newlyaddicted

How long did shakes take to completely go away for everyone? Did anyone ever get permanent ones in hands after completing detox? Like mild, but didn't go away completely? Thanks.

MindfulMan

I had hand shakes that persisted for months. I didn't think much of it because I've had a tremor for pretty much all of my adult life.

Funny thing is...after about 8 months sober, I noticed it wasn't there any more.

newlyaddicted

Thanks. Good to hear it resolved for you eventually! I never had any hand tremors before at all so it's definitely more noticeable for me now. I'll be 2 weeks since last drink tomorrow so hopefully it will improve over time because I'd hate it if it was permanent makes it hard and annoying to do anything with my hands requiring fine motor skills.

Andante

I had a terrible time with shaky hands when I finally quit for good. After more than 5 years sober it's about 90% better, but my hands do still shake a bit, and I'm unable to do things that require precision, like typing accurately (thank goodness for the backspace key) or signing my name clearly.

I've accepted that I likely have some permanent damage, but it's the part of the price I have to pay for letting my addiction progress as far as it did, and then making so many unsuccessful efforts to quit.

Not perhaps what you wanted to hear, but I'm happy to share this cautionary tale if it might help keep you on the sober path.

newlyaddicted

Thanks for sharing, sorry to hear it didn't 100% resolve for you

BullDog777

you might wanna get your blood sugar tested to see if you fall into the hypoglycemic or diabetic range. Either can cause it, and it runs in some form for most recovery people. It could be something as simple as caffeine or blood sugar.

Real neurological shaking that's not due to diet and from brain damage after acute post withdrawal is over is really really rare.

newlyaddicted

Thanks Bulldog. Good to know. I cut back caffeine almost completely during really acute withdrawal period because it made shaking, blood pressure etc worse during. The shaking is better if I don't have caffeine at all (hard to do). Caffeine never did that to me before withdrawals though. I have blood sugar issues regardless but they have been under control and have not caused shaking in the past. Let's hope it's not brain damage :-/ hopefully that wouldn't happen without seizures, which isn't something I experienced.

FBL

I had the morning shakes for the last several months of my drinking career. They went away soon after I quit. How long have you been sober?

newlyaddicted

Just checked calendar. 10 days totally booze free. Thought it was longer! Has sure felt like an eternity with the withdrawals. But the drinking towards the end was my attempts to taper to reduce withdrawals, which didn't really help anyway. Just made it worse. Because one small glass of wine to knock off withdrawals gave relief short term but my body screamed for more within an hour, and only felt worse again.

Will be 2 weeks tomorrow though since I stopped blacking out every day for a straight month. Guess it'll take my brain chemistry a while to totally reset.

biminiblue

I had some shakiness for the first couple weeks, and also I was so aware of every little thing so it seemed so much bigger than it really was.

I was just a bundle of raw nerves in general. It took quite a while for that to go away completely. Be patient (I know, easier said.)

You're doing great at 9-10 days. That was a really hard time for me. Not going back there ever. I hope you don't either.

ScottFromWI

Congrats on 10 days! And yes, it does take time for our mind and body to adjust. You are still potentially at the tail end of the acute phase if you were drinking that heavily. The brain chemistry can take quite a bit longer too, but things should definitely improve over time.

newlyaddicted

Thanks. Glad to hear it resolved for you eventually! Yeah, the first week of withdrawals were absolutely awful for me and probably enough to scare me off drinking for life.

biminiblue

I sat down and wrote out all the progressive consequences of alcohol, from my first day of drinking up till the day I quit. That time I did *_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.*

Then I detailed the withdrawal.

It's a good thing to be able to look at when those drinking thoughts come.

I threw it away eventually, but it helped me not forget. Apparently our memories fade and then drinking seems a good plan.

Yixi

Hi NA. Very well done for the 10 days sober - you should feel well chuffed with yourself.

Similar to Bimi - I wrote 10 instances down, (for which I am still rightly ashamed), taken from the month before I quit. If tempted I read them and think...nah, not such a good idea though is it pet?

With regards to the shakes I had them really badly for the last 10 years of drinking but, luckily for me considering what I'd done to myself, 2 months after stopping they vanished completely. I was really fortunate.

The longer you're sober - the better it gets. Trust me on this x

FBL

10 days is great, but still VERY early. We spent years destroying our bodies and brains, it takes more than a few days for them to heal! It WILL get better and better, that I guarantee!

newlyaddicted

Thanks Scott! Yeah, I thought that might be the case. My worst period was when I tried to taper and then another few days after that, but shakes have hung around, though a lot milder.

newlyaddicted

That's a good idea! Yeah, definitely don't want this memory to fade and go through it again.

newlyaddicted

Thanks Yixi. That's really reassuring to hear! Really good it stopped for you, even with 10 years.

newlyaddicted

Yep, here's hoping!

Rar

This thread about shakes jogged my memory of an experience with my doctor. At my checkups he would always ask the routine questions of how much I was drinking, am I still smoke free, etc.. I usually lied about my alcohol consumption and said about 5-7 light beers. He told me that was too much. He must have suspected I was lying because a while later he said, "Hold out your hands.". Because I have COPD, I thought he was checking the color of my nails for oxygen deprivation. Guess not. Hmmmmm.......

Congratulations on your sobriety time. Hang in there. Rooting for you.