Shak'n away...
 

I've just found this site, and am Sooooo glad to see your friendly welcomes. I've been browsing throughout the site for over and hour, and don't want to leave and go to bed. Essential Tremor is my buggaboo. I was diagnosed three years ago, although my hands started shaking 5+ years ago. Now I am not only annoyed by both hands shaking when eating, typing, holding my cards in Pinochle, and trying to hit the correct keys on my ipod more than once. It's beginning to become depressing, and goodness knows I don't want to go there ...been there, done that. I'm having significant difficulty accepting the fact 'it ain't gonna go away.' I have given the 'old college try' to the major families of drugs indicated, without any lasting improvement, and some of them increased the tremor or had other negative effects. So, I'm toughing it, but not likeing it at all. :mad:

I'd like to discuss ET with others with the culprit. OK? :confused: I'll be back on the site often, for sure.

Welcome bandonpaul!

Sorry about the predicament of 'ET'. I am sure some people here have knowledge of your type of suffering, and will lead you in the right direction. :)

Take care! :)

:welcome_sign: Welcome bandonpaul!! So glad you found the site - it's awsome, isn't it?! :wink:

ET I am still trying to accept it as my lifetime friend.
 

Hi Shaken Away- I have had ET for a couple years now and sometimes still don't want to accept it. I search for a cure on the Web which I know isn't there. My Dr. has it under better control with propranolol, but I wish I didn't have to take that as I worry about the long term effect of taking this medication. I rather take homeopathic remedies but have had to submit to this drug for now. My symptoms are in check with this medication, I can hold my glass without looking like I am trying to juggle! :)
I can sleep without my head doing the sandman boggy dance all night.:D
So I should be more appreciative of this help.
Glad to know someone else with this challenge. My family does not think that I should be taking any medications, my mother is 83 and hardly even takes a Tylenol!
Have a good day, firefly

Hello, bandonpaul and welcome to NeuroTalk.

I found some information at the Mayo Clinic that may or may not be helpful:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/ess...tremor/DS00367

I have Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and tremors can be a symptom of this disease but I don't remember ever hearing MS tremors referred to as essential tremors.

Here is some information about tremors related to MS:
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/abo...mor/index.aspx

Hello bandonpaul and another Welcome to NeuroTalk here. Glad you found us and hope you feel right at home here.



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A big welcome to NeuroTalk from me as well bandonpaul.

I'm sure you'll have already found out by now that essential tremors are symptoms of many different neurological conditions. I wish you luck in getting the answers that you seek.

Meanwhile take a look around the site. You will find us to be lively, informative, empathetic, and very friendly :)

Hello and welcome to NeuroTalk. Great to see you have come to be with us. You will find a great number of caring, supporting members here willing to help each other as they can.

Again welcome, looking forward to seeing you around.

Darlene :hug:

Hi Bandonpaul! :Wave-Hello: Welcome to NeuroTalk!

I'm glad you've joined us, feel free to jump in anywhere. :)

My thoughts about ET
 

In the case of ET, we don't receive much hope from our doctors, and, there is good reason for that: Individual doctors know less about the disease than we, who have it, know about it collectively. It is my belief the disease is genetic. It is the genetic type that I refer to. There should be a different name (and perhaps there is) for tremor cause by exposure to some kind of chemical or trauma.

I am 74 years old and have had ET all my life. It has not gotten any worse, nor has it gotten any better. Let me hasten to say that everything I say is my own opinion. Based on my opinion, let me give you what I have experienced and carefully observed and have formed opinions based on these observations, what I have read and what I have been told by doctors.

My own experiences:
I believe I was born with ET, I believe if you consume a moderate amount of alcohol (I don't) it will not only help the ET, it will distinguish it from MS. Alcohol has no affect on MS, it does have a calming affect on ET. Social situations makes the condition worse. If you see some one watching you shake, you will shake worse. As you get older and more confident your tremors will calm down slightly; however, the slow progression of the disease may offset that. When I am fatigued my tremors are much worse, in particular, if I have, for instance, been carrying a heavy brief case.

Anxiety and all those body defenses that come to your aid when you are negatively excited exacerbates ET significantly. If you have discovered a way to communicate with yourself and tell yourself to just relax and slow down you will see improvement. Tremor is worse in your dominant hand. I started drinking coffee using my left hand to hold the cup. That helped me for seven or eight years, now, both hands are about the same.

It is my belief that anything you can do to slow down your reflexes (alcohol or tranquilizers) will likely help.Otherwise, I don't think any medication will help and can make the condition worse. As a matter of fact, I, as a layman, look at the medical ET specialty as a lot of "snake oil". I wish I did not feel that way but I do. Let me tell you why I feel that way:
I visited, as a patient, one of the top medical treatment centers and teaching hospitals in the world. While speaking to one of the top neurologists there, I noticed he had ET. I asked him if he had ET and he confirmed that he did. When I asked him what he did to treat it he told me that ET was not treatable. He went on to tell me there was a popular medication but was largely ineffective. It was at that moment, I had confirmed in the most honest and direct way there was indeed no treatment. It confirmed what I had always believed.
I would much prefer the medical industry devote their time to research and cure rather than treatment. I realize there are cases that are so severe, neurological intervention may be appropriate. If you are taking medication and it is helping you, albeit placebo in nature, by all means continue.
I have always lived with ET treating it as a nuisance and realizing it is what it is and I nor the medical profession can change that and I am not going to let it rule my life. Again, I must hasten to add, we are all different and are affected differently by different things. If you observe people that consume excessive alchol the fall into three categories:
1) They become lovers.
2) They become beligerent.
3) They fall asleep.
If you are the type that falls asleep, I would suggest you are most likely to benefit from the alochol. This by no means is a long term solution. i am not willing to trade my ET for alcoholism. It may help a little in the diagnosis of your condition.

When my father was born, life expectancy was approximately age 40. Only 50% of babies lived to adulthood. As doctors learn more about gene therapy and our politicians support embryo research, ET will be cured and, separately, our life expectancy will be well in excess of one hundred years.
I feel lucky that my ET is pretty much limited to my hands.
The above is the kind of opinion (as opposed to advice) I give to those who ask. I hasten to add that it is my own opinion and they have to make up their own mind if joining ET Groups or long term medical treatment really helps.
Do keep a diary and write in it any time your ET changes even slightly. For instance record the affect of decaffeinated coffee, a cocktail. an argument, fatigue, which hand is worse etc. Try to measure your tremor so that 5 years from now you can measure its progression/regression.
Try to accept the idea you likely will not find a cure or an effective treatment. In particular, be careful about accusing it of causing or exacerbating some other medical condition you have.