The Effect of Occasional Alcoholic drink on Neuropathic Pain

[arndog]

It is my impression that having one or 2 drinks (like a glass of wine and/or a martini) fires up my neuropathic pain that evening. I take Lyrica 150 mg twice a day, Elavil 25 mg at night with reasonable control. But if I have 2 drinks, I will suffer big time burning that night.
Do others find that alcohol exacerbates the NP ?
If so , this is unfortunate since I like an occasional glass of wine.
Jon

[kkmay]

I think that drinking alcohol is nice. It puts me in another world.

[Billy]

Hi. Its been my experience that having a few brews doesnt really have any negative effects pain wise. It does seem to loosen up my otherwise tight muscles though for whatever thats worth. With these injuries we have all had to give up so many different things already, but if a couple of cocktails seem to consistently spark your pain than I guess a nice glass of merlot unfortunately might have to be added to the list. That sucks out loud, I know. Good luck Jon.

[flicka]

It is my impression that having one or 2 drinks (like a glass of wine and/or a martini) fires up my neuropathic pain that evening. I take Lyrica 150 mg twice a day, Elavil 25 mg at night with reasonable control. But if I have 2 drinks, I will suffer big time burning that night.
Do others find that alcohol exacerbates the NP ?
Alcohol is a major pain stopper for me. Maybe it is the combo of Lyrica & alcohol that is causing the problem?

[fishin'guy]

I take the same amt of Lyrica, and do occasionaly have some wine or a couple of good snorts, or good ol' Mikes hard lem. and have no increase in pain at night.

[rybread]

On my worst nights of pain, I'll have a drink or two which really helps with the pain quite a bit, especially considering I barely ever drink at all. That's one of the wonderful side effects of alcohol and I remember being now many times before I was injured how many times I should've really hurt myself or how much it did hurt the next morning. Back in the old days, they used to get people drunk before they removed bullets from them.

[dejerine]

Jon

Okay this is not the usual effect of alcohol. I guess it could affect liver metabolism, but you don't say if the drugs you use are metabolized in the liver. I really don't think this is it, but maybe some enzymes when you get the chance. Had a transaminase lately? If you are taking statins and use alcohol, that might be synergistic. I don't think you are taking statins, however. Same with crack cocaine, but I dont' know any ENT docs prone to that.

Sorry for your problems. What does Welch's grape juice do for you?

[woman from Europe]

For me it is like three beers and the pain is gone. Maybe it is the alcohol, maybe it is the company of other people and feeling alive. I have never tried three beers alone at home, I am alone with a child and that is the reason I never drink at home, except I feel lonely if I drink at home too.

[David Berg]

Jon, what it sounds like it comes down to for you, unfortunately, is whether this is how it works for you. See if there are any other factors that might possibly be playing a role in this, because I don't recall wine or other form of alcohol being mentioned as a problem by anyone else. Like Dejerine, I'm curious if concord grape juice or some other non-alcoholic wine would have the same effect for you.

[quadvet]

Do others find that alcohol exacerbates the NP ? Yes, extremely, full body zinging for days like plugged into 220 V and on fire. We were just talking about that the other day, over in this thread (http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/showthread.php?p=985395#post985395).

Lucky us, eh Jon.

[arndog]

So most people don't find their NP pain worsening with 2 drinks except me and quadvet.

I thought I read somewhere on this forum that Dr. Wise said that ethanol is excitatory to nerves which might counteract what the Lyrica and Elavil are doing, quieting down nerve activity.

Dejerine - actually, I just started a Statin (mevacor) for hypercholesterolemia this summer. So all in all , I take Lyrica, Elavil, mevacor, and doxycycline daily.

I saw on TV the Lyrica ad stating that you should not add alcohol if taking this med.

I am still not totally sure that it is the alcohol. I suspect everyone on this pain forum has trouble differentiating Causal relationships versus Temporal associations worsening the pain.
Was it the alcohol I drank or that I was more active than usual or was it the barometric pressure change that worsened the pain? ? ?
I ask myself these questions and usually go in circles. There are too many variables. Sometimes the NP pain gets bad with absolutely no obvious cause. So, it is tough to say for sure.
I think I am going to have some scotch now ! ! !

I think I will ask my pain doc if it is okay to take an extra Lyrica 75mg , if I have a drink or 2.

Dr. Wise, if you read this could you comment on ETOH effects on NP pain while taking Lyrica, Elavil?

[NoDecafPlz]

Now that you mention it, I had four beers today and my feet are buzzing.

Not me, my feet. ;)

[thehipcrip]

I saw on TV the Lyrica ad stating that you should not add alcohol if taking this med.

I think I will ask my pain doc if it is okay to take an extra Lyrica 75mg , if I have a drink or 2.

Is it just me, or does taking even more of a prescription drug that's not supposed to be mixed with alcohol in the first place seem counter-intuitive to anyone else? I'm all for home pharmacology, but mixing prescription meds with alcohol is one thing that I don't mess around with.

I'm really hoping the doc comes into this discussion -- it's very interesting!

--THC

[David Berg]

Jon, I can't remember, is Lyrica metabolized through the liver? That's my first thought when it says to not mix meds with alcohol.

[kenf]

I'm not on any pain meds , just get use to it over time. Gets real bad sometimes , I take 5 ibuprofen. If I drink 4 or 5 beers and hit a joint a couple times , my pain and body totally relax. I can acually move around without fighting my body. Nice while it lasts.

[arndog]

I checked the PDR and learned that Lyrica in not metabolized by the liver. It is eliminated (excreted) by the kidneys . Only 2 % gets metabolized into some other molecule.

The PDR notes that lyrica is unlikely to be involved in significant pharmacokinetic drug interactions which means that taking other meds shouldn't effect how Lyrica is handled by the body.

AHA - Here is the paragraph that I am looking for.
"Multiple oral doses of Lyrica were co-administered with oxycodone, lorazepam or ETHANOL. Although no pharmacokinetic interactions were seen, additive effects on cognitive and gross motor functioning were seen when Lyrica was co-administered with these drugs."
So the reason they say you shouldn't drink on Lyrica is the just the additive increase in cognitive impairment. I am reassured that it is not medically dangerous to have 2 drinks with Lyrica - obviously, you have to exercise good judgement about operating heavy machinery (like a car) anyways which we do every day.

Although this answers the safety issue, it doesn't address the question I posed about whether one or 2 drinks worsen or flare up ones NP pain. Won't find that answer in the PDR. But hearing everone's experience is helpful.
Thanks.

thehipcrip - I shouldn't have written that about chasing 2 drinks with more Lyrica - my bad - that doesn't set a good example. I am just trying to figure out how to have a social drink or two occasionally.:)

[quadvet]

So most people don't find their NP pain worsening with 2 drinks except me and quadvet. Correction: 1 drop greatly increases it for the day; "2 drinks" drives me up the walls for days; rigid body, zinging, uncoordinated arm movements/shaking, headaches with sweating and pins and needles on forehead, ears ringing, blurred vision, etc... hard to function in that state. C5/6 "complete". See meds listed above regarding interactions.

[smokymtn memories]

I don't find my NP pain increases after a couple of drinks, but I already have the frequency, urgency issuses with the bladder, so that increases.

I did discover when I was trying Lyrica, not to have a couple of drinks, period. My legs turn into limp noodles. Not so with gabapentin and topamax.

Alcohol and coffee, I use to drink coffee every day, all day...........