Essential Tremor

[divineinsanity]

Hello everyone. I was diagnosed with essential tremor at the age of 9. At the same time I was also tested for epilepsy which was negative. I was at the time having severe migraines with nausea, vomitting, and visual disturbances. After all the tests they concluded that the migraines were stress related. (at age 9!)

Well, not it's 20 years later, I am currently 29, and as of late I have noticed that my tremor has increased. It has continued to bother me throughout the years, it has always been my hands, I hate hot beverages! Lately I have noticed some tremor in my jaw, resembling when your teeth chatter when you are cold, just not as pronounced.

Occasionally, I will get some strong jerks, mostly of my head, it is visible to others when it happens. I feel embarrassed. Sometimes I get these in my jaw as well which cause my teeth to painfully smash together. I have noticed some other strange weaknesses lately, touching my middle finger to my palm with light pressure causes my whole hand to shake uncontrollably.

I guess my question is, can Essential Tremor progressively get worse, with symptoms such as these, or should I explore the possibility that these may be symptoms of something else? I know I will need to consult my physician, I am just looking for experiences from other people with ET
Any information is helpful.
Thanks

[macacoza]

I cant speak for everyone, but in my case every year I notice that ET gets worse. About a yr ago it started to also effect my voice. This I hate as I cant sing to my grandbabies now. Singing was a HUGE part of my life!! I am considering BOTOX injections for that. Seems to help some folks considerably! My jaw also will shake... When I go to the dentist at times I will put my hand up to hold my jaw...my dentist is a great guy and he says..' Hold er still, deb!"..and we have a laugh. I have found to not take it so seriously..I hate it ..YES..and it at times makes doing some things hard...BUT..Life is full of surprises and great happiness...Dont let it define who you are..you have a condition..it can be lived with!
deb