ColeLampkin23

The other day after a night of drinking I woke up and went to the bathroom and as I was on the toilet my hand was shaking, but only slightly. This sort of freaked me out because as most of us know a lot of alcoholics experience this withdrawal symptom. Anyone who hasn’t read my previous posts I’m 21 and drink pretty heavily most days but not everyday and have never had the shakes so I have a couple questions for you older folks who obviously have a lot more experience than me. Is the shaking usually the first sign that you’re an alcoholic? How long will someone tremble if they’re severely dependent on alcohol? How long was it after your last drink that you would start shaking? And lastly does shaking usually mean you’re getting close to being physically dependent on alcohol? Any info on the subject is appreciated <3

NoahJ

Hi there. It would be irresponsible of me to tell you what I think the cause is of your hand shaking. Yeah, this can be from alcohol withdrawal. And it could be from anything else benign to scary. I would strongly suggest you sit down with a doctor or addiction specialist.

Notwithstanding other causes, Shaking hands is both a chemical withdrawal symptom, and a symptom of nerve damage from substance abuse. An alcoholic could have shaking hands from one or both causes. Neither is good. There is no way for anyone but a trained neurologist to tell for sure. For many people, they seem to get over the shakes inside of 2 weeks. There are also people like me, for whom it takes many months to years. And others have permanence to their nerve damage, which can take the form of a true disability.

I hope this puts you in the right direction. Sit down with an expert, be honest, and congratulations for taking an interest in this symptom and what it could mean.

August252015

Agree with the above.

For me, by the last year- or six months of my drinking, I had the shakes every morning til I took a drink. That's late stage alcoholism for you.

I was VERY sick when I quit 23 mo ago, at age 39. I went through severe withdrawal and subsequent PAWS (you can read up on it at www.digitaldharma.net - people might also suggest you look up kindling). Shakes were a regular part of it and for me, came and went during the first months.

Bottom line- something is likely going on and alcohol doesn't help it, even if it is not causing it. I had other symptoms of alcoholism with physical manifestations. I had to be honest with all my drs (my regular doctor had known far more than I wanted to think, for a long time) and see what I had to deal with in order to start healing.

Best to you.

MindfulMan

Shaking is a clear sign of alcohol withdrawal. The line between hangovers and withdrawal gets very blurry both after very heavy bingeing and as the disease progresses.

Given your posts on the site it appears as though you're asking about various symptoms and if that indicates if you're an alcoholic.

The answer is that none of us can give you a definitive yes or no answer, just data from our own experiences and research and dealing with other alcoholics.

You've indicated that once you started drinking you don't stop until you've consumed an extremely large amount of alcohol and pass out and/or black out....to the point where you're at least beginning to experience shaking afterwards. That in itself is a huge red flag, regardless of your age and length of time drinking. The fact that you're even voicing these concerns makes me think there's a high probability that you have a problem.

Stop drinking and see if the shakiness continues. If it does, see a doctor. If not, mention it to a doctor the next time you have an appointment.

DontRemember

Trying to brush my teeth one morning,but hardly being able to squeeze the toothpaste on the brush,brought me here in 2014. I drank for another couple years and started getting the shakes after every night of drinking heavily. If it was a 'lite' night of drinking, I began to feel 'internal shaking'. This led me to become an all day drinker. I might not have been 'drunk' all day,but I had booze in my system pretty much from the moment I woke up to when I passed out. I was in my later 30's...Time to get a hold of this thing,bud! Don't be like me. My user name comes from pretty much my life from 28-39. Those 11yrs are a blurred dream with loads of bad decisions/actions in there, with some legal issues tossed in for 'good measure'.

Also..going to the store at 7am because I ran out from the night before and trying to use my debit card,but hardly able to enter my pin code from shakey hands.. Yeah..that's the way I want to be seen.

ColeLampkin23

Thank you all for the replies so far I appreciate it. To DontRemember, you said you had “internal shaking”, could you explain this please? I don’t think I’ve ever heard that phrase before

DontRemember

Another poster mentioned it a couple months ago too..let me see if I can find it.

DontRemember

I can't find it.. Anyways. you know how you can feel and see your hands shaking? It was like that same feeling,but I would hold my hands up and they looked solid/still as can be,but I felt the shaking inside of my skin. I happened to be riding with my business partner/friend who knows about my 'stuff' obviously,so I asked him;"Can you notice my hands shaking?"..He replied 'No,why?' and the only way I could explain it was like I was having internal shaking. I hadn't had a drink in a while.. Almost like being cold and shivering without anyone being able to notice. Was a very weird feeling. I'm sure I've damaged a lot of my brain over the years with drinking and drugs,but I don't feel that way anymore and that keeps me sober. Those first few weeks/months write down what your going through and how you're feeling. It's a great reminder of why you don't drink anymore.

Berrybean

I think you already had the first signs of that. The shakes are just the frosting on the top.... "I honestly have to say I don’t think I’ll be able to give alcohol up for good until later in life. I do however realize drinking 30 beers in a day isn’t normal and an early warning sign of a problem. I think moderation is a big key but I’ve never been the type to be able to have 2 beers and call it a night and I’m sure a lot of people on here are as well. I’ve read other alcoholics allowing themselves to drink whatever they want and however much they want in 3 hours total for the week but can’t be more than 2 days out of the week. That seems pretty attainable for an average person, I’m not sure however that would do with the alcoholics that I’ve read get withdrawal symptoms as early as 8 hours after their last drink but I’m trying to find all the solutions I can."

I don't think you're looking for solutions. The solution is simple, if not easy. You are looking for ways to avoid the consequences of drinking as an alcoholic. Ya think if that were possible there'd be people dying of alcoholism? Or even alcoholics going into rehab and working on recovery? Course not.

BB

Juicer

The internal shaking, at least for me, feel like something moving under my skin, especially my fingers and hands. I would touch my finger tips together and would feel movement... This only happened after I was sobering up from a binge. I never had visible shaking and when holding my hands out it was steady as can be. This made one doctor question if I was going through withdrawal..

Everyone responds differently.

AnvilheadII

Is the shaking usually the first sign that you’re an alcoholic?

nope, DRINKING is the first sign.

Anna

Please know that we cannot offer medical advice here, and it's against our rules to ask for medical advice.

As many have said, shaking hands can be a sign of alcohol withdrawal. Beyond that, it's best if you talk to your dr.

ColeLampkin23

Thank you for the further replies there’s been a lot of good info that I will definitely use to my advantage, thank you all <3