How to Stop Alcohol Shakes
Are you or someone you know going through alcohol withdrawal?
Alcohol abuse is something that 14.1 million adults struggled with in the past. What's great is that a lot of them recovered through outstanding willpower and commitment to a cleaner bill of health. However, what they don't tell you is that the recovery process is an ordeal in itself.
Among the most worrying symptoms that recovering addicts go through is "the shakes." Also known as alcohol shakes, it's where your hands shake uncontrollably. Learning how to stop alcohol shakes makes your recovery process much more peaceful.
Read what's below to learn all you need about alcohol shakes. Use this to help your friend or yourself through the recovery process today!
What Causes Alcohol Shakes?
Alcohol shakes often happen within a day since the last time the person drank alcohol. 6-10 hours is the limit for most people before they begin to feel their hands start to shake. However, these shakes are only small in comparison to what the person feels 24 hours since their last drink.
This is when the tremors peak and begin to affect how well the person can use their hands. What's worse is that these tremors are often accompanied by other side effects like insomnia, nausea, and anxiety. These may last around a few weeks or longer.
What causes these in the first place, though? This is all because the body becomes dependent on alcohol. Alcohol is a depressant, meaning that it slows down your body's processes whenever it's present in your body.
Large quantities of alcohol, as often ingested by addicts, cause the body to stop the production of certain hormones. They don't want the body to become too relaxed, lest it leads to a heart that's too relaxed to beat.
However, suddenly removing the alcohol in the equation leads to a chemical imbalance in the body. The body refuses to produce more since it expects alcohol to come in some time soon. Meanwhile, the body also overproduces stimulants to balance the effects of alcohol.
This is why the body begins to shake. It's overstimulated and doesn't have anything to balance it out. It's also why you hear most alcoholics reach for a drink to "steady themselves."
Medically-Advised Ways to Stop Alcohol Shakes
Detoxification is the best way for you to stop alcohol shakes. The way detoxification works is by helping the body remove all the traces of alcohol inside. Doing this helps you beat cravings and manage the symptoms of withdrawal.
Once your body is clean of alcohol, treatment to overcome your addiction can begin. It's best that you leave yourself at the hands of professionals when doing this. This means checking into an addiction recovery center.
The staff in these centers can help you by giving you advice on how to deal with lingering cravings. They also show what you can do when presented with the option to drink again. Their teachings are all about discipline and control to prevent yourself from relapsing.
How to Stop and Prevent Alcohol Shakes From Worsening
Detoxing is sometimes not an option for most people. This is often because the symptoms and shakes are too severe for sudden detox. Here's how you can prevent alcohol shakes from getting worse as you beat your cravings.
Keep Yourself Hydrated
Drinking as much clean water as you can throughout your process is a great way to help stop alcohol shakes. This is because your body will get to flush away the remaining traces of alcohol faster. Doing this also aids in the recovery of your kidneys and liver after your heavy use of alcohol.
You can also substitute water with drinks loaded with electrolytes. These speed up cellular metabolism to help balance your body's chemicals. That said, stay away from caffeine during this time as it overstimulates your body, leading to worse shakes.
Nourish Your Body
Apart from hydrating your body, keeping it nourished is also a must. Adopt a nutritious diet to help stop the shakes from getting worse. This means that you must avoid sugary sweets since they also stimulate your body.
Opting for lean protein like fish and chicken helps your muscles build up, giving you more control over the shakes. You can also eat foods that contain healthy fat, like butter and nuts. These help flush away the alcohol from your body.
You can also use this opportunity to eat foods rich in antioxidants. These are detoxifying foods and they will help you cleanse your body.
Learn How to Manage Your Stress
Stress management is important when recovering from addiction. Stress is the primary cause of relapse in a recovering alcoholic. This is because they'll feel overwhelmed and will resort to their old comforts to escape.
A great way to manage your stress is by doing yoga and meditation. These help you relax and can even reinforce positive thinking. This makes it so your addiction recovery becomes more likely and effective in the end.
Keep Yourself Busy
Every once in a while, you'll get cravings and temptations to go back to drinking alcohol. This often happens when you're not doing anything and your mind wanders.
This makes it important to keep yourself busy to ensure the success of your treatment. A great way to do this is by talking to a few reliable people. Talk to them about your problem so they know about your situation.
They're likely to give you support and help you through the process. Doing this also helps you foster great relationships with your support network. This way, you won't have to spend this journey to self-betterment alone.
Learn How to Stop Alcohol Shakes Today
Recovering from alcoholism means you have quite the endeavor ahead of you. Many factors can scare you back into regression, like the many symptoms of the withdrawal process. Learn how to stop alcohol shakes and overcome all of these symptoms so you can start a better life now!
Do you want to learn more about health and addiction recovery? Check out more of our guides to learn all you can today!