Tremor Improvement?
 

I clearly have "tremor dominant" PD, and the PD meds don't help my impressive tremor. Anyone have any personal experience with something that has actually improved your own tremor? I already know all the ideas out there for things that might work, and have tried several, but would love to hear from someone who can actually say they've found something (prescription, alternative, whatever) that worked for them.

Hi Peony,

My tremor stopped 12 years ago when I began the Sinemet but subject to on and off times. I tried several things that didn't work or worked only a week or less.

Now that I have stopped the Sinemet my tremor only appears when I get emotional or nervous, and then only at maybe 30% of my normal with Sinemet.

Jim

I have read that passion flower extract helps tremor , but don't know of anyone trying it. Pumpkin seeds appear to help

Hi. My tremors are problematic but I do have something that calms them temporarily and also eases some of the pain I get. I warm a small container of oil by setting it in a larger container of hit water. Then, I brush that oil down my arm with my hand longways and get my arm slick with oil, massaging it into my joints clockwise and massaging into my hands and fingers. If I have time, I do my abdomen, legs and feet, making sure to use those same strokes and clockwise on the belly. It is good if you can wait a bit, then take a warm not hot shower. Careful if you oiled your feet. Wipe them off first. Use soap only on necessary areas and leave a thin coat of oil if possible. The oil I recommend is Vata Oil from Banyan Botanicals. It is the right weight and infused with suitable herbs. You can try ORGANIC cooking oils, Olive, Almond, Sesame to get the idea. Use old towels. It really helps. If you do your feet before bed and our on cotton socks, it helps relax into sleep.

Not a cure but it really helps temporarily. I have a couple of other things I do if anyone is interested.

BTW I love peonies, Peony but there were cannas blooming outside my window when I joined neurotalk.

I wonder if anyone tried coffee and did it help?

This study was short so the results might be variable over time. These are only beginning sentences from the article, please see link for more.

"Coffee can help tame the tremors caused by Parkinson's disease, research has shown.

Scientists gave 61 patients caffeine pills equivalent to drinking two to four cups of coffee a day, or an inactive "dummy" treatment.

After six weeks, those taking the caffeine averaged a five-point improvement in symptom severity ratings."

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-st...h-8000905.html

I find that I sometimes get a few seconds of relief if I purposefully move the thing that is tremoring at 90 degrees to the tremor.

So, for instance, if my hand is flapping up and down, consciously making it move left and right, stops the tremor for a short while.

Sometime ago I wrote a simple program that detects a finger tremor on a laptop's pressure pad, and shows the direction to move your finger.

http://www.parkinsonsmeasurement.org...morReducer.htm

John

Hinz protocol
 

It might just be peculiar to me but the Hinz protocol www.neurosciencemyths.com eliminated tremors in me.

Thanks to all of you who took the time to reply. Notes on some of your ideas: Sinemet seems to have little to no effect on my tremor, good or bad. I've tried pumpkin seeds (nothin'), but not passion flower. Coffee makes my tremor far worse. Tremor may decrease during movement, but only for an instant, comes right back. Oil massage sounds good, but I've tried massage, feels great, relaxing, brings a little (not total) relief, but only very short term. Canna, I love cannas, have many blooming in my garden. Hinz Protocol, sounds complex, difficult, possibly expensive, maybe lacking sufficient scientific evidence. Need more info. What did you do exactly, for how long, at what cost? Totally eliminated your tremor? How bad was it before? Thanks again, and good luck to us all.

Ask your doctor about Klonopin. Hope it helps.

Physical therapy
 

My tremor is in my left hand. There was a time when my whole left arm and left shoulder were very painful and stiff. I carried them protectively close to my body. I went to physical therapy, and my therapist gave me exercises to strengthen my rotator cuff and also the muscles around my shoulder blade. Because there was so much pain and dysfunction, my therapist started and progressed my exercises very gently and slowly. This was about eight months ago. I now have full use and strength back in my arm and shoulder and the tremor, even though still present at times, has gotten much better. There may have been something going on with my arm and shoulder in addition to PD; however, the point is that getting my arm and shoulder muscles to work properly helped the tremor. I do these exercises 3 to 4 times a week, gently. I will continue to do them regularly for the rest of my life. God bless physical therapists!