Alcohol Tremors The Shakes: Fast Facts, Causes and Treatment

This is part of our ongoing commitment to ensure FHE Health is trusted as a leader in mental health and addiction care. As we talked about above, consuming too much alcohol has a very dehydrating effect on your body, and your nervous system tries to start recovering balance as the alcohol wears off. Shakes in this situation may just be a sign of a bad hangover and can be remedied with rest, hydration, light exercise and not drinking more. However, itisimportant to note that shaking after drinking does indicate that you’re drinking too much. Alcohol shakes, which are technically called tremors, what are alcohol shakes are a type of involuntary shaking that affects different parts of the body. They are usually caused by issues with certain areas of the brain that control muscle movement. Chemical in your brain called GABA, resulting in you feeling relaxed and drowsy. As you continue to drink regularly and spend more time in the inhibited state, your brain tries to find E-I balance again. The brain seeks this balance by reducing your natural inhibitory activity and increasing excitatory activity. News-Medical.Net provides this medical information service in accordance with these terms and conditions.

Alcohol shakes, as evident by their name, are most common among individuals who suffer from alcohol addiction, or alcohol use disorder . However, they can also result from other issues related to AUD, such as binge drinking, excessive alcohol use over time, alcohol-related brain damage, and liver disease. The term alcoholic shakes is used to describe a common symptom of alcohol withdrawal in which the person experiences tremors or shakes. You don’t have to have struggled with alcohol for years or be dealing with a severe addiction to suffer the shakes. To better understand how to get rid of alcohol shakes, we first have to take an in-depth look at why they occur and what’s happening in the body when someone experiences these shakes or tremors. Seeking more information about alcohol shakes or tremors is helpful in understanding physical alcohol dependence and identifying safe steps for cutting back on drinking. However, if you believe you are currently experiencing shakes, tremors, or any other alcohol withdrawal syndrome side effects, please contact your health care provider immediately. However, if you’re experiencing alcoholic shakes related to delirium tremens, it’s important to seek medical help immediately.

How Does Alcohol Impact Your Physical Health?

Throughout an inpatient program, you’ll live on-site in a safe, substance-free environment. You’ll go through medically supervised detox first, then behavioral therapy. Symptoms include fever, jaundice, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Continued drinking puts someone with ARBD or ARBI at risk for severe brain damage, including dementia. Most often, shaking occurs because alcohol use has affected a person’s nervous system cells. Alcohol interferes with brain activity and causes a depressant effect. Detox with medical supervision may be necessary to keep a person safe and comfortable during alcohol withdrawal. Those experiencing alcohol withdrawal should keep busy with activities and hobbies they find enjoyable, and promote health and well-being. Alcohol-related damage to the cerebellum usually takes around 10 years to develop.

To help to prevent Wernicke syndrome, these individuals should be administered a multivitamin preparation with sufficient quantities of thiamine and folic acid. During alcohol withdrawal, the prophylactic administration of thiamine, folic acid, and pyridoxine intravenously is recommended before starting any carbohydrate-containing fluids or food. These vitamins are often combined into a banana bag for intravenous administration. Alcohol withdrawal may occur in those who are alcohol dependent. This may occur following a planned or unplanned decrease in alcohol intake. The underlying mechanism involves a decreased responsiveness of GABA receptors in the brain. The withdrawal process is typically followed using the Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment for Alcohol scale (CIWA-Ar). If you find yourself struggling with relapse, please reach out to someone in your support system or sponsor. It’s crucial to maintain a routine and hobbies to occupy the time that would otherwise be spent on drinking.

Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms

How long it lasts depends on how much you drink, how long you have used alcohol like this, and even your body’s natural metabolism and processes. Most people will experience shakes starting within 5 to 12 hours after their last drink. It may start out slow and get more noticeable over a short period of time. If you have a history of heavy drinking and tremors are not stopping on their own, you may be wondering what to take for alcohol shakes. In this case, it is best to consult with a doctor, especially given the fact that withdrawal can progress to delirium tremens, which can be life-threatening if untreated. In more serious cases of withdrawal, symptoms may progress to what is called late withdrawal, which begins about three days after a person has his or her last alcoholic beverage. Excessive alcohol consumption affects the nervous system, so when a person reduces drinking or stops it altogether, the nervous system experiences dysfunction.

However, alcohol abstinence and medical care can usually help reverse the disease. Nicknamed the ‘liver flap,’ this tremor is often compared to a bird flapping its wings. Some people suffering from liver disease may also experience tremors similar to the shakes that individuals with Parkinson’s disease have. Most individuals experiencing these severe symptoms should detox from alcohol in a medically monitored facility. When someone is struggling with chronic or long-term alcohol dependence, they may experience tremors.

Try avoiding individuals who will enable you to drink as your environment should reflect the life you want to live. However, it’s best to seek professional treatment to manage your withdrawal symptoms in most cases. Alcohol withdrawal is most safely treated in a medically supervised environment. During this time, doctors monitor a person’s vital signs and address serious complications immediately. Alcohol affects levels of the neurotransmitter GABA in the brain, which regulates what are alcohol shakes fine motor control. When you drink, you disrupt normal levels of GABA, and while the brain tries to get back to normal, it sends out sudden signals that cause tremors in your hands. During outpatient treatment detox, patients meet medical treatment providers for a few hours at a time, usually around two to three times a week. In its advanced stages, liver disease can lead to abnormal ammonia metabolism. This involves flapping or shaking of the hands and is known as asterixis.

The exact level of drinking that leads to withdrawal symptoms varies by person. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines heavy drinking as over four drinks per day for men, and over three per day for women. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration defines it as binge drinking at least five times per month. These tremors can continue for days depending on how much alcohol an individual was consuming before they stopped, and in very frequent drinkers, can appear very quickly after their last drink.

While we’ll address that further down, it’s important to mention that, during detox, the alcohol shakes will usually increase in intensity. While alcohol shakes can be both scary and uncomfortable, in the situation of someone who does not suffer from AUD, they usually subside. With that being said, drinking to the point of inducing shakes is an unhealthy behavior and can be a sign of alcohol dependence. Take the time to self-reflect upon your drinking habits to discern whether or not you have a problem. Once you’ve made the decision to get Sober House sober, it’s very important to have the right support system around you. While alcoholic shakes may be a common condition for those struggling with alcohol addiction or long-term alcohol use, they’re not something to be taken lightly. We’ve already covered the seriousness of delirium tremens, but even if the shakes haven’t progressed to that level, they’re still a clear indication that alcohol use is affecting your body negatively. Alcohol shakes, as evident by their name, are most common among individuals who suffer from alcohol addiction.

Some dietary changes can help with the shakiness and unease that accompany alcohol withdrawal. A diet rich in lean proteins like chicken, eggs, fish, and non-fatty meats helps provide energy for your brain to adjust back to normal. Raw fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and multivitamin supplements that include vitamins B and C, as well as calcium, potassium and magnesium, also help with nausea and muscle tremors. Drinking to excess can therefore over-inhibit your system—causing you to black out, feel numb, or experience euphoria. While binge drinking, the brain adjusts to rely on alcohol more than GABA.