So I thought I would share this with everyone because I think it is important to know all side's of what we deal with day in and day out! I don't believe in sugar coating thing's so this is open and true! Please be careful of what you might find relief in that could be addicting and possibly more damaging. This was my answer to a post about drinking and EM. I thought it helped with the pain even for just a little bit until the numb wears off, but I found I was drinking to much because it was all I had to cope. No pill I have tried has helped the pain or it made it 100 x worse. But as of a couple of weeks ago I had a night when my kids came home with my bf and i was drunk, it was a day of constant no stop pain and I used the drinking to numb me and i drank to much. I realize after I put the kids to bed that I really had a problem starting here. So my wonderful loving understanding man sat me down and we talked about it. I knew right then that I needed to stop. SOOO I did. I haven't drank to excess since then. I might have a beer with dinner or something but I no longer feel the need to have it now. So I guess what I am trying to say is I think it can lead to alcoholism if you are not careful. And I have found that my pain has actually been better since I stopped, the swelling is not quiet so severe and i think it was making my body swollen all the time. Since i stopped I have lost weight or the swelling just came down. I have also read in an article Dr. Mitchell (founder of EM) that this could happen because it happened to a patient he was treating and the man died of alcoholism. So please please please be careful.
This is a very courageous post, MsNikki, and I thank you for sharing this with our members. I have a personal conviction that many substance abusers are also self-medicating for chronic pain or other symptoms.
Hi Thanks for sharing this I thin it is a significant insight for many of us!!!
I envy you your wonderful man..
I would add that I avoid alcohol as it makes my EM worse as well as eating sweets in between meals.
Low glycemic diets work best. After making great progress for several months I changes my diet this last month plus had a new huge stressor, we may have to move countries again.
Gppd luck and Thanks,
Lorna
Totally agree
Thanks for posting this… I too had taken to having one or two glasses of wine each day after work… Nothing serious, just a glass or two before dinner… Then I had to take a blood test and could not have any alcohol for 4 days…not a problem but breaking a habit nevertheless… What I found was a SIGNIFICANT improvement of evening flares, less intense and much shorter, I have since then made a concious effort not to have any alcohol unless having dinner with friends or occasionnally on friday evenings, it’s hard but the fact that when I do drink I get an instant flare has helped me break the habit… Thank you again for your post, although I hate to admit it even to myself I am sure alcohol makes my EM much worse, certainly NOT better!!!
I completely agree. I had, for a time, basically told myself that I’m stuck with this and nothing was going to help or change it. I rationalized that the alcohol was definitely acting as an antagonist, but that if I drank 3 glasses (& mine are the nice big ones shaped like balloons) or more I SIMPLY WOULDN’T FEEL OR CARE AS MUCH. Wine never numbed it, but it dulled my senses so I could try to ignore the pain. I, too, realized that I had to stop. Not only do I not want my daughters to believe that alcohol can solve a problem/take away pain as severe as what EM brings, but I had been feeling convicted about it already. I’d push aside the inner chastisement by saying to myself that I’d rather be dependent upon wine, which I actually enjoyed, than on pain pills. In the end I couldn’t really justify it, though. I won’t say I got drunk, but I would drink enough that my husband could tell I wasn’t feeling so much.
I am happy for you. I feel more in control, and I hope you do as well. It is bad enough that EM forces itself into the great production we call life, but if you can prevent it from becoming the director things won’t seem so hopeless. Keep your chin up. I know how hard it is sometimes (I quit cold-turkey 4 months ago). Sometimes I miss my Merlot and Chianti. But I figure it’s worth it.
Alcohol DEF triggers my EM. I could be fine all day & if I happen to have a drink in the evening, literally within minutes my EM flares up!