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Nearly 1 in 5 adults in Oregon binge drink at least once a month. How does this impact your body? Could you recognize the signs of long-term alcohol use or alcohol withdrawal if they were right in front of you?
Alcoholic hand tremors are one of the lesser-known side effects of alcohol use and withdrawal. Our team at Serenity Lane knows the importance of education when it comes to alcohol use disorders. Our goal is to help our community better understand this condition to both lower stigma and to help people make more informed decisions about their health. Today we’re going to talk about hand tremors, alcohol withdrawal, and how the two relate.
Alcohol use causes a wide variety of side effects, especially when combined with long-term use. This includes everything from organ damage, behavioral changes, mental health influences, and more. How can one substance impact so many different parts of your body?
Substances fall into two primary categories: depressant and stimulant. Despite sometimes having some symptoms of a stimulant, alcohol is a depressant. This is due to how it slows down, or depresses, the behaviors of different systems within the body. The primary system impacted by this is the central nervous system. This is the messaging system within the body, sending signals throughout for different systems to function, react, and more.
When this system is regularly suppressed, the body will start to adjust accordingly, treating this suppressed state as the new norm. When you then remove the cause of this, in this case alcohol, the body feels overactive as a result. This is what can lead to hand tremors – overstimulation from alcohol withdrawal.
Shaky hands can be caused by many different things, so how can you tell if it’s caused by alcohol use or alcohol withdrawal?
First, let’s talk about some of the other most common reasons for shaky hands.
Many people will experience shaky hands at least once in their lives. Sometimes they last a few minutes, other times they last hours. Shaky hands can be caused by adrenaline, stress, excess caffeine, and low blood sugar. Other times shaky hands can be caused by medications or more serious things like a brain injury or Parkinson’s disease.
Considering the other causes and context surrounding someone’s shaky hands can help you identify a source. If it’s caused by alcohol use, there are other signs you can keep an eye out for.
The symptoms of alcohol withdrawal start to occur 8 hours after a person’s last drink, on average. While this is the most common situation, for some people it can take longer than that for symptoms to start.
In addition to shaky hands, there are many other symptoms that can come with alcohol withdrawal. Everyone experiences their own combination of symptoms and may experience the same symptoms at different severity. The most common symptoms include:
These symptoms, on average, last 24-72 hours. Some symptoms may persist afterward, with timelines varying. This is known as post-acute withdrawal syndrome and can be managed through proper treatment.
Delirium tremens is a condition that can develop during alcohol withdrawal. It is a severe condition and should be treated very seriously. Not everyone who experiences alcohol withdrawal will experience delirium tremens, but shaky hands are one of the potential side effects of the condition.
The symptoms of delirium tremens most often start to appear 48 hours after the last drink but can appear as late as 10 days after the last drink. This makes it all the more important to be aware if someone is experiencing alcohol withdrawal, so they can be monitored for potential signs of this condition.
Those who have delirium tremens will experience both physical and mental side effects. The most common physical side effects include tremors, sweating, headaches, vomiting, and fast heart rate.
The mental side effects of delirium tremens often involve a disconnect from reality. People will experience confusion, agitation, disorientation, hallucinations, and delusions. Hallucinations are when someone experiences something that isn’t real. This can impact any of the five senses, but won’t always impact all five at the same time. Delusions, on the other hand, are when someone has beliefs that aren’t commonly shared by others. A common example of this is someone expressing the idea that they are being watched by an outside source, normally one in a position of power like the government.
Delirium tremens is most common in those who drink heavily or have a long history of alcohol use. While it does become more common under these conditions, there is no guaranteed way to develop delirium tremens.
If shaky hands aren’t caused by alcohol withdrawals, they can often be managed at home. Things such as stress, high caffeine, low blood sugar, and adrenaline are all easy to manage without medical intervention. Shaky hands from alcohol withdrawal, however, are best managed through a medically supported detox program. This is because of the severe side effects that can come with withdrawal. Being in a medical facility allows for the safety of the individual and the mitigation of withdrawal side effects.
We understand, however, that some people may start their recovery journey from the comfort of their home. There are ways to help manage alcohol withdrawal and address the side effects that come with it. Let’s touch on some of these tips.
It’s never too late to go into recovery. If you start your withdrawal process at home and later decide you want support, that’s always okay. This is especially true if you start experiencing more severe symptoms, including delirium tremens.
No matter your history with alcohol use, alcohol withdrawal, recovery, and more – alcohol addiction rehab is always available for you. It can seem overwhelming or scary to begin, or restart your healing journey, but you deserve the support so you can be set up for long-term success.
There are programs available for you that want to see you succeed. They want to work with you to help you find healing. There are programs available that have caring staff with the experience you deserve to teach you the skills you need to start your journey of recovery.
Our team here at Serenity Lane is ready to help whenever you’re ready. With the full continuum of care available for you across multiple locations in the state, you’ll find support every step of the way. Just give us a call at 800-543-9905 and we’ll get you started today.
Find serenity in long-term recovery.
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