Shooting with Essential Tremors (ET)

[Shaky Dave]

Having experienced tremors myself,and consulting my doctor.He put me on a Beta Blocker.Within five or six hours I had complete turn around.My shooting has improved alot.No side effects really noticed.

[DocMcG]

one of which is exceptionally pesky - crazy shaking! If diet, blood sugar and, yes, even stress are aggravated, the shaking begins.

This is an interesting subject, Doc. I can recall shooting several stages over the years where stress induced some very pronounced shaking in my hands right before the beep.

BTW, I've discovered over the years that I'm a pretty screwed up person in plenty of ways. (Ma'am, your oldest boy just ain't normal.) Some conditions they have names for (ADD),and some so exclusive to me that they don't have names. But I know.

So, being so fearfully and wonderfully made, I often wonder why someone calls a certain set of circumstances " a condition" or "a disease"?

I understand that there are valid medical reasons for such judgments, but I still find them somewhat subjective. Basically, I see it like this: If you are outside the norm, you are by definition, "different". If you are different in some way that some "authority" sees as deleterious, you are adjudicated, by that authority, have a "condition". The whole process seems rather spurious to me. Ain't we all special?

Ponder this point the next time you hear that somebody is different. It is a statistical fact that half of the people in the country have below average intelligence.

Acceptance of this fact had lead me to clarity on many things.

Thanks Sam! I do value your perspective and appreciate the reminder of being centered. I have lived with ET all of my life and have shrugged off comments from my grandfather; "You will never be able to shoot or weld well." As well as enduring statements from those who don't know/understand the condition. This is the first time I have ever wanted to fight it. I have been a life-long hunter/shooter, but never competitively. I have also never had a "hobby" other than my work or my family. This is the first thing that is for fun that I have ever taken seriously and I want to get better at it. ET is one of the things slowing me down right now, but not for long!

Kyle

Edited December 31, 2009 by DocMcG

[DocMcG]

Having experienced tremors myself,and consulting my doctor.He put me on a Beta Blocker.Within five or six hours I had complete turn around.My shooting has improved alot.No side effects really noticed.

Love the name Shaky Dave! Thanks so much for your first-hand experience. I am going in to see my doctor next week.

Kyle

[Sam]

Awesome, Kyle! Keep us posted on your progress.

You are already an inspiration to me. -Sam

[Jake Di Vita]

Sounds like you have a cortisol issue, likely with a nasty gluten intolerance.

Have you seen a rheumatologist? There could definitely be some auto-immune issues in there.

I'd start with a gluten free, dairy free diet (watch the omega 3 to omega 6 ratio...it should be around 1 to 1) that is extremely low on carbohydrates (less than 50-70g a day) for a month and see what happens. I'm encouraged because there have been great results with this type of diet with mitigating parkinson's.

Drop an email towards Robb Wolf (link forthcoming). This guy knows his shit.

Paleo

Robb Wolf

[SteveU]

Having experienced tremors myself,and consulting my doctor.He put me on a Beta Blocker.Within five or six hours I had complete turn around.My shooting has improved alot.No side effects really noticed.

And I can vouch for that after shooting with Shaky Dave at the TN sectional... No sign of a tremor there! (Except when he dumped 100 rounds of ammo in the mud (well, I MIGHT have bumped him ...)

sorry for the drift. Just a fun memory.

[mikey357]

My Wife and Father-in-law both suffer from what the Doc's call a "Familial Tremor"--don't know how that related to an "Essential Tremor", but...

My Wife LOVES shooting her Lou Ciamillo (MGW) tuned S&W Model 19 and Ruger MKII...and she is QUITE GOOD with them, when her health allows her some PRACTICE...

Anyway, several years ago, her Neurologist put her on Inderal and Mysoline (generic name "Primidone") for her "Shakes"...they got MUCH BETTER...with the BENEFICIAL "Side Effect" that she was able to discontinue her Blood Pressure Med because the Inderal controlled her BP adequately by itself!!!

Don't give up...keep plugging away, asking questions...and getting a "Second Opinion" from ANOTHER DOC is NEVER a bad idea, IMHO...HTH, and GOOD LUCK....mikey357

[DocMcG]

Hello All!

Just an update on my doctor's visit concerning Essential Tremor. Visited with him today and I was pleasantly surprised to discover how knowledgeable my doctor was about the effects of ET on performance in different sporting applications. He checked me for the obvious symptoms of Parkinson's (ratcheting in the elbows and wrists, "pill rolling" tremor, etc.), of which I have none. He asked about my family history and had me demonstrate my tremors and it was a done deal. (He called is a "no-brainer.") He is a great doctor and an even better man!

He prescribed propranolol and informed me that I can take it before shooting or as often as I like if the tremors are problematic. He mentioned two side effects that were not highlighted specifically in our conversations. First, the good doctor mentioned that ED might be an issue, but if I did not use is as a maintenance drug it would probably not be a problem and that men my age would likely not suffer from the effects of ED as a result of propranolol. Second, I was warned there would be issues elevating my heart rate to an appropriate level if taking propranolol while exercising, which seemed to be of little concern for either of us.

Thanks to everyone who offered technical content, advice and support for my question! The next step is to test the propranolol physiologically and determine if it positively impacts my shooting or generates side effects that generate more issues than benefit. Will keep you updated on the progress in this arena as well.

Cheers,

Kyle

[Sam]

Hey Kyle!

This should serve to remind the rest of us that we all have personal challenges to overcome in addition to the shooting challenges we all share.

Speaking from personal experience, shooting continues to have major "life" implications. It is as though being a shooter provides us with a common denominator for analyzing life situations.

Thank you for sharing this part of your journey with me. -Sam

[DocMcG]

SUCCESS!

I am happy to report that I shot a match yesterday and the Essential Tremors were not stomping on me! No dancing of red dots or front sights due to the menacing shake! No side effects from the propranolol! YEAH!

This was the first match of the year for me and it was such a pleasant one to realize that every issue I had was something that "I" could work on with practice and training. I placed in the middle of the pack overall and third in my class, which is not my best, but I am so pleased because I know it is my fault for not preparing and practicing more. It is so nice to have one less extraneous variable to deal with now.

Thanks Sam for your kind words and thanks again to everyone for your assistance. I am looking forward to the match season through a new and bright set of lenses!

Cheers,

Kyle

Edited January 24, 2010 by DocMcG

[Shaky Dave]

I know exactly how you feel.There's a new sense that anything is possible now!

[Bigpap]

I have had ET all my life, had a DBS unit put in my brain in 2003 and it help some but not perfectly. I have it in all limbs, before my surgery I couldn't walk, feed myself, write I basicly could not do anything. I used to love hunting and shooting and the last couple of yrs have gotten back into it. When shooting pistols I now have to wrap my off hand around the front of trigger guard and keep thumbs pointed forward and it helps alot. If your wife ever wants to talk about it see can, maybe we can help one another, I also used to shoot with my off arm tucked against my body, the trick though is not to shoot just once a week, you have to shoot 2 or 3 times a week to get her muscle memory down, hope maybe I was some help.