Essential Tremor - The other disorder I have that no one has ever heard of.

Over 2 years ago I was at a business meeting and, when I tried to shake the other man's hand I felt my hand shake. I thought it was weird, and hoped that he did not notice it. A few days later, my right hand started to shake every time I lifted it up in the air. It did not go away. Actually, it freaked me out. No control of my hand unless I relaxed the muscles. I made an appointment with my GP.

The doc gave me a traditional neurological exam and told me he thinks I have Essential Tremor (ET).  He scheduled me for a Brain MRI. The MRI came back normal, which is normal for ET as well. The MRI ruled out other problems, like a brain tumor, as being the cause. I was referred to a neurologist who confirmed the diagnosis and put me on Propranolol to control the tremors. It works pretty well for me. Most people don't notice my shaking.

Essential Tremor is in a group of diseases known as movement disorders. It is the most common disorder of this group - approximately 10,000,000 Americans have this disorder (compared to 600,000 for Crohn's Disease). Yet most people have never heard of ET. Other diseases in this group are Parkinson's Disease (thanks to Michael J Fox and Muhammad Ali - much better known than ET), Restless Leg Syndrome, and Dystonia.

Since the start of ET's appearance the tremor has become worse in the right hand, and spread to my left hand, then to my legs, and most recently to my head. I have to use either very fat pens, or a ergonomic pen called the PenAgain to keep my right hand from shaking while i write. Using a computer has become much more of a challenge. People with severe ET often use voice activation software so they can dictate to the computer instead of type. Some also use special mouse's   that are programmed to ignore the movement due to the tremor. I am not at that point though.

ET is often confused with Parkinson's Disease. The differences are this, the Parkinson's tremor happens with relaxed muscles. (I would really hate shaking while at rest!) Parkinson's also leads to stooped posture when walking, which does not happen in ET. The ET tremor happens when the muscle is active - the exact opposite time as Parkinson's resting tremor.

I have wondered if my Crohn's disease could have led to the ET. I asked my Neurologist that question and she just dodged around the answer. Maybe she doesn't know. I wish doctors would just answer honestly when they don't know the answer. It would make things so much easier.