Hand tremors

[lauralee77]

For the past year or so, i've developed hand tremors in both hands. Sometimes people notice my hands shaking. One guy asked me if I took prednisone (he takes it, too) and I told him that yes i've been taking a maintenence dose of 10 mg a day for over a year. He said that prednisone can cause tremors or shakiness. It made me feel better because i was afraid i was developing multiple schlerosis or Parkingsons or something. I hope it is the medications I am taking. I take prednisone, plaquenil, Imuran, Atenolol, Wellbutrin XL and Cymbalta. Has anyone experienced these tremors or shakiness?

[Lily]

Hi lauralee,

Does your Rheumatologist know about your hand tremors? I think you should discuss it with him and let him decide whether he thinks its to do with Prednisone or not. Lots of things could be causing it, thyroid problems, nervous system problems and probably other things I cant think of.

He may want you to see a Neurologist to investigate this, better to make sure what is causing it, rather than guessing.

Good luck and let us know what your Rheumy says.

love
Lily

[halfpintfl]

:) hi Laura, I am glad that you are not nervous any more. This is why I tell everybody , if there is anything different going on in your body, don't try to figure it out>>>go straight to your dr. and tell him. Tremmors can come from nerves, meds, family history.

Be Well:lol:

[Jirel]

Just a note - I'm on my way to a neurologist in 6 weeks to get my tremor checked out just to make certain its nothing. I started with a mild one in my hands but its progressing to the entire body and is definitely something other people see. However I not only take Pred (4 - 6 mg a day now - I've been on higher) but also Cellcept which can also cause tremors. The Rheumy's nurse, who is the one I was seeing, said she thinks its just a non-essential tremor but she wants me to see a neurologist to get it checked. They've been monitoring the tremor for about a year now. I suspect its the Cellcept since I think its gotten worse since then, but even though its going to cost me to get it checked out, I'm fine with getting it all checked. So I agree with everyone else, let your doctor know just in case they want to check it out. It will probably depend on whether or not it happens only when your hands are at rest or when you're using them and stuff like that.

[cure4lupus]

Have you had your thyroid checked? I had thyroiditis and it caused terrible tremor. I can't imagine it lasting a year, but maybe if it stayed mild. Mine was unbearable within a few days. I couldn't eat or sleep, my blood pressure and heart rate went through the roof and I was also getting fevers. Especially if you have any of those symptoms with it, get your thyroid checked out.

[flowergarden]

My tremor started when I went on lithium for a short while. Even the tiniest dose was toxic to me. Wish I'd known first...

I hope the neuyro is of help to hou!

[helloos]

I can say that when I was on the Pred...... and dropping the dose.. my hands shook so bad it was very hard to write.

I thought it was like withdrawal symptoms.

I notice when I don't eat on time, that happens but because my sugar drops and sometimes the pain medicine.

I would definitely mention to the doctor though and pay attention to when it happens, if all day, certain times, etc. and when you take your meds.

[MichelleAnn]

Lauralee,
I also am on 10mg Prednisone daily maintenance dose....plaquenil, wellbutrin, etc...I have tremors daily but are manageable and usually mild....one of the first signs of a Flare-Up is my tremors get worse, fatigue, night sweats, increased pain, loss of appetite, etc....My mom had tremors, she also had an auto immune disease. Noone else in my family has tremors. The prednisone effects my tremors when I am put on higher dose of 60mg etc during a flareup but those tremors are different than the daily ones. I also know my arm or hand will shake, jump around, I am unable to grab things or hold onto things especially during a flareup, my whole arm shakes badly. It is more an inconvenience, my neurologist and rheumy doctor are not overly concerned, I have discussed it with them, my rheum doctor said everyone has different flareup symptoms and it is important for Lupus patients to recognize theirs, we are all different which makes lupus hard to diagnose....my cognitive gets worse also, I blame it on central nervous system....I use plastic cups and glasses with handles, I learned the hard way dropping many on the floor and cleaning up glass...Take Care.

[lauralee77]

Thanks for the input, everyone. On my next appointment, I will ask my doctor what he thinks is causing the tremors. Glad to hear that I'm not the only one who has experienced this and it may not mean anything serious. By the way, I have recently had my thyroid checked and everything was normal...

[Raglet]

I have a tremor in three fingers in my left hand, which is part of my cns lupus (I have a lot of nerve damage). Actually it is more of a flutter really, and happens after I have used those fingers - the instant I relax my hand those fingers 'flutter' upwards.

It has improved a lot after rituxan treatment, but is still there. It doesn't really bother me, it just is one of those weird things that doesn't really cause any problems so mostly I forget about it.

But definitely, mention it to your doctor. It may well be a medication side effect, but it is always best to have it checked out.

cheers

raglet

[sue90x]

Hi there,
I get hand tremors too when I'm concentrating on something like cutting with scissors, doing my hair putting on make-up tying shoe laces etc etc,
I've put it down to CNS and lots of scar tissue from strokes of varying degrees since dx , when I mentioned it to rheummy it was simply jotted down in my notes nothing much said other than does it dramatically affect my life?
Sue xx
get a brilliant 'panda' look too:wink2:

[Douglas]

Had the hand shakes for much of my life. My mother did too; called it "the congenital shakes". She was never Dxed with Lupus but looking back at her symptoms, I have no question but that she had SLE. I have never been on pred. or plaq. but the shakes still happen though much less frequently than years ago. I suspect the Flexuril has helped a lot.