Hello. I have had essential tremor for years, it has been increasing in severity over the last couple years & I just became aware of a motion I've been doing when nervous or in deep thought for maybe the past year or so.. It's the textbook pill-rolling motion, my question is if this motion is fairly exclusive to Parkinsons or not? I am a medical professional myself & will, naturally, be evaluated soon by my PCP but would like to do more homework beforehand on the tremor & can't find much evidence of the tremor existing independent of Parkinsons. Thank you!
Is the "Pill-Rolling Tremor" pretty much exclusive to Parkinsons?
Question posted by johnmedic on 14 Nov 2011
Last updated on 7 September 2016 by Rachel Cober
5 Answers
Hey my name is Rachel and I have this symptom as well I noticed while doing research that diabetes and ppl affected by diabetic neuropathy seem to have this type of tremor I happen to be a type 1 diabetic with neuropathy as well as stomach, mental issues, as well as past drug issues and am trying to convince my Dr to teste for Huntington's disease and Parkinson's disease but no luck so far I have many symptoms of both I would love to hear any information u find out about this symptom.
Thank-you and God bless
Parkinson's is associated with "pill rolling" but is used only as an additional sign for diagnosis, rather than conformation. Review of all of the symptoms should be evaluated not just one.
Don't sell yourself short yet, but I would definitely go to a doctor that can evaluate the entire situation. Age, FHx, mental eval, all play factors in diagnosing Parkinson's.
Johnmedic,
I'm presently having the same issue, please let me know if you find out anything.
Ditto. Same issue: pill-rolling tremor when experiencing strong emotions or thoughts. Will be running this past my neuro (currently have tremor, migraine aura, seizures, and autoimmune arthritis); am on Verapamil, which can induce Parkinson symptoms, from what I've read. Anyone with more info on this yet?
I get tremors from ms the dr gave me amantedine which is for parkinsons but was an allternative for me til I got insurance for ms but gave me n side effects or anything I loved it. Jaime
johnmedic, sorry no one has answered your question at all, but maybe no one had an answer! I don't personally have this problem, but my husband does, & does not have Parkiksons.. He has a long history of health problems that could contribute to this shaking or tremor. He is diabetic type 2, so has neuropathy, his spine is totally deteriated from an messed up surgery that way too long to explain, but every nevr in his body is affected to one degree or another. He had Nerve conductions tests last month before having a torn rotator cuff fixed & carpel tunnel, but that been 3 weeks ago, & still has extreme pain & tremor. So not knowing any of your history it would be hard for any one to make a guess. Let us know after you see your doctor what he thinks. I would bet there will be some testing going on for you. Good luck...
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