Does anyone have any tips on how to control tremors?
Hi phillippe
For me, it would be "don't get stressed." er, anyone got any ideas on how not to get stressed, when even unstressful things can stress me?
Less flippantly, my tremor is in my non-dominant hand - giving it something to do, like putting it in my pocket, sitting on it, pressing down on a table seems to work and be fairly unobtrusive. But other activities make it worse - giving it a piece of paper to hold (waves abut like a flag of surrender), or trying to type (keys rattle like automatic gun fire).
Having the right meds (whatever that means for you) helped me, too.
i learned these tips through trial and error - maybe that's a tip in itself.
Best wishes - and let us know what works for you.
Semele
My best way is to knit but that isn't always appropriate so I also have one of those squeeze balls which I use if I am watching tv and my tremor is annoying. Failing that sitting on my hand sometimes works or holding one hand with the other. It does mean that I am a bit of a fidget so at the cinema So I try to sit at the end of a row which helps as I can also stretch my legs and back more easily as there is not usually people behind. Taking medication, for me, seems to have had the opposite effect in that my tremor, numbness in my hands and pains in my arms have all increased since starting on drugs.
The shaking in my right hand is much more than a tremor now, more like a violent jerking movement.
At the moment I only take rasagiline, I am flying off on holiday soon, dreading the flight as I know my hand will be continually moving around.I would like to take my knitting on board but it will be confiscated at security, in case I turn on someone with the needles!
I dont want to start any new medication now as it would not have time to kick in and I dont want side effects just as I am going on holiday. Of course, being anxious about the flight all compounds the issue.
Does anyone else have a magical remedy for controlling jerky hands during a flight?
Hi gt50s
i travelled to Oregon in 2013 from newcastle to Amsterdam and then on to portland oregon. I researched the topic of bringing knitting in hand luggage and found that it appeared to be allowed where I was travelling to including on internal flights in the USA. I packed my knitting and had no problem going through security. I think I had circular needles which might appear less threatening. If you type "knitting needles on airplanes" into google you will get a number of posts dealing with this. I only took one set of needles for a scarf i was knitting so it would not have been a disaster if they were confiscated but it certainly helped pass the time on the 11hour flight. I hadn't been diagnosed with PD then and my tremor was just an occasional twitch at that point but it still helped with relaxation. Hope you have a lovely holiday.
Hi gt50s
I have done a few flights in last year (some long haul) and found listening to music helps also you can pretend to strum along when you have the ear phones in !
J x
Hello, gt50s --
I'm facing some long flights, too, in about two weeks. I plan to take my Kindle Fire, both for reading material and for games to pass the time. If you have any device that can offer games to play (Sudoku, Angry Birds, whatever more up-to-date games I haven't even heard of), maybe using your hands that way will help, though admittedly probably not so much as knitting.
And hello, Camargue --
Do you often come to Oregon, or was it a one-time vacation tour? I live about 15 minutes from downtown Portland!
Best wishes to all and bon voyage to gt50s --
J
Thanks for all your help, this forum is a lifesaver! I certainly dont want to have to curtail my holiday trips abroad, then the PD really will have won!
Hi J
Sadly no we only visited Oregon once on a seven week tour of USA and Canada. Thirty years ago We spent two years in Kansas at the university of kansas at Lawrence and met English friends who now live in Newberg Oregon. This was our retirement trip to see them and other friends and to spend some time in Kansas. We loved Oregon and travelled on a road trip to see crater lake national park, Bend, Mount Hood and other parts of the wine country. We also had a good look around portland. I used to be a transportation planner as well as as an architect so I was really interested in seeing all the walking and cycling initiatives and of course the trams. We had glorious weather and spent all of our time outdoors. We would love to go again so you never know!
Hello, Camargue --
It's nice to hear that you had such a fine tour. It's AMAZING to hear that you had "glorious weather" throughout your visit in Oregon! Our spring rains just won't quit this year. But if ever you are planning on another visit, I love having house guests and can offer very private guest quarters, including your own parking bay in the garage. My husband and I remodeled the house a bit when we bought it in order to provide comfortable stays for our son and his family. They visit fairly frequently, but I also host friends from California, where I lived more than 50 years.
J
Hi J
sorry to hear it has been so wet, we have just had a week of very misty weather with a glimpse of the sun briefly today for the first time in ages. We had seven weeks of good weather on our American adventure with only two days rain so we were extremely fortunate. Thank you for your kind offer of somewhere to stay if we get over to Oregon again. We have no immediate plans but it is definitely on our "love to see again" list and our friends gave us a calendar with lots of pictures of places in Oregon we didn't see to tempt us back so you never know. At the moment we are concentrating on travelling in Europe with our campervan, off to Ireland for a month in mid May then Germany, Italy and France mid August. I am trying to do as much as possible while I still can but I have to say I find your posts very inspiring and certainly encourage me to keep up my exercise regime. Best wishes from a rather gloomy north of England, hope the Oregon wine growers haven't been affected by the rain except in a positive way.
Hello gt50s
A very very very interesting absorbing book, or books will distract old parky and leave you in peace, works for me, also music, not necessarily gentle restful music, I find rock music seems to tune out Dyskinesia, no harm in trying it.
Best wishes and Via con Dias as they say in Iceland
Fed
Hello Philipe
If you are sitting down, try a very interesting book or I found that lego, one of the larger boxes distracted PD and calmed the DYSKY down, also rock music works for me it seems to mask it or tune it out of my system, no harm in trying.
Best Wishes Fed