On 25th April 2008 I received a very interesting email from one of our members, Joseph Normile, who lives in Ireland. Joe discovered that there may be a link between Vitamin B12 deficiency and Essential Tremor and the more I read the more excited I am in what may be a major breakthrough as to the cause of this condition. If it is found that this is the case I would like Joseph Normile to take credit for the discovery as he has spent a lot of time in research. Joe got nowhere with his doctor but a chance appointment with a locum who agreed the theory is plausible means that Joe now has an appointment with a neurologist to discuss it further. It may be that the neurologist disagrees but that is not to say that the theory is wrong - the medical profession sometimes get stuck in the old ways and disregard new/radical ideas!!!!
Joe's emails...
1st email...
Hi Catherine,
I had mentioned earlier that I was prescribed Inderal la 80mg twice daily, sadly the side effects were difficult to handle, I was spending most of the day in bed, too tired to do anything. How long do you have to take this drug before the side effects wear off and the beneficial effects take hold?
That's the first part!
I went back to my GP and said I couldn't tolerate the Inderal, he then prescribed me Topamax , starting at 25mg first week, 50mg the second week, and eventually building up to 100mg daily by week 4.
I took it for two days and the side effects were awful, my shakes were really bad, and this is where my ' research ' comes in.
I Googled Topamax and saw where people also take it for weight loss, I went off on a tangent with my search, saw a site on gastric bypass surgery, where some people developed a tremor after the surgery and they were told this was due to their inability to absorb vitamin b12 . Then I Googled vitamin b12. The results were interesting to say the least. people who cannot absorb vit b12 often develop tremors which are often diagnosed as benign essential tremor! I'm sure you may of heard of this before? For me I'm clutching at straws and will do anything before I take those mind altering drugs. I went to my GP yesterday and insisted on a blood test for lack of vit b12 . She agreed , just to please me , but is very skeptical about the outcome. I'll keep you informed of the developments. I'm attaching a few sites you might find interesting...regards ...Joe
2nd email...
Hi Catherine,
I'm having a blood test done today to see if I have a problem with absorbtion of vit b12. They say it takes two weeks to get the results, . I've also ordered a book from Amazon called ' Could it be b12? ' . I took over the counter b12 and b1 (thiamin) last week and thought I noticed a reduction in tremor, or maybe it was the placebo effect!
I'll keep you updated with my progress or otherwise....................Regards ...........Joe