Essential Tremors and other side effects that literally change nothing...
So... I have a weird shaky thing in my hands. I've never noticed it, but apparently I've had it for like... ever. Which reminds me of another weird thing that I experienced in the past that I didn't think twice about until I noticed it again recently (the other weird this was a side effect of my medication, so that's unrelated).
So I looked it up. It's called an essential tremor and it's not bad. Actually, it changes literally nothing. It makes it harder for me to keep my hands steady, sometimes makes me screw up in tying my shoes, makes my handwriting messy, but it's just a slight inconvenience when you notice it, but otherwise harmless and easy to forget about.
But I did more research because I found out about this symptom in a migraine thread. Apparently people with migraines get essential tremors 17% of the time where the rest of the population gets them 1% of the time. Correlation, any may be coincidence, but since migraines affect the brain a lot I doubt that.
We talk about the bad things that migraines cause a lot here, let's talk about the symptoms that affect literally nothing but still exist. Anyone else have weird symptoms like that?
Hi faeriefate,
It's good to hear from you! Thank you for sharing that with us. I don't have experience with essential tremor but hopefully others will be along to share their experiences with you.
I found a similar abstract on essential tremor and migraine, but from 1990. This will bring you to another more recent finding; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4472994/
Nancy
Hi faeriefate,
Tremors in my arms have always been a part of my hemiplegic migraine journey. When I would have bad episodes the tremors would be extremely painful, almost like "arm seizures." Not scientific but that's how I describe them. I've been taking Depakote as a preventative for some years now which has stopped the paralyzing episodes, but I still live with a host of other symptoms including occasional arm and hand tremors. I agree, it seems harmless and is a nuisance.I am a 40+ year Migraineur - starting at age four! Over the past five years I’ve gone from episodic Migraine with Aura to Chronic Intractable Migraine with Status Migrainosis. During my early teens I experienced a LOT of Alice in Wonderland episodes, but never connected to two until about three years ago when I read about it here. Now I’ve developed essential tremors and what my doctor originally thought was RLS but in my arms - we now recognize that it’s actually an extension of the ET. Seems like the hits keep on coming... but maybe with menopause I’ll get some relief. Here’s to hoping!
Hi C.Zelaya,
Welcome and thank you for sharing your journey with us. I am sorry it's been such a rough one, but we're here for you!!
I'm sorry to hear about your new diagnosis, i know it's not easy when they continually roll in. I have RLS and find taking tizanadine,a muscle relaxer, at bedtime helpful. Medical cannibis is very helpful for this as well.
Keep us posted on how you are doing,
Nancy Harris Bonk, Moderator/Patient AdvocateI have been on tizanidine for my low back for quite some time now. The RLS started after I’d been on the medication for some time. I have found that drinking a ‘sports drink’ like Propel Water helps. I have an appointment with my PCP to discuss the newly developed ET. I hope she can r/o any other possible causes!
Thank you for the update! It may not be serious but can certainly have an impact on life.
Nancy Harris Bonk, Moderator/Patient Advocate
