Essential Tremor

[Guest guest]

Well,I recently asked how common shoulder issues were in the group, and

now I have another question about essential tremor. Essential tremor

is a postural tremor that happens in the head, arms and/or legs. I

find that I notice it mostly when I am holding something (a piece of

paper out to read.) But not when reaching for something -- I believe

that is an intention tremor. My head has a slight bob in the yes

direction (not sure if yes or no is preferable-- depends on the

moment.) It has begun in the past year, or worsened to the point of

noticing it. Oddly, I have been going to PT for neck pain, but one doc

gave me an anti anxiety med (Tranxene) for peri menopausal angst, and

the tremors are better and the neck pain is nearly gone!!! Maybe I

was just trying stabilize against it. Hooray! Anyone else have the

tremors?

Mandy

[Guest guest]

Gretchen,

Thank you for your answer. I just looked up Symmetrel. I havent heard

of it before. Does it give you anti viral benefits too?

>

> Hi Mandy,

>

> Yes, I have Essential Tremor. It is completely controlled by

Symmetrel.

>

> Gretchen

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Mandy,

I don't know if I get the anti-viral benefits from Symmetrel or not.

But I never get sick with the flu or even a cold. I'm not really

concerned about any anti-viral effects, because it has had a remarkable

effect on quieting my tremors and is very cheap - as a generic I pay

only $2.25 for a 90 day supply!

I forgot to mention years ago (like 1975 or 76) while in grad school a

doc prescribed Transene for me (a bit of anxiety!) It was short term

only. It did kind of temporarily make me feel more 'serene' about life

then. I don't remember what it did for my tremors, tho. I think if I had noticed

a change for the good, I'd remember.

Gretchen

[Guest guest]

Joan,If you want to go ahead and train without assessing first, this is the protocol that I have used with a number of people with Parkinsons.  It's based on SMR tending to increase dopamine levels and the fact that there is a major dopamine delivery channel to the Prefrontal Cortex running under the frontal midline.  As I wrote yesterday, Parkinsons is related to death of dopaming-producing cells in the substantia nigra.  That's not the same as the apparent issues in ET.  That appear to involve the basal ganglia and cerebellum (and GABA, not dopamine).

Increasing SMR at Cz could have a positive effect on the basal ganglia.  There is anecdotal evidence that training below O1 and O2 (bipolar one-channel montage) to squash all frequencies and increase 12-15 has had effects with problems of gait and balance (sometimes also present with ET).  These would involve training on either side of the cerebellum.  Theoretically it can't work, because there aren't pyramidal (EEG producing) cells in the cerebellum, so it should be " invisible " on the EEG, but there are those pesky reports of it working.

Good luck.Pete-- Van Deusenpvdtlc@...http://www.brain-trainer.com

USA 678 224 5895BR 47 3346 6235The Learning Curve, Inc.

On Fri, Mar 2, 2012 at 2:27 AM, Joan vonNiessen <joanvon@...> wrote:

Hi Pete, 

I just want to make sure I am doing the best I can for this client and I want to know exactly how to set the targets to provide the best feedback to produce change.  I am doing Fz Pz,  12-15, 2 channel training, only reward and no inhibit.

 -First of all I want to confirm that this is NOT linked right?

 -Second, what I am doing is  that I am watching the reward columns on the trainer screen and ensuring that it is around 80%.  If it goes too high above or too low I hit the S-M button to re-adjust the baseline.  Is this right?

 -Am I supposed to slowly be pushing it one direction or can I just do as I described above? Will this protocol produce change as long as I keep the target at around 80%?

 -Should I be seeing an upward trend in the area that graphs both reward channels?  How can I tell if I am succeeding....if my client is moving in the right direction?

 Thanks for answering my questions Pete. I really appreciate your support and help.

Joan 

From: Joan vonNiessen [mailto:joanvon@...]

Sent: February-28-12 11:56 AM'pvdtlc'Subject: essential tremor Hi Pete,

I just posted a question on brain trainer site about a 65 year old man with essential tremor. (He also has 2 deep brain implants in his Thalmus.) Just wanted some feedback as to what has worked for  others.  

 -What protocol and placement have you found to be effective to work with Essential Tremor?   

-So I still need to do a full TLC assessment or just get started right away with training? Thanks for your input Pete!

Joan