Find Senior Care (City or Zip)
Join Now Log In
B
BioMom41 Asked June 2022

Body tremors in dementia patients, how is this usually dealt with?

lealonnie1 Jul 2022
Your mom has a cardiologist who's telling you the tremors are caused from her high blood pressure; wouldn't he also tell you how to deal with this issue??

Certain blood pressure medications are known to cause tremors in some people as a side-effect, so that should be noted. Lots of other medications are known to cause tremors, so it's always a good idea to have mom's PCP review her meds periodically to make sure there's no contraindications going on, or to see if s/he thinks one drug or another is causing negative side effects.

My mother had heart conditions (CHF & AFIB) as well as dementia, and also suffered from tremors, especially in her hands. She took no medications for the tremors, nor for her heart specifically, but she did take BP meds for quite a while; Lisinopril (for BP) is known to cause tremors, and so are a few other BP meds. She took Wellbutrin for depression and Gabapentin for neuropathy pain in her legs, neither of which were thought to contribute to her tremors.


Good luck!

TChamp Jun 2022
Tremors are very common in the elderly to the point that many people who suffer from dementia may have some degree of tremor. Not because it's part of dementia, but because most dementia sufferers are old. There are many types of body tremors, and some are even considered normal. Like being under severe stress or suddenly frightened, Also, when lifting or carrying very heavy objects. There are tremors caused by side effects of medicines, and also by the withdrawal of certain medications (tranquilizers) or alcohol. However, the most common tremors are: Parkinson's tremors, essential tremors and alcoholic tremors. Parkinson's tremors are very obvious and easily recognized in people who suffer from Parkinson's disease. Alcoholic tremors are also easily recognized in chronic alcoholics. Essential tremor is perhaps the most common and is not related to any disease. it's cause is unknown and it's incurable, but improves with treatment. It has some hereditary tendencies and it can appear at any age. It's not part of aging, but certainly it becomes more prominent when people get old.. There are many treatments available, medications, external devices and even brain surgery, Interestingly enough, it has been observed that this type of tremor improves with an alcoholic beverage. Of course, drinking alcohol would be a bad advice. Some investigators are trying to find a type of alcohol that is not intoxicating or addictive that could be used in this tremor. Current common medicines for essential tremor are minor tranquilizers, anti-epileptics and beta-blockers. Essential tremor isn't life-threatening.

ADVERTISEMENT


cwillie Jun 2022
It depends on what's causing the tremors. My mom has essential tremor and her heart medication propranolol helped keep them under control, as we discovered when a doctor decided to switch her to something new and her tremors increased to such a degree that she was switched back. Parkinson's tremors may be helped with Levodopa/carbidopa medication.
BioMom41 Jun 2022
Thank you, we are trying to determine the cause, had a cardiologist tell us it was do to high blood pressure today ?

ADVERTISEMENT

Ask a Question

Subscribe to
Our Newsletter