I’ve been doing some reading. Actually A LOT of reading about what my new affliction is.  I’ve learned two main things: 1. it’s more common than you think 2. it’s treatable.

Sounds like I am in the same boat with my epilepsy. So neither of those things relaxes me one bit because we all know that everyone experiences things differently. What may be easier for others do deal with can be hard for another. Everyone reacts differently.

How common is it?

According to the Mayo Clinic:

More than 200,000 people in the US each year are affected by this.

Essential tremor most often affects the hands, though it may also affect the head, voice, arms, or legs. It’s not related to Parkinson’s disease.

Shaking occurs with simple tasks such as tying shoelaces, writing, or shaving. Symptoms may be aggravated by stress, fatigue, caffeine, and temperature extremes.

It can occur during precise movements.

Here is what my essential tremor looks like (This isn’t me but, it looks exactly like mine before treatment or on a bad day):

Before I saw the neurologist it would also sometimes be in my legs. It happened maybe 3  or 4 times in my legs and freaked me out every single time. And even worried my boyfriend.

Again, also not me but very similar to what I was experiencing.

Treatment options:

Don’t you just love how sure they sound? That was sarcastic if you didn’t catch that.

A lot of doctors use the words think, maybe, could be, etc when explaining treatments.

I am on propranolol for my essential tremor, and so far so good. I’ve been on it for over a month now and only had a few days that were pretty bad as far as my tremor goes. But, for about two weeks I couldn’t walk 10 ft. without being out of breath because my blood pressure was so low from the meds. The adjustment to them was very hard. Which is why I wrote this post:

What To Know About Propranolol (Inderal)

I am put at ease by nothing anymore. With epilepsy it’s more documented and people are much more vocal when it comes to sharing their stories and experiences. That helped me a lot. With ET there are so few people who talk about it and less than half have proper resources and help to give.

ET is a physical and internal struggle, and almost no one talks about it. I think it could be that they fear the realities. Some peoples epilepsy can be easily controlled with medication and major surgery is rare. With ET, medications only work for so long until surgery is needed. Brain surgery. Not ideal, and a big WTF. They also didn’t mention that you’re awake during those procedures.

I am covering the tip of the iceberg with ET. There is so much more to say about it but it’s overwhelming and I find new things out everyday.

Expect some more updates soon.