Alcoholic Neuropathy: Causes, Symptoms & Treatment

Overconsumption of alcohol may directly harm and hinder the nerves’ ability to communicate information from one body area to another. The diagnosis of alcoholic neuropathy involves a combination of medical history, physical examination, and possibly blood tests or nerve tests such as electromyography (EMG) and nerve conduction studies (NCV). Our muscles need to receive a message from nearby nerves in order to function. When this message is interrupted due to damaged nerves, the muscles cannot function as they normally would.

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Alcoholic neuropathy is a condition in which drinking too much alcohol causes damage to nerve tissue. The symptoms of alcohol withdrawal syndrome can vary in severity and time of onset. Early stages are marked by autonomic presentations, tremors, hyperactivity, insomnia, and headaches. Minor withdrawal is characterized by intact orientation and full consciousness. As the syndrome progresses, individuals may experience hallucinations, illusions, and acute symptomatic seizures.

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Use of antacids and other medicines for a longer period can affect the normal absorption of vitamins and nutrients, essential for nerve building. This can lead to deficiency of vitamin B12 and other essential nutrients, which can increase the risk of alcoholic neuropathy. A common question coming to one’s mind is, ‘can alcoholic neuropathy be reversed? ’ To be able to understand this, it is important to understand the way alcoholic neuropathy affects a person, its causes, symptoms, treatment and recovery.

This is a severe and short-term neurologic disease that can be life threatening. People who struggle with alcoholism should try to eat a healthy and balanced diet, even if they don’t feel hungry. She has over a decade of direct patient care experience working as a registered nurse specializing in neurotrauma, stroke, and the emergency room. These symptoms are progressive and can severely impact daily life if not addressed early. Physical therapy and orthopedic appliances (such as splints) may be needed to maintain muscle function and limb position. Your health care provider will perform a physical exam and ask about symptoms.

• It can lead to symptoms such as tingling, numbness, muscle weakness, and gastrointestinal issues.
• Our muscles need to receive a message from nearby nerves in order to function.
• Neuropathy severely affects the way the nerves send signals to or receive from the brain.
• People in whom the disease progression is not advanced, alcoholic neuropathy can be reversed, but it may take few weeks to months with continuous support.

Nerve conduction studies and electromyography

The evidence of positive dynamics at peripheral Substance abuse and segmental nerve system level was supported by neurophysiological data. Benfotiamine was found to be beneficial in patients with alcoholic polyneuropathy 98. Alcoholic polyneuropathy is a neurological disorder in which peripheral nerves throughout the body malfunction simultaneously. It is defined by axonal degeneration in neurons of both the sensory and motor systems and initially occurs at the distal ends of the longest axons in the body. This nerve damage causes an individual to experience pain and motor weakness, first in the feet and hands and then progressing centrally. Alcoholic polyneuropathy is caused primarily by chronic alcoholism; however, vitamin deficiencies are also known to contribute to its development.

Alcoholic Neuropathy (Alcohol-related Nerve Damage)

These individuals draw the majority of calories from calorie rich alcoholic beverages with low nutritive value. Chronic abuse of alcohol depletes the pool of liver proteins which are consumed for energy production and insufficient intake of proteins only worsens this imbalance. Resulting disturbances in protein and lipid metabolism lead to undernourishment which adversely influences other metabolic pathways, including those influencing the function of the nervous system.

Does alcohol cause muscle weakness?

• Counseling or therapy can help us cope with the emotional and mental challenges of a lengthy recovery process.
• In agreement with this, one recent study has confirmed the efficacy of TCAs in central pain 116.
• The mechanism of direct damage of nerve fibers due to alcohol intoxication remains unclear.
• While it is difficult to reverse all the nerve damage, symptoms can improve significantly with proper treatment, including quitting alcohol and addressing nutritional deficiencies.

In an animal study, it has been found that chronic alcohol consumption in rats resulted in a significant depletion in thiamine diphosphate (TDP), the active coenzyme form of thiamine. Supplementation with benfotiamine significantly increased concentrations of TDP and total thiamine compared with supplementation with thiamine HCl 96. An 8 week, randomized, multicentre, placebo-controlled, double-blind study compared the effect of benfotiamine alone with a benfotiamine complex (Milgamma-N) or placebo in 84 alcoholic patients. Parameters measured included vibration perception in the great toe, ankle and tibia, neural pain intensity, motor function and paralysis, sensory function and overall neuropathy score and clinical assessment. Although benfotiamine therapy was superior to Milgamma-N or placebo for all parameters, results reached statistical significance only for motor function, paralysis and overall neuropathy score. The reason for better results in the benfotiamine alone https://dev1.sentientgeeks.us/arindamart-studio/2022/10/06/alcohol-detox-strategies-how-to-flush-alcohol-from/ group than in the Milgamma-N group, despite the fact that the benfotiamine dosage was equivalent, is not completely understood.

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Early diagnosis and treatment can help increase your chances of fully recovering. Clinical examination and neurological tests must be conducted for the evaluation of muscle strength, increased sensitivity, ability to register pain, touch and other senses, presence of cramps and twitching of muscles. Muscle functioning and control, muscle weakness is also tested to understand the condition. Patient’s history is important to analyze the social habits, work environment, dietary habits, history of alcoholism and family history of diabetes or neurological disease. History of complaints, the nature, onset and the progress of symptoms and history of past or present medical conditions, injuries, surgeries or medications taken must be noted. At Infinite Recovery, we understand the challenges of alcoholic neuropathy and addiction recovery.

Motor Symptoms of Alcoholic Neuropathy

It has been recognized that spinal cord glial cells, astrocytes and microglia are activated by neuropathic pain or peripheral inflammation 42. This condition is caused primarily by the toxic effects of alcohol on the nerves, coupled with nutritional deficiencies common in long-term alcohol use. Both the quantity and duration of alcohol consumption play a role in its development. Diagnosing alcoholic neuropathy typically involves a detailed medical history review, neurological exams, and tests like nerve conduction studies to assess the extent of nerve damage. Blood tests are often conducted to check for alcohol nerve damage vitamin deficiencies and alcohol-related damage. Studies show that 25-66% of chronic alcohol users have neuropathy.2  This research indicates that alcohol misuse is a significant risk factor for developing nerve damage, including alcoholic polyneuropathy.

Nevertheless, heavy alcohol drinkers are usually significantly malnourished because of the improperly balanced diet and impaired absorption of the essential nutrients and elements 58, 59. Chronic alcohol consumption can have deleterious effects on the central and peripheral nervous systems. One of the most common adverse effects seen in patients with chronic alcohol use disorder is alcohol neuropathy.