Essential Tremor Alcohol Treatment

For people with essential tremor, treatment can be a frustrating and long road when it comes to finding what works best to treat their symptoms. For people with very mild symptoms, drug treatment is usually not an option. Health care providers will determine which treatment is best depending on a person's medical history. Treatment is not meant to cure, but to provide maximum improvement in everyday functions and tasks. After a healthcare provider has provided all the information and treatment they can, it has been found that alcohol can be helpful in lessening tremor symptoms. The fact that alcohol can lessen these symptoms provides additional evidence that there is a central mechanism in essential tremor, which makes it different from other tremors because those tremors are caused by an assortment of systems and factors. 

Minimizing stress and exposure to caffeine and nicotine can help to decrease tremors, but can be hard. In some situations, a person with mild tremor can drink a small amount of alcohol, if it has been approved by a doctor. Although alcohol may lessen the tremor, there is a danger of intake slowly increasing. It has been found that those with essential tremor can be more susceptible to alcoholism because of the nature of their symptoms and the relief it can provide. Studies shown prove that those who consume alcohol may see improvement in their symptoms in as little as 15 minutes from consumption. 

In the long run, too much alcohol can cause tremors of a different nature, and cause symptoms to worsen. Professional advice says that men and women who drink often should only consume 14 units a week or less. This is equivalent to six pints of beer or seven glasses of wine. It also says that if people drink, they should drink moderately over three or more days and that some days should be completely alcohol-free to reduce the health risks associated with alcohol. Women who consume eight or more drinks per week are considered excessive drinkers, and men who drink 15 or more drinks a week are considered excessive drinkers. Making sure that limits are followed means that problems don’t arise due to the consumption as well as addictions are prevented from forming. 

Since essential tremor can be greatly affected by the diet as well, drinking alcohol that is low in calories and lower in sugar with no caffeine in it will be the most beneficial. Alcohols such as vodka, gin, whiskey and scotch are the drinks that are recommended if you are concerned about health factors. Caffeine can greatly increase tremors, so partnering it with alcohol would not be good, and could increase tremors. Taking all of this into consideration while drinking responsibly can lead to well managed essential tremor symptoms. 

Alcohol, when consumed after consultation with a healthcare provider and consumed responsibly, can greatly improve symptoms of essential tremor. Essential tremor cannot be cured, but symptoms can be managed. Alcohol is a substance that should be used in restriction and should not be used lightly, but can be used to treat essential tremor if used responsibly.