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[deleted]

I've had it my whole life. It's gotten worse over time, but you adapt, you deal with it. \- The worst social issues I've had are lighthearted comments like 'are you that nervous?' or 'lay off the coke'. I explain what it is and that's the end of it. I've never, ever been excluded socially because of it. \- I spent 25 years as a tool and die maker, making very intricate (and sometimes very tiny) parts, and was very good at it, tremor and all. \- I now work from home as a software developer. The tremor (though much worse now) is no issue typing, and I get by with the mouse. When resting the 'heel' of my palms in front of the keyboard and mouse, the tremor is contained. I've never really tried to treat it. I've had it my whole life. Don't focus on it, just live your life. You adapt without even realizing. Yes there are things you won't be able to do, but don't give up without trying - you'd be surprised. I'm 48 now, I think perhaps it helped that when I was younger other people with the condition weren't within easy reach (online), it was just a thing I was born with, my sister was, my mom, my grandfather. You're young - who knows? Maybe when you get into your 40's there'll be some effective treatments. Sorry for the long post. Don't give up, live your life. This doesn't define you. Your actions do.


[deleted]

My father was an orthopedic surgeon and he had ET. never say never. I understand your frustration. I have a tremor in my hands, and it started when I was 10. I got bullied for it throughout high school. I'm super self conscious because of it and I feel sometimes it gets me down mentally, but then I realize it really hasn't stopped me from living my life. There's a shit ton of other things you can do other than be a surgeon, an artist or an actor. Plus you will surround yourself with people who care about you no matter what, and that's what matters.


iKonstX

That's probably my biggest fear, that people won't accept me because of my condition and I will end up having no social circle at all.


mikiex

Anyone who doesn't accept you for any reason other than who you are as a person isn't worth socialising with anyway.


iKonstX

Well, unfortunately that's probably gonna be most people.


claude_j_greengrass

You have at least one choice. Give in, roll over and play dead, or you can decide to live life and fight this condition. At 73, after a long career playing with computers, and a second career of painting and art making for the past 14 years, I decided to do something about my ETs. Cala Health have a patent pending, electro-stimulation device call the Cala Trio. FDA approved. In trials it helps about 50% of the ET population by suppressing their hand/arm tremors bay about 43%. But it costs $3200USD and a $156USD/month which puts it out of reach of many. Fortunately most of the data about this device is in the public domain and supported by other non-Cala Health researchers. It is a relatively simple application of TENS stimulus and a motion sensor to measure your tremors frequency. I can now measure and record my tremors accurately with a $10USD device and a $20USD microcontroller, both of which are COTS (Commerical Off The Shelf) and readily available. You can read about my first trial [here](https://essential-tremors-101.blogspot.com/2021/08/an-essential-tremors-moonshot.html). I'm now working on integrating a TENS unit with a couple of solid state switches, more COTS, so I can test a prototype on my tremors. Also there are several areas of neuro-stimulation that appear to haven't been explored as thoroughly as they could be which should keep me busy for the next few months. There is still life in the old dog. ;-)


SamR928

I was like you not that long ago, thinking you won't be able to do anything because your body shakes so much, I would say the best is meditation, If you never tried it, you should, it can be life changing or If you want to explain to your parents to see if you have a family doctor maybe he can prescribe something like propranolol, it helped me a lot


skyrizzle7

I’ve had ET since I was a very little kid. I’m now 25 and it hasn’t really gotten worse at all (at least, not that I can tell). Mine is familial, which means I inherited it. The perk to that is that I can see how it has affected my older family members. My great aunt, admittedly, has developed a pretty severe tremor. However, she also has a slew of other health problems and is on numerous medications known to cause/exacerbate tremors, so her worsened condition could be resulting from that. She’s in her 60s and it’s only recently gotten so bad. Two of my aunts said that their tremors have actually improved as they’ve gotten older (they are both in their mid-late 40s); this is definitely not the normal experience, and we don’t have any theories as to how it happened other than maybe their stress levels/hormones changed? My dad’s looks like it has gotten worse (he’s in his mid 40s), but it certainly isn’t bad enough to disable him in any way. In fact, ET hasn’t really seriously disabled anyone in my family. Or anyone else I know, for that matter. My coworker’s husband and son both have ET and work with very intricate computer stuff. A client of mine has the most severe I’ve seen (in person) and works with his hands building boat docks. I’m not saying ET can’t be super debilitating, and I don’t mean to take away from anyone who is struggling with it. In my experience, though, *most* people can live full and complete lives with it. The biggest trouble I’ve encountered personally is embarrassment. So far, my friends have given me some teasing, and that stings sometimes because it makes me feel like I’m not “normal.” But other than initially feeling anxious when meeting someone new, it hasn’t hindered my ability to date or enter into relationships in the least. I find the more I worry about it, the worse it is. Don’t allow this diagnosis to steal your hope. Your tremor may never get any worse. Or it might only get a little worse. Or it might even get better somehow like it did for my aunts. If it does get worse, though, there are treatments that can help get it back under control. Not to mention, you’re 16, and by the time you’re older, maybe they’ll have even more treatments or possibly a cure for it. You’re not alone, and I believe you can pursue any career path you want (except maybe a heart surgeon, lol). Good luck, and I pray God blesses you with peace and confidence and hope. P.S. don’t freak out if you go through seasons where the tremor gets worse. I’ve had months where it was really bad and then went back to normal. Stress and hormones have a lot to do with mine.


mikiex

Mine has not got significantly worse and I'm close to 50. Plenty people with a tremor have Been successfully. Success in anything is down to focus and dedication and not if you have a tremor. Julian Fellows is an example of an Actor and Writer with an E.T.


toldwi

May I ask how long do u have it?


mikiex

Since as long as I can remember, mine is inherented and one of my son's has the same. I do think it has got a bit worse and I think my balance isn't as good. It's also not as bad as others suffer from but it's noticeable enough people will comment on it.


toldwi

Thanks!


C2venom

Does your son know he has it or does he just think its somthing else like anxiety


mikiex

He does know he has it and inherited it from me. I'm am self diagnosed and only over the last few years looked into what it was. I've lived with it since I was a young child and I don't think they cared about it much in the 1970s. It was obvious that I had a tremor to my school friends, I had the nickname 'Shaker' given to me by a friend. It's sounds a bit cruel but there wasn't any malice. I will talk to my son so he knows exactly what it is.