Tremor

This nerve disorder is the most common reason your coffee cup won't stay still while you hold it. It kicks in while your hands are doing something, but goes away when they're not. There's no clear cause, but it's sometimes traced to a change in a gene. If your symptoms are mild, you may not need treatment. If they get in the way of everyday tasks or your job, you may need medicine, occupational therapy, or surgery. When you have this condition, your hand shakes because brain cells that tell your muscles to move get damaged. The shaking usually starts on one hand, but over time may spread to the other. You may also move more slowly, have trouble with balance, or find that your arms and legs stiffen up. The main treatment for Have you had your thyroid hormone levels checked lately? Shaky hands may be a sign of hyperthyroidism. This means your thyroid gland is working too hard and kicking your heart rate into high gear. You may also notice that you lose weight without trying, are sensitive to light, get a fast heartbeat, and have trouble sleeping. A simple blood test will help you and your doctor figure out what's going on. You can't expect a car to run if you don't give it gas. And you can't expect your brain to send messages to all the right places without sleep. When you don't get enough shut-eye, it can cause your brain to mistakenly tell your hands to tremble. Luckily, you can snooze your way back to steady hands. This is a long word for a rare tumor that grows in your a...

What Is a Drug-Induced Tremor? A drug-induced tremor is a tremor that’s caused by taking a drug. A tremor is a rhythmic, uncontrollable movement of part of your body. The shaking movement created by tremors is usually quick and tends to occur in cycles lasting six to 10 seconds. Drug-induced tremors may also be referred to as drug-induced Parkinson’s (DIP). In fact, Drug-induced tremors can occur when you move your body a certain way or are in certain positions. Medications that cause the tremors include certain antipsychotics, anticonvulsants, and antidepressants. Certain medications can both cause tremors and worsen any tremors you already have from Parkinson’s disease or another similar disorder. Most tremors occur in the hands. They can also occur in the: • arms • head • face • vocal cords • trunk • legs Drug-induced tremors may cause your head to shake or nod uncontrollably. The tremors may not happen all of the time, but they’re likely to occur within the first hour of taking medication. If you find that this happens to you, take note of the medications you took before your tremors. This can help you and your doctor figure out which specific medication, or combination of medicines, is causing your symptoms. Tremors usually stop when you’re asleep, and they can worsen when you’re under stress. You might notice that your voice sounds shaky as well. Drug-induced tremors are caused by your brain’s response to the chemicals in certain medications. Drug-induced tremors can...

Involuntary movements compose a group of uncontrolled movements that may manifest as a tremor, tic, myoclonic jerk, chorea, athetosis, dystonia or hemiballism. Recognition of involuntary movements associated with hyperkinetic movement disorders is an important diagnostic skill. This page describes the diagnosis of the major categories of hyperkinetic movement disorders. General Definitions • Tremor: Rhythmic oscillations caused by intermittent muscle contractions. • Tics: Paroxysmal, stereotyped muscle contractions, commonly suppressible, might be simple (single muscle group) or complex. Temporarily suppressible. • Myoclonus: Shock-like, arrhythmic twitches. Not suppressible. • Chorea: Dance-like, unpatterned movements, often approximate a purpose (e.g. adjusting clothes, checking a watch). Often rapid and may involve proximal or distal muscle groups. • Athetosis: Writhing movements, mostly of arms and hands. Often slow. • Dystonia: Sustained or repetitious muscular contractions, often produces abnormal posture. • Hemiballismus: wild, large-amplitude, flinging movements on one side of the body, commonly affecting proximal limb muscles but can also affect the trunk. Physiologic Tremor • Present in almost everyone and a normal finding that usually cannot be seen unless worsened in certain situations that include: • anxiety, fear, physical exhaustion, hypoglycemia, hyperthyroidism, alcohol withdrawal "Essential" Tremor (ET) (Kinetic Tremor / Familial Tremor) • Most common inv...