Tremors are an involuntary, uncontrolled movement of parts of your body.

You might experience tremors as twitching or jerks, or as shaky, trembling movements. Tremors are a common symptom that is found in many neurological conditions, including Parkinson’s Disease. 

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What is the impact of tremor?

 

About 25% of people with Fibromyalgia experience tremors, Often appearing alongside co-ordination problems. Most tremor cases in Fibro are relatively mild. 

Tremors can interfere with gait and balance, and also commonly affects the head, arm and hand. This can be very frustrating and disabling in that tremors can interfere with your ability to perform daily tasks like eating, dressing or writing. Tremors can affect the whole body.

People with Fibro who have tremors as a symptom are less likely to work than those without. 

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What causes tremors?

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Stress, anger and anxiety can make a tremor worse, as can caffeine and temperatures. Having poor eyesight, numbness in the body or a loss of the sense of where your body is in space can also make tremors worse, and harder to manage. These problems can contribute to people affected by tremors having more frequent falls.

Tremors can be a progressive condition, getting worse over time. 

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What can I do to manage tremor myself?

 

For most people experiencing tremor, changing your daily life. An occupational therapist may be able to offer advice on techniques or equipment that can help at work or with writing. Small changes like increasing the size of your keyboard or using voice-activated software can reduce the impact of tremors on your life.

The worry over having a fall, or failing to co-ordinate your body as you wish may result in you spending more time sitting down. Try to avoid becoming inactive, as regular movement and exercise is important to helps your whole body remain strong. Developing stronger core muscles can reduce the impact of tremor in walking and changing position.

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A physiotherapist may be able to show you exercises to strengthen the muscles that are affected by tremor and focus your attention on moving them well. Elastic support bandages, small weights, or wearing lycra garments or cooling garments can also help to stabilise the part of your body affected by tremor.

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Tremor can interfere with eating a balanced diet, and so weight fluctuation is common. You might find it difficult to eat enough to stay healthy, or find that you are missing key food groups because you find them hard to eat. Wendy Hendrie's advice is to eat frequent small meals so they don't get cold and unpalatable before you finish them.

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If you have tremor, you may find that friends suggest taking an alcoholic drink to steady your hands. While it is true that some kinds of tremor are responsive to depressants such as alcohol, this is not usually the case for tremor in fibro and there are other issues to consider. 

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For people with fibro, the use of alcohol can affect other fibro symptoms badly. Balance and co-ordination problems, bladder and bowel symptoms, sleep problems and depression can all be made worse with alcohol use. Excessive alcohol can make tremor worse, and can increase the chance of falls. Over-use or reliance on alcohol can lead to dependency and other health and social issues, so exercise caution.

If tremor affects your driving, you need to inform the DVLA. 

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What treatments are available for tremor?

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Drug treatments

 

There are no drug therapies that can completely cure tremor. Those that are available have limited effect, and may have unpleasant side effects, including dependency. The most common drugs prescribed for tremor are beta-blockers, such as anti-convulsants such as gabapentin, and benzodiazepams, which slow down the nerve messages in the body. 

 

amphetamines and corticosteroids.
       •       Exposure to mercury or heavy metal toxicity.
       •       Side effects of pharmaceutical medications.
       •       Nutritional deficiencies
       •       Thyroid issues
       •       Nervous system disorders
       •       Excessive consumption of artificial sweeteners such as Aspartame
 

 

DIET TIPS FOR NERVOUS SYSTEM HEALTH
       •       Reduce consumption of caffeine based products
       •       Avoid using artificial sweeteners
 

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LIFESTYLE TIPS FOR NERVOUS SYSTEM HEALTH
       •       Avoid stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine
       •       Treat underlying nervous system tension
       •       Address thyroid problems


NATURAL REMEDIES FOR NERVOUS SYSTEM HEALTH

        •       The Amino Acid Isoleucine – a component of proteins, reduces excitation of nerve fibres
       •       Magnesium – improves neuromuscular transmission of signals across the nerve synapses to

 

reduce excessive muscular contraction
       •       CoQ10 – antioxidant, provides lipids to help protect the myelin sheath (electrical conduction),

 

Electrical potentiation of nerve signals
       •       Alpha-lipoic acid – improves synthesis of energy within the muscles, antioxidant, reduces

 

Neural damage
       •       Lecithin – protects the nerve sheaths from degradation and helps electroconductivity of the Nerves Fish oil – improves cell to tissue communication due to Docosahexanoic acid (DHA) content,

 

 

maintenance of cellular membrane structure and fluidity, decreases inflammation
       •       Homeopathics – Magnesium Phosphate, Stramonium, Potassium Phospate, Passiflora,

 

Chamomilla or Silica. These Homeopathic remedies may help to relieve nerve tension, however please

 

speak to a Homeopath regarding a specific remedy.
       •       Herbal medicines that may assist to support the nervous system and adrenals are Oats,

 

magnolia, chamomile, passionflower, siberian ginseng, chamomile, liquorice, sacred basil, withania, alfalfa, lavender and lemon balm. Speak to a Healthcare professional in regards to herbal supplementation. A consultation with a Naturopath may help as they can tailor make a regime to suit your needs, work with medical practitioners, refine the supplement regime, monitor progress and provide ongoing support and advice.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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