Alcoholic neuropathy signs and symptoms can progress gradually and are usually subtle at first. In fact, a person who drinks heavily might not recognize that the symptoms they are experiencing are related to their numbness after drinking alcohol consumption. Over time, the effects of drinking too much alcohol may cause alcoholic neuropathy.
How Mindful Drinking Helps Improve your Physical Wellness
A healthcare professional can offer support for people with alcohol use disorder. A doctor may also recommend treatments to manage neurological symptoms, such as Sober living house pain relief medications, physical therapy, and mobility aids. Individual health and lifestyle factors also play a critical role in the recovery from alcoholic neuropathy. A person’s metabolic rate, nutritional status, and adherence to treatment can all affect the pace of recovery.
Continuing Treatment After Withdrawal
- As axons break down, the nerve fibers become less dense and cannot function properly.
- Changes in muscle strength or sensation usually occur on both sides of the body and are more common in the legs than in the arms.
- Most alcoholics have been drinking for years, so a relatively short period of abstinence is usually not helpful.
- Hence, drinking alcohol makes it harder for your immune system to gear up and mount a defense response against invading pathogens and viruses.
Doctors will help you mitigate the damage, while a physician may prescribe various supplements that will replenish your system. If necessary, you may be advised to take pain medications, unless you already have a dependency on opioids. Our helpline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at no cost to you and with no obligation for you to enter into treatment.
What Are the Causes of This Type of Nerve Damage?
They may not feel strong sensations in these areas, either, due to the damage to the nerves. They may notice a weakness in their hands or that they have lost some of their coordination. Their balance can be affected due to the nerve damage in the legs and feet. It can be difficult to say exactly how much alcohol causes neuropathy because every person’s body chemistry is different. This is why you may feel drunk after three drinks, but someone else may only feel slightly tipsy after the same amount.
With the constant sensory damage, people will experience a lack of sensation in their feet and hands. Their wounds can be prone to bleeding and infections, which will impair their daily activities. This condition typically causes constant pain in the feet and hands. But, the pain is not the only troublesome aspect of alcohol-related neuropathy.
- There is no exact evidence that energy drinks might affect your nerves or not.
- We offer long-term residential addiction treatment for men and women struggling with drug & alcohol addiction.
- Here is a detailed overview of each option that can help diagnose the condition.
- This means that it increases urine production, leading to a loss of fluids and electrolytes.
- A healthcare professional can offer support for people with alcohol use disorder.
Once you stop alcohol intake, a doctor can address your specific symptoms. Doctors tailor specific treatments and alcohol abstinence programs to the individual. Excessive consumption of alcohol causes alcohol-related neurologic disease. When you consume alcohol, it’s absorbed into your bloodstream from the stomach and the small intestine. Risks for the baby can include brain damage and developmental, cognitive, and behavioral issues.
It damages the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord, known as peripheral neuropathy. Symptoms can include pain, numbness, tingling, loss of balance and coordination, muscle weakness, problems with digestion, and other issues. Proper nerve health depends on a balance of salts and chemicals in the blood. No matter what caused a particular person’s neuropathy, drinking makes things worse. That’s because the kidneys depend on having the right amount of water to function.