I googled 'alcohol withdrawal symptoms and duration' and it said that 3 to 5 days is the expected duration of the worst withdrawal symptoms. The shakes comes from your brain no longer being 'depressed' from alcohol and all your systems are suddenly 'wide awake'. So your brain goes from being slowed down from all the alcohol to being speeded up when the alcohol is withdrawn. Mine went away in a few days. I also drank herbal teas like "sleepytime" tea containing chamomile and valerian. It helped a bit in the first few days.
Doctors will sometimes prescribe meds to get you thru the worst of withdrawals. Speaking to your doctor before detoxing is a good idea as withdrawal from alcohol can be dangerous.
There is also a 'sticky' at the top of the Alcoholism forum page called "quitting, what to expect, what we did" which contains useful info.
Keep coming back here. Remember, if you get thru the worst of the withdrawals you don't ever have to go thru them again. I wish you the best in getting off alcohol. It's worth it!
:ghug3