Associated symptoms
The consumption of alcohol can cause both spinning dizziness and swindling. In the case of vertigo, the person affected has the feeling that the surroundings revolve around him or her. In the case of swaying vertigo, the main cause is insecurity of standing and walking, as the person has the feeling that the ground is not firm but swaying back and forth.
The most common form of swindling, however, is caused by alcohol consumption. The dizziness is often accompanied by other symptoms, such as nausea or headaches. These can persist even the day after the consumption of alcohol.
Shaking and dizziness can occur together due to alcohol consumption. Occasional drinkers who do not suffer from alcohol addiction may experience tremors in their intoxication when the cerebellum is impaired in its function. This manifests itself primarily through a gait and standing insecurity (wiggling, swaying), but also through a so-called intention tremor.
In the case of purposeful movements, for example when reaching for a bottle, trembling movements occur, which often miss the target. When drinking alcohol at parties where you also move a lot, for example when dancing, dehydration, i.e. loss of fluid, occurs particularly quickly. Alcohol itself has a dehydrating effect; in connection with physical exercise, the person concerned loses fluid even faster.
Hypoglycemia can also occur. A lack of fluids and hypoglycaemia can also cause tremors, just as tachycardia after alcohol can occur. If the person concerned is a person who regularly consumes alcohol, the tremor could also be withdrawal symptoms.
The brain is so to speak immobilized by alcohol. When there is a lack of alcohol, the receptors in the brain become overexcited and generate too many signals which are then sent to the muscles. Shaking and other physical symptoms are the result.
The consumption of alcohol usually reduces this tremor, as the brain no longer sends unnecessary impulses due to the “calming” alcohol. Excessive alcohol consumption often causes nausea and vomiting together with dizziness. Several factors come together here: First of all, the body is severely dehydrated because alcohol increases fluid excretion.
This easily results in a weak circulation, which in turn causes dizziness. Dizziness, in turn, can lead to nausea by activating the vomiting center in the brain stem. In addition, excessive alcohol consumption can also directly activate the vomiting center, since the concentration of toxins in the blood is also measured here.
Since alcohol is strictly speaking a toxic substance, alcohol consumption can therefore lead to nausea and vomiting in the short and long term. More about this:
- Vomiting due to alcohol
- Nausea after alcohol consumption – What helps?
Alcohol can cause heart palpitations in addition to numerous other physical complaints, which can be perceived by the person concerned in an unpleasant way. One reason for this is that alcohol has a dilating effect on the blood vessels.
As a result, there is suddenly more space in the blood vessels to fill with an unchanged amount of blood volume. At the same time, alcohol ensures a slight to moderate dehydration of the body, which additionally reduces the blood volume. As a compensation, the heart now beats faster in order to distribute the insufficient blood volume in the body and maintain an adequate circulation.
As described above, alcohol has an activating effect on fluid excretion. This is achieved by disrupting hormonal mechanisms that normally regulate urine production in the kidneys: alcohol has a specific effect on the concentration of urine, it prevents water absorption.The urine is therefore more diluted or contains a higher proportion of water than usual. This proportion of liquid is in turn missing in the blood vessels, making it increasingly difficult for the body to maintain circulation. In addition, alcohol has a vasodilating effect as described above, which also makes it more difficult to maintain adequate circulation. This can lead to complaints such as dizziness after getting up too quickly or a noticeable drop in blood pressure.