Hand tremors after coffee - causes and methods of normalizing the condition

Many people like to enjoy the taste of freshly brewed coffee with a tonic effect, without thinking about its negative effects on the body. Meanwhile, the effect of coffee on the organs and systems of the body is diverse and sometimes leads to unpleasant consequences - in particular, to hand trembling, which is often the first manifestation of pathology. For many years now, scientists have continued to argue about the qualities of the popular drink and its effect on the body.

Content:

1. Pathogenetic causes of development.
2. Clinical features:

2.1. Types of alcoholic tremors

3. How to get rid of the disease:

3.1. Treatment at home with a doctor's call. 3.2. Therapy in a hospital. 3.3. How to treat the disease yourself.

Intoxication, which develops against the background of prolonged regular drinking, affects almost all internal organs. But it is the nervous system that suffers first. And first of all, we are talking about damage to individual brain structures and disruption of neuromuscular transmission. Alcohol tremor is one of the manifestations and consequences of long-term alcohol consumption. First, it occurs during the period of abstinence after binge drinking, then it is observed almost constantly, intensifying under the influence of alcohol or external stress factors.

Why are your hands shaking?

Often, patients at an appointment with a neurologist complain of hand tremors. They ask how you can get rid of this disease, since others notice it, and it brings discomfort in everyday life. Recommendations will be individual, because first of all it is necessary to understand the causes of trembling. Let's look at the most common types of tremor.

Main types of tremor

• Increased physiological tremor - it is not constant and occurs during physical and emotional stress (fear, stress, anxiety, sleep disturbances). Disappears on its own during rest, sometimes you have to resort to taking sedatives.
• Essential tremor is a bilateral tremors in the hands that can be combined with tremors of the head, voice and sometimes legs. There is a hereditary predisposition. Often, the first signs of essential tremor appear at a young age and get worse over time. Trembling occurs when moving the limbs, such as when eating or when trying to hold outstretched arms in front of you. An important and pathognomonic feature of ET is the reaction to alcohol - when taking small doses, trembling decreases. But this does not mean that it is treated by drinking alcohol! To reduce tremor, drugs from the group of beta blockers and sometimes anticonvulsants are mainly prescribed. Essential tremor does not affect life expectancy, but can significantly worsen its quality, as difficulties arise in self-care.

Tremor and Parkinson's disease

Tremor in Parkinson's disease is characterized by a unilateral onset and gradual development. A distinctive feature is tremor that occurs at rest. As well as other movement disorders: muscle stiffness, shuffling gait, slowness of movement, mask-like face. Parkinson's disease has a steadily progressive course, leading to disability of the patient. Depending on the stage of the disease and age, therapy is selected individually - levodopa drugs, DOPA receptor agonists, COMT inhibitors, etc.

Tremor in functional disorders

Tremor in case of dysfunction of the thyroid gland - the patient is worried not only by trembling in the hands, but also by other symptoms: weight loss, general weakness, sweating, irritability, rapid heartbeat, etc. The patient will need to consult an endocrinologist with an ultrasound scan of the thyroid gland and blood donation for hormones thyroid gland.

Tremor with a significant change in the concentration of glucose and insulin levels in the blood. In this case, trembling occurs during hunger or after eating. Laboratory monitoring of blood glucose and insulin levels and supervision by a physician or endocrinologist are required.

brain dysfunction

Tremor in case of damage to the cerebellum (stroke, trauma, tumors, multiple sclerosis) - tremor is combined with cerebellar symptoms: disturbance of gait, speech, muscle hypotonia and other symptoms. Diagnosis will require MRI and MR angiography of the brain to identify the organic cause of the disease and prescribe appropriate therapy.

Trembling in the hands can be either a manifestation of functional disorders of the body, such as anxiety, mental, physical stress, or a manifestation of serious organic diseases of the brain. Therefore, if you detect tremor in yourself or your relatives, you must contact a specialist neurologist for timely diagnosis and treatment of this condition.

The FAMILY CLINIC employs experienced and competent neurologists who can understand the causes of the disease. If necessary, you will also be consulted by doctors of other specialties: therapists, cardiologists, endocrinologists. As a result, the right therapy will be selected for you, and your problem will certainly be solved.

Pathogenetic causes of development

The occurrence of alcoholic tremor is due to the following mechanisms:

• Peripheral.
  Appears due to involuntary, convulsive muscle contractions against the background of systemic intoxication with acetaldehyde, which is formed during the breakdown of ethyl alcohol in the liver.
• Central.
  Associated with the direct toxic effect of alcohol on areas of the brain responsible for coordination of movements and processes of muscle tension and relaxation (cerebellum, cortical structures).

A certain role in the development of pathology is also played by:

• persistent ischemia of the central and peripheral nervous system;
• hypovolemia;
• electrolyte and acid-base imbalance;
• violation of the filtration function of the liver;
• circulatory pathologies associated with impaired vascular tone, atherosclerosis, chronic hypertension;
• endocrine pathologies (especially thyroid diseases);
• deficiency of thiamine and other vitamins;
• metabolic disorders, etc.

In addition, alcohol is one of the risk factors for the development of degenerative neurological disorders. According to statistics, alcohol addicts more often suffer from Alzheimer's disease, parkinsonism, vegetative-vascular dystonia and other syndromes, which themselves are accompanied by tremors.

Is there any cause for concern?

When women with hand tremors were examined after drinking coffee, it became clear that the body signals in a similar way about possible pathologies or diseases. The degree of reactions depends on the person’s age, the amount of drink drunk, the individual reaction to caffeine, and the type of higher nervous activity. For an absolutely healthy person, such a dose will not cause harm. Trembling hands are often the first manifestation of a disease or a sign of excessive caffeine consumption.

Among the symptoms that are revealed during the examination are the following:

• hypertension, in which drinking coffee can lead to a crisis;
• diseases of the autonomic nervous system;
• diseases of the endocrine system, in particular the thyroid gland;
• coronary heart disease, including heart rhythm disturbances.

Thus, any symptoms after drinking coffee require consultation with a doctor and examination.

Clinical features

Typical symptoms of the disease include:

• alcoholic hand tremor, which in the relatively early stages of binge drinking appears when trying to keep the hands in an outstretched, tense state; subsequently, trembling can occur at rest;
• unsteady, uncertain gait, dizziness, disorientation (especially in the dark);
• alcoholic head tremor, with the shaking usually affecting the lower jaw, eyelids, and tip of the tongue;
• severe chills and sweating.

As the disease progresses, the patient experiences difficulty even performing basic daily duties. It becomes difficult for him to get dressed or bring a filled cup or spoon to his mouth. Naturally, he is physically unable to engage in any professional activity.

Types of alcoholic tremors

By localization:

• focal, affecting one strictly defined anatomical area (for example, hand, jaw, tongue, etc.);
• segmental, when two or more adjacent parts of the body are involved in the pathological process;
• hemitremor, which is unilateral;
• generalized, spreading to the whole body.

According to the clinical picture:

• postural, which appears when trying to maintain a certain position (and when changing body position, the trembling may disappear);
• kinetic, which occurs during movement and intensifies when approaching the target;
• kinesiospecific, developing only during certain actions (for example, writing, typing on a computer, etc.);
• isometric, observed when trying to clench the hand into a fist or hold an object;
• resting tremor, when the trembling persists even when the muscles relax.

Research by scientists

US scientists conducted a study involving 150 women aged 23-60 years. They had to drink three servings of coffee daily and lead a normal lifestyle. After two weeks, 140 participants noted that when drinking an invigorating drink on an empty stomach in the morning and in case of lack of sleep, their hands shook. Although the symptoms of many were mild.

Severe tremor was observed in women suffering from hypertension and VSD. Towards the end of the study, they developed concomitant symptoms:

• pain in the chest area;
• dyspnea;
• prostration.

How to get rid of the disease

Alcohol tremors indicate a severe form of addiction. Therefore, it is important not only to eliminate the symptoms of the pathology, but also its cause.

Treatment at home with a doctor's call

To eliminate involuntary muscle contractions and avoid progression of the disorder to a generalized seizure, use:

• saline solutions, cocarboxylase, glucose;
• vitamins (necessarily thiamine, pyridoxine and cyanocobalamin);
• hepatoprotectors;
• means for activating cerebral and peripheral blood circulation, nootropic drugs;
• cardioprotectors;
• painkillers and antispasmodics.

Usually such treatment is sufficient to alleviate the patient's condition. If the tremor persists, the patient is additionally administered drugs from the group of benzodiazepines. They have a double effect: sedative and anticonvulsant.

Inpatient therapy

In any case, it is better to carry out detoxification in a clinical setting, but strict indications for hospitalization are:

• chronic diseases of the cardiovascular system;
• renal and/or liver failure;
• severe neurological pathologies (epilepsy, encephalopathy, recent stroke, history of neuroinfections, traumatic brain injuries);
• risk of developing a generalized seizure;
• signs of delirium, hallucinosis;
• use (in addition to alcohol) of drugs, strong sedatives.

In a hospital, the doctor has more opportunities to resolve the issue than to treat alcoholic tremors. The patient is under medical supervision at all times, basic vital parameters are monitored, and medications are administered almost around the clock.

In addition to medications, the clinic offers hardware detox procedures (ILBI, plasmapheresis). Excellent results are demonstrated by physiotherapy, laser or electromagnetic stimulation of biologically active zones on the body.

In a hospital, you can determine and how to treat the cause of alcoholic tremors - an uncontrollable desire to drink. After detoxification is completed, consultations with a psychotherapist begin, who motivates the patient to finally get rid of addiction.

How to treat the disease yourself

Doctors categorically warn against self-medication, taking any medications (and especially sedatives or anticonvulsants) without prior diagnosis and doctor’s prescriptions. But if for some reason the patient cannot go to a specialized hospital, doctors give several tips on how to alleviate their condition:

• completely eliminate alcohol;
• reconsider your diet and diet: you need to give up coffee, strong tea, and energy drinks;
• moderate physical activity is required (but not before bedtime);
• drink plenty of fluids (at least 1.5 liters of clean water per day);
• go to bed on time, before going to bed, avoid watching gadgets and movies - it is better to replace them with a walk in the fresh air.

But these are only temporary measures; final recovery from alcoholism requires complex long-term treatment and mandatory rehabilitation. But in parallel with addiction therapy, to eliminate alcoholic tremors, correction of concomitant neurological and metabolic disorders is also carried out.

Prevention of hand tremors

Simple, but extremely effective recommendations will help avoid the development of the disease and generally have a positive effect on the condition of your body:

• Start playing sports, walking outside and any other type of muscle activity;
• Find time every day to rest and relax;
• Practice fine motor skills with your finger, take up crafts or a similar hobby;

All of the above tips do not exclude visiting the dentist and identifying the cause of shaking hands. For this disease, we strongly recommend visiting a specialist to rule out or detect serious diseases.

Literature:

1. A manual on narcology for doctors and paramedics of primary medical care / A. A. Churkin, T. V. Klimenko. / Moscow ; Khanty-Mansiysk / Health and Society, 2006 (Cheboksary: ​​IPK Chuvashia). — 173 p.
2. Tremor: pathogenesis, features of the clinical picture, treatment. Ivanova E.O. / Neurological journal. 2013
3. Tremor: classification, clinical characteristics. Govorova T.G. / Journal Consilium Medicum 2022

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