Uncontrollable shaking

[slykornchck]

Hello,

I am new to this forum. I am not sure where to post this as I do not know what I have. Around 9/26 I had a strange attack. I wasn't doing anything strenuous or stressful, but I felt like I was having difficulty inhaling and catching my breath. I immediatley got up and started walking around, only to find that my legs had begun to shake so bad that my legs had gone weak and I was having difficulty walking. I also felt like my mouth was very dry and that  I needed to use the restroom and was burping and passing gas a lot. After a few minutes of trying to walk, I regained my normal state, walked outside for fresh air, calmed down and had some fruit. Later on that night, I experienced something similar. I immediatley went to the ER. Unfortunately for me, by the time I got there the episode had stopped. The doctor who saw me, checked me out and said I had hyperventilated and had an anxiety attack. I was relieved it was not serious. A few days later I had ANOTHER attack. Same problems, only I had noticed my bowel movemtents had become runny. So i called my doctor for an appointment. The morning before my appointment, I had another attack, only more severe. It felt like if I stopped moving I would die. All of my vital signs came back normal at the doctors that day. My doctor checked me out and said she wanted to do a blood test for my thyroid because I also had a goiter. So she did and the results came back that I did have high levels in my bloodstream for hyperthyroidism.I immediatley cut caffeine out of my diet, thinking this may help me. The next week I went for my scans of my thyroid and didnt have any major issues at all for a couple of days, no shaking, weakness, nothing. I had started experiencing little aches all over my body though. Never dehabilitating or severe, just an ache on my shoulder blade here and an arm pain there. The arm pain has been consistent ever since. It feels almost like carpal tunnel.   I had an appointment to meet with my PCP on october 17th and an endocrinologist on the 18th. That sunday and monday (the 15th and 16th) I began to shake again, although this time it was just the uncontrollable  shaking. I went to my PCP the next day and she said my scans came back normal so she was interested to see what the endo would say.  My endo said that the scans came back normal but he would do a second blood test anyway to check my levels. He also said I was slightly tachycardic and I told him about the shaking fits. He then prescribed me some propranolol (20MGs twice a day), calling my shaking fits "tremors". These meds seemed to work for about two weeks or so. Just this past sunday the shaking fits started again. They mainly happen at night now and the shaking starts in my legs and then my whole body begins to shake afterwards. My bowel movements have gone back to normal though and my heart rate seems to stay the same.  Sometimes it lasts a couple hours, other times 20 minutes or so. My hands and feet get extremely cold when this happens. I curl up under a blanket and that seems to help. If I just lay under a blanket and relax I feel much better. I can't understand what is wrong with me. I don't have
headaches or dizziness, or anything but I feel "off". People say you know your body and know when somethings wrong. Well something is wrong with me. I have googled everything from "anxiety" to "epilepsy" to "brain tumors". I have another appointment with my endo on the 15th of this month to check my thyroid again. If its not my thyroid causing this, then what is it? Its disheartening shaking for no apparent reason. Am I having a seizure? Do I have an infection somewhere? Is it possible that I have poor circulation from the meds?  I normally don't post in forums, but
I'm really scared. Any insight would be appreciated.

Thank you in advance to anyone who reads this,
Joanna

[frostedflaketiger]

Oh, another interesting side note is that if you have chronic pain on both sides of your body, (muscle knots, pains in various joints or muscles, etc) then you should also look up fibromyalgia.  It may not explain the shivering but it's still interesting to know. =)

[frostedflaketiger]

Also, check out if you have a cyst on your pyneal gland.  I've experienced that same thing twice now in the last couple months.  All my tests (EKG, blood, etc) were normal.  However, after I told them that my Dad died of brain tumors (albeit in his 60's), they decided to do a CT scan.  They found that I had a small blister (cyst or fluid pocket) on my pyneal gland.  What I've found is that they are not cancerous but they can put pressure on the optic nerves and can affect your sleep (pyneal glands regulate melatonin, etc.).  Some doctors don't do anything because there's not much you can do being so far in the brain and being somewhat dangerous procedure to remove.  However, some will monitor it over time to see if it grows.

Most cysts on the pyneal gland don't get much larger than 2cm.  This was my first CT scan and so there's no way to tell how long it's been there.  They said it could've formed anytime.  Yet, many people have said that they've had some traumatic head event before discovering the cyst.  It's possible hitting your head could cause them.  It's hard to say.

Anyway, many people have these cysts and never seem to have trouble.  Others experience headaches, dizziness along with other systems.  If your symptoms get worse over time than I'd suspect that the cyst is getting larger (filling with more fluid) and may require a surgical procedure to drain it or remove it.

Of course, CT scans and surgery are expensive routes.  Don't allow your anxiety (along with depression, are also possible symptoms but not always) to go crazy.  Be smart and act according to how severe you think your symptoms are.  If it's disrupting your normal life then I would have them check.  My doctor said mine was really small but that I should have a neurologist check it out anyway, because of my family history.  Isn't the human body a fun toy?  My model comes with free weird problems.  Cheers!

[soupreem]

Sounds like MS (Multiple Sclerosis).  If you go to www.webmd.com****.***, you will see that most of the symptoms you are describing fit that disease.

[MZ3Alex]

Well, I'm happy i'm not the only one with this issue. This thread has been amazing regarding information on this. I think I can relieve some people when I say this has to do with stress. I myself just had a shaking "episode" while in bed. I'm typing this on my iPhone because I dont feel like going to the computer. I am 18 years old and I have been suffering with stress and anxiety related issues since the last week of November. About 2 weeks ago it got to the point where I was having a full blown anxiety attack. For some reason I am getting very stressed out over colleges and SATs more than beyond normal and it is just creating all these problems. I usually take stress pretty well but I think I reached my limit. Before while I was having the anxiety attacks, these shaking episodes as you guys are describing on here, would follow. Other times I would just randomly have these "episodes". It would always be in the evening or at night though, never during the day. With the shaking episodes I also feel like I have to move around or I am going to die or in my case I always get this weird feeling like something bad is going to happen to me even though I clearly know by now it most definitely will not. I will also get a bit of dull chest pain. Just today my sinuses in my face were driving me crazy all day and i was having random pains all around my chest maybe every hour or so. I feel much more fit and relaxed now that my episode seems to be just about over but I will agree it is VERY scary. I had an EKG done 2 weeks ago after my second anxiety attack whick came out normal. That following weekend I had some blood work done which I am still waiting for the results. I am not expecting and problems from that and neither is my doctor. I also have trouble sleeping as fearing something bad happening because of a little stress related chest pain. Something I have nothing to fear over but I do it anyways. Possible a sign of an anxiety disorder part on my side I'm not totally sure but I am completely sure its anxiety causing it. Rest assured there is reallu nothing "wrong" with anyone having thesr problems (unless its hyperthiroidism), its just simply your body's response to abnormally large amounts of stress. Try telling yourself theres nothing wrong and relaxing. I bet you for about 5min all your pains go away. Sadly this doesnt work during the episode because the adrenelin is already there but it helps to at least temporarly relieve stress when your not in one. Well now that it is 4am and I have waited out my fit here I must try and get some sleep. I wish everyone the best of luck with this problem and I am glad to know I am not the only one with it.

Regards,
Alex

[Lucy_LuLu]

I have very large concerns of a particular student which attends my school. She seems to constantly have worrying symptoms in which dramtaically affect her health. She rarely attends a full day of school as she is always going home with an undiagnosable disease. The other day her hands were severly trembling along with her face and she was making funny slurping noises. Out of pure concern we asked her if she was alright and between her gasps for air she answered that she had experienced the syptoms before and she would okay if we put her near a heater, despite the fact that it was a 30 degree summer day. This girl has also had epidemics of blindness which she states are caused due to over-exercising. She plays netball but has on some occassions left the court as she was unable to see her opponents and the ball. This is terrible in netball as you need to be able to see what you are doing in order to play the game. She also constantly experiences these 'crazy' moods where she threatens fellow class mates. During a school production she once pushed a child off of the stage for an unknown reason. One last thing is that she has often been away from school saying that she has many professional 'appointments' in which she is attending but really they dont seem to be helping. This girl once got hit on the head extremely hard with a 'Wii Control' whilst a friend was playing tennis and we feel that this could have contributed to her unusual symptoms. Perhaps she has brain damage. We are all deeply concerned for her health and safety as she is a prized student at our school. It would be a tragic event if Poppy could no longer continue with her studies... PLEASE HELP!!!

[MrsA0901]

I am so amazed to find out that I'm not the only one thinking my body has lost it's mind.. I didn't sleep at all last night and felt like I needed to move constantly, laying down helped as long as I was laying stomach down b/c all the rest made me shake or feel nauseated. After reading this, I've come up with my hypothesis. I think mine is a combination of the low blood sugar and the adrenalin build up as well as possible medicine side effect since I was on cold meds as well. Yesterday was truly a stressful day complete with almost getting in an accident, being told my car could catch fire at any moment with a defect in it and not having a dime for anything in the next week and a half till we get paid. So I agree with all of you and right now I'm trying the sugary drink thing to see if that helps, as well as eating something but we'll see!