@seanywonton, I share your frustration on not having an absolute diagnosis on what’s caused my PN. When I get any new theories or suggestions, I still run them by my doctors in hopes we can prove or disprove, and at this stage (6 yrs) I’ve about learned they’re running out of things to test that could add any certainty . What I have learned from them and even more from the folks on here with links to articles and research & tons of personal experience, are what things we can do to help make the most of our quality of life having been dealt the hands we have, regardless of how we got here. Many sections in this group talk about vitamins to take/avoid, exercises/physical therapies/therapeutic devices, lotions & ointments, socks & shoes, and diet.
It didn’t take long for me to learn that alcohol added no cure or help to PN, and added nothing but dangerous risk of worsening it, so I chose to drop my social drinking without doing a scientific experiment on myself to see his long it might take to prove or disprove. PN is so different every day, it would be hard to find cause or effect reliably without a very long term study. I enjoyed wine, but have no issue not drinking and being around others. We still host & attend parties and happy hours, I’ll pour and mix drinks. I find I seem to be the designated driver often and seem to be more popular because if it. I’m glad I’m keeping my PN feet able to do that! Anyway, you don’t have to give up everything you like because you no longer drink. It’s a choice as you say. You may never get “proof “ it helps you or hurts you, just like not all smokers get lung cancer, you just have to decide the best for you. If you're looking for any doctor to tell you that they see no harm in drinking beer, I think it would be like telling a smoker to keep smoking. So while I realize you’re wanting them to find something definitive and keep looking so it might discount alcohol theories, you have a good chance of being like most of us here who don’t know our causes after exhaustive testing, so we shift to finding what helps get the best quality of life for both short and long term.