Now to answer the question. I have a couple of neurological conditions but the one that they are treating with the deep brain stimulation is Essential Tremor (ET). ET means that you have uncontrollable shakes when you go to use your fine motor skills. It is classified as a degenerative movement disorder along with other ailments like Parkinson's and Tourette's syndrome and is actually the most common in the category. For me it is a problem I have had since I was a teenager, but the tremor was very mild back then and it never bothered any of my functionality. In fact the worst side effect I had back then was other kids picking up on it and having a joke at my expense.
For about ten years it stayed that way until in 2001, about a year after I was diagnosed with Peripheral Neuropathy (CIDP) it started getting worse and tasks like writing or drinking with one hand became harder and started to bother me. I was already seeing a neurologist at the time, so I asked him about it. He did some tests and wrote me a script for inderal (A beta-blocker normally used to control blood pressure.) That did the trick quite nicely for a while, but as time went on, the drug became less effective and so doses were increased and new drugs were introduced which bought new side effects with them.
It was five years ago when the surgery was first proposed to me, and my immediate reaction was "are you kidding?" Clearly, I was not ready at the time for the surgery, but time went by and about three years ago, I all but lost the ability to write, and drinking became a strictly two handed affair. However, I still was not ready for the surgery until about a year ago, so I organised to see the neurologist who specialised in tremor to revisit the idea of the surgery. That leads us to where we are now.
If you thinking I am mad having the surgery read my post entitled "My Brain Needs Stimulating" dated 23/3/10. Well, I hope this answers the question. Until next time, stay well:)
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