I am on propranolol but it doesn’t do much. My ET gets worse in public with anxiety. Any recommendations of something to take on top of propranolol to help anxiety tremors that you can take daily that are not benzos?

Hello!

I am in search of (particularly sandals) that would be great for my ataxia. I lose footing and fall a lot, but the only thing comfortable for me to wear have been flip-flops from Crocs. I can walk miles in them. However, I think the time has come that I need something sturdier. These would be used around the house, my yard, and sometimes in public. I've looked all over and can't find the "right" type of shoe.

Side note: I REALLY don't like wearing shoes or socks to begin with, they're foot prisons. So the comfier the better.

Does anyone have any suggestions or resources?

Hello everyone I’ve posted in here once before but I’m 23M with et (I think) I was diagnosed at 20 by my neurologist and all she did was have me press my hand against her hand and said yep you have ET I did also get an ct scan and nothing popped up. She has me on a yearly appointment basis now and when I just went in there a month ago I told her I was struggling with the 10mg propranolol so she upped it to 20 mg with no difference. I’ve asked about primidone I think was the name and she came across as adamant that it wouldn’t be any better for me

I guess I’ll get to the point, do you guys think I should maybe try to find a different neuro or is a movement disorder specialist a better option? I’m not sure if they’re the same profession or not. My career needs a better option to get better treatment.

Thanks in advance for any advice or help on the matter

I am 23 with many diagnoses including major depressive disorder, anxiety, ocd, adhd etc

I'm seeing a neurologist in a week for my problems related to tourettes and tremors but obviously this is about the tremors lol

I've always had unstable hands and it wasnt too bad or unusual considering the severity of my anxiety. People would sometimes point it out and I'd just shrug it off since it didn't concern me at the time. Since at least a year ago my hands for the most part have been entirely unstable and i can't do things at times. Sometimes i struggle holding utensils and making small adjustments with my fingers/ hands feels impossible. It often is just there already but i found that when i have my hand/ fingers/ or even other body parts in specific positions it completely sets it off in the most extreme way. I was repairing my computer mouse and with the tiny screws it took over an hour for 10 screws and i was getting really frustrated. I'm still adjusting to living with this I'm just really afraid of what it could lead to in the future :/ i seem to have been born into the world with every possible debuff

• something i forgot that i wanted to add is that in the past year or so I've also started experiencing some form of vertigo especially with moving my head and eyes, not sure what that's about

Just curious if anyone with hand ET can do a free standing handstand? I've been trying for a few years at yoga. I think it might be my ET causing an extra challenge ;) but I wanted to hear from my ET people. I described it the other day like a normal person trying to do a handstand on a moving floor - it's doable but it takes a lot more practice. I can do a supported handstand with my feet up on a wall. Are handstands not in the card for us?

Hi I'm in the process of developing a paint app for tremors, you can try it here

https://santhoshl2312.github.io/StablePaint/

Please let me know if there are any issues or if anything feels off about the smoothing.

I'm pretty excited about it. I've already taken the calls from the manufacturer of the implant. Next step, programming. If anybody has wondered about the first parts of DBS. Feel free to ask.

I have an automatic tooth licker, but I can’t put the toothpaste on the toothbrush anymore. And I can also say that trying to put a toothbrush into a little 1 inch hole to have toothpaste applied is beyond me, so I’m planning to shop for this soon.

I’d appreciatesny help at all in this area! Thanks!

UPDATE: To those asking, my automatic toothlicker is just my fun name for my Phillips Sonicare Toothbrush, or any electric toothbrush, I guess! I didn’t mean to be mysterious or anything :) and to use it I have to use both hands and hold it like a baseball bat to get it into my mouth, once it’s there, I can behave like I used to and just use my dominant hand.

Hi!

So, I'm 15 and in certain positions only my hand starts to shake hard and uncontrollably, sometimes I can feel it also on the forearm. It only happens on certain positions, and some of them only happen on my left hand.

Since kid my hands shaked a little bit, but nothing to worry, almost imperceptible. But almost 5 month until now the tremor has intensified and now appears in public more.

Now some strange facts that I find unusual:

• If I don't look, or move my body, for example, if I hold a position where it shakes, but I start walking, look away or move my other arm, it almost disappears.
• My mom (38), grandma (68) and brother (12) also have this tremor when holding a position, but there isn't Essential Tremor in the family. Also, it has no impact on their lives.
• Sometimes, my head also shakes, but only sometimes.
• This tremor increases in social situations, like school (I have Social Anxiety)
• When I'm home, it reduces, but it doesn't go away.
• When I do something strenght related, like a isometric push up, pull ups, pulling something, my arms shake even more.
• I have scoliosis (12deg) which is enough to make my left side work harder, but I think it would cause this.
• I'm well rested, no vitamin deficit, no cafein.
• Sometimes I feel my chest tight, but on those moments I go right away mesaure blood pressure and heart rate and everything is normal

I'm kinda scared, currently I'm without family doctor and I'm afraid of this being permanent and degenrative.

I train calisthenics and when I did my deload the tremors intensified, I felt my arms numb, but when I returned to normal, the tremor is still here.

My hand write is still good, I can hold a cup of tea and cutlery, but sometimes I can see them shake.
Any clue of what it could be?

Thank you all.

I used to exercise normally. However, When October of 2025 started I joined a judo classes group. I was there for about four or five weeks. But during those weeks I didn't exercise, since I was tired from it I stopped working out. And it continued for the following months until the start of 2026 (have to clarify, I live in a south america country, Where on Christmas and holidays we eat a lot. A LOT. Of junky, Tasty, But junky food. Cake, ayacas, Coca-cola or other stuff. And no, during those months I did not lose muscle somehow)

But anyways, During about mid of January I started to exercise again. (Mainly because my mom death-threaths me into doing it) During the first week was pretty normal. I'm doing exercise normally 4 days a week with cardio on Friday. But I've noticed my arms or legs shake when carrying weights. Doesn't matter if it's a weight I can easily carry or usually use to exercise. Same with legs or other muscles. I can do up to 15 pullups yet my arms shake at 3 even though I'm not tired.

Idk why since even when I was barely 7 and my mom started to tell me to exercise, I never shaked before. Yet now by some reason my body shakes. Any ideas on what's causing the problem, or how can I fix it? Yes I am a minor. And it has been months yet nothing has changed

I’m building a macOS app that tries to reduce typing errors caused by hand tremors.

The current focus is detecting unintended repeated keystrokes and accidental inputs that can happen while typing.

It’s still an early beta, but I’d really like to hear from people dealing with tremor-related typing issues — especially what kinds of keyboard problems are most frustrating in daily use.

If anyone is interested in testing it or sharing feedback, feel free to comment or DM me.

hi everyone, Im a 30 year old. two months ago posted about essential tremor and how it is ruining my life and how anyway I dumped everything to my fiancé to make sure she breaks up with me because I didn’t want her to attend to me when I am disabled at 40 or 45. And also I need to savour my so called good next 10 tears. But it turns out yes I do have a very light tremor, but I also have been diagnosed with illness anxiety disorder and bodily distres disorder. I've had ir since I was a kid but only blew up during that shirt relationship. the engagement fell apart however it gave me to push to actually seek something. I finally got diagnosed with ADHD primarily inattentive type and Illness Anxiety Disorder. But hard to find a psychiatrist who would assess me for ADHD rather than force me to take SSRI first. Anyway I finally did.

The avoidance of what ET would look like and just assuming it’s going to make me disabled, maybe a cycle of avoidance due to ADHD and anxiety on health. I don’t know what it is. I am posting here but at 30 everything is shook. But I am seeing some hope because things make sense in retrospect. I’m hoping at least my life isn’t a complete mess anymore.

I'm a graphic designer who has to use the mouse for delicate moves. After 4 tries to find a mouse that I could use as my tremor gets worse....success!! The Protoarc Ergonomic mouse works for me. Hopefully that suggestion will help others with ET who are searching for ways to make life better and work more efficient. Another plus, on Amazon, this mouse is under $30.

28f. To anyone who has tried it - did you turn into a zombie when you started taking this ? I’m currently on 50mg twice daily and oh my goodness. I’m supposed to increase my dose to 200mg twice daily by week 3.

Has anyone successfully increased their dose ? I read that drowsiness can occur when increasing the dose, so I’m not too worried l guess. Just super tired.

I am a 37 F and I have for most of my life had a baseline tremor in my hands but it was not worrying enough or affecting my life too negatively for me to treat with anything. Recently I had an episode of vertigo and my doctor put me on Meclizine for the dizziness. The day after I took my first full dose of Meclizine I hade an episode where I was shaking uncontrollably, it felt like my whole body was vibrating. Ever since my tremors have gotten worse, now including my head and other body parts. I am currently working with my GP to try and figure out why this is happening but it's starting to wear on me and my mental health is suffering. Any help or advice would be great.

24M Alright, So I have un-diagnosed Head tremor issues (Some doctors say it's Dystonic Tremor some say Functional Tremor some say It's Somatic symptoms).

A little bit about my tremor.

-So I have very minor body jerks they get bad with I am anxious or center of attention.
-When I sit straight my head is prone to shaking with pressure/pain on back of neck but does not shake when i am calm (even when im calm I move my head slowly to right and left and head shakes so badly in no-no pattern). This gets really bad in social situations or anxious.

-Lips trembling and pressure when smiling (very bad in social or nervous situations).

Issues:

First let me tell you I am a confident man. But As told my tremor is not always there but there is always a tendency of tremor in my head (just depends on situation or head position).

- To people that I think have better personality then me (Like good looking, talented, live in better city e.g). I am more prone to shaking meeting those people Since I think what if they notice my tremors and they will think I am anxious or idk something so this makes me more prone to tremors and guess what it happens since I think they are okay neurologically and I have this issue in brain so I am lesser then them when it comes to health part but either way i am confident about my own looks and personality/height etc.

- Also if some how someone noticed my head tremors (Now I know that they know I have this embarrassing issue). I fear meeting/contacting that person again or if i go meet them my heart beat goes really fast and my head tremor comes really bad.

- Also talking to a girl online on Discord that I know likes me I start shaking but This shaking only start for like the start of talking then I get good later once I calm down. (this happens only when I know she likes me and gives me too much attention or i think she has very good personality or is very pretty or idk man).

- Also there was an uncle who used to admire me like my personality is good and stuff I never had any contact with him but I had to buy something from his shop once knowing that he admires me I kinda become the center of attention in my own head. So I went to his shop and oh man oh I was trembling my head full body trembling was very bad it was very noticeable.

- Also I wanna go to a different city for a job since I currently have remote job but I have friends from that city they wanna meet me I always avoid meeting them cuz of this issue (What if they notice my symptoms??). Also that girl never seen me irl so when if she notices my head shaking on Discord video call with friends?? This scares me a lot and same loop starts.

Is this like a normal embarrassment response of head tremors or is it like a mental illness?

(I think I might have a movement disorder that reacts very bad to whatever this is a normal response of embarrassment of mental illness)

I've had ET and mental health problems since I was 16 (53 now). I'm finally at a good place with my depression and psychosis, but I am still having problems with extreme anxiety. I know psychotropic medications can worsten tremors, but without them, I'd be back to frequent mental health hospitalizations. I take Ativan for anxiety, but it doesn't always help enough. I'm on high dose propranolol (also for hbp), primidone, and have a DBS system. It helps to where I can function for the most part, but eating, writing, typing, putting adhesive in my dentures, preparing food, etc. is still difficult and only adds to my depression and anxiety. It's a vicious cycle of my tremors causing me anxiety and depression, and the anxiety making my tremors worse, and so on. My DBS is pretty much at the highest level it can be and I don't think raising my primidone would help. I can't raise my propranolol because it makes my BP get too low and I have dizziness and pass out and fall. I don't like dining out or being around strangers because my tremors are embarrassing. I have to take Ativan and a muscle relaxer at bedtime or my tremors, which worsten at night because I turn off my DBS at night, will trigger a panic attack. Even still, I can have 2-3 panic attacks a week because I lie in bed and just feel my whole body trembling. I try deep breathing and relaxation but it doesn't always help.

Does anyone have any ideas I can try to help?

I consider this a reliable source. This is not some "AI-generated answer" with the footnote. "This is for informational purposes only. For medical advice or diagnosis, consult a professional. AI responses may include mistakes."

https://www.pennmedicine.org/conditions/essential-tremor/diagnosis

Some key points here:

Diagnosing essential tremor requires a thorough assessment by a neurologist who specializes in movement disorders. [my note: thus, your GP is not fully qualified to make this diagnosis]

According to the most recent diagnostic criteria, essential tremor must:

• Occur during active movement
• Affect both upper extremities
• Be present for at least three years
• Occur in the absence of other neurological signs or symptoms

People with essential tremor-plus syndrome may present with additional, very mild neurological signs or symptoms, such as mild balance problems, memory loss, or posturing of arms or legs (involuntary flexion or extension of limbs).

Hope this helps some people out. "Be present for at least three years" seems a bit extreme, but I guess it rules out more transient problems.

There is also a good discussion of Essential tremor versus Parkinson’s disease

A little background - I'm 54F, diagnosed with ET in my early 20s after initially noticing a slight shake in one hand at age 19. 15 years ago, I tried propranolol, but I couldn't take enough for it to be effective; my typical blood pressure runs low. I decided to just live with the tremors, because I was concerned about side effects.

Over the last year, it's really started affecting my voice and jaw, which is a problem, as a speech therapist who sings in a choir. I decided to talk to my doctor again and she started me on 25mg of primidone at bedtime. I was pretty groggy for a couple of days but I've adjusted. I can't believe how effective it is! Both hands still shake a little but the voice tremor is gone.

I have a follow up in a couple of weeks but I wanted to hear first hand experiences. Is it possible that increasing the dose might eliminate the tremor completely (at least for now)? Or are there likely diminishing returns, like slightly less tremor but increased side effects?

Thanks!