I've had cluster headaches for about four years now.  Ever since last July, though, I started getting hand tremors.  My neurologist said that symptom wasn't consistent with cluster headaches and told me to get an MRI.  I did and it came out normal.  My internal medicine had blood work done on me, too and it was normal, as well.

  The tremors get use when I'm doing certain activities, such as using a computer mouse, holding the cell phone up to my air.

  I'm very frustrated and want to know what's causing these tremors.  The only thing that seemed to work somewhat was Cogentin.  However, even that isn't working too well now and my tremors are getting worse.

  So, I have two questions, if anyone can answer them:

  1. Can cluster headaches cause hand tremors?

  2. Are there rare neurological disorders that cause hand tremors that don't show up on an MRI?

  Thanks, much appreciated.

I'm almost 52 and starting to get the slightest hand tremor, just an age thing. I know one of the side effects of lithium can be hand tremors, also one of the early warning signs of lithium toxicity, so if you're taking lithium as a prevent, that's a red flag.

But as to just CH causing tremors, I'm not familiar with that. As to other causes, I don't know.

Joe

  Yeah, I heard that lithium can cause hand tremors.  However, I'm not taking lithium (never have) and I'm only 24 years old.  This is what is concerning me.

Have you looked at information on "essential tremor"? Not sure if it applies to you since it is more common in older people, but worth asking your doctor about it.

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Heaps more available via google.

I'm with Joe on this. Your question is a new one for me. I don't have tremors...but during a hit, all kinds of things are going on. So do you mean between hits? Or when the CH is raging? I take it you mean the former. Sorry to be of no help whatsoever, but I would get it checked out. Blessings. lance

Depakote gave me hand tremors. 

Hi David

It’s a weird malady we deal with this wonky hypothalamus; as most would know when I went chronic I also got the EHS, RLS, PLM, and within about 12 months of those I had got a shaky hand & would spill a lot of any drinks I had & at times I still do, I had never heard of anyone else getting this until you posted this thread, with so little being know about our condition and medical practitioners in general knowing only minor points one can only learn from each others experience.

I do have worn disc's in my neck that may contribute to the shaky hand bit but one still wonders.

Cheers
Barry

I can't answer as to if cluster headaches can cause hand tremors, but my husband has had a tremor on one side of his body (same side as the cluster attacks) almost since the cluster headaches started a year ago. (He's 24 also.) One doctor mentioned essential tremor, but I'm not convinced that that's what it is. His hand is pretty much shaking 24/7..sometimes it stops when he's asleep, but, most nights, he has tremors/jerks/shakes in other parts of his body (one leg, one arm, other leg, other foot, full body, head, it's just random).

Feel free to private message me to discuss if you want..

Hi Krys

Do a search on Restless Leg Syndrome as what you describe sounds much like it; also have a look for
Periodic Limb Movement, the other I have is Exploding Head Syndrome & I hope your Hubby doesn't get this at some time as they are like one second full blown KIP 10s.

The info on RLS will suggest that it is confined to the leg only but my Nuro calls it restless limb as he has seen too many people with full side tremors/shakes/jerks

Evidence points to all of these syndromes being associated to a wonky hypothalamus.

Cheers
Barry

Barry_T_Coles wrote on Jan 31^st, 2012 at 6:47pm:

Hi Krys Do a search on Restless Leg Syndrome as what you describe sounds much like it; also have a look for Periodic Limb Movement, the other I have is Exploding Head Syndrome & I hope your Hubby doesn't get this at some time as they are like one second full blown KIP 10s. The info on RLS will suggest that it is confined to the leg only but my Nuro calls it restless limb as he has seen too many people with full side tremors/shakes/jerks Evidence points to all of these syndromes being associated to a wonky hypothalamus. Cheers Barry

Thanks. It is similar to periodic limb movement disorder, but the movements aren't rhythmic or repetitive..just very, very, random. The random jerks/shaking/movements while he is asleep haven't been of concern to doctors, except for this weird head shaking thing that has happened a bunch of times. Problem is, he just went in for a sleep study and they said there were no periodic limb movements...so I have no idea. They don't happen every single nights, just most nights, so maybe he just didn't have any while at the sleep study, who knows. But, the tremor in his hand/arm is constant, 24/7, always shaking.

Hey David, 

It could be a med you are taking.  Stress due to the ch itself, hypothalamus or it could be more serious.  It just depends.  Try to keep the post updated, if you can.  I've got some really strange stuff on this end happening and tremors are a part of it.

David

I would definitely look into side effects of any meds you are on . In my last cycle I was tacking verapamil at 40 mg per day (really low dose) it made me dizzy, jumpy and shaky all over to the point that I couldn't hold a cup for fear of spilling its contents , even caused me to kick my wife whilst in bed (that didn't go down too well) . Within 5 days of stopping verapamil it all calmed down again.

Just my experience but it's worth considering.

God bless

Nigel

I've been around a long time. Don't let the name or number of posts fool ya. I've never heard of anyone finding a correlation between cluster headaches and tremors, although many of the meds doctors and neuros have handed out trying to prevent clusters can cause tremors. There were a few meds that gave me temporary tremors. I'm also allergic to IV Phenegren because more than 1 dose can give me "Tardive Dyskenesia" (sp), which causes tremors and involuntary muscle jerks. When I had it, it made my arms, hands, and neck jerk for around for a week! I thought it was going to be permanent.  >:(

I'd seriously check out all your meds and talk with your neurologist or doctor about tremors as this could be a totally different problem and could become permanent.

Good Luck !

I4B