Why do alcoholics' hands shake and how to get rid of it?

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• Causes of trembling limbs
• Types of tremors of the limbs that occur due to alcohol consumption
• How to eliminate trembling limbs?
• What should you not do if you have tremors in your limbs?
• When is medical help needed urgently?
• How to live with tremors?

Causes of trembling limbs

Long-term use of alcoholic beverages leads to depression of the central nervous system, causing adaptive changes in several neurotransmitter systems. The adaptive response causes the central nervous system to become tolerant of alcohol. A sharp withdrawal from alcohol dependence leads to the fact that the balance of the built neurotransmitters is disturbed. After just a few hours of sobriety, a person experiences psychomotor agitation and other symptoms indicating that his nervous system is overloaded. Increased nervous excitability leads to trembling of the limbs. Tremor also occurs in simply emotional people. It is difficult for them to restrain impulses of joy or anger and the outburst of emotions occurs due to tremors.

Also, trembling of the limbs can occur for hundreds of other reasons, including pathologies of the kidneys, liver, diabetes, Parkinson's disease and simple heredity. Other problems that lead to limb tremors include stress, depression, and nervous tension. Trembling also occurs after heat stroke , intoxication, or carbon monoxide poisoning.

Why do healthy people's hands shake?

Nervousness and instability are the main scourge of the 21st century, so people in this endless rush are often in a tense environment, neglect their health and resort to drugs that are addictive.

Hand tremors are a syndrome that affects quite a large number of people.

There are many reasons leading to hand tremors:

• chronic fatigue, lack of sleep;
• nervous overexcitation;
• hard physical labor to which the body is not accustomed;
• alcohol or drug withdrawal (withdrawal);
• depression or hysteria, emotional distress, stress.

Every healthy person has noticed hand tremors at least once. After watching a scary movie, a hard week, or experiencing stress, the body is in a state of shock, which is accompanied by this symptom. Treatment for benign tremor is not required, because it is enough to eliminate the cause, and the trembling will go away on its own. But nervous exhaustion, which often causes fatigue and stress, can lead to mental problems, so doctors may recommend taking sedatives.

Types of tremors of the limbs that occur due to alcohol consumption

Alcohol has an extremely destructive effect on the human body. Thus, it disrupts the flow of impulses through the spinal cord to the brain, which is why neurons cannot adequately interact with each other. Trembling in an alcoholic can be observed not only in the limbs: such a person may have trembling eyeballs, legs, stomach and even vocal cords. If he does not stop drinking alcohol, then coordination of movements is disrupted in principle: the patient begins to sway from side to side. Depending on the stage of neglect of the case, we can talk about the following types of violations:

• Major trembling throughout the body. It can occur if a person has exceeded his usual alcohol limit. Thus, the body exhibits poisoning, i.e. intoxication. The trembling will go away as soon as all the toxic substances are removed from the body.
• Trembling of limbs in the morning. It occurs against the backdrop of periodically exceeding the dose of alcohol. As a rule, this syndrome is relieved by taking another small dose of alcohol. Unfortunately, this technique only aggravates a person’s situation, forming a literally vicious alcoholic circle.
• Trembling of the limbs, head, eyelids, voice. This reaction already applies to experienced alcoholics. If a person exceeds his normal dose of alcohol for many years, then his cerebellum and/or frontal lobes of the brain are affected, which leads to tremors in different parts of the body.
• Cramps. Such a tremor indicates the manifestation of withdrawal syndrome, which poses a danger to human life. If you see that an alcoholic is having convulsions, then immediately call an ambulance.

Of course, each body reacts to alcohol differently; the types of tremors described above and their causes are approximate. Sometimes a person can drink alcohol all his life and remain full of health and energy, and sometimes after several successful parties a person already suffers from alcohol addiction and slight tremors of the limbs.

Causes of tremors in alcoholics

Hand tremors in alcoholism are always a consequence of severe intoxication. Alcohol destroys brain cells. After being damaged by acetaldehyde, the latter begin to die off.

The cerebellum is responsible for all movements in the human body. It is he who is the first to suffer during heavy drinking. This is proven by a shaky gait, loss of balance and dizziness that occurs immediately after drinking.

Alcohol also disrupts neural connections in the cervical spinal cord, which is known to control muscle activity in the arms. As a result, the connection between the motor nerves deteriorates in the drinker, the inhibitory function is blocked, tremors develop and muscle tone decreases.

With severe alcohol intoxication, not only the upper limbs shake - uncontrollable chills literally cover the entire body, even the face. This is due to the toxic effect of acetaldehyde (a metabolite of ethanol), which disrupts the balanced activity of the vestibular apparatus and the autonomic nervous system.

How to eliminate trembling limbs?

People mistakenly think that “shaking” after drinking alcoholic beverages is not dangerous. It seems that it brings nothing other than a feeling of discomfort, however, this is far from the case. Involuntary muscle contractions lead to damage to the nervous system, hallucinations, and malfunctions of many organs, such as the liver. Tremors can be overcome both in hospital and at home. Of course, the former are preferable. However, you can send a person to a clinic for treatment only with his consent, and if you are unable to persuade the patient to undergo treatment in a hospital, then at least try to help him at home:

1. Calm your nervous system. To do this, the patient must follow a special diet rich in aminoacetic acid - glycine. There is a high glycine content in beef jelly and rich khash. In addition, chocolate, bananas and citrus fruits help restore balance in the nervous system.
2. Relieve vasospasm. If the patient “shakes”, he definitely has it. To relieve vascular spasm you need to take antispasmodics.
3. Let the patient sleep. Sleep is the best healer. Rest will quickly restore the imbalance of the nervous system. This is the simplest, but also the most effective method of combating limb tremors. If a person cannot sleep, you can give him a small dose of a sleeping pill or sedative.
4. Give the person medication to prevent a hangover.

Of course, these methods only work with simple cases of limb tremors. If a person’s hands are already shaking, this is a signal that it’s time to see a doctor . The sooner you turn to specialists and begin treatment for alcohol addiction, the higher the chance that you will be able to completely restore a person’s health, as well as his status in society.

Sometimes a person experiences chills rather than tremors. If the patient is shivering, this means that proteins have appeared in his blood that coagulate at normal body temperature. In this situation, urgent detoxification of the body is needed, so urgently call an ambulance or a narcologist to your home, who can immediately administer an IV. You need to act in the same way if the patient begins to have convulsions. The person is also prescribed plenty of fluids, vitamin C and diet therapy, which accelerates the removal of breakdown products of ethyl alcohol.

If a person has a major tremor, this means that the level of dopamine in his body, which controls the conduction of impulses between neurons, has dropped. To make up for its deficiency, you can play sports or at least take a walk, and also eat chocolate, banana or seafood.

Popping tremor is a rare and very dangerous phenomenon. It indicates that the person has serious liver damage and needs immediate medical attention. Call an ambulance or a narcologist to your home, otherwise you risk the person’s health and even life.

When do your child's hands shake?

If you notice hand tremors in a baby under one year old, this may be evidence of an unformed network of nerve ending centers. The causes of this phenomenon are often infections during the perinatal period, stressful pregnancy, hypoxia, prematurity, umbilical cord entanglement and birth injuries. In medicine, hereditary tremor or, as it is also known, familial tremor (Minor's disease) is often encountered.

Tremor in children is often divided into:

• physiological – hands tremble during periods of emotional stress, physical activity, excitement and are of a short-term nature;
• pathological - can occur with deviations of the nervous system.

Hand tremors in adolescents may be associated with hormonal changes; in addition, during adolescence, the child experiences serious nervous stress

What should you not do if you have tremors in your limbs?

First of all, remember once and for all: you cannot get hungover, that is, take another dose of alcohol. Such tactics only aggravate the situation, as a result of which toxins and other poisonous substances enter the body again, which forms an additional addiction to alcohol. Secondly, you cannot self-treat if the tremor is pronounced or, even worse, the patient has chills or convulsions. In order not to risk a person’s life and health, convince him to see a doctor.

Also, if possible, the patient should avoid the following situations if he has pronounced trembling of the limbs or other parts of the body as a result of drinking alcohol:

• Drinking coffee and other “invigorating” drinks. Yes, it may seem that it makes you feel better, however, coffee retains fluid in the body, which slows down the removal of toxins and other breakdown products of ethyl alcohol. The tremor may only get worse.
• Drinking weak alcohol. You shouldn't even drink a can of beer. In practice, this will not work, although there is an opinion among alcoholics that a hangover can be relieved in this way. A new portion of alcohol means a new portion of tremors and nothing more.
• Taking medications while still intoxicated. First you need to make sure that the patient is completely sober and only then start treating him with pills and other medications.
• Taking a bath. Intoxication can only intensify. If the patient really wants to freshen up, then let him take a contrast shower for a couple of minutes.
• Provocation of vomiting. If the patient tries to artificially induce stomach cramps, he may shake even more. It is better to go to a medical facility for detoxification.

If you are in doubt whether you should see a doctor or not, then think about how much time you can lose and what percentage of the possibility of restoring your health and patient status will remain for you if you hesitate. to remove it immediately , and for this, inpatient treatment is best suited.

When is medical help needed urgently?

Sometimes only a doctor can help get rid of limb tremors. Also, tremors may not always be caused by drinking alcohol. Therefore, if you are in doubt, simply seek advice from a specialist. In the following cases, an alcoholic needs urgent medical attention:

• For pathologies of the thyroid gland;
• If you take medications incorrectly;
• With pronounced drug addiction;
• For Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases;
• With damage to the cerebellum;
• In case of poisoning with toxic substances.

The specialist will conduct an examination and prescribe the treatment that suits the patient best. Also, only a doctor can help eliminate trembling of the limbs. A neurologist will explain how to get rid of tremors that are not caused by alcohol intoxication. However, if you are absolutely sure that trembling occurred as a result of drinking alcohol, then of course contact a narcologist. The doctor will conduct testing and diagnostics, examine the patient for other diseases and, based on the results of the analysis, will be able to select the most effective treatment.

myelopathy , i.e., damage to the spinal cord, can be observed In this case, longer and more complex treatment is required, which will be carried out under the supervision of several specialists. However, do not get upset ahead of time: modern medicine works wonders, the main thing is to seek help in time.

How to live with tremors?

In fact, it’s quite simple: try to avoid situations that would strengthen it. It is necessary to lead a healthy lifestyle, play sports, learn to rest and recuperate, and also switch your attention.

Also, you should not load those parts of the body that experience trembling . If it’s your hands, then don’t carry heavy things, use a voice assistant on your phone, give up written documents, and learn to use contactless payment instead of cash in stores.

Tremor remains with a person forever if it is not cured in time. Therefore, if you are caring for a relative who suffers from this disease, then seek medical help as soon as possible. Possible complications of untreated tremor are constant trembling, unpleasant effects on internal organs and muscles, and numbness.

Tremor of the limbs in any case requires treatment . Try to make it voluntary. Explain to your relative how much he will lose if he does not get rid of alcohol addiction and related syndromes in time: work, family, money, status in society. Your job is to show how complicated life becomes with the advent of alcoholism.

If you cannot persuade a person to undergo voluntary treatment, then you can call a narcologist or psychologist to your home, who will talk with the patient and do everything in his power to get him to go to a hospital for treatment . Inpatient treatment is the best method to quickly and efficiently help a person cope not only with tremors, but also with alcohol addiction in general. Almost always such treatment is anonymous, and modern medical methods quickly and easily put alcoholics on their feet.