Essential Tremor

Posted by rica @rica, Apr 29 3:14pm

At the age of 24 I was diagnosed with essential tremor. Today I am 59 years old. To help decrease tremor, I take primidone, a beta blocker propranolol and alprazolam for anxiety. As I am older, the drugs have had less effect and the tremors have worsened. A new treatment called High Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) arrived here in Brazil, where I live.
The treatment consists of the emission of a focused ultrasound performing a unilateral strategic injury in dysfunctional pathways in certain diseases, in this case Essential Tremor.
Please, has anyone heard about this treatment? If yes, what is your feedback? Thank you.

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rica | @rica | May 5 3:43pm

In reply to @lisalucier "Hi, @rica - here is some Mayo Clinic information that may be useful on essential tremor...." + (show)

Hi Lisa, good afternoon. I appreciate all the information. Yes, I am still evaluating which procedure to do. HIFU or DBS. Where I live, in Brazil, HIFU is a recent alternative. DBS is better known. Thank you very much for the important information.

jflamini | @jflamini | May 6 5:50pm

Rica, excellent, you are doing your research and maintaining some control over your destiny. My wife's experience with DBS has been wonderful and they have refined the systems further in the past five years for greater effectiveness. Once the probe(s) are placed in the brain the frequency adjustments offer many more options to impact your symptoms. In addition to larger adjustments controlled by her physicians, I am able to assist her with occasional smaller adjustments at home depending on how her medications are working. She has had PD for 15 years and is doing well and remains active cycling, exercising and teaching yoga. BTW, I was diagnosed with PD three years ago.

Feel free to ask any other questions, Joe

marichu | @marichu | May 6 6:49pm

In reply to @brian1141 "This is the first I’ve heard of a positive test for PD. What is a Dat..." + (show)

It is a non invasive procedure, which takes approximately three hours of your time. You go to the facility that is going to perform the scan and you are given something to drink and you have to wait about an hour. You go to the room where the scan will be performed, it takes about 45 minutes or so to do it. They can actually see in your brain if you are losing dopamine, which is a major clue of Parkinson’s. My results came back that yes I was losing dopamine and that I have Parkinson’s. There is no pain involved in this procedure.

kayak461 | @kayak461 | May 10 7:10am

In reply to @marichu "I have symptoms of both conditions. The DAT scan was conclusive to prove that I have..." + (show)

I’ve had Essential Tremors for 9 years, I’m 73 years old. I’m in the VA Healthcare System. The VA Neurologist kept insisting I had Essential Tremor. Finally, he agreed to send me for a DAT Scan, and I learned yesterday that I have Parkinson’s. It is possible to have both. We’ll see what effect the Levodopa prescription has on my symptoms!

marichu | @marichu | May 14 10:48am

In reply to @kayak461 "I’ve had Essential Tremors for 9 years, I’m 73 years old. I’m in the VA Healthcare..." + (show)

Yes, you can have both. I have Parkinson’s and essential tremor. I am 76 years old. Take care of yourself.

marichu | @marichu | May 14 10:53am

In addition, a Parkinson’s medication will not necessarily take care of the essential tremor. That’s what is happening to me and my doctor has recommended that I go to a Mayo Clinic and have the MRI focused ultrasound procedure, which is supposed to take care of the tremor. From what I have seen, there is a long wait, but it is worth it. I haven’t done it yet, but I’m in line for that. My doctor recommended the Mayo Clinic because apparently they are the best at doing this kind of a procedure. Please take care of yourself!