Living with Essential Tremor

My ET is not familial,but I do have a thyroid disease. My tremors began when I was hit by a piece of wood above my left eye, at work, in 2000. Directly after the hit on the head where a concussion was diagnosed, doctors said the tremors were latent due to my thyroid disease. I could not sue the company because of my medical background. At the time ,I would tremor from head to toe making daily life difficult to say the least. Thankfully they (tremors)did not last long at the same severity, but became mild in comparison. At the time,I learned to live with my tremors

In 2003,I was in a car accident where I was thrown from the car and landed on my head. I experienced mild tremors in my arms after that but not to an extent that it effected my daily life. A year ago I experienced a major change in my tremors. I was in fairly good health, but that did not make a difference. While at work again, and in a calm state of mind I began to tremor badly from head to toe again ,scaring my friend that had witnessed my tremors before.I went home to relax and the severe tremors subsided. The next day I began to move excessively , my entire body was convulsing ( for lack of a better word).I went to the ER,by taking a medication the tremors slowed enough to where I could return home. My doctor was giving me Inderal at the time.

From that day on my head now moves ,sometimes I also feel the tremors in my chest (trunk)too. This is a very uncomfortable feeling.I have recently learned that stress can bring on the tremors to a stronger degree. That fact is true because during Finals Week ( I’m a student at ITT Tech in IN )my tremors progressed and became a daily and painfull occurence. I’m now experiencing tremors with headaches along with pain that runs down both my arms. My Neurologist wants to treat me with epilepsy medicatiion (Mysoline) which is standard treatment for essential tremors.I do not want to continue with this type of treatment.I am currently researching acupuncture as an alternative treatment along with holistic aids (like TremorCalm) that does not include chemicals.

I do not have Health Insurance now, but hope to in October with the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP). I’m hoping that the new health plan will allow me to pursue this alternative treatment for my essential tremors. I believe the number of concussions,6 in my lifetime,that I have suffered is the cause of my essential tremors.But ,the actual cause is still unknown.I hope my story may shed some light for someone else going through the same tremors with pain.