A 20 year old woman in whom painful muscle cramping developed after she ingested alcohol was found to have persistent motor neuron discharges at rest. Discharges were present during sleep but were abolished by spinal epidural anesthesia, peripheral nerve block, and procaine infiltration into the muscle, suggesting a central site of dysfunction. Cramps were not relieved by diphenylhydantoin or diazepam. Electromyographic findings and pharmacologic responses differentiate our case from syndromes with persistent motor neuron discharges at rest—the Isaacs-Mertens' Schwartz-Jampel, and stiffman syndromes. The mechanism by which alcohol induces cramping is unknown. Newer agents, such as the gamma aminobutyric acid derivative baclofen, may aid in localizing the defect.