathy, uniformly showed slowly progressive, sensory dominant symptoms.
• Damage to the nerves leads to unusual sensations in the limbs, reduced mobility, and loss of some bodily functions.
• In addition, acetyl-L-carnitine did not interfere with the antitumour effects of the drugs.
• Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy.

Alcohol-related peripheral neuropathy: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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