chriscurfman
Member
It's been awhile since my last visit, maybe a few months. When I first had some tremors of the hands, fingers, and the constant vibration in my left foot, I was a wreck. 4 trips to the neurologist, MRI(s), blood work, and at my last visit I was discharged from care with no lingering symptoms. My fingers are steady; the left foot buzzing is gone. I get an occasional twitch like any other person when I strain hard, lift to failure or run a long distance. My healing did not involve pharmaceuticals; none at all. No tranquilizers, no benzos, no Neurontin, beta blocker or any other movement disorder medication. The doctor told me I had a benign condition that he believed was caused by a disruption or irritation of the nervous system. He thought mine was the result of excess caffeine, a lack of sleep, stress, and artificial sugar. He saw me every 3 months and performed the regular neuro checks. Every time reflexes, coordination and strength were normal. He said I must correct or totally eliminate the dietary cause; meaning no caffeine at all. I went caffeine free. I mean I had no chocolate, soda, coffee, tea or even headache medication that caffeine in it. The first 4 months I was a wreck. I thought,” this doctor is retarded, there’s got to be something seriously wrong with me. For God’s sake I can’t keep my hands steady and my skin is crawling whenever I’m awake. I’m 32 years old, in good health, taking no drugs and not or even smoking; there has to something wrong”. All I could remember from nursing school was the brief description of motor neuron diseases and the fact that I had symptoms of almost all of them. After about 5 months with zero caffeine and avoiding “diet” like it was cancer, my symptoms started to improve. First the left foot buzzing went away, then the whole body twitching, and the hand issues lingered for another 2 months, but also went completely away. I still check my hands ten times a day and I’m amazed how normal they are.At about the half way point of 1 year with this condition I became obsessed with finding a natural way to combat the symptoms. I started taking ginger root because I knew it was used for nausea, dizziness and it is thought to be a natural anti-anxiety substance. I also took co-q10, D3(for immune support), resveratrol (red wine extract. My thought was to flood my body with healthy antioxidants. I also changed my diet to be primarily vegetable and fruit based. I still eat chicken and fish, but I avoid beef almost entirely. I take the above pills in the morning when I wake up at the same time. Herbal medication can and do interact with prescription drugs, so if anyone is going to try this may want to mention it to your doctor. Ginger for example, has anti-platelet properties. High doses will mimic the effect of aspirin and most likely increase the effects of heparin, Coumadin, or Plavix. Mentally I have felt sharper, I have been sleeping better and I don’t have any negative side effects from the pills I’m taking.The next part is the mental healing. It is normal to shake a little. Watch the hands of anyone handling a fine instrument. (nurses waitresses). If you hold your hands in a hundred different positions, you will find one with a minor shake that no one other than you will notice. If you obsess over it, the shaking while get worse. That’s called stress. You notice it in movie where the person is pointing a gun at the bad guy and the gun is shaking; thinking you have als 24/7 will do the same to us. Some people have excellent muscle control, and some people can dunk a basketball from the foul line, but muscle quivering under pressure is normal. If you lay on the floor to do sit-ups and lean forward slowly you will find a position where the stomach muscles quiver and you will see and feel it. If you hold a push-up position for too long you arms will shake, but that’s normal too. You tongue moves a little when extended out. Everyone’s does. Stressed out people probably have more movement, and certain cold medications will make it worse, so will staring at your tongue in the mirror.My last visit the neuro said, "well, I can't see any reason for you to continue to see me. You are fine. You seem to have a handle on this and know what triggers your symtoms. You tests are normal and given the amount of time that has past, the fact that you got better not worse, makes it very unlikely you have an underlying neuropathology."Try giving up the caffeine and the nutrasweet for a few months and see what happens. Best of luck to all.I have the day off, so anyone that has questions can feel free to PM me.