Have you heard of alcohol shakes? Maybe you’re here because you or your loved one are experiencing them, and you’re searching for answers. They’re trembling, shaky hands after you go a while without alcohol. They’re annoying at best, and can seriously interfere with your life at worst. They’re also a sign of a potential alcohol use disorder. Over 4% of Floridians had an alcohol use disorder in 2019, so you’re not alone. Tranquil Shores is working to make that number smaller through various unique therapies, because no person has the same recovery journey as another. No matter how distinct the journey, people with alcohol use disorders can relate to each other, even if the only commonality in their experience is alcohol shakes. Let’s shed some light on them today.
What Are Alcohol Shakes? Are They Dangerous?
Alcohol shakes are most commonly an alcohol withdrawal symptom, though they can also be associated with hangovers after binge drinking. They typically involve trembling in the hands and fingers, and can be a sign of an alcohol use disorder. These tremors are usually mild but can be as severe and interfere with daily activities.
Alcohol Tremors vs. Delirium Tremens
While alcohol shakes themselves are a relatively harmless withdrawal symptom, they can be a precursor to something more serious: delirium tremens (DTs). DTs impact about 2% of people experiencing alcohol withdrawal, so it’s not common. Alcohol shakes do not mean you are guaranteed to develop DTs. It’s worth being aware of regardless, because DTs can lead to death if not treated.
Tremors aren’t the only symptoms of DTs. It also comes with insomnia, seizures, disorientation, and hallucinations. If you or someone you know experiences these symptoms after stopping long-term alcohol use, seek medical attention right away.
Causes of Alcohol Shakes: Withdrawal or Worse?
Alcohol-related tremors are a withdrawal symptom the vast majority of the time, but there’s a small chance for them to appear alongside alcohol-related brain damage and liver disease, too. Let’s explore these further.
Withdrawal Symptoms
Alcohol shakes are often one of the earlier signs of alcohol withdrawal. Other frequent withdrawal symptoms include:
- Headache
- Nausea
- Fatigue
- Sweating
- Anxiety
- Rapid heart rate
- High blood pressure
- Trouble sleeping
If you’ve recently stopped drinking alcohol after consistent use of the substance, and experience some of these symptoms, your alcohol shakes are most likely a withdrawal symptom. How long they last will vary from person to person, but they will likely be at their worst 48-72 hours in.
Alcohol-Related Brain Damage
Alcohol is toxic to the body and brain, and drinking a lot can cause brain cells to die, and brain tissue to shrink. Blood vessels in the brain can become damaged, leading to high blood pressure, and a higher chance of stroke because it’s harder for oxygen to get to the brain. Alcohol makes it difficult to absorb vitamin B1, which can lead to amnesia and other related symptoms. It can also cause general cognitive dysfunction, mental health conditions, and dysfunction in nerves in the hands and feet.
Alcohol can change many parts of the brain for the worse. One of these parts is the cerebellum, an area of the brain responsible for things like balance and walking. While it’s mostly unknown what in the brain causes tremors, some studies have found an association between tremors and mild cerebellum dysfunction. With that in mind, it makes sense that people whose cerebellums have been damaged by alcohol would experience shakiness. No studies have proven that theory so far, though.
Tremors Caused by Liver Disease
When you drink, your blood carries the alcohol to your liver. The liver breaks it down into substances your body can safely dispose of. If you consume a lot of alcohol over time, your liver can’t keep up and will become damaged.
Some alcohol-associated liver disease isn’t severe. Fatty liver is the most common – a buildup of fat in the liver cells. Fatty liver is reversible if you stop alcohol use.
Hepatitis and cirrhosis of the liver are serious. This causes the death of liver cells, and scarring of the liver, which eventually greatly interferes in liver function if you continue drinking. It can lead to death if it goes untreated.
When your liver isn’t working properly, it can’t filter toxins that enter your body as well as it should. Those toxins instead spread to the rest of your body, including your brain. This process, and the brain dysfunction that happens due to liver damage, is called hepatic encephalopathy. This condition is also serious, and occurs when scar tissue has built up in the liver and greatly reduced its function.
One of the symptoms of hepatic encephalopathy is involuntary movements or tremors, and it’s a serious symptom at that. You might be worried you have hepatic encephalopathy when the alcohol shakes you’re experiencing are just a common withdrawal symptom. Thankfully, the symptoms of this condition and withdrawal are quite different. Unique symptoms, in order of severity, include:
- Mood swings
- Difficulty with basic math
- Trouble writing
- Clear personality or behavioral changes
- Not knowing what day or time it is
- Not knowing where you are
- Severe confusion
- Coma
If you’re experiencing tremors alongside any of these symptoms, seek medical attention right away. Even if it turns out to just be alcohol shakes due to withdrawal, it’s better to be safe. Hepatic encephalopathy can also be life-threatening without treatment.
How Alcohol Impacts the Brain and Nervous System
Even though your liver filters alcohol out of your system, your blood still brings alcohol to your brain while you’re drinking. While the brain is good at protecting itself from most toxins due to the blood-brain barrier, alcohol passes through it easily. This impacts your brain quickly and has negative effects.
Alcohol influences two primary neurotransmitters in your brain: GABA and glutamate. GABA is a neurotransmitter that slows down your brain and relaxes you, and alcohol causes GABA levels to increase. Glutamate, on the other hand, is an excitatory neurotransmitter associated with cognition, and alcohol causes glutamate levels to decrease. This is why alcohol is a depressant, and why intoxication involves a relaxed feeling and cognitive dysfunction.
With continued alcohol use, your brain learns to adapt. Because it’s used to so much GABA in your system and so little glutamate, it lowers the levels of GABA and raises levels of glutamate to counteract it. When alcohol isn’t in your system anymore, those adaptations your brain made are still there, just without alcohol to balance them out. That makes your brain far more excited than it should be naturally. Your brain trying to adjust to that lack of alcohol is what causes withdrawal symptoms, alcohol shakes included.
How to Treat Alcohol Shakes Effectively
The only real effective treatment for alcohol shakes is a medically monitored alcohol detox and treatment for alcohol use disorder. Any other home remedies or tips won’t get to the root of an alcohol use disorder, and will only provide temporary relief from alcohol shakes. Many people return to alcohol use to cope with alcohol shakes and other withdrawal symptoms. Because of this, we encourage alcohol rehab above all else.
If something is preventing you from seeking treatment now, there are other things you can try to ease the discomfort of alcohol shakes without drinking to remedy them. These include:
- Drinking water and staying hydrated
- Having a nutritious diet
- Getting enough sleep
- Involving yourself in hobbies
- Relying on the support system around you
- Finding new ways to cope with stress outside of alcohol, like meditation
- Developing and focusing on goals
Seeking Alcohol Withdrawal Detox in Pinellas County, FL
If you experience alcohol shakes, they are usually a sign of an alcohol use disorder. While detoxing is a natural process your body goes through, and alcohol will eventually leave your system as long as you don’t drink anymore, it’s better not to go through it alone. Withdrawal symptoms are unpleasant and painful, and make it hard to stop drinking.
That’s why medical detox is the best option to deal with alcohol withdrawal, alcohol shakes included. In a detox program, you’ll be monitored by medical staff who will help the withdrawal process pass safely, and as comfortably as possible. They’ll also prepare you to transition into an alcohol rehab program, where you’ll get to the root of your alcohol use disorder, and start working toward recovery.
Are you ready to get rid of your alcohol shakes for good? Tranquil Shores can help. We offer expert alcohol use disorder treatment, medical detox included. If you trust us with your care, you’ll find healing in a peaceful setting, with direct beach access. Contact us today at 727-391-7001 for the peaceful and private treatment you deserve.
