What Causes Withdrawal Symptoms? (E38)
Listen on your favorite podcasting app: Apple Spotify other apps
Gill discusses the central nervous system and alcohol withdrawal. She explains how alcohol affects the central nervous system, what bodily functions this impacts, and how the central nervous system rebounds after we stop drinking. You'll learn what's going on in the brain to cause withdrawal symptoms like night sweating and the more serious symptoms of delirium tremens.
Key Takeaways
Central nervous depressants are drugs that slow down brain activity by affecting the neurotransmitter GABA. Remember, GABA is our main inhibitory neurotransmitter, so central nervous system depressants will produce side effects like drowsiness, relaxation, and decreased inhibition.
Some of our neurotransmitters are suppressed by chronic heavy drinking, and they work harder to try to overcome this and do their jobs. When we suddenly stop drinking, alcohol isn’t affecting our neurotransmitters anymore, and the ones that were working harder, like our main excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate, suddenly have a big burst in activity. The central nervous system quickly rebounds and this can cause some of the bodily functions regulated by the central nervous system, like body temperature, to be messed up.
Alcohol affects our blood pressure, heart, and the body’s ability to maintain and sense its own temperature. Night sweats are very common during alcohol withdrawal, and should signal you that you were abusing alcohol. Normal drinkers don’t experience withdrawal when they take a break from drinking.
Cite this episode
Tietz, G. Episode 38: What Causes Withdrawal Symptoms? Sober Powered. 2021
Sources
Leonard, J. Are Night Sweats a Sign of Alcohol Withdrawal. Medical News Today. 2019.
Yoda T, Crawshaw LI, Nakamura M, et al. Effects of alcohol on thermoregulation during mild heat exposure in humans. Alcohol. 2005;36(3):195-200.
Monico, N. Nights Sweats and Alcohol: Why Alcohol Makes You Hot. American Addiction Centers. 2020
Eckelbarger, J. Why Does Alcohol Withdrawal Make You Sweat? Stonegate Center. 2020.
Simou, E et al. Alcohol and the risk of sleep apnoea: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Medicine. Volume 42, Pages 38-46. 2018
Sievert LL, Obermeyer CM, Price K. Determinants of hot flashes and night sweats. Ann Hum Biol. 2006;33(1):4-16.
McCallum, K. How Sweat Works: Why we Sweat when we’re Hot, as Well as When we’re Not. Houston Methodist Leading Medicine. 2020.
Hilliard, J. What are Central Nervous System Depressants? Addiction Center. 2020.
