Shaking after coffee: why this happens, what to do

Some people notice that their hands begin to shake after drinking coffee. This does not happen to everyone, although certain groups are still at greater risk. The symptom can be easily missed, especially if you are engaged in physical work, move a lot, etc., that is, gross motor skills are involved. If, after coffee, you do work related to fine motor skills (applying makeup, drawing, sewing), you may even notice slight tremors. Why does this happen, who is at risk and how to deal with tremors after coffee?

Why does caffeine cause hand tremors?

Caffeine is a natural stimulant and alkaloid. It affects almost all systems of the body, including the cardiovascular and nervous. In some cases, there may be an imbalance in the nervous system, the wrong signals are sent or their processing is disrupted. As a rule, this occurs in those who drink a lot of coffee. The mechanism is similar to the effects of alcohol - after long-term use on an ongoing basis, the functions of the nervous system are also disrupted and hands shake after drinking coffee. Such tremors are only possible if you drink a lot of coffee every day.

Another factor is the release of adrenaline, accelerating the heart rate. The vessels narrow, tachycardia may appear, pulsation in the temples, and hands begin to tremble. It can feel the same way if you feel anxious in a stressful situation. This most often occurs in those who received a large dose of caffeine at one time, or simply drank coffee during times of stress, illness, lack of sleep, etc.

Hands often shake after coffee for those who love the combination of coffee and cigarettes. Nicotine and caffeine together quite actively constrict blood vessels, this is a sharp blow to the nervous and vascular systems, just like drinking the drink on an empty stomach. Most people can feel tremors in such a situation.

Scientists' research on hand tremors after coffee

American scientists conducted a study in which about 150 women from 23 to 60 years old participated. The subjects drank 3 cups of coffee daily and otherwise led a normal lifestyle. After a couple of weeks, almost everyone’s hands began to shake after drinking coffee: more than 140 women noted that when they drank a cup of their favorite drink in the morning or when they were sleep-deprived, their hands began to tremble, even mildly.

Stronger tremor was observed in those who already had problems with high blood pressure and vegetative-vascular dystonia. By the end of the study, women in this group complained not only that their hands were shaking after coffee, but also chest pain, weakness, and shortness of breath.

The trembling of hands after the first morning cup of coffee was always noticeably stronger in a state of stress, lack of sleep, or illness.

Should you be afraid of hand tremors after coffee?

In general, doctors do not consider this symptom to be terrible: there is no point in calling a doctor or going to the hospital unless it is a critical overdose of caffeine (usually the face turns blue). It's important to reduce the dosage, skip the extra cup, or switch to a weaker drink if you can't give it up completely.

The concept of “drink less coffee” in this case is quite abstract, since for some, tremors may begin after the sixth cup, and for others, after the first. Doctors do not recommend that even healthy, physically strong people drink more than 3-4 cups a day, but those who have problems with the heart or blood vessels should be more careful and reduce the amount of drink if this causes hand tremors.

To understand how serious it is, give up coffee for a week or significantly reduce its amount and dosage. If your hands do not shake less, you should consult a doctor. If you notice an improvement in the situation, then it’s solely due to caffeine.

Abrupt caffeine withdrawal can also lead to hand tremors. Therefore, if you decide to take care of your health, reduce your caffeine dose gradually.

Other reasons

Hand tremors can result from taking medications containing caffeine. For the same reason, drinking too much coffee is not recommended. True, it will have a strong effect only if you consume a huge dose of the drink. Hands may also shake due to carbon monoxide poisoning.

This symptom develops as a result of damage to the cerebellum. The trembling is rhythmic, and intensifies at the moment when the person has almost touched the object. He has difficulty holding things in his hands. If you need to hold something heavy or stay in the same position for a long time, the trembling only intensifies. The lower limbs also begin to tremble. This should not be confused with the tremors that dancers and models develop. This is a physiological tremor that can be eliminated.

Hands can tremble not only due to poisoning or a nervous disease. There are other diseases in which we can observe this symptom. This could be encephalitis or any hormonal disorders that affect the entire body.

If a person goes to the doctor with such a symptom, he cannot immediately be given any specific diagnosis. To identify the cause, a complete examination and analysis of the clinical picture is necessary. Only as a result of a thorough examination can a specific diagnosis be made. It may be different. For example, hyperthyroidism. With this disease, not only hand tremors begin, but also disturbances in the functioning of internal organs occur. The cause of trembling hands is not necessarily a serious illness. It could just be hypothermia or chills.

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If a serious illness is detected, treatment should be started immediately. If the reason is not so serious, just a cup of tea can help a person to get rid of this unpleasant symptom.

Coffee is a delicious, invigorating drink that saves you from depression. Its aroma bewitches and gives strength, but abuse is fraught with deterioration in health. It happens that after drinking a cup of the product, your hands begin to shake, and this is an alarming signal that you need to listen to.

What to do if your hands shake after coffee?

Usually it is enough to wait 20-30 minutes for the symptoms to noticeably weaken or go away altogether. You can help yourself in other ways:

Drink pure still water, a glass or two.
Drink milk, it neutralizes the effects of caffeine.
Some baristas recommend eating a banana, as it contains many beneficial vitamins, especially B vitamins.
A walk in the fresh air helps a lot, or, as an option, some physical exercise to speed up your metabolism so that the caffeine is processed faster.
You need to calm down, perhaps lie down for a while or even take a nap.

If your hands are shaking a lot, you can take a sedative or a medicine for the heart and blood vessels, if you sometimes use it in other situations. But it’s better to wait a while, usually everything goes away on its own. If the tremor does not go away within half an hour, and other symptoms are added - dizziness, chest pain, tachycardia - it may be worth calling an ambulance.

Tremor from caffeine in hypertension

The coffee drink is invigorating, so if hypertension is diagnosed, it should not be consumed. In practice, there are cases when the health of patients with high blood pressure does not worsen, so there is no clear explanation from specialists. If you have low blood pressure, you can drink the drink, but in reasonable quantities.

With increased intracranial pressure, coffee helps relieve spasms in blood vessels, resulting in a decrease in pressure. This happens because it contains the substance ergotamine, which stimulates brain function.

Conclusions:

Caffeine is a stimulant and has an active effect on the cardiovascular system.
Caffeine is an alkaloid and affects the nervous system.
The likelihood of hand tremors is higher in those who have cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure or vegetative-vascular dystonia.
The tremor usually goes away on its own within 20-30 minutes, and this is not a reason to see a doctor if there are no other signs of worsening the condition.
To cope with hand tremors after coffee, drink water or milk, eat a banana, and do some exercise in the fresh air.

Recommendations for getting rid of trembling limbs

Coffee tremors disappear after about 30 minutes. To make unpleasant symptoms disappear faster, it is recommended to get rid of them in the following ways:

Drink one to two glasses of water, but it should not be carbonated.
Drink a glass of milk. It has been proven to have a neutralizing effect on caffeine.
Eat a banana. It contains B vitamins that calm tremors.
Take a walk in the fresh air. This helps speed up your metabolism to absorb caffeine.
Performing simple physical exercises can help you cope with the negative effects of coffee.
Lie down for a while so your heart can calm down.

If you are shaking after coffee and it is difficult to bring your body back to normal, it is recommended to drink a sedative intended for the cardiovascular system. But under any circumstances, the best option is to wait a little time. If the calming effect does not occur, and you also begin to feel sick, feel dizzy and have an increased heart rate, then you cannot do without an ambulance.

If there is a suspicion that it is a cup of coffee that is to blame for the tremors of the limbs, it is necessary to temporarily stop taking the invigorating drink.

If the shaking stops, caffeine is to blame and should be avoided. If the trembling continues, it is necessary to undergo an examination to find out the exact cause of the pathology.

Why do you start shaking after drinking coffee? Legs and arms are shaking. What is this? Nerves or heart? (I'm only 21 years old)

First of all, you need to control your blood pressure. Nowadays, almost every family has a blood pressure monitor. If you don't have it, you can measure it at the pharmacy. Pay attention to your heart rate. Measurements should be taken before and after drinking coffee. The time between measurements must be at least 20 minutes for the result to be correct. This way you can determine that due to increased blood pressure or increased pulse rate, you are starting to have a tremor. You may have some kind of individual reaction, you may have a thyroid disease. And in order not to guess, it’s better to go to the doctor. It’s better to be “overcautious than underweight” in this situation, especially at your age.

This only happened to me when I stupidly drank a lot of too strong coffee. My blood pressure is low and this is how I raise it. And at school we actually had a unique boy. One day, as usual, he stayed up all night, sat at the computer, and in the morning drank huge amounts of strong coffee to wake up and tone up. An ambulance took him straight from class. Therefore, regardless of health, one must observe moderation in everything. Drink coffee at low strength and in small coffee cups. Then your hands won't shake. And go to the doctor to get tested and check your health. Don't give a damn about yourself.

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Perhaps this is your individual reaction to coffee. And it is not at all necessary that this is due to caffeine. How do you react to tea? After all, tea also contains a lot of caffeine. True, contrary to popular belief, although tea contains almost three times more caffeine than coffee, it is not extracted into the drink as well as caffeine from Arabica beans. Therefore, the actual caffeine content in tea is still less than its content in a cup of espresso. For many, strong coffee does not work very well on an empty stomach - after all, it is a burden on the stomach. Try coffee with something sweet. Try a little milk in a cup.

Coffee, or rather caffeine, makes your heart work a little faster than usual; it is a tonic drink. If your arms and legs begin to shake, then you need to give up this drink; most likely your blood pressure has simply increased.

It looks like a vascular reaction. Caffeine affects the body in a way that causes unpleasant symptoms. Of course, first of all you need to check your blood pressure and pulse - tremor can be a consequence of either an increase or a sharp decrease in blood pressure. If the pressure is normal (it has not increased or fallen), then a purely individual reaction is possible - trembling in the limbs ( arms and legs are shaking ). In any case, coffee . If the coffee is sweet, then a reaction is possible not to the coffee, but to the sugar, so you also need to check this indicator.

These symptoms are the result of one of the side effects of caffeine, especially when combined with low blood sugar (another common side effect is heart palpitations). Therefore, it is better to reduce the amount of coffee or strong tea.

You can’t drink coffee with a hangover, it worsens the hangover syndrome. If it’s just after drinking, then go straight to the doctor, it’s a syndrome. A good doctor will figure it out, otherwise they’ll give you advice.

Coffee, as everyone knows, increases blood pressure (suragat, of course, is not fake, but real coffee definitely does), as a result of which you begin to become a coward. Just like energy drinks (they contain caffeine), when they start to make you feel low, your whole body begins to shiver (unpleasant sensation). It’s better, of course, not to drink all these drinks; they won’t improve your health.

We drank too much coffee, it tones you up, and caffeine makes your heart beat many times faster. Blood pressure also rises and for some, the pulse after two or three cups of coffee rises to 150, so their arms and legs begin to tremble. Don't drink a lot of coffee, that's all.

This is a common reaction to caffeine, in principle it is quite normal, my hands shake after another mug of coffee, just limit the amount of coffee you drink, or at least drink it with milk. This is of course if your blood pressure and pulse are normal. It happens that after coffee, especially if you are very sleep deprived, your hands shake and your pulse quickens, this is a signal that you need to sleep more.

If you experience jitters after drinking coffee, you may suffer from hypertension (high blood pressure). Coffee contains caffeine, which can make the situation worse. If the pressure is normal, there may be some kind of disease of the nervous or endocrine system - here it would be better to seek advice from a neurologist or endocrinologist.