Dealing with Anxiety Symptoms: Tremors

Tremors are involuntary movements of some part of your body. This means that you will shake without trying to do so. The majority of people experiencing tremors will have the tremors in their hand, however, any part of your body can be impacted.

Causes of Tremors

Tremors can be a result of anxiety and may worsen during periods of high emotion, such as anger, when tired or during periods of extreme stress.

If you are experiencing tremors that are not associated with a changed emotional state or high emotion, you should discuss your symptoms with your doctor in order to rule out any medical causes. Some medical causes of tremors include:

• Alcohol withdrawal or excessive alcohol consumption
• High levels of caffeine
• Side effects of some prescription medication
• Low blood sugar
• Parkinson's disease
• Multiple sclerosis
• Thyroid problems
• Muscular atrophy
• Wilson's disease
• Pheochromocytoma 

Symptoms

According to Medline Plus, tremors can decrease during sleep and increase with the consumption of caffeine or during periods of stress. Although most often in the hand, tremors can occur anywhere in the body, including the voice box. Tremors in the voice box may impact speech, making your voice shaky. In addition, tremors may appear as head nodding.

Normally, tremors caused by anxiety are not associated with any neurological conditions, loss of coordination or brain function.

Treatment

Generally, if tremors have been caused by anxiety, treatment would be for the anxiety rather than the tremors.

If tremors are present and do not interfere with daily activities and functioning, then normally there will not be any additional treatment for tremors.

If tremors are a side effect of medication, changing the medication may help to reduce the tremors. If tremors are a result of certain triggers, such as caffeine or alcohol, avoiding these triggers may help to reduce the tremors.

If tremors are interfering with the ability to complete daily activities, there are some medications available to help decrease shaking and tremors. Your doctor would be able to discuss the possibility of using medication.

Sources:

"Tremor", Updated 2008, June 19, Updated by Linda Vorvick M.D., MedLinePlus, National Institute of Health

"Hand Tremor-Overview", Reviewed 2008, June 19, Linda Vorvick M.D., University of Maryland Medical Center