Well, I’m a few months into my diagnosis, and very little has changed. Nothing better, nothing worse.
The first med I was given was called primidone, and it might have stilled the tremors. I say might because I wouldn’t know… the damn pill knocked me out like a light. I was basically sleeping 12-16 hours a day on it. No sale.
So they switched me to Toprol, which my wife takes for high blood pressure. At the lowest possible dose, I felt no effect. When that dose was doubled (at doc’s recommendation), my blood pressure plummeted. At that point, I was shaking so badly that I couldn’t even bring a fork to my mouth. Next.
Now I’m on something called Klonopin (clonazepam). I’m not seeing any impact at all yet, but the doc is ramping me up slowly.
She also referred me to a motor-disorder specialist, and I went to see him on Monday. He put me through a more extensive battery of tests, and noted that, in addition to my hands, I’ve got a slight head tremor and a pretty good-sized tremor in my legs when standing. I honestly hadn’t noticed, but I’ve been living with it since I was a kid… we learn to ignore the things we endure.
So the new doc has decided to add Topamax (topiramate) to the drug cocktail. Again, this is a ramp-up scenario… low dosage for a few days, then higher, then higher. I’ll probably know in two weeks how it’ll work out.