{"id":1010,"date":"2021-07-22T15:05:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-22T19:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.therecoveryvillage.com\/?page_id=1010"},"modified":"2022-06-24T11:53:06","modified_gmt":"2022-06-24T15:53:06","slug":"does-alcohol-withdrawal-cause-muscle-twitching","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.therecoveryvillage.com\/alcohol-abuse\/does-alcohol-withdrawal-cause-muscle-twitching\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Alcohol Withdrawal Cause Muscle Twitching and Spasms?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tremors are one of the most common signs of alcohol withdrawal syndrome.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the most common symptoms<\/a> of AWS is muscle tremors or spasms. If you struggle with alcohol abuse<\/a> and stop drinking suddenly, you might experience symptoms of alcohol withdrawal<\/a> syndrome, or AWS. Many different symptoms of AWS exist, all of which can vary in severity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Article at a Glance:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Important points to remember about alcohol and muscle spasms include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muscle tremors, spasms or twitching can result from alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muscle spasms are one of the most common symptoms of AWS, and will usually start within a few hours of your last drink and last up to a few days<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other, more serious complications of AWS that involve muscle tremor include seizure and delirium tremens<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because complications of AWS can be deadly, never try to wait out your tremor from AWS or manage it on your own<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alcohol-related tremors can also develop independently of AWS if chronic heavy drinking<\/a> has harmed a part of the brain called the cerebellum<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Why Does Alcohol Withdrawal Cause Muscle Spasms?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When you drink alcohol, your drinking impacts the chemicals in your brain<\/a>. Two brain chemicals that drinking affects include gamma-Aminobutyric acid, or GABA, and glutamate. These chemicals have opposite effects in the brain. Glutamate tends to excite the brain while GABA tends to calm it down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The effect of GABA in the brain is enhanced when you drink alcohol. In turn, your brain becomes very sensitive to glutamate. If you stop drinking suddenly, your brain can become over-excited from getting more glutamate and less GABA than usual. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result of these chemical changes in your brain is a host of different symptoms of AWS, including muscle tremors. Muscle tremors in AWS can differ in how severe they are. You may experience<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n