Introduction
Dizziness may occur due to alcohol consumption. A distinction is made between dizziness in the case of alcohol consumption that is just taking place, which is caused by the acute flooding of the organism with alcohol, and dizziness, which occurs as a long-term consequence of chronic alcohol consumption. The causes of these two forms of dizziness are different, but can each be traced back to alcohol consumption. On the other hand, there are also patients who suffer from dizziness and feel an improvement in their symptoms when drinking light alcohol. Often these people are affected by phobic vertigo, which is psychogenic and occurs especially in stressful situations.
Causes
Alcohol can cause dizziness through various mechanisms. The balance is mainly controlled by the inner ear. There, the archways are particularly important, of which humans have three on each side.
In the semicircular canals there is a fluid that moves with the rotation of the head and thus stimulates special sensory cells. The brain then processes this stimulus as a positional sensation. The fluid in the semicircular canals and the mass in which the sensory cells are located (so-called cupula) are in a certain weight ratio to each other, so that the stimulus can be generated and transmitted correctly.
However, this ratio is changed by alcohol. The alcohol enters the inner ear and causes the cupula with the sensory cells to become lighter, since alcohol is lighter than water. The weight ratio between liquid and cupula shifts.
The cupula can now be excited much more easily, which causes dizziness in the brain when the position of the head changes. The cerebellum, which is particularly important for coordination, is also disturbed by alcohol consumption (see: Cerebellar damage). This often results in gait insecurity (swaying).
Finally, chronic alcohol consumption leads to permanent damage to the nerve tracts of the brain. One example is Wernicke’s encephalopathy as a result of chronic alcohol consumption. A lack of vitamin B1 develops, which eventually leads to a decrease in various brain structures (atrophy).
Those affected suffer from insecurity of gait and standing and develop various psychosyndromes. The nerve tracts in the body are also damaged by chronic alcohol consumption. A so-called polyneuropathy can occur, which leads to the loss of sensation in the legs, for example.
Spinal cord tracts are also affected. The sense of position is also disturbed and gait and standing insecurity as well as dizziness can occur. Dizziness can also occur one day after drinking alcoholic beverages.
This is usually due to the loss of fluid caused by alcohol. Alcohol inhibits the release of the antidiuretic hormone in the body, which actually causes orally absorbed fluid to remain in the kidneys. In the absence of this hormone, the kidneys excrete more water with the urine – in other words, water is removed from the body.
Symptoms of fluid deficiency are low blood pressure and the resulting dizziness. In addition, dizziness can be triggered the next day by alcohol via other mechanisms. The alcohol is then not yet completely broken down and there are therefore still residual amounts in the blood.
These influence parts of the central nervous system that play a decisive role in maintaining balance: these include the cerebellum, which is responsible for coordinating movement sequences, and the inner ear, which is the sensory organ that perceives the position of the body. To alleviate dizziness, a generous intake of water, tea or diluted fruit juices helps to first correct the lack of fluid. In addition, care should be taken to ensure a sufficient supply of vitamins, as these are also consumed when alcohol is broken down.
Greasy food should be avoided the day after (excessive) alcohol consumption in order to relieve the liver, which still breaks down residual amounts of alcohol. However, if a patient suffers from dizziness without having consumed alcohol before and if this dizziness improves even more through alcohol consumption, then it is usually a phobic dizziness. This clinical picture is not uncommon and is psychogenic.
Nausea and vomiting do not normally occur. The phobic vertigo is mainly manifested by subjectively perceived insecurity in walking and standing and the resulting swaying.Often there is a sudden fear of falling without actually causing a fall. The symptoms occur particularly in stressful situations and usually affect depressed patients.
Patients experience an improvement in their symptoms through light alcohol consumption and sport. Behavioral therapy should be considered to prevent chronicity. People with alcohol dependency may also experience dizziness, which improves with alcohol consumption. More often these people suffer from tremors or psychosis, which can also be suppressed by resuming consumption. Alcohol withdrawal is absolutely necessary in such cases.
