Prednisolone hand tremors: What helps?

Posted by dm06 @dm06, Nov 21, 2022

Hello all,

I'm new here and looking for some guidance. My child was on this medication for 2 months and during that time he suffered horrible hand tremors. He has been off of it going on 3 months now and is having hand issues. NO more tremors but he keeps pressing his hands and rubbing them constantly. Drs are puzzled as to why he has this and wanted to see if anyone else had this issue. If so, did it ever go away? What helped?
My kiddo is special needs with limited language. He cannot express what he feels in his hands, which makes it that more challenging. He was on Prednisolone to reduce inflammation in his brain in hopes of a “reset”. . He has epilepsy. It really recked havoc and wish we could have our kiddo back.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Epilepsy & Seizures Support Group.

Hi @dm06, I can see you're worried about your son and just want things to return to the way they were before taking prednisolone to reduce the inflammation in his brain.

I'm tagging fellow members @gemini58 @mmas @lmcquade @pamelastewart5 @patrassi @santosha who may have had similar experiences with their child who has epilepsy and to offer some tips or thoughts.

I wonder if it might help to keep a diary of when he presses and rubs his hands. Take note if this seems to be associated with particular triggers. Might it be because he is feeling discomfort that you cannot see? Or is it an association of a memory cause distress, for example when he has to take medication? You might start to see patterns.

What helps relieve his stress when he rubs his hands? Does holding him help?

REPLY

@dm06, Hi!

I am sorry for your son's experience and hope he gets better soon.

I have not been on Prednisolone, so I can not share any experiences with this medication. But what I can share is that I had some hand tremors with some AEDs and those tremors took some time to stop after taking off those medications. They did not disappear, immediately. How much time? Some months, I can not remember exactly how many.
So, there is hope. I hope you will have your kiddo back as he was.
Did a new medication be introduced after leaving Prednisolone? Did he press and rub his hand while taking Prednisolone or did that appear after leaving this medication?
My best vibrations to you and your kiddo!
Santosha

REPLY
@colleenyoung

Hi @dm06, I can see you're worried about your son and just want things to return to the way they were before taking prednisolone to reduce the inflammation in his brain.

I'm tagging fellow members @gemini58 @mmas @lmcquade @pamelastewart5 @patrassi @santosha who may have had similar experiences with their child who has epilepsy and to offer some tips or thoughts.

I wonder if it might help to keep a diary of when he presses and rubs his hands. Take note if this seems to be associated with particular triggers. Might it be because he is feeling discomfort that you cannot see? Or is it an association of a memory cause distress, for example when he has to take medication? You might start to see patterns.

What helps relieve his stress when he rubs his hands? Does holding him help?

Jump to this post

Thanks! It’s been tough for sure. I’ve kept a log but no pattern. He started with the hand issues/tremors while on Prednisolone then the tremors stopped. However, still having hand issues. He is 3 months off this medication. I truly Believe he feels something that we cannot see. The rubbing and putting pressure may give him some relief, not sure. The lack of his ability to express exactly what he feels makes it challenging. Yes, when he rubs and presses on them seems to provide relief. Thanks for sharing! I’m really hoping to get someone else view or maybe journey with this.

REPLY
@santosha

@dm06, Hi!

I am sorry for your son's experience and hope he gets better soon.

I have not been on Prednisolone, so I can not share any experiences with this medication. But what I can share is that I had some hand tremors with some AEDs and those tremors took some time to stop after taking off those medications. They did not disappear, immediately. How much time? Some months, I can not remember exactly how many.
So, there is hope. I hope you will have your kiddo back as he was.
Did a new medication be introduced after leaving Prednisolone? Did he press and rub his hand while taking Prednisolone or did that appear after leaving this medication?
My best vibrations to you and your kiddo!
Santosha

Jump to this post

Thanks so much for your well wishes. He is 3 months off of it. Yes, he starred Xcopri a new seizure medication now. In hopes to help with seizures and brain inflammation. Prednisolone caused the hand issues it started with severe tremors. Then he stopped the medication and the hand issues continued with pressing and constantly rubbing. He doesn’t want to use his hands either or open them. They are always clenched. He never had it prior to this. Any ideas how long it took for you? Thanks for the well
Wishes, we can sure use them.

REPLY

It could just be something he does to soothe himself? Like a type of stimming? My daughter does more of a visual stimming. A friend of mine daughter clenching her hands a lot. Squeezing them together consistently. They put her on medication to try to help. Not sure if that’s it but just a suggestion. If he’s exhibiting pain then that may not be it. Has he done genetic testing? Could be the combo of medications he is on? So hard to tell.

REPLY
@dm06

Thanks so much for your well wishes. He is 3 months off of it. Yes, he starred Xcopri a new seizure medication now. In hopes to help with seizures and brain inflammation. Prednisolone caused the hand issues it started with severe tremors. Then he stopped the medication and the hand issues continued with pressing and constantly rubbing. He doesn’t want to use his hands either or open them. They are always clenched. He never had it prior to this. Any ideas how long it took for you? Thanks for the well
Wishes, we can sure use them.

Jump to this post

My pleasure @dm06 !
Have you checked to see if Xcopri might give some side-effect related to the hand experience your son is having? More than 1 AED medication gave me hand tremors. I also did not have experience with Xcopri. As we know, physical (sleep, period, etc) and emotional factors (stress, anxiety, fear, etc) do affect epilepsy. Try to evaluate and see if anything did change in your son's life in those respects.
I am sorry, I can not say exactly how much time it took me to get rid of those tremors, because my doctor introduced little by little medical cannabis (100% CBD), reducing also little by little the AED, until taking it out. But I remember this and other side-effects were gone, thankfully.
We don't get to choose what happen to us, but we do get to choose how we respond to our experience. - a quote of Dr. Edith Eger from her book The Gift.
Stay strong!
Santosha

REPLY

Xcopri is fairly new and I haven’t found anything regarding hand tremors. Maybe we just keep waiting in hopes this stops.

REPLY
Please sign in or register to post a reply.