Alcoholic Neuropathy

Question

My wife is complaining that she can’t feel her legs very well and I can see that she is weak and unstable. She is a heavy drinker and she has been drinking at least a bottle of wine each night for about 5 years, and often times it is two bottles a night. She never drank before that and then she did a wine tasting club and it is like she fell into a rabbit hole. I am sure she is an alcoholic but she will not even discuss that idea. What are the odds that she has alcoholic neuropathy? I do not think she has been drinking for long enough to get this but the symptoms seem to match her condition very well. She will not go to a doctor and I think it is because she knows the doctor will tell her to stop drinking and she cannot allow that to happen. If the doctor tells her to stop and she can’t then she is an alcoholic. If no one tells her to stop then she can keep drinking as a ‘social drinker’. I really don’t know what to do in this situation. It seems that she is starting to drink herself to death and I have to sit here and watch her do it.

Jennifer Hamilton · Accepted Answer

I am not a physician and therefore, cannot give you a medical diagnosis for your wife. It is certain that any daily drinking that exceeds two drinks a day can lead to both health problems and impairment problems. I recommend you seek help for yourself. Often times when we recognize that we cannot make another person change, we gain power over changing ourselves. You may seek out a professional counselor, go to an Al-Anon meeting or try an on-line help service such as SMART Recovery which provides help to the alcoholic/addict and the family. It is an alternative to the AA/ Al-Anon model. I wish you the best.

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