The Monthly Crunch

March 2026 Issue

March is essential tremors awareness month so I'm gonna take a few moments of your time (if you want to keep reading) to talk about that. Essential Tremor (ET) is a hereditary nervous system movement disorder that causes involuntary shaking in the hands, head, voice, and sometimes legs, while in action/movement. It's not painful, just annoying, and there's no way to prevent it if you have it. (Parkinson's Disease typically causes tremors while the body is at rest.)

The rhythmic shaking tends to start in your hands, and then as it progresses, moves to voice, head, and/or legs (leg tremors are somewhat rare in younger people). For most people it onsets after age 40 but if you're lucky (like me) you get it very young and then it progressively gets worse as you age. My dad, grandpa, and a handful of paternal uncles and cousins have this, but lucky for them it didn't appear until later in life. Since my onset was young, by my mid-30s I had all the body impacts, though my legs only show it when I haven't gotten enough food or sleep.

Just like with all people, it gets worse with stress, sleepiness, caffeine, and extreme temperatures. Next time you're shaking because you haven't eaten in a while: That might be my "normal everyday level," where if I haven't eaten in a while it's much worse. And just like with most people, my tremor gradually gets "better" after I've eaten, though remember it never goes away.

The cause is unknown and there is no cure, though some people can soothe it with medication, botox, or deep brain stimulation. I've tried every medication available up to 2019, and only one worked but it had devastating side effects so I had to stop taking it. I haven't tried botox or deep brain stimulation. My neurologist and I decided to work on lifestyle changes: more strength exercises, low/no caffeine, and listening mindfully to body needs. The tremor is always there, even on "good tremor days," but I am familiar enough with it to understand how to carry full cups, when to write by hand (vs type), and when to eat easy food instead of using a knife.

Since it's in the hands ALWAYS (even though it's only around the rest of the body sometimes), that makes it incredibly noticeable to everyone. People point it out, assuming any of the following: I am on drugs, I am nervous/having a panic attack, I've had tons of energy drinks, I'm having withdrawal from drugs, or I'm cold. In my experience, people rarely ask why; they'd rather assume. I've only had one (1) medical professional who identified it as essential tremor immediately, and she was an eye doctor (it ran in her family too). My voice tremors come out when I haven't eaten enough and people think I am crying when it happens (of all the trems, this one makes them the most uncomfortable).

It impacts my ability to do anything that requires good dexterity or high precision such as: writing by hand, video games, eating/drinking, cooking, hygiene/health activities, getting dressed, drawing/painting, using a mouse or touch screen, playing with Lego, texting, etc. This means that I either don't do them at all or I do them differently than most people, and people LOVE to point how I'm doing stuff "wrong" as a result. Ask anyone with a visible or disruptive disability and they'll tell you the same: abled-body folks love to try to teach you to do things the "right way" or "the most convenient way" without considering your body's limitations. Yes, sometimes I do need to take extra steps! That does not mean I need your help or that it's your job to correct me.

Because of worsening tremor and how people react to it, I have stopped doing the following activities that bring me joy: Embroidery, writing by hand (more often than typing - it has switched and I type more now), taking art classes or doing hands-on creative things around other people, and cooking with people. I try not to let it limit me, but sometimes it's just not worth the extra effort.

My accessibility tools include: Speech-to-text, using the laptop trackpad and keyboard shortcuts (instead of a mouse), balancing my body/weight in often odd ways (to create more stability), weighted silverware, and Buddha bowls (they are made to be held with both hands).

Available tools that I don't use:

• AI-driven wearables that monitor tremors and send electrical pulses to interrupt the tremor signals before they reach your hands.
• Other wearable devices that provide limited "downtime" but don't eliminate the tremor (the AI one is the only tool I've seen that monitors it consistenly throughout the day).
• A wearable that uses targeted vibrations in the wrist to dampen the intensity of tremors.
• SteadyMouse software (it blocks accidental clicks and helps stabilize mouse usage).
• You can get phones with "tremor mode" that have large buttons and automation capabilities which eliminate the need to click things.
• Deep spoons so things don't fall out of the spoon while you're trying to eat.
• Weighted holders that you can put on pens, silverware, toothbrushes, etc, to help reduce the impact of tremors on held objects.
• Magnetic closures for clothes to replace zippers.
• Elstaic laces that turn laced shoes into slip-ons.

Thanks for coming to my T-Talk (Tremor Talk)! Usually in March, I record a bunch of videos to post on social media that show my experience living with tremor but since I'm not on social media anymore, this will suffce for now!

I hope March treats you well and that if you, too, live with tremor, you feel a little less alone. <3