Have your hands ever been shaky after a night of drinking a lot of alcohol? Sometimes, they can be significant enough to make tasks like drinking water out of a glass or even brushing your teeth hard. They’re troublesome! Why do they happen?
They’re often a component of alcohol withdrawal, which many people with alcohol use disorder experience. 8% of people 12 or older in West Virginia had an alcohol use disorder in 2022. That means if you know 25 people, two of them likely have an alcohol use disorder.
Not everyone with alcohol use disorder has alcohol shakes, but it’s an annoying possibility, and sometimes it can be a sign of something more serious. We work with people with alcohol use disorders every day at Hope for Tomorrow and have gained a lot of knowledge over the years. We’ll share what we know about alcohol shakes so you can better understand this agitating part of alcohol withdrawal.
“Alcohol shakes” are another name for uncontrollable tremors due to alcohol. They appear most commonly during withdrawal but can happen when there’s a lot of alcohol in your system, too. Typically, the tremors are in your hands, but they can be in any part of the body. Alcohol shakes can make a lot of activities more difficult, and in rare cases, can be a sign of something more serious.
Alcohol tremors can be a precursor and part of a severe form of alcohol withdrawal known as delirium tremens. Delirium tremens occurs in 3%-15% of people with alcohol withdrawal. It has a mortality rate of up to 5% and can escalate quickly, so getting medical attention for anyone with delirium tremens as soon as possible is vital.
Having alcohol tremors does not mean you’ll develop delirium tremens, but tremors are an early symptom of delirium tremens, so it’s worth keeping a close eye on. Other symptoms of delirium tremens include:
People who stop drinking alcohol suddenly after previously consuming a lot are at higher risk for delirium tremens. So are people who have previously experienced seizures and severe alcohol withdrawal. You can lower the risk of delirium tremens by entering an alcohol detox program.
Alcohol is a depressant. That means it slows down your central nervous system, including your brain and the nerves it uses to communicate with the rest of your body. Short-term, alcohol makes you feel relaxed. As you drink more, the way alcohol slows down your brain becomes more evident through symptoms like poor coordination, blurred vision, slurring words, and dizziness.
If you drink a lot over a long period, as people with alcohol use disorder do, it has more significant effects on your nervous system. 70% of people with an alcohol use disorder have a brain disease or other complication, such as dementia, brain damage, new or worsened mental health conditions, tumors, and more. Thankfully, the brain is great at healing, and if you abstain from alcohol, those symptoms will improve – but not always entirely. Many people still have trouble remembering things, or other cognitive concerns even once they’re in recovery, though they will be better than before.
Alcohol shakes most commonly happen due to alcohol withdrawal, but they could also be related to brain damage caused by alcohol, or alcohol-induced liver disease. If you experience tremors and you think they’re unrelated to alcohol withdrawal, it’s a good idea to see a doctor. They could be part of a different health condition.
We know alcohol withdrawal causes alcohol shakes, but what causes alcohol withdrawal?
If you drink a lot for a long enough time, your body adjusts to the “new normal” of your slowed-down nervous system. To do that, it releases excitatory neurotransmitters – or chemical messengers – that speed up your system so it can function like usual. This is also why you have to drink more alcohol to feel its effects if you drink frequently.
When you take alcohol out of the equation, your body can’t adjust that quickly. That means it stays in the excited state necessary to counter alcohol’s effects even once the substance is out of your system. Then, you experience symptoms like alcohol shakes, headaches, nausea, insomnia, and more that might be familiar to you.
Alcohol is toxic and changes many areas of the brain.
One part of the brain significantly impacted by alcohol is the cerebellum. This region is located at the base of your skull and controls memory while helping you process words when you hear them. It also controls your muscles, influencing your balance and how you move. You’ll feel the impact of alcohol on your cerebellum no matter how much you drink, but if you drink long-term, especially heavily, it damages your brain. It makes sense – having a toxic substance lurking in your brain most of the time will inevitably hurt it.
When alcohol damages the cerebellum, it can cause tremors and shakiness that extend beyond alcohol withdrawal. Whether they’re reversible or not depends on each individual, but it requires abstinence from alcohol and time for your brain to heal no matter what.
Your liver is the primary organ responsible for getting toxins out of your body. If you continuously bombard it with toxins at a faster rate than it can process them, it can become damaged too. While much liver damage is reversible if you stop drinking, there comes a point when there’s so much scar tissue that the liver can’t heal. This is called cirrhosis, and it can lead to liver failure.
When your liver isn’t functioning properly, toxins start building up in your blood and can impact every area of your body. This is called hepatic encephalopathy and can be fatal without treatment. In this instance, tremors are symptoms that occur when toxins have built up enough to harm your brain. They’re considered a “Grade 3” symptom of hepatic encephalopathy and are a sign to seek immediate medical attention.
It’s always best to participate in an alcohol detox program when going through alcohol withdrawal. There, you’ll be tended to by medical professionals who are experts on what it takes to detox as safely and painlessly as possible. If you have any health complications, such as delirium tremens, you’ll already be surrounded by nurses and doctors who can manage the situation right away. Even though delirium tremens is relatively rare, you still run the risk of developing it. If you’re alone or with a loved one with minimal medical experience, it will be more dangerous. It’s also stressful to manage by yourself!
There’s no real way to make alcohol shakes go away on your own, but if you do these things, it might help:
It’s important to remember that even if alcohol shakes go away, if you keep drinking, they will keep coming back every time your brain decides you’ve gone too long without alcohol. The only way to leave alcohol shakes behind for good is to pursue recovery.
Alcohol use disorder can only be diagnosed by a mental health professional, but alcohol withdrawal and shakes are signs that you could have one. At the very least, it means you drink enough alcohol for your body to consider it a normal part of your system, and that’s worth examining. If you’re concerned at all about yourself or a loved one, seeking alcoholism treatment is a good idea.
While an alcohol detox program is typically the first step in recovering from an alcohol use disorder, it is a big one. You also might have successfully detoxed on your own, and now need support so you don’t return to drinking. Multiple treatment options are available, and the right one for you is out there! You can live a life free from withdrawal symptoms, and free from the iron grip of alcohol.
Hope for Tomorrow is an addiction recovery center proud to serve the people of West Virginia. That means everyone, no matter what. Your pregnant wife is welcome at Hope for Tomorrow. Your grandfather with PTSD from his time in the military is welcome at Hope for Tomorrow, and he will be treated with respect and kindness. Your friend with heart complications is welcome at Hope for Tomorrow, and our physicians are on standby for everything he needs to stay healthy during treatment. You are welcome at Hope for Tomorrow! We’d love to meet you. Call 877-679-8162 to get started today.
Treatment today for a brighter tomorrow.