Tremor - essential; Familial tremor; Tremor - familial

Treatment may not be needed unless the tremors interfere with your daily activities or cause embarrassment.

HOME CARE

For tremors made worse by stress, try techniques that help you relax. For tremors of any cause, avoid caffeine and get enough sleep.

For tremors caused or made worse by a medication, talk to your doctor about stopping the drug, reducing the dosage, or switching. Do NOT change or stop medications on your own.

Severe tremors may make it harder to do daily activities. You may need help with these activities. Devices may help with everyday activities, such as:

Buying clothes with Velcro fasteners, using button hooks

Cooking or eating with utensils that have a larger handle

Using straws to drink

Wearing slip-on shoes and using shoehorns

MEDICINES FOR TREMOR

Medicines may help relieve symptoms. The most commonly used drugs include:

• Propranolol, a beta blocker
• Primidone, a drug used to treat seizures

The drugs can have side effects.

• Propranolol may cause fatigue, stuffy nose, or slow heart beat, and may make asthma worse
• Primidone may cause drowsiness, problems concentrating, nausea, and problems with walking, balance, and coordination.

Other medications that may reduce tremors include:

• Antiseizure drugs such as gabapentin and topiramate
• Mild tranquilizers such as alprazolam or clonazepam
• Blood pressure drugs called calcium-channel blockers such as flunarizine and nimodipine

Botox injections, given in the hand, have been used to reduce tremors by weakening local muscles.

SURGERY

In severe cases, surgery may be tried. This may include:

• Focusing high-powered x-rays on a small area of the brain (stereotactic radiosurgery)
• Implanting a stimulating device in the brain to signals the area that controls movement

An essential tremor is not a dangerous problem, but some patients find the tremors annoying and embarrassing. In some cases, it may be dramatic enough to interfere with work, writing, eating, or drinking.

Sometimes the tremors affect the voice box, which occasionally leads to speech problems.

Call for your health care provider if

• You a have a new tremor
• Your tremor makes it hard to perform daily activities
• You have side effects from in the drugs used to treat your tremor

Images

Central nervous system

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Essential tremor Symptoms

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Essential tremor Prevention

Review Date: 03/31/2011
Reviewed By: Kevin Sheth, MD, Department of Neurology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine;David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)