Day 98

[mumof3girls]

Hi all, I just thought I would give you an update on hubby. He is now on day 98 with no alcohol. His mood is much better and he is eating again, which is great. He is still not driving, but he is still finding this very frustrating. The Ascites seems to have disappeared, but he is still on medication for this, however the Oedema is still there in his calves. Hubby is still not sleeping well, some nights are better than others. Some nights he gets up twice for a wee, other nights he can get up 6 times? Hubby has now been told that the new scans show that he now has Osteopenia and Osteoporosis. Hubby still has the shakes, which we have been told is not down to the alcohol anymore. Hubby is still waiting for his tilt test to see if they can see what caused the blackouts. He went in for it at the end of last month but because he had had Covid in July the specialist refused to do it, so he is booked to have it later this month. Hubby was told that if he had not stopped drinking and had not had his vaccines, then the covid would have caused him to go into hospital but he never would have come out, as his body was so weak. That was a real eye opener to hubby. The worst thing that hubby has at the moment is the Peripheral Neuropathy. This seems to be getting worse and hubby is now in a lot of pain with it. He says the numbness has also spread up into his calves as well. We have just contacted his GP and asked her to review hubby's medication and see if he needs to be seen by anyone else for the neuropathy or need further tests re the shakes? Some days he struggles to hold a cup of tea. Hubby has also been very apologetic over the last few weeks for the time and money he has wasted over the years on drinking and getting us into debt. He also lied on his application for life insurance 6 years ago, so when he went to claim for critical illness, they sent for his medical file and saw the truth of his medical history and declined his claim, cancelled the policy, but they did refund him all of his payments.

So all in all hubby's health appears to have stabilised for now, but only time will tell whether or not he left it too late to give up drinking?

Anyone else got Neuropathy? any hints or tips?

[Glenfaba123]

Hi nice to hear from you, its good to hear your hubby has abstained from alcohol for 98 days, thats a marvellous achievement and has done is health so much good, its good that he's remorseful about the money he's spent and the debts he's got you into over the years, at least he can now see how it affected the whole family as a result. My hubby is struggling with not being able to drive, but its for their own safety and the safety of other drivers. My hubby doesn't have peripheral neuropathy so im not able to advise you on that, but im sure someone on the forum will, so glad to hear positive feedback on your hubby it must be such a relief for the whole family, may it continue and carry on.

Kind regards and take care

Julie xx

[Cb1963]

Well ,firstly I'm so happy that your husband has managed nearly 100 days free from alcohol,I will get down to the nitty and gritty about the neuropathy, but this is my own personal journey, I'm nearly 10 years sober, after stopping drinking for the first 3 months I had NO symptoms ,however, that's when my problems started, I often would find my arms and legs would thrash around uncontrollably, and I would get pains in my chest, but that stopped,and then I ended up with the most horrible pains in my feet, and lower legs,pins and needles ,burning sensations,there's that many way to describe the 'sensations' as the pains vary from one day to another,unfortunately,i was also a chronic alcoholic,and yes I can't turn the clock back, but I would rather have my life now than all those years ago, the medication available is very limited I'm afraid to say,so maybe not discuss this with your husband because as I don't want you to put him under any pressure, I don't want this to come across as selfish either, because I'm not that way inclined, we have had difficult lives sometimes as alcoholics, but ,medication available is available, myself I take mirtrazapine at night time, and pregabalin, and there's also ralvo patches, which may help numb your husbands calf muscles,the nerve damage from drinking has possibly caused these issues, but other symptoms cause neuropathy as well,diabetes, etc,I've ended up with even more symptoms because I suffer from B12 problems, which also has added even more symptoms to the list, and now receive a B12 injection, it sounds like your husband is beginning to turn the corner, and even his apology is a good start, and you must have an extremely good heart to understand him,I wish you both well in the future, and long may his recovery continue,best wishes to you.