Does alcohol exccacerbate symptoms?

[Udkas]

Hi there,
I went out to a dear friends last night for dinner and hubby offered to drive so I took a bottle of wine.  I don't drink much these days and well I drank the whole bottle by myself and consequently I have a huge hangover, but my main problem is my "symptoms" have been so bad, that it's frightening.  My legs have been tingling like mad, and my numbness in the groin/pubic region has been frightening.  

Can alcohol cause a new attack or is it just from my hangover.  I thought it would be nice to relax and chill out with a nice bottle of wine but....???  

Cheers, Udkas

[MSIronMan]

Alcohol ABSOLUTELY make my MS symptoms worse. It pretty much guarantees my resulting pain will not allow me to sleep. However what I find curious and somewhat contradictory to what I have read, my tolerance is much higher. Therefore when I used to drink, it took a lot to even get a slight buzz, In any event anything slightly in access and I am done and the pain consumes me. I went to a stag party couple weekends ago and other than not sleeping I was a mess for 24 to 36 hours. Good news is I don't need to drink so refraining is not that hard for me.

[Fluffysmom]

I quit consuming alcohol in 1985 or so, and am very glad I did, so I'll never test out whether it exacerbates my symptoms.  Thanks for giving me one more reason to not drink!

Kathy

[Lulu54]

I had two tall lite beers with friends a few weeks ago before we went to a basket ball game.  I think it made everything exxagerated - the crowd, the noise, the tiredness.  Just a guess but won't do that again.  Lulu

[doni54]

I'm like you about the alcohol.  I'm undx, but found out a few years ago that alcohol makes me feel even worse than normal.

My daughter bought me a bottle of wine for my birthday on Friday, so I said what the heck, "it's my birthday"  WRONG!!!  Shouldn't have done that!!!

I only drank two very small glasses and it made me feel horrible.  Tingling, weak legs and the feeling like any energy I did have had seeped out.  It is a really bad feeling.

Sometimes it sounds good to think you might be able to have a nice glass of wine just to relax and be normal, but it isn't the case with many of us.  It only exacerbates our symptoms.

Don't know all the clinical stuff as to why, just know that alcohol is NOT my friend!!!

Take care.
doni

[Udkas]

Hi,
Well I don't smoke and normally I don't drink much and now after this I intend not to drink again.  My legs and stomach are still tingling!  Driving me insane.

[lbradley35]

Alcohol can be taken in moderation but some sufferers may find that it can temporarily exacerbate MS symptoms such as problems with speech and coordination. More importantly, it inhibits the vital conversion process of essential fatty acids, increases the level of saturated fat in the blood and depletes the body's supply of valuable nutrients. Smoking also depletes blood levels of vitamin C and can worsen the symptoms of the disease.

Some medications are effected by alcohol, so they need to check with their doctor if they are going to drink.