Shaky hands anybody?

[Stretched]

Anyone else picked up a nervous jitter, tremor-like primarily in the hands? Mine started within last 3 months and I can’t discern whether due from neurological aspects of ME or medications? Using Ambien, Xanax, and Amisulpride but never had this symptom with past use. It’s palpable and annoying.

 

[Rebeccare]

I had that symptom on and off for the first year or so after I got sick, but then it faded. I think I was on Plaquenil at the time (my doctors suspected lupus), but no other meds. I remember standing in front of the mirror trying to put on makeup for my college graduation but failing miserably! In the end I put some lip gloss on the tip of my index finger, and then used my finger to smush it onto my lips.

 

[Wolfcub]

I have a feeling of some inner tremor, like an over-caffeinated sensation -sometimes but not always, and not as a result of consuming caffeine (though that makes it worse for sure, if it is already happening.)
Not focused particularly in my hands ....well maybe slightly perhaps, but it's the internal feeling which is disconcerting.

In my own case I have decided it is connected with utter deep-level exhaustion. I go through phases of it.
I got it worse months ago than I do now, but it can still recur randomly.

It feels like the sort of tremor one can get after many nights' lost sleep (even after I have slept well). Absolute against-the-wall exhaustion. In my case it's my biggest red flag to simply rest and literally -to lie down there and then and stay there for a while.
Not in my case related to anxiety, and I take no medications.

Oddly, I also got that when I tried to "bomb" my body with high-dose vitamin B complex! It seemed paradoxical to me at the time, and made no sense, but I had to stop that p.d.q.

 

[Wayne]

Have had it on and off for years. Back about 15-20 years ago, I began to write like an "old person"--characteristic wobbly look. Somehow I came out of that, but when I was given an anti-nausea medication in February of this year, I began to expereince far more intense trembling and agitation in ways I had never done before. Very gradually it got better in the ensuing months, but now it's getting worse again. Could be winter, but who knows? It's a difficult thing to deal with so anybody else who has it has my sympathies for sure.

 

[Stretched]

Anyone else picked up a nervous jitter, tremor-like primarily in the hands? Mine started within last 3 months and I can’t discern whether due from neurological aspects of ME or medications? Using Ambien, Xanax, and Amisulpride but never had this symptom with past use. It’s palpable and annoying.

Thanks for the replies, insights. FWIW, mine is so pronounced I can pick up a glass of water and shakiness causes some to spill! I’ll ask doc for some benzos (which might have been the original cause - stopped Valium after 6 months use?)

 

[jesse's mom]

I have this shaking when I have overdone activities. It is really noticeable in my handwriting.
I am journaling everything I am on the fourth month of doing it daily. I try to journal Blood pressure heart rate, all medications, and supplements. What I do actively, how long it takes, my sleep, my pain level and my activity level. I am trying to really work out my personal energy envelope so I can safely take part in life again a bit more.

When I have PEM you can see it in my handwriting. My whole being seems to tremor, it shows in my hands!

Getting dehydrated is right up there with doing too many chores, or having too many face to face conversations.

Best of everything to you @Stretched

 

[Wolfcub]

I have this shaking when I have overdone activities. It is really noticeable in my handwriting.
I am journaling everything I am on the fourth month of doing it daily. I try to journal Blood pressure heart rate, all medications, and supplements. What I do actively, how long it takes, my sleep, my pain level and my activity level. I am trying to really work out my personal energy envelope so I can safely take part in life again a bit more.

When I have PEM you can see it in my handwriting. My whole being seems to tremor, it shows in my hands!

Getting dehydrated is right up there with doing too many chores, or having too many face to face conversations.

Best of everything to you @Stretched

Yes, in your case @jesse's mom it sounds something like what is going on with me too. It's the totally exhausted state which seems to set up the tremor.

Dehydration is another culprit. But it could be that anything which pushed the mind....body....whole system....to the extent of its current limits (maybe) can cause that symptom.

At first trying to analyse it, and realising it wasn't connected with particular anxiety (in my case anyway) it felt rather like when you hold a physical "stress position" too long and a muscle tremor starts. That can happen even with healthy people. In our case it's probably because we have gone WAY over our capabilities at the time?

 

[jesse's mom]

At first trying to analyse it, and realising it wasn't connected with particular anxiety (in my case anyway) it felt rather like when you hold a physical "stress position" too long and a muscle tremor starts. That can happen even with healthy people. In our case it's probably because we have gone WAY over our capabilities at the time?

I think so, exactly.

 

[andy_smurt]

Tardive dyskinesia. It is a *very* common side effect of antipsychotics [1].

From my observations it will take years to more than a decade to go away after discontinuation of the antipsychotic... and there are supplements that might help.

EDIT: Another non-well known and common side effect is foamy urine (foam fills up toilet bowl in whole or in part), see: Proteinuria. These little molecules these phara companies sell as treatment for whatever maladies may be causing problems like protein misfolding...

 

[jesse's mom]

I get this symptom without the use of antipsychotic medications. We are all so different! With me it seems to go hand in hand with my level of inflammation, insomnia, pain and fatigue.

 

[Wayne]

Dehydration is another culprit.

This may sound a bit odd, but I've come to believe this past year that sound or noise that's too loud can also be a culprit for a worsening of any number of typical CFS symptoms. It seems a very high percentage of us have sound sensitivity and/or hyperacusis, which I suspect "tires out our ears", and lead to various kinds of crashes. I also look at our ears and our eyes as extensions of the brain in many ways.

 

[jesse's mom]

@Wayne I agree! I can be doing fine, then someone will use a metal tervis cup and the icemaker near me and I am immediately in tears! it seems to reverberate for another several seconds after the sound is gone for many people!

When we were remodelling my room, a carpenter hammered a nail into wood, three strikes and I fell to the floor in pain. It feels crazy!

My hearing is not diminishing with age it is increasing! I can hear things like conversations between people on the street, every word!

Smells and lights are the same way. I Stopped driving at night because I Guess it is night blindness, but every little light fragments into a million pieces, like a broken mirror.

All of this can cause vicious pain and headaches.

 

[taniaaust1]

Yes, but I dont get that symptom any more though (only if I've overused my hands or crashing badly I may).

I was for a very long time getting that symptom severely as like a constant ongoing thing, I actually got mistaken at the hospital by the head nurse of being a Parkinson's Disease patient due to that symptom. I had not been on any meds so this symptom was in my case directly due to the ME.

Back when I was getting that symptom I also was at times getting rhythmic myoclonus and severe spasms at times. (I think that was around the time when I also having foot drop episodes too).

I still get inner tremor feelings regularly but I view that as being entirely different to when I had actual tremors. Like Wayne, it severely affected my ability to write and my writing was looking like a 4 year olds and yes I'd spill water due to it

.........

@jesse's mom "Stopped driving at night because I Guess it is night blindness, but every little light fragments into a million pieces, like a broken mirror. "

oh yes, I remember that symptom at night, I'd forgot that one till you mentioned it. It made things confusing when driving. I have not driven now for ages but due to my brain issues among the other symptoms

 

[taniaaust1]

This may sound a bit odd, but I've come to believe this past year that sound or noise that's too loud can also be a culprit for a worsening of any number of typical CFS symptoms. It seems a very high percentage of us have sound sensitivity and/or hyperacusis, which I suspect "tires out our ears", and lead to various kinds of crashes. I also look at our ears and our eyes as extensions of the brain in many ways.

yep, sound can certainly make things worst.

 

[Stretched]

Tardive dyskinesia. It is a *very* common side effect of antipsychotics [1].

From my observations it will take years to more than a decade to go away after discontinuation of the antipsychotic... and there are supplements that might help...

Great article! Thanks. I wonder if the foreign (in US) drug ‘Amisulpride’ (which @Hip reviews) could be causing this, e.g. vs Xanax?

 

[Hip]

Even low-dose amisulpride can sometimes lead to tardive dyskinesia: see this study of a patient who was give low-dose amisulpride (100 mg daily) as an antidepressant.

In my case, I use very low-dose amisulpride (12.5 mg daily).

You might want to check the various YouTube videos showing tardive dyskinesia symptoms, to see if yours are similar.

 

[Hip]

Note also that tardive dyskinesia is only one of several extrapyramidal symptoms that can be caused by antipsychotics. List of extrapyramidal symptoms:

dystonia (continuous spasms and muscle contractions), akathisia (motor restlessness), parkinsonism (characteristic symptoms such as rigidity), bradykinesia (slowness of movement), tremor, and tardive dyskinesia (irregular, jerky movements)

Source: Extrapyramidal symptoms.

 

[Stretched]

@Hip ‘Appreciate the ideas and reference. After a short review of several You Tube videos I would say my shaky symptom is far removed from Tardive Dyskinesia and related serious disorders. It falls more in line with jitteriness like caffeine overload. Still, it’s uncomfortable. It feels caused by something like withdrawal from a medication - with anxiety and hyperness.

My recent rx history includes using Valium for ~6 months then stopped (to stay off Klonopin after titrating down from 20 years use); then added Xanax last month and a return to Ambien. Also, some 5HTP supplement. The only other rx is Amisulpride which I have taken in very low dose (~10mg-25mg for about 18 months). I’ll stop this now and see if this helps. Hopefully, there’s not a withdrawal syndrome associated with it. Thanks.