Hello everyone I'm really sorry to be posting again!! So the pain in my husbands legs are very severe, the question is would anybody advise using ibuprofen gel on his legs to help? He take codeine for tummy pain aswell as leg pain, he used to use the gel but he got cramps has not wanted to use it since as he thinks that might have caused it, I don't think it is but any ideas on creams that we can use to help? He says it's like a rod going up his leg.
TIA
Hi I’m sorry your husband is suffering right now, I suffer quite badly with alcohol neuropathy in my feet and did get quite bad pain and aches and pains around my knees after I come out of hospital March 23 with alcohol hepatitis, so I was prescribed Ibuprofen for my knees and feet at the start, but I found it didn’t work at all so I tried making my own Capsaicin cream which didn’t really work either.
I ended up buying some natural hemp cream thing online which certainly helped soothe things over, but only that. With advanced liver disease and cirrhosis I think it’s always wise to speak to a doctor first or ideally a hep doctor about any medication, prescribed or otherwise as some medicine can actually do more harm than good and may interfere with other medication being used.
I’ve since been prescribed various other medicine for my neuropathy which I chose not to take after reading up on things and even though they were prescribed by my hep doctor, they are not 100% liver friendly and that’s the last thing I would want to do is to hit my liver with any more toxins after the (alcohol) abuse I’ve given it. I hope you find a solution soon, good luck and take care.
Hi grassroots112
Thankyou for the information, I have tries talking to the doctors and the hep doctor but nobody really seems interested, it's been very difficult to manage on our own and we aelre just trying things as we go along in hopes of finding something that will help, I hope you are feeling a little better.
It sounds very much like neuropathy, the symptoms don't normally appear until after you've stopped drinking, I didn't get any problems when I first quit drinking, but around 3 months later then different things started to happen, my arms and legs would randomly move around, and then the pains appeared, they were exactly how you explained, it was like red hot pokers being shoved into my knees and going down to my toes, and even though I'm sober for 12+ years I have constant pins and needles in my feet. People have different ways of explaining pain, and neuropathy gives different sensations during the day and night, it's hard trying to explain as they come in different guises, but the rod hot poker sensations have disappeared, but my feet constantly
" burn" and I have it going down my wrists into my little fingers, at first i was given a list at the hospital on how to describe the pain or sensations and the list was endless, but I added even more, because like I said it's difficult explaining this condition, I've got B12 deficiency issues which also
" double " up the same symptoms, and I was warned if I ever drank again the pains would be as bad, I hope your husband understands the problem because I struggled getting my head around it,but nerve damage is notorious to cure, it's important not to drink or smoke, and perhaps a check on his B12 is worth a mention, even taking tablets from over the counter may help, if not injections are the way forward and different medication is available if he can't sleep, mirtrazapine is a medication I take and the pain killer pregabalin is also used, any further questions please go ahead and ask away, best of luck!😇
You describe some of the sensations and feelings I feel in my feet, I’ve been diagnosed as having alcohol neuropathy and like yourself it’s crazy how I didn’t feel a thin until after I stopped drinking.
My doctor said I’ve probably had it for years, but was either numb to it through the alcohol or didn’t really notice it due to being too drunk. It’s just about manageable mine, but some nights I can’t sleep and want to hack my feet off. It’s always the night time and lately I could get up and start walking and the soles of my feet, especially the bone in my heel, hurts like hell, as if I’m walking just on the heal on top of a hard rounded stone.
That’s the only way I can describe it, it last for about 30 minutes and then goes. It’s so odd and very frustrating and can see my giving up attempting to walk any further when it comes on because of the pain and I love walking and credit it massively in my recovery among other things.
Yes sadly the nerve damage is usually caused by heavy drinking, and it's normally because of poor diets during drinking as well, we rob our bodies of vital nutrition over several years of indulging in far to much alcohol and going well above guidelines, I try and find " cold" spots in the bed. But when I first started with this condition I decided to have a bath and couldn't feel the temperature in the bath water and scolded my backside !!! It's relentless the burning pains and pins and needles and I've been like this for over 12 years, but try mirtrazapine if you aren't getting much sleep, it helps, best of luck!!!!
Thanks and wow 12 years, that’s a long time, well done on staying sober for all that time, that’s truly amazing. And yes, I robbed my body of so many vital nutrients, vitamins and minerals. I was considerably deficient in Vitamin D, Thiamine and Folate which I’ve learned can not just affect the nerves, but also the skin, bones and muscles and all no doubt contributed to my muscle wastage too.
I’ve tried compression socks, cold and hot feet baths, I also bought a raised foot cushion nit longer after I quit drinking as I was worried about odema in my legs as I suffered pitting early on. Thankfully that disappeared pretty quickly, but out of the blue I was getting terrible pins and needles, dead legs, stabbing pains and an intense itch in my feet. They all can come and go.
I sleep with my feet out of covers now and have even put a fan on them overnight at times. My home made creams, gels the doctor has prescribed for me, amitriptyline etc. all don’t seem to work and recently they gave me an anti depressant which they claimed can block the nerves which I’ve refused to take. I’m reluctant to take any form of medicine in fear they will be toxic for my liver, that and I want to be medicine free if I can help it for as long as I can, but I’ll likely need something to help with my sleep as this gets worse and worse, there is no cure apparently, so thanks for the recommendation regarding the sleeping medication.
The only thing I’ve used that helps more than anything else I’ve tried with my neuropathy is tiger balm or Vicks rub. I also drink homemade turmeric and ginger shots, pickle juice and apple cider vinegar with mother daily which all help massively with the aches and pains. And I swear those things have all helped my liver heal along with my daily intake of berries, coffee and green teas.
Sadly I do still smoke, although I’ve cut right down, I was told when I quit drinking, don’t quit smoking at the same time even though it’s going to help your liver if you do, as it would have been too much to withdraw from and focus on, but it’s almost a year and a half I’ve been sober now and I desperately need to stop smoking which I’ve found is harder than actually quitting drinking.
I personally would like to see an outright ban on all smoking products, tobacco and manufactured vapes. If eating chocolate did to us what smoking does it would be banned tomorrow.
Alcohol now… well I’m the one with the problem with that or was, and it’s on me to moderate myself around alcohol, not the industry and others who can happily enjoy drinking moderately so it would be wrong of me to wish that too was banned even though I think it’s as bad as any hard drugs and definitely needs regulated more because it doesn’t just damage the liver, I’m learning just how much damage I’ve done to my body through drinking like my neuropathy which I wouldn’t wish on anyone and again want to hack my feet off at times just to put an end to the intense serious of things that happen to my feet as soon as it gets dark and it’s bed time. Hence why I’m up right now…
Yes I understand all your concerns, I have terrible sleep patterns, and well done on staying sober, 👏 I don't mind socialising even going into a pub, as I'm quite happy with Coca-Cola ( full fat 😀) I had awful bouts of depression which pushed my life into alcohol and then the addiction, I witnessed two horrible events and still suffer with ptsd, I used drink too blank out my thoughts, it's a long story, and still have pangs of guilt on how my life panned out I missed several years of family life,I became a nomad, and lost contact with my family, I even ended up in a hostel for alcoholics, and of course all the health problems it caused during drinking, and have neuropathy in my hands which started a few years ago especially down my forarms into my little fingers, obviously I can't change my past but I still want to have a say in my future , it's not easy, but being alive is what many of those people who have sadly died through alcohol couldn't succeed, there's so many thread's to an alcoholic we all have different ways of trying to
" cure" ourselves , it's a long journey, and staying sober and being different individuals it's a pathway to try to enjoy living, as for neuropathy I doubt many people know what this is about, you hear enough about smoking and cancer, but neuropathy is something rarely mentioned when going to the pub with your pals, perhaps different warnings are required when manufacturers sell their products, and maybe education at schools perhaps, hope you get some rest soon, and don't be afraid of asking for the mirtrazapine, remember we poisoned our bodies with drinking, and I'm into my twelfth year taking these tablets, some sleep is better than none 😊
I’m so sorry you’ve went through what you have, but you must be extremely proud of yourself for what you’ve achieved and you seem to strong coming through what you have to still be here sharing your experiences of being 12+ years sober, truly inspirational 👏
My own history with drinking is strange as up until my early 30s I rarely drank, but I have an addictive personality and found in whiskey something that I absolutely loved in terms of the taste, how it relaxed me, how it helped me sleep and how, which was a by product really of it, it made me much more confident and outgoing which I’ve learned was superficial really and that I didn’t need to drink for confidence or even to relax or sleep. In time it obviously got a grip on me and towards the end I become dependant on it where it hopsitalised me with jaundice, ascites and all manner of other issues.
I’ve been very very fortunate, however, in that I could always take or leave beer or larger and rarely drank that, it was mostly whiskey only, so in affect that’s all I had to give up. A lot of people I know who are still heavy drinkers or are ‘alcoholics’ (I hate that word and the whole stereotype stigma agenda derived narrative around alcoholism), will drink anything with alcohol in it so giving up will be extremely hard for people who drink all kinds of alcohol, but it’s doable, it’s not easy, but life isn’t.
It’s funny that when faced with a choice of life or death what it does to the mindset, I choose life every time over the bottle, it just took me almost dying to realise just how lucky I am with a great wife and kids and how much life there is left to live and enjoy and how amazing the world is. My life is great now, even if my feet aren’t..
I don’t mind pubs either, although I have found myself really preferring not wanting to be in places where there are large gatherings and especially large drunk gatherings since I quit, where as in the past that was what I lived for. I now find people who are drunk boring and a challenge to deal with as a sober person in their company, some of which is on me not them, it’s my problem not theirs, so I tend to stay away from large drunk gatherings not because of any temptation, I’m just more alert to things now and view the whole pub and drinking culture in a cynical way these days.
I have lost some confidence since I’ve quit drinking, well a lot really, I’m not as outgoing as I once was, I’m more reserved and withdrawn and I’d probably find myself boring in my company, but I’m so happy now and happy being boring, being bored, just spending time with myself really when I’m not spending all my time with my wife and kids. I do realise the lower confidence is likely also related to what I went through, the damage I’ve done to my body, my weight loss and knowing that I am this vulnerable human being after all as I’ve always tried to be the strong one, the go getter, the take anything on carefree person who thought I was indestructible mentally and physically. It’s good in a way though as it’s made me more humble and knowing I’m a vulnerable person as we all are, it makes me more determined to take care of that me and my health. I sometimes think of myself outside of myself if that makes sense as if I’m someone’s carer also, and that’s me who I’m a carer of. I’m not indestructible, I was dying and had a pretty rough time of things and I’m still not right 15 months on and may never be, but I’m working on it and plan to become right, only this time with more self awareness about the fragility of life and how things can quickly change. One great thing has been I now really don’t care about anything trivial in ife or worry about so much bull shit I used to like money, success, materialism and being seen as the strong alpha male. I could lose everything tomorrow and as long as I have my wife and kids and my health, I’m a rich rich man.
Anyway…
Yes, I didn’t even know what half the things I’ve since (had to) learned about such as neuropathy. There definitely needs to be more information put out there as to the exact damage drinking can cause other than the known things like liver disease, it causes anxiety, depression, cancer, heart disease, all kinds and it also leads to all kinds of societal problems from anti-social behaviour to crime to costing the NHS a lot of money and resources dealing with drunk people in A&E.
Thanks for sharing your story by the way and for the sleeping med info, I’ll look into it as I get 4 good ish nights sleep at the moment and the rest is me up half the night until I drift off and feeling tired a lot. Sorry about the wall of text as well ha ha but I have nothing better to do right now with my feet keeping me up again. Take care.
A great reply, i succumbed to going bed, hence the response just now, I wish you well on staying sober, and I agree I'm not that struck on the word alcoholic, we are delicate individuals and it's just using coping mechanisms that keeps us going, yes drinking is addictive and the strange part about it is that it's legal and can kill you, tax is the the driver behind it, the same with smoking, oh well can't change the world but try and enjoy each minute you have best of luck 😀 👍
Thanks and likewise 👍
I just wanted to give you some ideas as I too have been caring for my Hubby on my own and the pain side was quite bad for a few months but has now subsided, he was prescribed nepofam which was quite effective and he managed to go without any pain med when he didn't need it and now it's almost gone. The other things we tried which seemed to help magnesium for the cramp again they wouldn't prescribe anything else and I got him a foot vibration machine and a hand held rechargeable massager which I use on his feet and legs it was too painful at first but once the pain was less it helped him maybe both just helped with circulation.
I wish you all the best and god knows it's tough so hugs to you keep being the caring person you are x
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