Essential Tremor (not Parkinson's) in a teen

[brytorlyn]

My 16 year old daughter recently showed me that her right arm (primarily hand) and sometimes her right leg has a tremor. She said it has been going on for a while maybe as long as 2months!! I have no idea why she didn't mention it before but she said she just figured it was nothing. I basically panicked (while trying to look casual). I made an immediate doctor's appt and read up on tremors on the internet. The doctor basically confirmed everything I know...often these tremors are benign but we need to rule out MS, brain tumor, and thyroid issues. I am concerned (and the Dr agreed) that it is a bit unusual that this is only on her right side since benign essential tremors sre generally bilateral. We did blood work today and have an appt for an MRI next week. I am falling apart worrying about the fact that this could be a brain tumor.

My question is does anyone have any experience with benign essential tumor particularly on only one side of the body?

 

[Christine]

I don't have any experience with this and hopefully someone will answer you soon. This board doesn't move as fast as the Community Board, but eventually someone will find you!!

I hope it goes well for your DD. I know I would be worried also (I have an almost 16 year old DD). Please keep us posted with how it all goes.

 

[brytorlyn]

Thanks Christine. I'm just scared...all I think is BRAIN TUMOR!

 

[Mackey Mouse]

I too have no experience with this type of thing, but will tell you this. Sometimes I believe Moms have this eerie premonition thing......sounds like you are concerned enough to make a doctor's appt and go forward with trying to find out what this is. I agree with what you are doing....I had something similar happen to me a while back with one of my daughters......I took her to the primary care who diagnosed cat scratch fever...she had not been near cats. My instinct, the Mom thing, told me something was wrong. So I pushed and took her to a specialist, she had a lump in her neck at her lymph node.....suffice it to say it was not cat scratch fever but rather something more serious and required immediate attention. I am not saying this to scare you, I am saying that you are on the right track. Signs like these happen for a reason and I would not rest till I got some answers meaning if I had to go to another doctor if the first one just cavalierly blew this off, I would.

Hugs!!! and hopefully someone with more experience with what you are going through will find this and have more information for you.

 

[hercamore]

My MIL has essential tremor on one side only. good luck to yo and your DD.

www.mayoclinic.com has a lot of good helpful medical info.

herc.

 

[jann1033]

you are good to be getting it checked out and try to remember they are ruling things out that doesn't mean she has it, it means they are ruling it out. a test is to see if it's possible it doesn't mean it is the case.
i know it can be upsetting but with me they ruled out everything from aids to whatever, sometimes it's just so they are sure they haven't missed something, especially if they suspect something that can be not that bad but have similar symptoms to something that can be more serious..i would imagine the odds are in your favor.

 

[sulleyfan]

I am 22 and I've had essential tremor since my young teens. I was officially diagnosed when I was 18 and was actually working for my doctor's office at the time and they were able to see it when I had a bad spell.

Mine are also mostly on one side rather than both, however mine are typically on the left. I have been through all of the tests for possible thyroid and other issues, as well as the MRI, and while all of this was going on, my mom was sure it was going to be a tumor or Parkinson's or something like that.

I also have quite a family history of early-onset essential tremors (typically they aren't diagnosed until 40s or older), so mine are considered hereditary essential tremors and due to a history of early-onset Parkinson's as well, I see a neurologist every other year for a check on that, but currently all of those tests have been negative.

There are treatments for it if it gets bad. I have done everything from taking pills daily to currently just taking something on days that it's bad.

If it turns out that this is what she has, check out www.essentialtremor.org, they have a listing of doctors/neurologist that specialize in movement disorders, and from my experience, it's good to get one that does, they tend to be more up on the possible treatments. They also have a lot of information about treatments, community awareness, support groups and the like.

If you want to know any more or have any questions, please feel free to PM me or ask here.

ETA: Don't feel bad that she didn't tell you 2 months, I didn't say anything until they started interfering with normal activities, after about 2-3 years, because I didn't think it was a big deal.

 

[brytorlyn]

Thank you so much for all the encouragement. I feel much better knowing that essential tremor (the best case scenario for us) can affect only one side. We are mostly trying to rule out MS (which seems fairly unlikely) but more worrisome would be a tumor. We go tomorrow for the MRI. We are Canadian and although our system pays for the test here I would need to wait 6 to 8 weeks since this is not an emergency. It feels like one to me though. So we live near the NY border so we were able to make an appt and will happily pay OP the $600 or so to get peace of mind.

We have an appt to get the results on Friday at the Dr's. Still seems like an eternity away

As a parent this is a nightmare.

 

[Mackey Mouse]

Please let us know how the appointment goes and you are doing a great job looking for the appropriate answers.

 

[jann1033]

the wait is so difficult...and it's true it's harder if it's your child...

 

[jack02]

Hi brytorlyn, sorry to hear about your daughter. But as long as I know almost 0.5 percent of people older than 65 have Parkinson's dementia, including such symptoms as impaired memory and attention. Exelon's effectiveness was established in 24-week clinical trials involving 541 people with mild-to-moderate dementia associated with Parkinson's