# Head Shaking



## ryangraves123

I have had anxiety for about 4 years now. It all sort of started when I used to smoke pot, and I gradually started concentrating more and more on how I appeared to people, in turn sort of losing my identity as a result. Since then my anxiety has been based around "head shaking". If someone looks me in the eyes or if any focus is on me (like in a conversation, interview, haircut etc) I automatically get really nervous and my head will shake side to side, and since then all of my energy has gone into preventing it from happening in social situations, it's become a paranoia. Over time it has created a lot of tension in my neck and head...to the point I can't even smile or laugh naturally anymore and haven't been able to because I'm too because if I do my head will shake and I'll look like a fool. Now people wonder why I look so dull faced all the time, never smile or laugh. I haven't been able to explain this to anyone because they would just think I'm nuts, and in all actuality I'm fairly intelligent and artistic. This condition has prevented me from going to school, keeping a job, keeping friends, making friends and so much more. I really just want to meet someone who understands. I used to be very outgoing and had always had a steady girlfriend and now I can't even be comfortable around people at all. I know I'm a decent looking guy and I'm talented in many ways but I cannot seem to heal this....it's sooooo hard to explain.


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## shyvr6

Kind of reminds me of this thread:

http://www.socialanxietysupport.com/forum/f33/jerky-movements-and-cannabis-55272/


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## darla

I have had this. Its quite maddening at first. What I have noticed is when it starts to happen the more you fight it by tensing up, the worse it gets. So my advice is dont fight it. When it happens just let it ride its course and ignore it. You will begin to see over time it will get less and less. Do neck exercises to to make yourself limber. When it would happen in front of people I used to get to the point of disgust until finally I just told myself you know what I hope I freak out. Guess what? It never happened. The trick is to challenge your fearful thoughts about it and accept it when it happens. Its a symptom of anxiety.


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## ryangraves123

It always goes away if I'm drinking, I can actually relax to some degree, but over time I've built up so much tension worrying about it happening and trying to prevent it, that I've almost become disassociated from my identity, if that makes any sense. I just constantly worry what people will think when it happens...they'll be like dude! what's wrong with you!? It's actually only happened one time where someone noticed it and it was my manager during an interview, and it wouldn't stop the ENTIRE interview. She was just looking at me like I was insane...maybe I am but I know I still have the ability to decipher right from wrong.


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## darla

Thats the problem right there. You are worrying about it happening so it happens as a result. Its the fear of the fear cycle. You have to work on your obsessive thoughts.

Did you noticed that when you are drinking you are less inhibited and dont really care as much and the shaking doesnt happen? Thats the attitude you have to adopt while being sober. If it happens SO WHAT. People get nervous. Its when you make a big deal out of it that it gets worse.


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## determinedtowin

My head starts to shake when i get nervous - and now a lot of my anxiety centres around my 'head shaking' - i am terrified of speaking in front of people because i am scared i will look like an idiot. Blushing and hand trembling seem like nothing compared to head shaking! I take propranolol for shakes and it seems to help - but i occassionally still get jerking movements when i get anxious and it is horrible. I'm sorry - i don't have any advice - but you're not on your own.


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## ryangraves123

My oh my what to do


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## itsamystery

*tremor*

I believe these are benign tremors, familial (inherited) tremors, also called essential tremor (not related to Parkinson's or anything 'serious').
I've been getting myself diagnosed all my life, but look into it to see if family members have it--it gets worse with age and is always worse when you are nervous. The only thing for me that works (aside from alcohol, which isn't a good long-term solution), is Inderol (Propranolol), which I take every day at low dose.

These kinds of tremors also seem to cause anxiety and phobias in people already predisposed. I first noticed it when trying to get a photograph taken where the photographer told me to 'hold my head very still.'


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## Omnium11

I know what you mean by losing your identity due to weed. Weed gave me depersonalization disorder and really horrible panic attacks. Lots of really negative thoughts that I believed. Don't worry though with time you can make some really great improvements. I highly recommend meditation to help with this. Google "The Power of Now" etc. Great for dealing with fear and seeing through the mind / thoughts and the power they have over you.

Oh I also got the strange really jerky movements.


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## ippa

i cant go out on the street without drinking beer first, i have an extreme tremors, hands, neck and head, i dont know what to do except somehow work on calming consciousness ie getting rid of bad thoughts that world is evil.


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## styler5

I remember this thread, but now that I read it more thoroughly, I'm going through exactly what you are. SA had caused it 3 years ago but now it's the cause of SA. It made me quit college, stay home all day, and unable to smile like you.

On top of that, it led me to (what people say to be but I still don't think it is) the misbelief that my head tremor 'spreads' the anxiety to people who see it and they start clearing throat or coughing. That coupled with hypersentivity to noise makes me extremely irritated by those sounds. It gives me so much chest pain I feel like I'm gonna have a heart attack someday.



itsamystery said:


> I believe these are benign tremors, familial (inherited) tremors, also called essential tremor (not related to Parkinson's or anything 'serious').


That's what I thought I had. But I've already been to 2 neurologists who said I seemed fine. I've also tried a low dose of propranolol(up to 40mg) but it did not reduce the head tremor.


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## tom7

i just found this page. i had this head shaking thing for 15 years. Mostly I learned to cope. I learnt to be happy. I learnt to relax. I worked things out and worked round it. I'm not sure I did the right thing but just did what I could. And I had long bits of time with no particularly bothering problems except always having a beer before a hair cut and being conscious of sleep because if i don't sleep enough it gets much worse. Anyway, i have a lot of stress right now and it's back again badly. although i am happy. But my neck aches from tension through 2-hour work meetings. And i can't pick up a cup of tea in the social parts of work meetings. yes, it's bad again. i'd have thought after 15 years it would have faded. i never let it stop me from doing anything. but it has got in the way of my life. it has compromised me. i don't lack confidence. but i have this problem, too. i don't want it anymore. why can't i put it back to where it came from and never experience it again?


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## amy87

i've had this condition for around 2 years now (i'm 22). since then i've been living in misery with this problem. depending on who i'm socializing with and how relaxed i feel, i would get head shakes either when having eye contact (which has gotten much better) or when drinking from a cup and eating with a knife and fork (which i think is getting worse). i've never been on drugs, i don't even consume alcohol. i'm prefectly healthy, physically good looking, doing a masters degree, happily married, and well....everything about my life is near perfect. but i have an anxiety problem, probably from my full-of-tension childhood and it only started to appear recently.

i've been keeping it as a secret the whole time (only told my husband recently) and today i decided to see if anyone else on this planet has this unusual problem. and i was so relieved to see that yes! there are people out there!

i really want to face this i've had enough!


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## Sabriella

I get this too. It's not extreme, but I will feel like my head is kind of 'quivering' from side to side. My hands and voice also shake sometimes. I haven't found a way to lessen the shaking, but I agree with what Darla said, about how it seems to get worse the more you fight it. I tense up more when I feel myself shaking, but that just makes me shake more. So I try my best to relax, but it's never easy.


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## Selection10

Have you tried something like clonazepam (klonopin) to see if that helps? Since it works by a similar mechanism as alcohol


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## shimmer1221

I have this problem too. I have been hiding through clonazepam for a couple of years now. Since I discovered this medicine, it's been my magic pill to hide my nervousness. My big trigger is eating in front of people. I get so nervous that my head shakes. I feel embarrassed and ashamed of myself and it makes me cry when im home alone and think about my problem. I feel like i cannot talk to anyone because no one understands and they get frustrated with me and annoyed which I can understand. It becomes irritating ... and I do not want to burden anyone with my problem so i just try to hide it.
My fear was brought up badly yesterday which has me distrought all over again because i was caught off guard. My husband tricked me into going to eat lunch with his parents and i didnt have my pills on me so I just felt trapped. At the table my hands were shaking badly and i was panicking inside. I managed to take two bites of my taco and that was it. I pretended i was sick which was always my cop out when i got into a situation like this. It angers me that it's an every day thing that normal people do all the time yet i cant be normal and just do it.


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## nitarose2

I get this also. I know it has something to do with eye contact for me. Like when my boss was speaking to me one time, I could feel my head start to twitch. It only happens when I have to make eye contact for a longer period of time. I don't think I get this when I am the center of attention though. But maybe it is because at that point I am to worried over making my hands stop shaking. So the head thing isn't that big of a deal anymore.


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## SamAsare

This issue happened to me from traumatic events, smoking weed, excessive drinking, nervousness and physical damage from heavy hits from football. 

the following are factors that have helped me:

Propranolol does help but it really makes a huge difference when I get up in the morning and go for a big jog to sweat out all of the toxins in my body such as alcohol + eat right by not eating any **** such as greasy burgers, buttered popcorn, pasta etc. Try going for a big jog in the morning and then just have an apple or something lite and if it's a big day take 2 propranolol (after your jog). Plus drink a lot of water. Avoid caffaine and sugar.

I was in awful shape when I wasn't exercising, eating greasy foods and not socializing. 

The more active I am, the better I feel. If you overcome a psychological hurdle whereby it's no longer a problem anymore, then your stress and tension will result in the shaking declining. The nerves and muscles in your hands and neck can improve over time. 

Alcohol does make it go away but it is not the day-to-day cure. 

Words have power and don't confess that you're not well. What you confess will have a psychological impact on how you feel and whether your body will improve. Yes, I am Christian and calling on the name of Jesus to command that fear and panic thoughts to go away does work. 

Criticize me about the above but these factors have made my shaking go away.


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## sprinter

^^Sounds like you're talking about a tremor. I mean because you mentioned Propranolol which I know they prescribe for essential tremors. I think the op was talking about a tic that occurs with eye contact. There's a difference between a tremor and a tic, I don't think Propranolol would help a tic for instance.


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## eaglesgift

I have a problem with head/neck shaking too. It's definitely a mental problem as I don't get it when I'm alone and it usually only happens when people are looking directly at me or I think they are. The worst case scenario is trying to eat soup in public. My hand is shaking one way and my head seems to shake the other way making it really hard to eat. I am always worried it will go too far and I will throw my soup everywhere.

I normally resort to taking diazepam before going anywhere that I think it might be a problem but as I don't like taking them regularly I don't go out very often. 

Alcohol helps but getting the first beer down is a problem if anyone is looking, which means I normally have to take diazepam before going out drinking. This is not good. 

I sure was glad to find this forum though as I, like others, just assumed I must be some insane idiot. Knowing that other people have the same problem is a great relief in some ways.


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## kid a

same hereeee . after excessive use of weed for almost a year. my neck barely makes any movements when im talking to people. i see people nodding there heads in conferment or doing that "i understand un-huh" head nod, and when i do it i look like a retard because my neck is too stiff. my head use to shake also it was really embarrassing in class and id have to sit my head on my arm but now because i like to have such control my head has just gone stiff . Bad idea because the tension in my shoulders an neck feel almost permanent ive gotten use to it it only goes away with certain painkillers.


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## meow4me1

*meow4me1*

Plese reply if you are still on this site. I have lived with this for almost 46 years. If there is anyone else please email me.
Carole


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## enayet

same here. facing the same problem..........taking clonazepam regularly for last 13 years.......but i need to get rid of this.....plz help


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## CeilingStarer

I have this problem when I'm in a nervous situation... hair-cut, sitting in a theatre/lecture with people behind me. It's so embarrassing, and just gets worse the more you try and control it.


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## kid a

Omnium11 said:


> I know what you mean by losing your identity due to weed. Weed gave me depersonalization disorder and really horrible panic attacks. Lots of really negative thoughts that I believed. Don't worry though with time you can make some really great improvements. I highly recommend meditation to help with this. Google "The Power of Now" etc. Great for dealing with fear and seeing through the mind / thoughts and the power they have over you.
> 
> Oh I also got the strange really jerky movements.


yep me too. i feel like im watching myself do most things , weed gave me anxiety, dp, and i introspect on my self and my own thoughts all the time as if i was high... not like this would help, but before i smoked i never heard anyone talking about the disorders you could get from it all i heard were things like brain cells dying and other bs , i never heard about anyone getting anxiety from it or dp even though many people do


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## Optimistic1

*Tremor and Tic*

I just registered and found this forum, I have had this problem for well over 20 years. And for many of those years I didn't understand why or what it was, yes I thought I was crazy...I was on every med they've had in the last 20 + years, none worked, they all gave me headaches and made me sick, and dulled my mind. I finally decided to look within, that it wasn't going to go away, so I needed to figure out a way to live with it, which can be very difficult and depressing when you are an intelligent creative person. My main trigger is fear of any kind of unexpected confrontational or threatening situation to any degree, which I find myself in rather frequently even at 50. Part of the key to my problem is the fear of being caught off guard in a threatening or confrontational situation and therefore being made a fool of or hurt. There is nothing about me that should speak trouble to other people, but trouble has had a way of finding me, and it's fear of that which triggers the worst tension in my neck, tremor and tic, of head shaking from side to side, at the mere thought of going anywhere. But I go anyway. I've been laughed at quite a bit by strangers for this over the years, but I hold my head high and refuse to let this keep me at home hiding.

I've learned that drinking and medication is not the answer, because for me, it helped at first, but then the tremor and shaking gets even worse when you don't have those crutches, and no one can or should have those kinds of crutches, then that becomes a problem.

I'm so glad I found this site and this forum, just reading everyone's story is helping me even now. Thanks so much.


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## shygrape

After 6 years of hell living with head trembling, sweaty hands, and excessive blushing caused by social anxiety, I'm at least glad that I've found this forum and some personal remedies. Hopefully, if I share my story, others can benefit as much as i benefit from hearing theirs. 

The first instance of a head tremor came about 6 years ago at the age of 26 in my final year of grad school. Since that first incident, my life hasn't been the same. I tried to understand the triggers, but that didn't help. High stress with school work and practicums, over-caffeinated, new and more responsibility, girlfriend problems, etc. The cause doesn't seem to matter. What matters is that it happened and I've been in this vicious circle of fearing the fear itself ever since. I lost my job, my gf, a lot of friends cause i stopped going out, abused alcohol to treat the symptoms, hid in my apartment. I really thought I was going nuts. One day I remember staring into the mirror wondering how the hell i'm going to get through this. I had so many dreams and aspirations, and didn't see how any of it was possible when I was too scared to leave my apartment. Just thinking about that moment chokes me up. 

I tried CBT therapy, ativan, cipralex, respiridone. These were only effective at very high doses, but I couldn't function as a walking zombie! Recently started propranolol after I read that it helps with performance anxiety. It's way too early to say, but the few tests I've performed (eg. making prolonged eye contact, standing in busy lines, taking a sip of my drink in front of people) have been achieved with good success. 

One thing that I have noticed, and it's been mentioned here a couple of times, is that fighting the symptoms makes things worse. It's like the Chinese finger trap. The more you fight it the worse it gets. So I tried the opposite of fighting it. When I start to feel tight in the neck, face turning red, hands sweating, heart racing, choking, (all the symptoms leading up to head shaking), I invite the feelings with open arms! I say "have a panic attack of epic proportions!" Shake like an earthquake! Sometimes I command myself to take the shakes to the next level! Sure enough, I can't do it. I can't force the shaking. It sounds nuts, but it's worked for me. 

The other thing that's worked for me is not beating myself up over it. I used to chastise myself for having these feelings and for feeling like a weirdo. That's again, the chinese finger trap. Accept that you will have to deal with this for the rest of your life, and that it's ok because you WILL find a way to manage it with your own special formula. 

This whole experience has changed my life. I had to re-script my life to prevent a downward spiral. It's something I will always deal with, and that's ok. 

I know exactly what you're all going through. Good luck to you all.


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## B W HALL

*b w hall*



shimmer1221 said:


> I have this problem too. I have been hiding through clonazepam for a couple of years now. Since I discovered this medicine, it's been my magic pill to hide my nervousness. My big trigger is eating in front of people. I get so nervous that my head shakes. I feel embarrassed and ashamed of myself and it makes me cry when im home alone and think about my problem. I feel like i cannot talk to anyone because no one understands and they get frustrated with me and annoyed which I can understand. It becomes irritating ... and I do not want to burden anyone with my problem so i just try to hide it.
> My fear was brought up badly yesterday which has me distrought all over again because i was caught off guard. My husband tricked me into going to eat lunch with his parents and i didnt have my pills on me so I just felt trapped. At the table my hands were shaking badly and i was panicking inside. I managed to take two bites of my taco and that was it. I pretended i was sick which was always my cop out when i got into a situation like this. It angers me that it's an every day thing that normal people do all the time yet i cant be normal and just do it.


Hi From Australia i have had head wobble&hand shake for most of my life my nick name is shakey, some times i will avoid a cup of coffee as it is hard to hold when im at a stranger house. The hand nearly shakes the coffee out. Placing sugar by spoon in a cup is very hard, sugar everywhere.If i go out for a beer have to hold it with both hands at first then i think people look at me and judge me as if i have a drinking problem. IT'S NERVES AND ANXIETY.THE FEAR OF MAKING A FOOL OF YOURSELF. SO WE AVOID THE SCENE. im on xanax I dont have a answer, i down loaded a cd called panic away it helps me understand ANXIETY BETTER. IM 53 and dont care what STRANGERS think about my problem .THE ONE,S WHO LOVE YOU KNOW HOW IT EFFECTS YOU AND WILL STAND BY YOU. EAT THINGS THAT YOU FELL EASY TO HOLD. AND SMILE YOUR FRIEND WILL BE THERE 4 U.


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## B W HALL

HI from Australia Dont worry about the strangers in your life YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY will understand how your ANXIETY MAKES YOU FEEL.I posted more info 4 u, If i go out i eat food that will stay together well.


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## ALopes

I Can Relate To Lik 3/4's Of The Posts In This Thread, I'm Havin' The Same Problem That Yall Have. iUsed To Smoke Weed Regularly - But Mainly Before Parties, In The Studio Or Jus' Chillin Wit Friends. I'm 99% Positive That Weed Has Somethin' To Do With This. 

My Story Is That iConstantly Feel Like My Head Is Shaking In A Noddin' Motion. iMainly Feel It When I'm Out In Public Or Around Other People ( A Lot Of People).It's Weird Cuz When I Look In The Mirror - That Nodding Motion Seems To Disintegrate Or Jus' Vanish, But If iDon't Look In The Mirror That Feeling Always Comes Back. But iDo Know My Head Is Noddin' For The Fact That iAlmost Got Kicked Out Of My First College For Fightin Some Kids That Were Lookin' At Me & Laughin'. 

My Question Is : Are Yu Guys Able To See Yur Head Nod In The Mirror? Or Are Yu In The Same Situation I'm In?


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## ALopes

Good To See I'm Not The Only One With This Type Of Anxiety - especially From The Use Of Weed.


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## Emmz92

^^^^ Me 2 
Thats the main reason i come onto this site, i absolutely hate people watching me if im out and drinking my head will have this weird twitch, i've tried to see myself do it in the mirror, but i dont no whether people could be able to notice the kinda twitch i have, but im scared they can see.
I SHOULD OF NEVER HAVE TOUCHED WEED


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## ALopes

Emmz92 said:


> ^^^^ Me 2
> Thats the main reason i come onto this site, i absolutely hate people watching me if im out and drinking my head will have this weird twitch, i've tried to see myself do it in the mirror, but i dont no whether people could be able to notice the kinda twitch i have, but im scared they can see.
> I SHOULD OF NEVER HAVE TOUCHED WEED


iThink The Twitches Get More Visible Once Were Out In Public But I'm Not Sure - iPersonally Think That One Of The Blunts iSmoked Could Have Possibly Been Laced & iAgree Wit Yu - Wish iNever Touched Bud Or Learned How To Roll :blank


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## manda16

*unexpected*

I really just caught myself off guard with my reaction because I just broke down into tears when I read about other people having this same issue. I'm 24 and had this problem since I was in probably 8th grade. It's just something I've lived with and didn't think anyone else had a problem with. I've only told one person about this and it was when I was younger and we laughed about it like it was just weird. But it never really has been funny to me. Reading out loud to the class, haircuts, going to the doctor, eye contact, interviews...so many things everyone has mentioned on here are things that have terrorized me for years. I'm so afraid it's going to happen and when it does my heart just starts racing and I feel like such a freak. Apparently I've bottled up a lot of feelings on the issue judging by how emotional I got finding out other people have the same problem. I guess I really might make an appointment with a doctor (irony) and see if they can help me. If something could fix this, I would just feel like I could be more of myself again.


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## mozzyc

ryangraves123 said:


> I have had anxiety for about 4 years now. It all sort of started when I used to smoke pot, and I gradually started concentrating more and more on how I appeared to people, in turn sort of losing my identity as a result. Since then my anxiety has been based around "head shaking". If someone looks me in the eyes or if any focus is on me (like in a conversation, interview, haircut etc) I automatically get really nervous and my head will shake side to side, and since then all of my energy has gone into preventing it from happening in social situations, it's become a paranoia. Over time it has created a lot of tension in my neck and head...to the point I can't even smile or laugh naturally anymore and haven't been able to because I'm too because if I do my head will shake and I'll look like a fool. Now people wonder why I look so dull faced all the time, never smile or laugh. I haven't been able to explain this to anyone because they would just think I'm nuts, and in all actuality I'm fairly intelligent and artistic. This condition has prevented me from going to school, keeping a job, keeping friends, making friends and so much more. I really just want to meet someone who understands. I used to be very outgoing and had always had a steady girlfriend and now I can't even be comfortable around people at all. I know I'm a decent looking guy and I'm talented in many ways but I cannot seem to heal this....it's sooooo hard to explain.


It's like you're telling my life story. I've had this for over 15 years now, can't take beta blockers due to Asthma. At work is the worse, as i don't feel close enough to anyone to tell them about it, especially my manager. The minute he starts speaking to me, i feel all the muscles in my neck tense up, and the shaking starts.
I've got my first few sessions of fear fighter coming up. I really hope it helps, or at least teaches me to deal with it, and get some confidence.


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## oldsofa

​My psychiatrists will not listen to me and prescribe what HAS worked in the past. So, the only two options I have done that seem to work are cardio ( preferably jump roping for 15 minutes or jogging ) and meditation in the full lotus position for 30 minutes a day. What I noticed was that when I sit completely still my heartbeat is beating so hard that my whole body will move with it, or mostly my neck and head area - ultimately triggering my stupid neck twitch. It seems like I am trying not to look like a weirdo while simultaneously not showing some kind of fear or "weakness" depending on whom I am talking to. I also use to smoke weed religiously, so I am not too sure what triggered this RIDICULOUS problem which has also ruined any chances of getting friends or getting out of this predicament. Anyways the only thing that I have done to help it is intense cardio and meditation...give a shot. BTW benzodiazepam prescribed medication was what helped 'calm' me I guess...I really can't stand this problem. peace :|


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## Sofie s

same here x(


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## matisyahu7

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## flip360

im just so glad im not alone with this. its litteraly destroying my life


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## matisyahu7

-


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## mozzyc

Well i'm open to all ideas, so i've been reading alot about how magnesium and calcium combo supplement can really help with anxiety. Also relaxes the muscles. So i've bought some today from my chemist.

Lets hope for some results!


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## matisyahu7

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## matisyahu7

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## stylicho

I used to have this problem bad. I couldn't get a haircut or go to the dentist etc. Well that's what I thought. I just learned to say **** it and overcame it. I still get it during public speaking but that's about it, except for sporadic moments. But if it happens just tell the/them that sometimes you get nervous and it makes you shake a little if that makes you feel better.


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## bazel

my head sometimes shakes more when am lookin in the mirror dont know why but this is how i try dealin with it at times by thinking lets bring it on so maybe when am out it does happen


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## Doni

I have head shakes sometimes, the hard part for me is that when i shake or twitch i think people see me a d think im going crazy so i try to stop myself from doin it. It o ly gets worse from there i become overly aware of everything that goes on around me( sounds, movements, breathing) and i react to it. I constantly think people notice me and that im going crazy. I have a hard time concentrating, sometimes when im around people my mi d go blank i cannot or talk until so body else do, this is greatly interfering with 
y life. I cant even watch movies, i lose interest in what im watching and just react to people's movements on the screen. I have not been seen by a therapist and am not taking any meds. I really want to though I want to be able to relax and not care what other people think. I want to
be happy again.


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## Permbayer

Wow it's crazy to see other people with this issue. I'm 21 now but I can recall this happening in high school. then at the beginning of college it was a lot better. Well I started smoking bud and now it's worse than ever. I can't even walk through my office without tensing up because of fear everyone is looking. Facing the clerk at the register even frightens me sometimes and makes me tense up. Also, I have no motivation to do anything. Tomorrow I'm going to my general practioner and I'm hoping he can start me off with an ssri and see how I respond to that for mild depression and hopefully it will take care of this problem as well but I'm not too hopeful.


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## Noob

*Reads Title*... Yes =)

Lol. Only happens when really freaking out tho.


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## Thompsonsvn

OMG, I can't believe I found this thread. It describes last few years of my life. It all started after high school, when i got into college.

I wasn't around people everyday anymore, because I was too lazy to attend lectures. I've got three symptoms:

1. constantly swallowing saliva, when i'm alone with unknown people or one person in a SILENT place. It's annoying, because it's all I think about and I'm afraid someone will notice and think "dude, wtf is wrong with you?"

2. head nodding tickle starts only when i'm ALONE in a place with a lot of people and I stand or sit STILL. Sometimes also my legs start shaking, so I have to walk around to stop it. So, if I'm moving or doing something, like playing with my cell phone, the problem is gone. It's just so annoying. It happens almost everytime when I'm waiting for a bus or something. And than also on the bus. I get the feeling everyone's looking at me and BUM, head nodding or saliva swallowing starts. But if I'm with friends, the problem doesn't start.

3. I sometimes also have problem with eating soup or drinking from a FULL cup of coffee, when I'm on a date with some girl or alone with a friend on lunch. My hands start shaking. IT'S F***** ANNOYING, so when I think the problem will start, I avoid drinking coffee or eating soup. But when the cup is half full, the problem stops. I mean, WTF?

I think I know the reason for the problems. I should be around people more. I mean, I go out with friends to a party all the time, but in day time, I'm home almost everyday. When I'm partying with friends we sometimes do coke. Could cocain also be the cause of theese symptoms? The other reason could be, that I'm not a very self-confident person. I am good looking and don't have problems with finding a girl, but I've gained a little weight in theese last years, because I'm home all the time and I'm not so self-confident anymore. I mean, I'm not fat at all, but I've gained some belly.

But it's really a BIG relief, that I found this forum and now know I'm not the only one with this stupid problems. =)


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## stylicho

For those with head tremors. It stems from a tense neck. I have been trying new things that eliminate this tensing of the neck. I've noticed that if I clasp my hands on my head and push in all four directions it kind of wears my neck muscles down which seems to help. For example, grasp the back of your head and try to push your head back against your hands. And do this in all directions.


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## L1SUH

Man, I feel everybody on this thread. I'm right there with all of you. The headshaking also started with me when I was smoking weed. I smoked for about 3 years straight, but last Summer when I was going through a whole lot of ****, weed definitely started to change me. I wish I'd stopped sooner. But all I can do is work on myself now. I stopped about 3 months after the headshaking started. I've been sober for 100+ days now, so I feel accomplished for that. 
But this headshaking definitely still occurs. I twitch ALOT. This happens the most when I'm sitting in a room with a lot of people. An enclosed area really, I feel trapped sometimes I guess you could say. 
I hope we can all improve over time. I really think meditation and relaxation can help with this. We all worry too much, when there's honestly nothing to be worried about.


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## madmax46

*Head Shakes*

I'm 64 years old and have had this head shaking issue for 30 years. It has not gotten worst for me, but it cannot be controlled. I've learned to overcome eating with people watching, eye to eye contact, public speaking which I can do, but it's still not enjoyable. 

Best thing for this problem is exercise and challenge your fears! I joined toastmasters many years ago and it helped control my speaking fear. Also, I started scuba diving which I now found really relaxing. I even obtained my Rescue certification. The best thing I can say is just don't worry about it. It will happen and I don't care anymore. People sometime notice it but rarely does anyone say anything about it. If they do, we just talk about it. 

I understand all the comments and I have faced many of them. It's ok, it's who we are and we just need learn to move on and enjoy things in life. Do something to today to challenge yourself. One step in that direction can make a big different in your life. Let me hear some positive results!!!


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## puffins

i swear to god if i could get rid of this one problem my SA would be gone. Tiny bit of anxiety ('normal amount')=Head shaking=more severe anxiety....im going to ask for propranolol on the 27th and want to try the magnesium thing.


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## glory2g

SamAsare said:


> This issue happened to me from traumatic events, smoking weed, excessive drinking, nervousness and physical damage from heavy hits from football.
> 
> the following are factors that have helped me:
> 
> Propranolol does help but it really makes a huge difference when I get up in the morning and go for a big jog to sweat out all of the toxins in my body such as alcohol + eat right by not eating any **** such as greasy burgers, buttered popcorn, pasta etc. Try going for a big jog in the morning and then just have an apple or something lite and if it's a big day take 2 propranolol (after your jog). Plus drink a lot of water. Avoid caffaine and sugar.
> 
> I was in awful shape when I wasn't exercising, eating greasy foods and not socializing.
> 
> The more active I am, the better I feel. If you overcome a psychological hurdle whereby it's no longer a problem anymore, then your stress and tension will result in the shaking declining. The nerves and muscles in your hands and neck can improve over time.
> 
> Alcohol does make it go away but it is not the day-to-day cure.
> 
> Words have power and don't confess that you're not well. What you confess will have a psychological impact on how you feel and whether your body will improve. Yes, I am Christian and calling on the name of Jesus to command that fear and panic thoughts to go away does work.
> 
> Criticize me about the above but these factors have made my shaking go away.


Good post!


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## tomcoldaba

madmax46 said:


> I'm 64 years old and have had this head shaking issue for 30 years. It has not gotten worst for me, but it cannot be controlled. I've learned to overcome eating with people watching, eye to eye contact, public speaking which I can do, but it's still not enjoyable.
> 
> Best thing for this problem is exercise and challenge your fears! I joined toastmasters many years ago and it helped control my speaking fear. Also, I started scuba diving which I now found really relaxing. I even obtained my Rescue certification. The best thing I can say is just don't worry about it. It will happen and I don't care anymore. People sometime notice it but rarely does anyone say anything about it. If they do, we just talk about it.
> 
> I understand all the comments and I have faced many of them. It's ok, it's who we are and we just need learn to move on and enjoy things in life. Do something to today to challenge yourself. One step in that direction can make a big different in your life. Let me hear some positive results!!!


Another toastmaster on this board. Yesterday, one member giving her ice breaker speech talked about her social anxiety. She had all the classic symptoms. SA ruined her life. I told her toastmasters helped with living again. If I miss a toastmaster meeting, I feel depressed. You are right. Ignore all the negative comments. It is easier said than done!


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## JimmyDeansRetartedCousin

Does the shaking happen solely in social situations?


Cause if it's uncontrollable shaking it could be a sign of something a lot more serious, go to the doctor if it is.


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## germz

i get this too. funnily enough i dont get it so much when im anxious, but when i think of something embarrassing, or if i say something i dont think i should have, or think of something sad or a regret. for me its like im trying to actually shake the thought out of my head.


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## matisyahu7

-


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## Hypno

I found a cure for the head shaking that lasted 10 years...I went to a hypnotherapist to stop smoking (never taken weed), happened to mention just before she put me under about the head shaking. She claimed that my subconcious was saying no to something, probably the last try of my marriage at the time wouldn't work (13 yrs ago), didn't believe a word of it. Anyway, after the session I lit up a cigarette, however the shakey head was completely gone!!!! It stayed away for 10 yrs, then slowly came back and is worse than ever now. The hypnotherapist has moved away, worried about trying another but will be looking soon. I blame anxiety relating to work and teenage kids! It's my own fault for allowing it to get to me. I started a new high powered job, had to give a presentation in front of all the board members, was very nervous so took a diazepam before hand then failed the company drug test a couple of weeks later! The company were put straight when the final results confirmed it was the medication and nothing illegal, doesn't help going forward! If Hypnotherapy does not work again then I know a very good chinese acupuncturist, will give that a try.


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## Hypno

p.s. I'm a woman, is it that obvious?


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## puffins

well, the propranolol solved this problem, yay!


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## Rhi

Im 15 years old and i shake a lot. Sometimes its random when i shake, but other times its when im really mad or sad. My legs and hands are the things that shake the most. My head twitches when im nervous or scared. I am a little shy but its not bad. I can be pretty outgoing. I try to tell my mom that i think something is wrong with me but she shuts me out everytime i tell her about something. I am scared to tell her about this because i dont want to be shut out anymore. i dont know what to do.


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## isnothere

I get the head shakes and eyes twitch left to right really fast ..When my Anxiety is in overload before a panic attack.


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## ALopes

iStyll Have This Head Shakin' Anxiety, N Instead Of Revertin' To Medication, iDecided To Take The Righteous/Spiritual Route. Praying Daily, Readin' The Bible Daily, Learning To Cast My Anxieties On My Lord So That iMay Get Some Rest N Relief From This Feeling. Although The Feeling Hasn't Ultimately Vanished, I've Become More Aware Of Life, N Realized That I'm Not Livin' For Myself, But Instead, For Christ. iLook Back At How Christ Was Ridiculed, Mocked, Made Fun Of, Tortured, Suffered &| Realized That He Went Through Way More Things Than iDid. So Instead Of Tryin' To Fix This, I'm Tryin' To Focus More On Accomplishin' My Purpose Here On Earth, Cuz Let's Face It, We're Livin' Temporarily. If There's One Thing iCan Suggest To Yu All, Is To Seek Christ, Learn About Him N How To Have Him Involved In Yur Life. May God Bless Yu All N iHope Yu All See The Light.


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## MrTweak

Well known and little talked about effect of smoking street grade weed. Ask anyone in a crack house about shaking caused by pot.

It is caused by long term over use. It will slowly go away in most cases when you cease smoking.

It may be caused by the growing/drying methods dealers use to increase profit. Too many vitamin/mineral added to soil and improper drying and fertilizer flushing. Although im not sure about that it is just my opinion.

*THE REAL MARIJUANA FACTS FROM A SELF PROCLAIMED EXPERT (ME 1/2 ounce a day man)*
MARIJUANA CAN INCREASE OR DECREASE ANXIETY!
Using it while sitting alone in a non-threatening environment will cause overall anxiety increase.
Getting high and then going into anxiety provoking situations will cause overall anxiety decrease.

THE REASON FOR SHAKING AND JERK MOVEMENTS!
This is because your brain is no longer hearing back from that part of your body and thinks it is dead. I have forgot the obscure term used for this and I don't care to google for an hour or two but it IS documented on the internet im not making crap up.

DEREALIZATION AND DEPERSONALIZATION!
These are desired effects of smoking large amounts marijuana. If you have underlying mental disorders depression, anxiety, etc this effect will cause you to have a panic attack and make you think you are going to die.

Everytime i shouted a newbie smoker I would make them smoke 5 in a row. They would either FREAK THE HELL OUT or they would simply get really high. It was very funny either way and well worth shouting them.

Worst freak out I have seen: He smoked it with a big smile... enjoyed it at first... Started asking if it was laced or something... THEN He suddenly stopped moving and stared straight ahead... Drool and what I assume was stomach acid started dripping out his mouth in a constant stream... we got him a bucket and positioned it. He did not move for at least 5 hours.

TOO MUCH FERTILIZER NOT DRIED CORRECTLY
Headache weed. That is all.

LUNG INFECTIONS
It's not THC crystals, It's NOT "FIRE WEED", It's not "A BIT DIFFERENT", It's not "WHITE WIDDOW", It's Not "BLACK WIDDOW"

look carefully at it because it's freaking mould and u need to smash ur dealer because he is trying to give you a lung infection/kill you.

DONT SMOKE IT
Hey I love weed. But dealing with cops especially when you have issues will only make them worse for you and your loved ones. Stop now before you have to go to court I have been there and it isn't good. YOU WILL GET CAUGHT DONT LIE TO YOURSELF


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## Rossificus

I get this mostly when I'm in the presence of a girl I find really attractive/cute. Although I do smoke a lot of weed, I had this many years before I even knew what weed was. I don't always get it but it sure is annoying when I do get it 'cause I feel like a right ****!


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## HaveHadEnough

I have been having this problem for years since high school. During my high school, my english was terribly bad. It all started when I had to speak english in front of class for the first time. My whole body was shaking, my peers was laughing at me. Ever since then, I have this phobia to speak english especially public speaking. Just this evening, I had the most embarrassing moment of my life when I did my presentation in front of lecturers and other students. It was quite a hardship. But then after I had some thought, why do I need to care what other people think about me? As long as I know what is my life goals ( which one of them is to get my mum retired as soon as I can) and live my life without screwing around, I don't really have to care what people think about me!

Cheer up guys! Life is miserable if you keep worrying this and that.


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## Dawn1

Hi All

Thought i was alone in this, my luck i came across this forum.
My Problem: My head shakes when im in front of people, in a meeting,
at a salon, family dinners, interacting with new people. Its really
messed up and ruining my life. I feel like i cannot breathe sometimes.
Yesterday i went for a hair cut, before the hairdresser began cutting my hair,my head was shaking i felt so embarassed i just walked out.
This is happening to me for a while now and i really need this to stop.
Btw I have not smoked weed in my life.

What are the cures?
What medication will help?
Is there any over the counter medication for this?
I heard beta-blockers helps, is it true?


Please share your knowledge on this and let overcome this problem.

Your input will make a great difference.

Thanks


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## blackbriar

ryangraves123 said:


> I have had anxiety for about 4 years now. It all sort of started when I used to smoke pot, and I gradually started concentrating more and more on how I appeared to people, in turn sort of losing my identity as a result. Since then my anxiety has been based around "head shaking". If someone looks me in the eyes or if any focus is on me (like in a conversation, interview, haircut etc) I automatically get really nervous and my head will shake side to side, and since then all of my energy has gone into preventing it from happening in social situations, it's become a paranoia. Over time it has created a lot of tension in my neck and head...to the point I can't even smile or laugh naturally anymore and haven't been able to because I'm too because if I do my head will shake and I'll look like a fool. Now people wonder why I look so dull faced all the time, never smile or laugh. I haven't been able to explain this to anyone because they would just think I'm nuts, and in all actuality I'm fairly intelligent and artistic. This condition has prevented me from going to school, keeping a job, keeping friends, making friends and so much more. I really just want to meet someone who understands. I used to be very outgoing and had always had a steady girlfriend and now I can't even be comfortable around people at all. I know I'm a decent looking guy and I'm talented in many ways but I cannot seem to heal this....it's sooooo hard to explain.


I known exactly hown you feel. I have been living like this for seven years. In thought i was the only one and never really talked about it to anyone before because I was ashamed. In was so amazed when I read your article because this is how I fill all the time. When people look at me I begin to shake When I think about it I begin to shake. I isolate my self from people all the time because I am embarassed that they will laugh and talk about me. I live in fear all the time and I don't know why. Sometimes I just stay at home and cry cause I don't know why this is happening to me. This didn't start until i was secventeen and like you said it started when I started smoking weed, so i stopped. Then I noticed that it start happening all the time. The only how i know how to stop it is by drinking alchol and i no that is not good but it is really driving me crazy! I don't know what to do. I am afraid all the time and the only how I am able to be around people is when I am drinking. I am so happy that its not just me but I need some help on how to control this. If you have any ideas can you please share them with me. I even though about going to see a doctor or maybe even a psychiatrist but has always been afraid. I used to be outgoing always ready to speak in front of the class and loved to be the center of attention. Now I don't know whats happening to me. I really need your advice.


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## Art1

I have had these head shaking issues throughout high school walking into a full room was the worst feeling. I don't think it started when I started smoking weed though I had lip,leg and neck twitches before what happens is weed isolates your neck and head which made it a very hard to not obsess about.

I use to smoke a half 1/8th a day plus hash I quit yesterday I don't feel the greatest less anxious and half my body doesn't feel dead anymore :|
It just makes me wonder if I had never smoked how anxious would I be ?


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## mjb1988

*some tips*

I developed this a couple years ago. It all started whilst I was down the pub with my mates. My head started shaking when I was taking a sip out of a drink and In the end I had to pretend I wasn't feeling very well and gave my drink to someone else.

two years on and I still have it, which is why I am relieved to have found this forum. Obviously having not overcome this I can't offer any long term solutions asides from positive thinking, but If I can offer some tips that help in the short term asides from alcohol and drugs it would be...

- If anyone has difficulty drinking in front of someone try this...As you lift the drink to your mouth imagine the drink and your head are moving really far from side to side, this tends to help me cos trying to keep still makes you realise how shaky you are, so when you imagine yourself shaking loads you realise that you are actually doing ok....I hope that makes some sense! Try it anyway

- Also I tend to panic more the closer it gets to my mouth so if you imagine when when you lift the drink, the fork or whatever it is, that your head is a few feet higher and further back than it actually is. This means that when it reaches your mouth you are pleasantly surprised that you've already achieved what you wanted to before you even knew it.

-lastly as you lift, breath in through your nose at the same time and you shake considerably less

This may sound crazy and it may illustrate the kind of over-thinking that got me into all this. But trust me these are good starting points. Hope it helps.


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## BornAgainNickumz

I want you to know how happy I was to read this post and then go down and see your a Christian and command the anxiety to go away, I feel the same! I have been saved a little over a year and it has def been much better since I gave my life to Jesus, but I just joined the choir at church and sometimes my head trys to shake while singing, I hate it! I pray before I go but sometimes I still feel so nervous or the anxiety starts. I have no insurance right now so no meds I guess even when I toke something called "celxia" it did not help that. But anyway I guess I just have to keep my eye's focused on Jesus and trust Him untill it gets better. God Bless


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## Bridezilla

I always considered it to be more of a bobbing a weaving of the head, especially during a conversation lol. I suck at eye contact and my head moves around to avoid them looking directly at me. I do it, but I try to control it so it doesn't look like I'm agreeing or disagreeing during the wrong moment. I imagine you notice it way more than others, I've never had a person say anything about it, but I've been told MANY times that I'm ultra expressive in conversation and use an abundance of hand gestures. I've also been in conversations where my body language doesn't match the topic, I just can't help it. People will say something and I'll be like.. Oh, hmm.. I didn't notice... And then I'll try to continue the convo and avoid reopening the topic of my head shakes and nervous hand gesturing. 

Anyone have a problem of smiling at inappropriate situations? UGH!!! I HATE IT!!! My Gma was diagnosed with skin cancer, I nervously smiled!!! I got cheated on, I grinned.. I had jury duty where a little girl was brutally raped, and another trial where a girl was MURDERED and my first reaction was to smile at the lawyer. What is up with my face?!! Why don't my expressions match my feelings?


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## hairflip

I have this exact same problem!! and im so relieved to hear that there are other people out there in my situation because whenever i explained it to someone they seemed really confused.

Today for example i was sitting at a collection box and two girls came to the table and put money in the box...and as i looked up to thank them my head started shaking side to side and i shouted out "thank you" to try and distract from the head jerking lol they smirked and stared at me as they walked away and i was embarassed but i thought maybe it's better to be embarassed than to constantly have to play with my hair (i do this to distract myself from nerves and hold my head in place)

i was on cipramil tablets until recently which seemed to help with the sociel anxiety but the head shaking still occurs....im not as affected by it though since im not as socially anxious after the tablets. Hopefully someone will invent a quick fix for this soon beause its really battered my confidence :S


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## Sevenx

*Some Advice*

Ok guys, first of all I want to thank everyone for posting their stories and experiences. Im so happy that iv found this forum. Iv had the head shacking thing for about 5 years now. And I always thought I was the only one with this kinda thing. For a while I thought I lost my mind, but then again, crazy people dont question their sanity. 
When it first started it wasent bad at all, maybe a few shakes a month. But when I started to think that there is something wrong with me, and how embarrassing it would be when people actually saw me, it became worse and worse. I was up to the point where I was avoiding social activities, dinners, and in general stopped enjoying life.. Pretty much what everyone said above.. So one day I got pissed off at it, and I started doing my own research and experiments on what triggers the effect and vise versa.

I noticed that the head shacking thing happens when you think about it, and when you are afraid that people will notice it ( like in conversations, meeting, classes, or being in contact with someone for a long time, specially when attention is on you ). It also happens when you are highly stressed out or have a panic attack which just creates a loop hole. However, When I drank alcohol or smoked cigarettes it went away completely . So I came up with my own explanation / solution. 
The head shacking thing is a form of social anxiety / high amount of stress that triggers tension ( neck sometimes shoulders ) and head shaking since its all part of one neurological system. So my solution to this problem is to tell your self that there is nothing wrong with you because there isnt. Many people have this problem, and no one is perfect. Confidence and I dont care what people think attitude is the key to the whole thing. Think about it, the only reason why it happens is because you care and think what people will think of you. The more you think about it the worse it gets. One day I did an experiment, I went to a big party full of people, and I told myself that I dont care if people see it, actually I wanted for it to happen because I didnt care what people though of me, so I went and the entire night, I was eating infront of people, talking and not a single twitch. 
So thats the solution to this wired problem, confidence,relaxation . anything to lower your stress level, exercising, no caffeine or alcohol, dont think about it and distract your self with something else. It might take some time, but it does get alot better with time.

Actually, I encourage all of you with this problem to try it out for your self. Pick a situation where you know that your head might twitch. With people that you dont know and will never see again. And go into that situation with " I dont care attitude " dont even think about other people, because we are all strong, and our lives will not be effected by other peoples opinions. And see what happens


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## hairflip

I was gonna try letting it happen today because i was at a party.....but i didnt want my friends to think i was wierd....i think im gonna try letting it happen around people I don't know....i really feel like its the only solution! Thanks so much for the advice..

I suppose were all afraid of the head shaking.....so like any fear we have to face it in order to overcome it 

Good luck to everyone! x


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## JoGa

Hi,

I suffer this problem too. Sometimes my head will 'vibrate' from side to side in about the space of a second and sometimes the effect is simply a 'curling up' or quivering of the mouth. It clearly does not happen when alone and is triggered by being in the proximity of other people. However, I feel very at ease being around other people say in a shopping centre or library- probably because I'm not expected to actually *interact* in these venues. I am a professional person and surprisingly appear confident to many of my colleagues. I find the social part of my job increasingly more difficult and I withdraw from briefings, meetings etc. Sitting at a table opposite someone, e.g. in a meeting, will certainly trigger a head jolt if eye contact is made. I usually sit with my hand supporting my head and chin hoping this will minimise the problem. It sometimes feels like I'm sensing a zap of energy pouring out of the other person's eyes and penetrating my soul. I have taken Citalopram in conjunction with Propranolol and my Doctor has now decided to replace the Citalopram with Buspirone. They absolutely refuse what I know I need- Diazepam. I cannot take a drink of coffee or tea in a work related social forum either without my head tremoring. Sometimes the tension builds in the body to the extent that my muscles feel spastic or frozen and my head gets stuck in one position. Trying to smoothly turn my head around to a new position will certainly result in a jerking movement of the head. I used to self medicate with alcoholic spirits ( usually taking around 200ml per day ) and clearly this was a panacea- the sedative effect of alcohol does calm the central nervous system. Perhaps people who are more spiritual or sensitive to other people's vibrations and energy fields suffer from this affliction ? Perhaps it is related to a disturbance of the electro-magnetic energy field which surrounds our bodies. I am definetely more shakey in the presence of some people than others. Have you ever had a 'head zap' when in the presence of your pet animal ? I thought not. Anyone who can provide a tried and tested solution to this problem, other than alcohol, please let me know.


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## yumyum85

I laughed with relief when I found this thread, oh man...

This started for me in college, I was finally conquering my anxiety/panic attacks from high school (pot smoking induced, i believe) and I was at a party and I had a cup full of beer. It's worse with cups, not cans. It was full and as I leaned my head down to sip, my head started shaking BADLY. :no I immediately put the cup back down. I've somehow learned to manage it, I kind of tense up in this weird way and look at the ceiling as I drink, but it still happens. 

Then I won an award at work and the photographer came RIGHT into my face to take a picture of me holding the award, and my head started shaking like CRAZY :afr and I had to look away, even though it was not an appropriate time. I was so embarrassed. Somebody had to have noticed how much of a freak I was acting like.

Anyway, I'm glad I'm not alone. The internet has done wonders for my anxiety by reading about others' experiences and relating them to my own. 

Be strong! I found that working out and making myself feel physically stronger allows me to stand taller and be more confident, resulting in less anxiety. But it's still an uphill battle.


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## dreamweaver

I also suffer from severe head shaking/tremors, like many others, that started in my teens when I started smoking pot which I quit because of the anxiety attacks it caused. 
It is very noticable and I've had people tease me about it, which I consider very rude. It is so bad that I now cut my own hair (at least it saves me a little money) and lost all of my upper molars since I couldn't go to the dentist when I needed to. I have also not had a driver's license since my 20's, mostly because I cannot stand in line at the DMV and also am embarrased to have my photo taken because of my head shakes.
When I have to do go out in public to shop or socialize, I need to have a couple of glasses of wine or some xanax (prescribed by my family doctor) to make it bearable. As a result, I often drink more than I should, which only makes the tremors worse afterwards.
At least I have a steady job and a house to live in. Just wish I could be as happy and had as many friends as I did in my pre-teen years.


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## airwave

I used to have this problem but I got away from it recently. I had this problem for 7 years. I exactly know how you feel my friend. It all started when I was high on weed one day. Things that helped me are that I stopped consuming alcohol, played a sport that brought my self esteem up. I spoke to a friend of mine about this and that helped a lot. I did not take any medications. Be strong, try to get your self esteem up, work out hard.I know its a uphill task but if I can overcome it so do you can too. Best Wishes.


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## Dannyb25

i know this is 2yrs odl but ryan i know exactly what youre talking about ive had this for about 4yrs to and i understand man i cant get my head straight my neck always hurts, sometimes when i stare off my face will get really numb, i also feel pressure in my head all the time and can feel my heartbeat


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## harshak

I never knew the problem that i'm suffering from has a name until now i stumbled upon this thread!! I can't believe there are many people like me out there suffering from essential tremor. Let me begin by telling you the most tragic story of my life until now.. i'm a student pursuing my Bachelor's of Engineering degree from India.. This condition surfaced when i was around 17. i had a healthy childhood,so i don't believe this problem can be traced to that part of my life.. Once a professor called up my name in college to announce to other students that i have got highest marks in a subject.. I was perfectly normal before that, but suddenly when all the focus of others shifted on me,my head started to shake without my control. i tried to control it so other's wouldn't notice and somehow managed to come clean in that situation.. I thought to myself it must be my imagination and so didn't give much attention in detail to it. And lo this was the beginning of my many problems. Let me sum up by giving details of situation when my head starts to shake involuntarily.
1) When i'm holding a coffee cup in a restaurant with my friends or alone and try to take my first sip.
2)If someone stares me in the eye and talks too long concentrating on me.. This situation is so bad that even during giving interview to a company my head started shaking for few seconds.. Oh that was the worst situation i have ever been, but thankfully the interviewer did not notice.
3)When all the other people's concentration is on me or if anybody is asking a question to me in front of the whole class. i know this happens because when i'm tensed but can't avoid it. 
4)i'm feeling quite shy to write this next point but you guys will probably laugh. My head starts to shake when i'm speaking to a good looking girl.  I don't know why it happens and how it happens but it has made me so depressed that i could not look in to their eyes and talk properly for more than 1 min. Alas they too wonder why i avoid them. 
This has been going on from many years and i have not been able to discuss this issue with anyone even with my parents cause i am too embarrassed to tell it. People may say that i'm talking crazy but this problem has made my life terrible. As i have gone through i have got to know that ET has no cure,but i would sincerely request anyone to provide me guidance to overcome this problem without any medication. i have really lost my self-confidence because of this stupid head shaking. Hope to see any replies to my query soon.


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## scrabble

*thought I was the only one..*

I'm almost 65, I have had this head shaking problem for 40 years. The first time I experienced it I was at the dentist and he told me to 'hold really still' and my head started shaking uncontrollably. He got angry and said "If you are afraid of me I can't work on you". I said nothing, I didn't know how to explain what was going on, I just sat there with tears running down my face feeling stupid and ashamed.

After that I started having the same thing happen anytime that I had to hold my head still or make prolonged eye contact. Over time I began avoiding any situation where that would trigger it; dentist and doctor appointments, hairdresser appts., even being photographed.

After a good 10 years of not seeing a dentist I developed an abscessed tooth and was forced to go to one, I explained what happened to me the last time I had been to see a dentist and he said he has had other patients with the same problem and gave me a script for Valium. I took one before my next appointment and no head shaking..decided to try one before an eye exam, no head shaking. Of course, as soon as my dental work was done and I was out of Valium the problem returned. That dentist has since moved to another state, so when I was forced to see a dentist again a few years ago, I went online and found out how to order a small amount of valium online without a prescription; I felt like a drug addict or criminal but honestly didn't see another option. I have tried bio feedback, hypnotherapy, a phobia clinic, and two psychiatrists and the only thing that any of that has done is made a big dent in my bank account.

I've not been to a Dr. for 10 years, I checked my blood pressure recently and it's really high- so I know I have to see a Dr. but rather than worrying about my high blood pressure, I'm only concerned about my head shaking. I found this forum by googling my symptoms because I was thinking about just being up front with the Dr. when I meet him and wanted to give this a name...(trying to say "I have this little issue where if I try to hold still or if you look at me too long my head shakes" is just really hard for me)

I'm still not quite sure what to call it, but it's really good to find out that I'm not the only one in the world with this problem =)


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## SoldieringOn

Like other people have said, I felt a massive relief upon discovering this thread. Not because you're suffering, but because I'm not alone!

SO many similar experiences on here... I avoid all but one Barbershop, since he knows about my nervous shake and ignores it or has a laughwith me at which point it quickly passes. I never want to be the one who goes and gets drinks in a bar (although I offer up the money) and don't even get me started about carrying coffe or tea; hot drinks are so much worse. On the first drink of a night, I often hold it with both hands, or lower myself closer to the table, which looks fecking odd. Sometimes when I walk into a room and talk to three or more clients, I feel self conscious and my voices jerks a bit, often with a little head twitch. 

I had it today at the checkout in Tescos. Hand trembled, head shook and I feared it would spread into whole body. Didn't even get my loyalty card out, nor cover my PIN with my hand, like I normally would. Just fought my rapidly tensing body (which was noticeable), paid and got out.

Was walking down the street in London the other day and the trembling started because I was holding a coffee. Was with my girlfriend and her mate, so very embarrassing. Just had to put the coffee on ground and say 'I'm having a moment..' GF kinda understands, so she carried my drink whilst I calmed down and we walked off the main street. I'm mildy agoraphobic, so the two fears were playing off each other quite badly.

The worst new developent is the twitch I get whenever someone hands me something.... I now ask them to put it down first. My huge pet hate is when a waiter hands you a plate over the table in a restarant; I fear a twitch or a jerk and the food going everywhere.

When it's bad, I find my head involuntarily moves down towards my right shoulder and my right arm tenses more than the left. I'm practially incapable of carrying a drink with my right hand at all... when people don't understand and I'm forced to get drinks in a pub, my right arm tenses on the way back from the bar and seems to automatically clench/move in as I try to fight trembling. It looks odd and I invariably spill a quarter of a pint. :no

As others have said, this isn't a problem after a couple of drinks... indeed I had a bender yesterday (zombie pub crawl!) and contrived to find myself on the tube home alone (A friend was staying out a bit later, so I stupidly stayed out a little later, letting my partner and some mates all leave before me. Found myself surrounded by some gently teasing people on the tube home and suddenly wished I had the strength in numbers of lots of people dressed as zombie.... and I did look pretty gross. 
But I wouldn't even have worried about the shakes in that situation and I handled myself fairly well. 

Then of course this morning, the shakey fear was back and the Tesco thing happened.

Going to try and do relaxation exercises more often, maybe increase the amount of times I go running.. sounds like Magnesium/calcium supplements can help. Also, 5HTP s a great supplement that, when taken over time, can make you feel a little bit better about yourself. 


Thanks for reading.


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## enayet

Don't know how to get rid of this....i want my life back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!....really frustrated.......


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## The Professor

ryangraves123 said:


> I have had anxiety for about 4 years now. It all sort of started when I used to smoke pot, and I gradually started concentrating more and more on how I appeared to people, in turn sort of losing my identity as a result. Since then my anxiety has been based around "head shaking". If someone looks me in the eyes or if any focus is on me (like in a conversation, interview, haircut etc) I automatically get really nervous and my head will shake side to side, and since then all of my energy has gone into preventing it from happening in social situations, it's become a paranoia. Over time it has created a lot of tension in my neck and head...to the point I can't even smile or laugh naturally anymore and haven't been able to because I'm too because if I do my head will shake and I'll look like a fool. Now people wonder why I look so dull faced all the time, never smile or laugh. I haven't been able to explain this to anyone because they would just think I'm nuts, and in all actuality I'm fairly intelligent and artistic. This condition has prevented me from going to school, keeping a job, keeping friends, making friends and so much more. I really just want to meet someone who understands. I used to be very outgoing and had always had a steady girlfriend and now I can't even be comfortable around people at all. I know I'm a decent looking guy and I'm talented in many ways but I cannot seem to heal this....it's sooooo hard to explain.


kind of seems similar to parkinsons, which is treated with dopamine. Don't know exactly why but dopamine from adderall would make this worse because it is a pro-convulsant or something like that.


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## jakewatson

Hey guys,

I have also had this head-shaking problem since I was about 14 (I am 20 now) and it has caused me great stress. I recently went to a psychiatrist because I was about to drop out of college. It was getting so bad. Because of these events I began searching harder than ever for a solution.

Well, I found a book that seems to be a solution. It's called "Hope And Help For Your Nerves" by Dr. Claire Weeks. I highly recommend it. The things it talks about seem to be a sure-fire way to cure this issue. It speaks of nervous trembling in detail.

In summary, the reason we shake is because we have a very sensitized nervous system. We are so afraid of the feelings that arise some times that it leads to a cycle which produces even more fear. When this happens many times, the body eventually becomes better and better at panicing very quickly. This bewilders us even more and causes the situation to get worse to the point of shaking and feeling out of control.

I don't know about you guys but this describes me. Dr. Weeks recommends a very simple four step procedure:

1. Face
2. Accept
3. Float
4. Let Time Pass

I think the worst part about this illness is not knowing what it is and what is causing it. Without knowing, we feel hopeless. That being said, this book has given me tremendous hope. I highly recommend buying and reading it. It goes into much more detail. I sincerely believe that full recovery is achievable with time.

Feel free to message me!


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## andrewharoun

this forum was so eye opening for me to realize that I'm not the only person with this annoying tick...my friends call me bobblehead and I hate it -_-.....reading this forum made me make an account so I can add my input....thank you so much everyone


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## ian02

*me but still here*

i first had anxiety when i was 22 now i am 49 allway remebber that mornring been out to a partly night befor and going away the next day woke up later so runing about to sort myself out get to bathroom and felt like i going to die my heart was going so fast . i have live with this now for 27 yrs some days i woke i feeling good but then i have bad days i work nights been there for 2 yrs and some night i cant go to work without vodka or 2 in my tea


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## lloyd22

hi everyone im the newest member of this strange club. im 25 like alot of the people here i believe my anxiety is definitely linked to my excessive smoking habits in the past. i have most of the same problems already mentioned , holding drinks, cigerretes or sitting or standing in crowded public places some paranoia as well. I am genuinely really happy to see there are so many people who understand this situation. I'm not suprised to see so many bright articulate people suffering from this condition as i believe over thinking things is definitely part of the problem. So far i havnt really let it hold me back to much but i do frequently use alcohol to get me over the initial nerves which i know is a short tem solution. I strongly believe exercise can be a big help for your all round self esteem, I also like to have a little grin to myself when im havin a shaky moment although i know its not always easy or appropriate. anyway good luck , chin up , remember nothings too serious to have a laugh at. peace


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## jon 29 uk

i have what i like to call ''headshake'' too .i think of it as the same as motorbikes when the steering shakes violently and uncontrollably lol . But seriously it is not a nice thing to have , i belive mine is social anxiety related as i only get it in and around people, like in movie theaters ect or when more than one person is talking to me, it started around the age of 10. i get the false impression someone does not like me sitting in front of them with my head in the way thats the main thought i cant shift.

since then it got worse up to around 17 and has got better slowly over the last 13 years to the point of it mainly bothering me when more than one person is talking to me and the conversation is going WELL (joking laughing ect). sort of like too much to handle so my head shakes . i f blank that it is happenning or else id be much too embarrassed! id hate to think what it looks like lol. 

but hey its not the end of the world people have worse problems .. it should subside if you can get to the root of your social anxeity somewhat.  peace


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## clarebear84

*I know the feeling!*

Ive had this for a few years, comes on when Im stressed, worried or anxious..... It's all down to anxiety..... I also get palpitations. I used to love singing, but now I cant get up there without these ridiculous head shakes (unless I've had a few drinks!) I also get them when I feel people are looking at me, eye contact etc. It gets so bad sometimes, I completely avoid confrontation and social events. As horrible as these feelings are, it's nice to see I'm not alone!!! xxx


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## jlmccray

*Head shaking sucks!!!!!*

Hey guys I have the same problem, I am so glad to know that I am not alone. I don't really know when this problem started but it sucks. I know its all in my mind because the only time it happens is when I am nervous which is when I have to deal with customers at my job. Well everything was fine until a couple of days ago when I had to be cashier and my head started shaking when I was taking a customers order. Now here it is 4 days later and my head is still shaking. It only happens when I get scared that it is going to happen or when I feel like someone is watching me. But I am going to try to not think about it.


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## Ricebunnyx3

I never had this problem but I had like a neck tick. It hasn't happened in a while though.


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## Sevenx

*Coffee and Alcohol*

Well I noticed that it gets worse when I drink coffee and alcohol, I think the whole problem is high amount of stress that causes the head shaking thing, and when it happens you get scared and it becomes even worse. I think they only solution to this drug free, is to exercise, no caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine


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## fate77

Yeah, I have this problem too. It's involuntary


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## WolffyLove

I thought I was the only one. I've been shaking my head for about 6 or 7 years now and it has gotten worse. I am super nervous in crowds but I don't get the head pressure sensation till I get home. I can't look people in the eyes and I am awful when it comes to trying to talk to a boy. My old doctor once told me that the anxiety resulted in having a sister which most people who know us would agree. I use to pull muscles in my neck for bending it and shaking my head, but I kinda toned it down a bit. I pull my hair where the irritating spot is when i'm around people and when i'm home I shake my head like crazy. My mom told me to get an MRI, but I haven't had the time to get it. Whenever I talk to my mom about it, it's so difficult to explain and most of the times she passes it by. Just now she told me that i've been doing it for years so it can't be so bad. My head and neck hurts and now it's affecting my back and my feet. I don't tell anyone about it because they won't understand and I can't find a clear explanation for them to even try to see what's going on. Drinking helped but I don't want to do that every time I shake my head. Sleeping helps and taking hot showers helps as well. Whenever i'm relaxed or having a good day, i'm fine but when one thing goes wrong , the shaking takes over. This is a very depressing feeling, even right now I feel like crying and curling up into a ball till I fall asleep.


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## Frozen In a StarryVoid

I have the opposite, its like my head gets frozen in place when i'm really nervous. I can relate to how you feel though, when you have a severe, persistent physical symptom of anxiety like that it makes it 10000x worse. =[


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## SII

Ok I have had this head shaking for about 8 years from the day I had to go to anger managment classes...It came from the guilt of being there and was brought on in full force (with intense hangover) for the first time when I had to explain to 15 or so angry dudes sitting in a circle why I was there.. I've done so much research on this stuff this is what I believe it is..

definitly chronic social anxiety which for me is caused by lack of self esteem and confidence..I didnt always be this way but just the opposite.
Bad diet, bad sleeping patterns, alcohalism( ive been drinking 12 or more beers almost everyday since about a year or so before this started). Of course drug abuse may cause it but it really only started when I was drinking heavily.

The whole thing about letting it happen and just ignore it I havent tried yet but am going to start because its been keeping me from finding employment because half the interviews I get called into I dont show up because Im too scared and the other half I must look so nervous that Im sure they think Im hopped up on crack or something.

What Im starting to realize that it is all in the psyche and the better you feel, being happy, good diet and exercise all contribute to beating this . One thing Ive noticed reading these posts is everyone complaing about neck aches and bad tensions.. I have this too and was thinking about starting regular proffessional massages..Has anyone tried that? I think alot of my anxiety comes from my muscle stiffness and tension.

I used to have a diazepam script for a couple years and ended up popping and chewing 3 to 4 in the morning before starting the day and chasing a couple down at night with a 12 pack to get to sleep. Doctors now only want to give me paxil and a lecture..Id go to psychologist but cant afford because im umemplyed and have no insurance.

Dont get me wrong Im not one of those people that preach to be sober..I still get drunk but recently cut way back and I do notice a difference already. I guess what it comes down to is I want to live a normal life that I dont have anxiety, panic attacks and have to rely on alcohal or meds to get through the day.

Good luck to everyone!!


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## nynyny

I've had the head shaking since middle of high school. When I was little I was picked on for wearing glasses, having bad teeth (i didn't get braces until i was much older), not dressing girly enough , not talking loudly. It seemed every time I met some older women they'll point out my physical flaw and comment on it, even on things i couldn't do anything about on my own. 
I started getting the head tremors during some presentations at school, during yearbook picture taking, whenever I felt people's eyes were focused on me. I started having major anxiety during college, not so much at school but at my old church. I felt claustrophobic when i joined a bible study group and I remember one time I couldn't breathe. 
It escalated recently when a stranger asking me question right next to me triggers a slight head shake. Everytime it happens I get really nervous, My neck muscles get tight (it's so true it feels like the chinese finger trap) and my head shakes.


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## BeStrong22

I've been reading this and decided to make an account and share my story. My neck tension head shaking first started when i used adderal. prior to that i also smoked weed and drank like most teenagers which seems to be a trigger of some people in here so idk.It was very minor and only happened pretty rarely UNTIL this one night when i used exstacy. Ever since that night it has been way worse and has led me to believe it was laced with something that maybe gave me some kind of brain damage?!? Ok now that thats out of the way lets get to the things that trigger it for me. Lack of sleep, low blood sugar, being highly stressed causes the neck tension. The neck tension causes the tics or atleast makes them alot worse. My neck gets very stiff and when i try to turn my head to answer somebody or look at something....or sometimes nod during conversations is when the head jerk or if i hold it in head shake happens. 

Intense exercise helps with neck stiffness and just generally being fit and taking care of myself. 

Avoiding being the center of attention during the times my neck is stiff. But i will say if you cant do this such as when you have to make a presentation or speech for a class to just try and be confident and deliver hard like you have no fear( Aim to look at one person at a time or something on the wall or just anything that keeps you from looking at EVERYONE as whole will help big time) 

I don't know if anyone can relate but i'm generally a good looking guy and am in good shape so it causes people to look at me and have their eyes on me more then if i blended in as the average joe( i say this not to brag but for people who can relate) but anyway try to remind yourself that people will look at you more when your attractive and welcome it confidently don't shy away because your afraid of a tic because like said above it will happen WAY more often the more you think about it. What i try to do is act like it never happened not look around to see who saw it.....because honestly its a lot less noticeable to people when you act like it never happened....especially if its only a slight one. If you hear a couple laughs in the backround ignore it or if you confront them just make sure you have something witty to say to turn the embarrassment on them which again is about confidence. 

It does not have to be the end of the world guys remember that be strong and take your life back....laugh it off and stop thinking about how to get rid of it and START thinking about how to not care.

Oh and for the record i have oral herpes, asthma, add and this problem.......and i dont consider any of these issues worse enough to lock myself up from the world so be strong, confident and stop caring about what people think........i garantee your life will get better and your tics will improve.

One last thing.....taking 500 mg of magnesium glycinate every night has helped considerably


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## BeStrong22

i also would like to say to anyone who takes some type of ssri or what ever that an increase in serotonin is not going to get rid of this problem..... ive come to the conclusion its dopamine related and by upping serotonin will just end up making it worse in the long run because excess serotonin just ends up competing with dopamine for receptors and for this condition to be improved you need to have a normal level of dopamine in your brain......and anything that ups adrenaline to much will also make it worse. as for the dopamine....normal level eqauls key.....to high or to low and your tics and neck tension will be worse 

thats all i got to help all of you out from my couple years of dealing with this and looking for every solution imaginable


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## floatindownsligo

Hello, this is a first post for me, after having done many hours of perusing around the forums for the past several months; finally I am ready to talk. In much the manner of a broken record I agree that reading this thread- and others like it- has come as a relief knowing that I am not the only one who lets their mind get the best (or rather worst) of them. The head/neck/eye vibrating has always been at the core of my social anxiety, and for a good while it was completely ‘cured’- as well as all the other aspects of SA- with the help of large amounts of alprazolam (12mg a day in the last six months), until the side effects (strong amnesia, small slightly manic episodes, and such a strong tolerance I was resorting to drinking large amounts of alcohol to combat w/d effects) were too unbearable to continue any longer, and I abruptly discontinued with phenobarbital with no real ill effects caused directly from the cessation. 

This was a little over a year ago, and as one can imagine getting back a grip on the anxiety has been a slippery slope, constantly searching for footholds, always in fear of falling. I had to take two semesters of school off to try and get my health back in order (long term w/ds included migraines five to six days a week for six months+, nerve pain/stiffness, and constant panic attacks, all of which have generally subsided in the past three or four months) and am currently enrolled in a few classes this Spring semester. Just this night I had to give but a two minute talk on a project I had done, and while the first thirty seconds went by reasonably well, the following minute and a half was filled with head/neck/eye vibrations and micro-tics galore! 

I present myself as a generally shy but friendly person, and have usually done quite well in short one-on-one conversations with classmates (certainly with members of the same sex, women on the other hand can still definitely get me blushing like an asphyxiated turnip) and would consider myself to be fairly good looking and confident of myself outside the public eye, and as such my behavior up on stage came as quite a bewilderment to fellow classmates. 

Luckily the intense stress caused by the event sent me into a migraine, and my puffy face and eyes (a usual result of my migraines) was able to convey some sort of message that I was a bit out of the norm, but still doesn’t help the fact that these vibrations always occur when presenting in front of an audience of people. I will need to undergo several more presentations in the coming weeks, and have even considered dropping a couple classes (though I wont as I like the classes and enjoy the subject matter). 

I exercise extensively, don’t smoke, don’t take caffeine, and take a handful of vitamins, supplements, and mild herbs every day (decent amounts of passionflower extract, lemon balm extract, valerian, gotu kola, myrrh, ashwagandha, and chamomile 2x a day) yet still am completely wired and unable to interact in a non-spasmodic way around women I am attracted to, or those who I deeply respect (usually the women I am attracted to fall into both categories). I have two very good friends who are quite social and regularly ask me to come out to different events, yet I always make up excuses, as I know I cannot handle myself around such crowds. With alprazolam I was completely free and happy to do such things, and found it to be very energizing and in the beginning what seemed to be nootropic (although I now realize it was just the fact I was able to be myself and think without the constant crushing pressure of worrying about a million different things). Now without it, a year and a half later, I am having a harder time than ever trying to get back to what I consider baseline. I have a small amount of phenibut on its way now to see how my body responds, and will probably be resorting to that for going to class (2 days a week) and will not allow myself any more than 3 times a week when the occasion calls for it. I guess I am looking for responses/advice from any of you with experience taking phenibut in social settings, and any other advice or recommendations of medications.

I will not resort back to benzodiazepines/nonbenzodiazepines (although I have considered Tofisopam, merely a non-halogenated derivative- any input on experiences with that would be much appreciated) but am fairly opened minded to recommendations for other kinds of medications. I believe I am slightly bi-polar, so SSRI’s do my mind and body no good, (have tried several kinds in the past) and have tried quetiapine, olanzapine (prescribed right after alprazolam cessation, mostly for migraines and nerve pain), buspirone, methocarbamol, gabapentin, and a couple kinds of TCA’s which gave me worse migraines, all to no avail. 

I was thinking of asking my doctor for baclofen, was wondering if anybody had any experiences with that they would care to share. 
I am well aware relying on a pill is nowhere near the kind of life I hope to someday have, but for now it almost seems completely necessary. I do yoga, and can undergo short periods of meditation (have always had an extremely hard time meditating) and can definitely appreciate and understand the things that one should be doing, but as I am currently doing many of those things, I fear I am faced with no other alternative. I haven’t been in a relationship for over a year now, and when in one, almost all anxiety-social and generalized- goes down the tube, so I am really just looking to undergo a short period of medication to find the right match, so I can get back on track with my life and stop hiding at home. 

So really I am looking for any advice on fast acting and effective medications or any experiences with phenibut/baclofen/tofispam. 

Thank you in advance, this is a great site, and am glad I have finally been able to express myself and ask for some advice.


----------



## floatindownsligo

Hello, this is a first post for me, after having done many hours of perusing around the forums for the past several months; finally I am ready to talk. In much the manner of a broken record I agree that reading this thread- and others like it- has come as a relief knowing that I am not the only one who lets their mind get the best (or rather worst) of them. The head/neck/eye vibrating has always been at the core of my social anxiety, and for a good while it was completely ‘cured’- as well as all the other aspects of SA- with the help of large amounts of alprazolam (12mg a day in the last six months), until the side effects (strong amnesia, small slightly manic episodes, and such a strong tolerance I was resorting to drinking alcohol to combat w/d effects) were too unbearable to continue any longer, and I abruptly discontinued with phenobarbital with no real ill effects caused directly from the cessation. 

This was a little over a year ago, and as one can imagine getting back a grip on the anxiety has been a slippery slope, constantly searching for footholds, always in fear of falling. I had to take two semesters of school off to try and get my health back in order (long term w/ds included migraines five to six days a week for six months+, nerve pain/stiffness, and constant panic attacks, all of which have generally subsided in the past three or four months) and am currently enrolled in a few classes this Spring semester. Just this night I had to give but a two minute talk on a project I had done, and while the first thirty seconds went by reasonably well, the following minute and a half was filled with head/neck/eye vibrations and micro-tics galore! 

I present myself as a generally shy but friendly person, and have usually done quite well in short one-on-one conversations with classmates (certainly with members of the same sex, women on the other hand can still definitely get me blushing like an asphyxiated turnip) and would consider myself to be fairly good looking and confident of myself outside the public eye, and as such my behavior up on stage came as quite a bewilderment to fellow classmates. Luckily the intense stress caused by the event sent me into a migraine, and my puffy face and eyes (a usual result of my migraines) was able to convey some sort of message that I was a bit out of the norm, but still doesn’t help the fact that these vibrations always occur when presenting in front of an audience of people. I will need to undergo several more presentations in the coming weeks, and have even considered dropping a couple classes (though I wont as I like the classes and enjoy the subject matter). 

I exercise extensively, don’t smoke, don’t take caffeine, and take a handful of vitamins, supplements, and mild herbs every day (decent amounts of passionflower extract, lemon balm extract, valerian, gotu kola, myrrh, ashwagandha, and chamomile 2x a day) yet still am completely wired and unable to interact in a non-spasmodic way around women I am attracted to, or those who I deeply respect (usually the women I am attracted to fall into both categories). I have two very good friends who are quite social and regularly ask me to come out to different events, yet I always make up excuses, as I know I cannot handle myself around such crowds. With alprazolam I was completely free and happy to do such things, and found it to be very energizing and in the beginning what seemed to be nootropic (although I now realize it was just the fact I was able to be myself and think without the constant crushing pressure of worrying about a million different things). Now without it, a year and a half later, I am having a harder time than ever trying to get back to what I consider baseline. I have a small amount of phenibut on its way now to see how my body responds, and will probably be resorting to that for going to class (2 days a week) and will not allow myself any more than 3 times a week when the occasion calls for it. I guess I am looking for responses/advice from any of you with experience taking phenibut in social settings, and any other advice or recommendations of medications. 

I will not resort back to benzodiazepines/nonbenzodiazepines (although I have considered Tofisopam, merely a non-halogenated derivative- any input on experiences with that would be much appreciated) but am fairly opened minded to recommendations for other kinds of medications. I believe I am slightly bi-polar, so SSRI’s do my mind and body no good, (have tried several kinds in the past) and have tried quetiapine, olanzapine (prescribed right after alprazolam cessation, mostly for migraines and nerve pain), buspirone, methocarbamol, gabapentin, and a couple kinds of TCA’s which gave me worse migraines, all to no avail. 
I was thinking of asking my doctor for baclofen, was wondering if anybody had any experiences with that they would care to share. 

I am well aware relying on a pill is nowhere near the kind of life I hope to someday have, but for now it almost seems completely necessary. I do yoga, and can undergo short periods of meditation (have always had an extremely hard time meditating) and can definitely appreciate and understand the things that one should be doing, but as I am currently doing many of those things, I fear I am faced with no other alternative. I haven’t been in a relationship for over a year now, and when in one, almost all anxiety-social and generalized- goes down the tube, so I am really just looking to undergo a short period of medication to find the right match, so I can get back on track with my life and stop hiding at home. 

So really I am looking for any advice on fast acting and effective medications or any experiences with phenibut/baclofen/tofispam. 

Thank you in advance, this is a great site, and am glad I have finally been able to express myself and ask for some advice.


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## shy2

i am so glad i am not alone but still i feel alone, iv always been shy but just this year, my second year of university i have developed extreme anxiety. i feel like everyone is looking at me and i start to get so hot, uncomfortable, and the worst my head shakes . i dont understand why this is happening maybe because I'm stressed or something but it makes me not want to go to school because i think my friends notice it and i am so embarrassed.


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## floatindownsligo

Yep, sounds about the same as myself. Luckily my two best friends are quite aware of my problem and couldn’t care less, and I’m sure if you discussed it with your friends they would feel the same way. SA/GA in large, is not caused simply from mental impuissance or spiritual dilemmas, but from physical abnormalities which are not always under one’s control (yes, often times the physical changes- i.e. neuroplasticity, weak nerves, etc. - are caused from mismanagement of processing external stimuli, and can certainly be reversed, but can also be caused from head injuries, allergic reactions to chemicals, too many/little receptors, and so on) and even if it is completely under one’s control they (including myself) obviously haven’t learned to sort things out yet. 

I’m sure your friends wouldn’t think twice if you became physically handicap in some way or another, they would most likely want to help you, so just treat this as no different, at least get someone you can talk things out or the stress will only continue rising (I’m sure your aware of this part). 

Also I forgot to mention that I was also a daily consumer of cannabis for over two years, continuing when on the alprazolam, and stopping just a few months ago. It certainly seems too much a coincident for half of the people on this thread to have been daily smokers and contract the same side effects involved with SA/GA. As the body and brain is riddled with different cannabinoid receptors- which cannabis acts on most everyone either directly or peripherally- and is heavily involved in synaptic plasticity, which modulates and maintains the levels of dopamine, GABA, serotonin, glutamate, etc. etc. and has been shown to even impair or stop synaptic growth in certain regions responsible for short-term memories, and even long term ingrained memories, it can be assumed to be at least partially responsible. The medical field’s current lack of knowledge on the inner workings of the brain leaves many gaps to be filled in by one’s imagination, but enough is known to be rightfully hesitant of picking up another joint. 

The physical effects caused by SA/GA can definitely be classified as a sort of psychological somatization, where the body and the mind has tricked itself into registering false information, regardless of the conscious mind telling it otherwise. Sort of like scientists who still maintain a belief in creationism. 

I am not depressed in the slightest when by myself or among close friends, but when I am in a crowd of people I uncontrollably go into panic mode, where my heart beats so fast it is all I can hear or think of, my face begins to fill blood, like a backwards erection, my eyes dilate like I am on some kind of upper (I absolutely hate all uppers, of any sort), and my neck, eyes, and lips go into spasms as if invisible faeries were bombarding me with waving feathers and wiggling toes. 

It is similar to when I go in to get my blood drawn, I also cannot stand the sight of needles while pulling blood out of my arm, and I go completely pale and nearly faint. Every time I tell myself I will not turn into a bed sheet, but lo and behold, I not only turn the color of a bed sheet, but also sprawl myself down over the cushions, wilted and subdued. It is probably a bit OCD (somewhat synonymous with psychosomatic disorders) at least in my case, as the brain is still thinking about things the ‘conscious’ mind is trying to disregard, and usually the subconscious always wins. 

I had OCD when I was little from seven to nine maybe, constantly washing my hands and neatly arranging things, and although I have completely outgrown those fears, I guess I still cling to my interactions during social exchanges. That is probably why most medicines haven’t worked too well for me in the past, other than the ones which provide a lack of inhibition (benzos, alcohol) so I can forget such worries. 

Does anybody have any positive experiences with medications for OCD that doesn’t leave their mind in an uncreative slump? And also does anyone have experiences with Phenibut, Baclofen, or Tofisopam (a bit different and somewhat rarer I know) they could share as well? 

Thank you in advance!


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## Rose49

I have the same problem. It started a month ago when I was at work and the new people sat behind me to watch me process. My head twitched like 5 times, my heart raised and felt like I couldn't breathe. I am now on medication but it doesn't seem to help. I just had the same feeling in the gas station earlier. Felt like I was going to fall and got dizzy. This just started to happen.


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## Fanta can

I used to have this problem. All of these symptoms are exactly what I experienced. The shaking got a little less violent with time, but it was still there for years. 

I never took any medication. I've never seen a therapist. I don't drink. One day, it just stopped happening. It'll only happen once in a blue moon now. I'd really like to know for sure what this is and what causes it.


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## amymichelle143

I too have this same problem and am suffering tremendously from it. My head shakes so bad that I feel like I can't go get a hair cut, go to the dentist, or even have conversation with friends. My Doc prescribed me propanolol 20mgs 2 times per day and Ativan 1 mg 4 times a day. Neither of these meds are helping the head shaking. The only thing that helps is to drink alcohol which I feel will eventually turn into a completely different issue. If anyone knows a cure for this please speak up! It would be greatly appreciated to all of us I'm sure.......


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## EscapeReality

Oh boy does this bring back memories. I knew I wasn't the "only" one because I've seen it happen to everyone at some point or another. For example a actor being interviewed. I think it is when time/conversation becomes a fantasy in the wrong time frame of a conversation structure. So first to get rid of this, is to master structures of conversations. How they go and how you speak and the time's/moment's in which it is safe to reply. Also it happens from there being to much tension/pressure in your body. This can be done by a activity that will make you sweat a little such as going out for a jog, exercising, playing guitar until you sweat and then you can feel more and more confident. The more you sit around, the more lazy your body will become and you will not be able to control it. You learn from practising, everyone does. A baby doesn't walk as soon as it's born, but it happen's to everyone and soon enough it becomes a regular pattern for us. Also breath out and hold your breath for a second in your throat and then exhale with the breath being kept in the centre of your throat, like your inhabiting everything around you within your soul/body/throat and then put your hand on any part of your body, mostly your face with the palm of your hand very gently and feel all the vibes go to the back of your body and toward's your ear's. This help's in social situation's by sitting at the top of a table in which you can view in a straight-forward way in everyone you have to talk to/ is with you.


P.S - move your head/neck with your eyes facing as high as you can to the celling/sky with your eyes trying to look at your eyebrows and move to the left in the same level of tilt and then left and then mid eye level - left to mid to right and the do it at 1x speed. Try not to look down, but if you do look at something that is within "light" and keep your left eye like your trying to look at the other side of your nose and vice-versa for your right eye.


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## AtmosphereIsHipHop

I have this same damn thing. Crazy. Except its improved a lot more now. But happens during presentations, continuous eye contact, and interviews.


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## dig22

just found this forum. 

I've had this since i was about 18, Im 30 now. but it got better for me. although I can get my haircut, I still get a shaky head from the neck. have to laugh now about it as i would hold on to the armrest of the chair and tense my arms, as if i where on a roller coaster.  
it's not as bad now thankfully. but i have had my haircut all over Ireland as i go to different barbers most times and been drunk in two of them, which i wouldn't go back again. been to the same barbers for the last six cuts with no or little tremors. 

but as for a job interview, not had one in years and have been unemployed five years. although have had college interviews (as a mature student) on a panel of six interviewers and amazingly i had no tremors.....although i was rotating my eye contact from interviewer to interviewer as talking to a group. 

I do drink often and find that the few days sometimes a week after having a drink i am a nervous wreck and can't even talk to people but i know it's the alcohol after effect. but fine after that and sober, apart from haircut, interviews oh and airport customs....this year was the first time in eleven years i left the country for a holiday. 

I went to the doctor she said the alcohol will trigger anxiety and tremors, also i have to stop drinking for six months before she will treat me with therapy, that was three years ago. 

I self medicate with 50mg a day of 5HTP, and 100mg on a bad day. I also find not thinking about details of an event or haircut! just do it mode. helps a lot.

Thanks for posting, I'm glad i read these.


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## Minaret

Yes its good to know we are not alone with this condition. I dont know anyone else with this. All the aforementioned advice is really useful and thanks to everyone for sharing their sometimes tearfully sad stories.

My head shaking started 2 years ago (I am 60) after i had a panic attack in a French market on holiday. My husband for some reason I cannot explain, just stood by whilst I hyperventilated and could hardly draw breath. (I am prone to feelings of claustrophobia when I am in busy places). We were going through a bad time then, so he wasnt communicating hardly at all. A couple of days later I left him, as I felt he could never be there for me when I really needed someone. Anyway after a month or so we agreed to 'try again' and I went back to our marriage. Since then I seem to have a mild tremor in my head a lot of the time, (not all the time) even in bed at night sometimes. It is far worse when I have a virus or in social situations, hairdressers, shops etc. and despite that I have used yoga and meditation since my 20's, when push comes to shove and I have a lot of tremor, and have to go out, I either drink (which halts the tremors completely) or take between half to a whole* Alprazolam*.

In the morning sometimes before I get up, I use my ipod to take myself through a deep relaxation, an MP3 I created in a professional studio a couple of years ago when I taught yoga. I always feel so at one and relaxed for a couple of hours afterwards, so I cant understand what happens when I get the shaking. I am utterly baffled. It s only my head, nothing else.

Fortunately I am semi-retired, so I have started an on-line degree course to keep me occupied and creative. But in the back of my mind there is this big question, what started it, what is it, what can I do or how can I look after myself better to make it stop?

If anyone wants a free copy of my relaxation MP3 (lasts 30 mins) pls email me.


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## CosmicElei

I've been experiencing this head shaking too. Need to drink a couple of beer just to become normal. It was just our mind make us think that something will happen so we get nervous. .I need people who had this king of ilness. So sad but we should accept what it is and just act normal. .message me for those who wants to talk about the problem . . and always smile. .


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## CosmicElei

guys please help me about the problem and let's have some talk about it . . message me for those who wants. .


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## Sarah1982

*Hypnotism?*

I'm 29 and have had a shake in my head for around 7 years. It hasn't got any worse over the years but the longer it goes on the more it upsets me. It's just damn embarrassing and I hate that people ask if I am nervous or cold when I'm not all the time. It first started at the hairdressers when I got a guy I didn't know. He wasnt very friendly and my head just kept shaking. Ever since then when I feel someone's eyes on me or just if I am sitting still in front of my computer I can feel the shake. When I get my photo taken too, it gets really bad. It doesn't just feel like this is coming from my neck, I feel as though the shake is coming from deep inside me.

I have generalised anxiety and take 20-40mg propranolol (beta blockers) as and when required, usually once or twice a week. It doesn't seem to have much of an affect on the shaking but does help me feel less worried about it, which tends to help in a round about way. I have also tried acupuncture which didn't work and some intense massage which seemed to have a worsening affect. I also went to CBT for 6 months which did help my anxiety, but again had no affect on the shake. I agree that alcohol does make it stop but that only helps on a night out I guess.

Anyway, the way it started leads me to think its purely psychological, kind of like people who blink their eyes a lot etc. I am going to try hypnotism to see if that will help. Has anyone else tried this? I'll post back up in a few months and let you know if this has had any effect. I'm also going to try some vitamin b complex and fish oils in case, as the previous user mentioned, it is dopamine related.

Wish me luck!


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## kc1895

Sarah1982 said:


> I'm 29 and have had a shake in my head for around 7 years. It hasn't got any worse over the years but the longer it goes on the more it upsets me. It's just damn embarrassing and I hate that people ask if I am nervous or cold when I'm not all the time. It first started at the hairdressers when I got a guy I didn't know. He wasnt very friendly and my head just kept shaking. Ever since then when I feel someone's eyes on me or just if I am sitting still in front of my computer I can feel the shake. When I get my photo taken too, it gets really bad. It doesn't just feel like this is coming from my neck, I feel as though the shake is coming from deep inside me.
> 
> I have generalised anxiety and take 20-40mg propranolol (beta blockers) as and when required, usually once or twice a week. It doesn't seem to have much of an affect on the shaking but does help me feel less worried about it, which tends to help in a round about way. I have also tried acupuncture which didn't work and some intense massage which seemed to have a worsening affect. I also went to CBT for 6 months which did help my anxiety, but again had no affect on the shake. I agree that alcohol does make it stop but that only helps on a night out I guess.
> 
> Anyway, the way it started leads me to think its purely psychological, kind of like people who blink their eyes a lot etc. I am going to try hypnotism to see if that will help. Has anyone else tried this? I'll post back up in a few months and let you know if this has had any effect. I'm also going to try some vitamin b complex and fish oils in case, as the previous user mentioned, it is dopamine related.
> 
> Wish me luck!


You have the symptoms of Tourette syndrome. There is medication that could help you with that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourette_syndrome


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## Lbj0714

I'm so relieved to have stumbled upon this forum as I was completely convinced that I was the only person with this problem. At first I wasn't quite sure what the problem was but I now know that it is SA. I started getting the head shakes about 5 months ago. It was very bad then went away completely for about 2 weeks. Then with college finalscoming up, my stress levels began to rise and I started to experience the head shaking once again. It's been going on ever since and it's pretty damn embarrassing and very depressing. Drinking definitely works but seems to make it even worse the following days. Wish I could be normal again as I would like to consider myself an outgoing person, funny, and a joy to be around. But ever since the head shaking and stiff neck thing occurred ive had a difficult time being myself and have been dodging my friends and all social events. Cant even go to the dentist without shaking... Dentist must of thought I was insane lol. . 
Most importantly this has definitely ruined my life as I can't gain the confidence to go back to school, and I have no love life as I'm only able to socialize with girls when intoxicated. Figured the only way to overcome this is by remaining optimistic and to keep praying every night. 


Thanks for your time and I'm glad that I'm not the only person dealing with this issue.


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## Sarah1982

Lbj0714 said:


> I'm so relieved to have stumbled upon this forum as I was completely convinced that I was the only person with this problem. At first I wasn't quite sure what the problem was but I now know that it is SA. I started getting the head shakes about 5 months ago. It was very bad then went away completely for about 2 weeks. Then with college finalscoming up, my stress levels began to rise and I started to experience the head shaking once again. It's been going on ever since and it's pretty damn embarrassing and very depressing. Drinking definitely works but seems to make it even worse the following days. Wish I could be normal again as I would like to consider myself an outgoing person, funny, and a joy to be around. But ever since the head shaking and stiff neck thing occurred ive had a difficult time being myself and have been dodging my friends and all social events. Cant even go to the dentist without shaking... Dentist must of thought I was insane lol. .
> Most importantly this has definitely ruined my life as I can't gain the confidence to go back to school, and I have no love life as I'm only able to socialize with girls when intoxicated. Figured the only way to overcome this is by remaining optimistic and to keep praying every night.
> 
> Thanks for your time and I'm glad that I'm not the only person dealing with this issue.


Oh the dentist thing- that's familiar to me too. Have you tried getting beta blockers from your doctor? These help me in situations such as the dentist or hairdresser and my shaking is greatly reduced when I take them an hour before the event. They are also very useful for feeling more socially happy and helping to forget about the shake. Although they are not a miracle cure and i still hate my shake and have bad days, they do help manage the shake a bit in the worst of sutuations, and are non addictive and not anti depressants. It's horrible to hear you think this has ruined your life. I find with these tablets I can cope with work etc much better and would recommend trying them. Good Luck.


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## Downtheriver

For anyone who still frequents this page because of it being the first Google result for anything related to what is being discussed, I will share my story.

I have always noticed how my grandmother didn't have Parkinson's but had uncontrollable neck movement and hand movement. I thought it had something to due with the nitrates she took for her heart until I looked online. I found nothing related to her other health problems that could cause this uncontrollable movement. I became paranoid that I too would somehow contract this illness. I am not a hypochondriac, but my mother was and so was her mother and so are my aunts. Maybe I am a Hypochondriac because I think I will have it from having so many realitives that have it :lol . Anyways, I have noticed the unnatural head shaking began when I was frequently in situations where I was being watched while doing something, but had no ability to see the observer. This feeling of one-sided observation, fed my nervousness and created a cycle of nervousness->more head-shaking->more nervousness->.... Somehow this one situation type of condition I would get in, seemed to evolve over time. It never effects me when I am alone, only when other people are around, and it's seems to disappear if I focus on where I am looking rather than my neck. One of the most embarrassing times it has happened was when I was going to get my license and the lady at the counter was asking all the obvious questions and when she reached the one about motor control or tourettes, she laughed after she asked the question. I didn't know whether to be mad with rage or be embarrassed. After that when I sat down to get my picture taken my head wouldn't stop shaking, and as others have said, the more the fight it the more it shakes. I was completely embarrassed, I heard laughing and snide remarks as I left, but luckily it didn't happen in front of any of the officers running the DMV, so nobody important knew. I just told this story so that others in the same position as me have yet another story to add to the list of people who carry your burden. You are not alone.


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## A3rghee029

Yeah. Anxiety started gradually from smoking pot at 14. 15 I experimented with acid(doubtfully LSD) then around 16, still a pothead, I got worse around people. locked myself in my room. Eventually Triggered serious Panic attacks whether high or not. Presently, If not on xanax, I WILL twitch if I look strangers in the eye.


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## Neterzay

*Get off the pills*

Dealing *with these kind of symptoms is a hard work. I have these kind of reactions (uncontrollable head jerking) every * time I forget to how not give a sh*t about what other people think. When I am in touch with my "not giving sh*t"sensors I am less likely to have those head jerks. It works about 95% of the time. Every ones in a while unexplained fear will set it and I would freak out and just starting shake my head like I am agreeing really fast to cover up head shaking.*
I have tryed pot few times but not enough to cause damage, hence I think my head jerking started before I have tryed pot. What ever happened in my life that caused this neurosis must of happened long time ago may be when I was a kid. Something or some event really effected my psyche. I think people like us have been predisposed for this kind of damage due to our highly active imagination, which is a gift in a way. Unfortunately this gift is being used by our minds in the damaging way, kind a in obsessive compulsive way.*
So for me, I have to remind my self that I DO NOT GIVE A SH*T what people will think if I started to freak out, so this way when I face an event or situation the energy that would normally be used by neurotic twitch will be transformed into confidence instead. But if the situation happened to appear too intimidating then go ahead and let your body act out, and it's important to remember that the situation is likely not fatal.*
Definitely would advise to get off any mood altering *substance, overtime it turns people into dead souls. Meditation is the best pill for stress.*
Look into vipassana, it's a hidden gem, SN Goenka assistant teachers can teach you in one of their retreats, it's free and no bull sh*t or brainwashing just meditation technique.*
Hey I would love to hear from anybody who wants to talk or just need somebody to listen.*
Feel free to reach out to me. (I am not medical professional, I am just someone who has dealt with lots of issues my self and who has a heart and patience to listen)


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## dig22

Neterzay said:


> Dealing *with these kind of symptoms is a hard work. I have these kind of reactions (uncontrollable head jerking) every * time I forget to how not give a sh*t about what other people think. When I am in touch with my "not giving sh*t"sensors I am less likely to have those head jerks. It works about 95% of the time. Every ones in a while unexplained fear will set it and I would freak out and just starting shake my head like I am agreeing really fast to cover up head shaking.*
> I have tryed pot few times but not enough to cause damage, hence I think my head jerking started before I have tryed pot. What ever happened in my life that caused this neurosis must of happened long time ago may be when I was a kid. Something or some event really effected my psyche. I think people like us have been predisposed for this kind of damage due to our highly active imagination, which is a gift in a way. Unfortunately this gift is being used by our minds in the damaging way, kind a in obsessive compulsive way.*
> So for me, I have to remind my self that I DO NOT GIVE A SH*T what people will think if I started to freak out, so this way when I face an event or situation the energy that would normally be used by neurotic twitch will be transformed into confidence instead. But if the situation happened to appear too intimidating then go ahead and let your body act out, and it's important to remember that the situation is likely not fatal.*
> Definitely would advise to get off any mood altering *substance, overtime it turns people into dead souls. Meditation is the best pill for stress.*
> Look into vipassana, it's a hidden gem, SN Goenka assistant teachers can teach you in one of their retreats, it's free and no bull sh*t or brainwashing just meditation technique.*
> Hey I would love to hear from anybody who wants to talk or just need somebody to listen.*
> Feel free to reach out to me. (I am not medical professional, I am just someone who has dealt with lots of issues my self and who has a heart and patience to listen)


I agree, sometimes i find if i use **** it all thoughts (the same with being drunk) it is all fine.


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## dig22

dig22 said:


> I agree, sometimes i find if i use **** it all thoughts (the same with being drunk) it is all fine.


hmm you can not swear on here... the **** should say Feck


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## Minaret

I have been using magnesium supplements since July and do not take any drugs. I cant tell you how much it has helped. My head has stopped shaking, my anxiety has reduced, this is a miracle. I have to take a high dose. I read all the research from the Australian studies using magnesium for all sorts of nervous disorders... well it works folks


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## Mary181

First of all, I'm happy and sad at the same time that there are people like me who kas this kind of problem. I use to think that nobody else has it and that made me feel even more frustrated. So here's my story and the solution as well.
The first time my head started trembling was during junior high. I was bullied quite a lot and since much emphasis was put on how you look (clothes etc), I was always very tense. One day I was sitting on the bench in a hallway, I looked on the right very quickly and when I looked straight again, I had a tremble. However, that didn't last long and I remember that - after changing the scool - in 10th grade that problem stopped. I wasn't bullied either. I was perfectly able to look people in the eye and have normal conversation with them. As to public speaking, I was always very nervous (still am), my hands were shaking a lot, but that's quite normal, embarassing but normal. 11th grade was the year everything changed. I cannot even remember what triggered it but my head started shaking everytime I looked someone in the eye. Usually it occured when I had to talk to teachers or someone I hadn't met before. It didn't happen much with my classmates, at least not with those who I was friends with. It was quite terrible: I just sat on my seat and everytime an eye-contact appeared my head trembled. Just for a brief second but it was definitely noticeable. Therefore I felt extremely embarrased and mostly just avoided looking people in the eye. My self-esteem was very low. After finishing school I went to university. At first everything was quite good then one day I had to speak about something while doing a group exercise and then tell the lecturer our answers. This is when the tremble came back. So, the worst thing, as many of you have mentioned as well, is when you are being noticed having a tremble. I'm quite sure that the lecturer noticed it and that's when the loss of self-confidence kicks in. You think that they think that something is very wrong with you, even if they actually don't care. As the semester continued, the trembling kept going with the same lecturer. The utterly embarrasing thing is, it makes them feel bad, too. As if they are doing something wrong which makes the situation even worse. It didn't happen with other lecturers or professors because if my head doesn't tremble and they don't notice it, I am much more relaxed and active in their lessons. After coming home one day and starting to cry because of another incident I decided that I needed some kind of help. So I went to a psychiatrist. It was very unpleasent. I started crying etc. I was written some anti-depressant pills which is used to treat panic attacks as well (that's what was supposed to be wrong with me and I think it was correct). You might think that this is the solution: take some pills and get over your anxiety. Well - no. The pills didn't do anything but make me sleepy and the anxiety attacks didn't go anywhere. What did happen was that I found an article about a person with a similar issue and they were told to do breathing exercises. And that's what really made me feel better. Breathing deeply is what decreases the nervousness because when you breath deeply for at least about 5 minutes, the oxygen relaxes you muscles. And it might seem to corny but I also started to work out. I am confident that my low self-esteem is caused by the negative picture that I have about myself. I do consider myself as an intelligent, humorous and warmhearted person but I don't like my body as much as I should. I have never been overweight but a little bit here, a little bit there... It doesn't mean that you have to run 10 miles every day or hit the gym. Just 3 or 4 times a week - go take a walk or a slight jog or something that makes you tired. Listen to music that makes you happy.
I suffered from head tremors for so long that I was ready to try everything. The solution was so much easier than I had expected. I still have these tremors sometimes, i.e. I see the lecturer I talked about earlier or when I haven't exercised for days but it's so much better now. So, here are the exercises that I do, and please at least give it a try. Don't think that "oh this is some crap and it won't help me anyway". Here are the exercises: http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Neurology/Shaking-Tremors-in-my-head-for-many-years/show/980408

Good luck and remember - when you want to change something then do something!


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## llanerocaracas

*head shaking*

I am having the same problem.. not all the time but often. I feel like I am loosing control of my life. I am becoming very unsocial and hardly talk to people anymore. I dont have long conversation with anyone, just quick words. I was not like this before, verything started about 4 yrs ago and still this things wants to control my life. I went to the doctor who prescribed me anxiety medication. I have differents types and makes my shaking even worse. I dont know what to do anymore.


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## Reem majors

*I feel u*

I first noticed mine when my clonopin was late in the mail and it was friday and I was out.I told myself I would keep on with my daily routines and not let it stop me(side bar:not a good idea; its best to rest; the withdrawal did me in)During this period it was a get together and people kept laughing at me and I didnt know why(that with the withdrawals was beyond cruel and unusual....)So later I found out that out of all the possibilities in my mind as to why they might be laughing it was something that would of never made my list,my head shaking.After it got easier because it happened alot but thats just the way I found out.As serious as it may seem a sense of humor in your own my even if not spoken helps,and also the less u worry about it the less itll happen.This is easier said than done.I can suggest getting a eeg I got on and mini seizures was spotted.They come and go with anxiety but with the diognosis they were able to give me levetracitam which helps alot.I would suggest a video eeg as uncomfortable as it may be I say this because ive gotten quite a number of eeg's but it didn't get spotted until a video eeg was done.Also theres a therapy I can advise to look into where you have a word that you chose that over time will relax your muscles when you say it to your self and this works well for me also,it just takes time to build the response to the word up so ur muscles will relax more and more when its said and heard.Alright blessed healing...


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## ThirtySix

Extremely thankful that this thread exists.

I'm still in highschool, I don't do any weed, or take any drugs or medication. This started a year ago for me out of the blue. From what I recall, it's the anxiety that started first at a very minimal level, but then this came along - it blew my social anxiety out of proportions and I felt like I had lost total control. For the whole school year I suffered. Right now, it occasionally comes back, but I am way better these past few months.

I don't take any medications, but what's been helping me is to *keep reminding myself to breath *- to take the moment to breath in and breath out slowly whenever I feel these attacks happening. I really suggest breathing exercises too/meditations.

I hope this helps. *Just give yourself the time to breath,* at any moment, and at any time. Assure yourself that you're in control, and that everything is okay.


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## Signet

you are right to do so... weed can be so harmful....


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## bazinga

I've been through your situation. I was a smoker for half my life, which means I started in my early teens. Daily smoker. At first it was great, but as you get older, responsibility kicks in. You start to feel anxious. Next thing you know you are thinking irrational things and it stresses you out to the point that you twitch. I used to twitch particularly in the lips so I would bite down on things to help stop it. Now I have a biting habit.

In my situation I got help. I went in for anxiety and depression and ended up learning a whole lot about myself. After a lot of experimentation, my med cocktail is low-dose antipsychotic (a weight neutral one, Saphris). It stopped the irrrational paranoia and racing thoughts and reduced my anxiety tenfold so that I no longer twitch or even think about twitching anymore. I also take a mood stabilizer for Bipolar. I used to take antdepressant but I don't even take that anymore.

I know my situation is probably unique to yours but I'm just saying you can actually find a way out of that. In fact after getting stable I've come to enjoy herb again without any paranoia or twitching.

Also, whats very important is the strain of bud. Regular bud tended to usually make me nervous and focus on my body. Kb was super strong but usually caused paranoia and anxiety. I know a guy with dispensary mj and I can tell you that medical mj is amazing. So the strain is also important. You smoke so-so herb for lengthy periods of time you really start to get paranoid which can stick for a while.


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## Daisywithflowersinherhair

*Head shaking*

I know this is from four years ago but I thought I was the only one that experienced this, it's weird, I'm overall quite a confident person, I'm actually a nurse working and caring for people all the time, yet whenever I'm put into a situation as normal as you described e.g. talking one on one or having my haircut, my head shakes, I don't feel nervous but it's like my body is, it's just embarrassing, I've tried taking natural herbal tablets to combat anxiety but nothing seems to work, if anyone has an answer please help!


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## PamelaA

i have this since i was in 6 grade, i didnt know what was happening to me, now im 16 and this wont stop, i get sad sometimes, cuz i know people talk about me cuz of this head shaking!! feel nervous! some classmates laugh! Does some one knows what the name of this weird head shaking! when people tell me, u need to pay attention in class, im just like "ok" , because ican't really pay attention in class, i would if i could! its just sad!


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## srinivas

I am also facing the same problem, i neck shaking when i give peach or in meatings. now i am using nexito plus 5mg tablets one a day. now i came out of the problem. this tablet contains 'escitalopram oxalate 5 mg,clonazepam 0.5 mg'. 
bend your head a side or down a little to avoid this problem


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## srinivas

I was also facing the same problem, my neck was shaking when I gave speach or in meatings , I started using nexito plus 5mg tablets one a day, slowly I came out of the problem. this tablet contains 'escitalopram oxalate 5 mg,clonazepam 0.5 mg'. 
bend your head a side or down a little to avoid this problem


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## lucy2

Hey, I get this too, really sucks, has anyone been able to overcome it? Im using beta blockers, but im going to the doctor to try and go off them, only been on them for about 3 weeks. 

Its getting out of hand, It used to be i only feared eating in front of people i didnt really know but now i cant eat in front of hardly anyone, and the tot of being in uni in a room full of people scares me.

Help


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## Vince1988

*glad to see im not the only one!*

my neck tremors started about 3 years ago when I was 21. I started noticing it in class when I would have to stand up in front of everyone. it will shake pretty rapidly and move to either side. not like seizure shaking but enough to where if someone was paying attention they would notice. it never happens during job interviews or any other situation except when I am in a large group of strangers and they are looking at me. I have not seen a doctor about it because I think its just psychological and I hope I can manage it myself, although that hasnt done very much good to this point lol. but I am trying hard to face it. i will purposely raise my hand in class and ask questions so i can get used to the pressure and hopefully it will slowly go away. I would rather stay away from pills and stuff cause i would rather beat it without having to take drugs for the rest of my life. anyway best of luck to everyone in finding ways to overcome this, I will definitely be coming back to this site for help.


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## ThirtySix

Back again to this post guys. I found a new technique that works for me better. It's a breathing technique I learned from this video:






I do this whenever I can, exactly when I feel the slightest hint of anxiety. Sometimes, together with stretching my arms and my shoulders, I feel more relaxed. Hope this helps!

Thanks *srinivas*! Tilting my head does work a bit


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## agammon001

Wow, so glad I'm not alone in this, I'm currently 20 and I've had this strange head shaking since I was about 11/12. I have always been a very quiet person and its only in the last two years that I've got better at communicating. I still find it extremely hard to make friends and simple things like eating and walking down the road can get me nervous and result in this head shaking. I recently applied for an internship, I was extremely red in my interview but somehow I got the job, on the first day I had to meet the team, they were all in a meeting room around a big table and I held in the shakes as long as I could but by the end of the introductions I couldn't help but shake, the boss noticed and I was worried he'd think I couldnt do the job. I have to do several presentations for this job and I'm so worried I'll mess it all up and freak everyone out with my head shaking. Its become such an irritating thing as Ive had it for so long, I just wish there was a way to control it but it seems the more you try the worse it is


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## onenation2008

*Tremors GRRRR*

I remember the day that I developed my neck tremors. It was in 2008 and I was working as a cashier at Wendy's. I'd gotten a new haircut and dyed my hair. I was getting a lot of attention which I really enjoyed but all of a sudden, my neck started twitching while I was standing at the drive thru window waiting on the customers at my window to drive up to the next window. I didn't look at them, but I felt like they were staring at me. Maybe they were, maybe they weren't. I thought it was really weird because I had no social anxiety at all. I loved talking to new people. The head shaking kept on throughout the night and the next day but eventually faded for the most part and only happened seldomly for the next 3 years. After I had my first child in 2011, it came back full force. It even caused my hands to shake. It got so bad that I decided to visit a chiropractor in Feb 2013. He found that I had scoliosis. My lower back curved inwards too much. He also found an abnormal curvature of the spine in my neck. It can be corrected but it will take awhile. After my second visit, my tremors went away for a day but came right back. I have had a little more relief and sense of hope since going to the chiropractor, but it is a slow process. I want results now! Like everyone else lol. I also get tense when I feel like someone is looking at me. I can't look their way or I feel like my twitches will spin out of control. If I hold my head in one position, I can control it but as soon as I turn my head to look at someone, it happens. Also, looking people in the eyes can set it off too. It's worse when I am cold and nervous. The chiropractor has relieved about 80% of the shaking that was in my hands and the jitters that I felt in my body. When it gets really bad, I have to hold my chin like I'm in deep thought or rest my cheek on my hand. My neck and shoulders constantly hurt from the tension. Chiropractor told me to put ice packs on my neck for 15 minutes at a time. It helps relieve pain. Resting relieves the twitches. Personally, I feel like my problem is a mixture of physical and mental. I am looking into seeing a neurologist next.


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## onenation2008

*Exercise for Tremors*

I wanted to explain an exercise that you all could try that may help your tremors....

First, stand with your back against a wall. Rest the back of your head against the wall as well. Easy enough, right? Now reach both arms up over your head. Place the palm of your right hand over the back of your left hand and grasp. Bring your hands down to slightly right above your head as close as you can get without touching your head. Keep your hands grasped together. Don't let go. Your elbows should be slightly bent at this point with your hands grasped together over your head. Now stretch your arms back and try to touch the wall with your elbows. Your arms, neck, and shoulders may tremble while your doing it. Do this often everyday and it may help alleviate some things that come with the neck twitches/tremors. It could possibly even ease the tremors away as well.


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## SpaceLord

Well, it's a pleasant thing to know that I am not entirely alone with this issue. I am 32 years old and have had anxiety, in many forms, since I was a teenager. This anxiety of social situations, environments and settings has only become worse as I get older. I have learned, however, that the more withdrawn a person stays from the public eye because of this fear, the worse it gets. It's like fueling the train. I haven't quite learned to beat this yet, but I'm trying. 

My most embarrassing issue, like many here, is the head shaking. At times it's up and down, other times side to side. My hands too. Sitting in chair at the barber shop/hair salon is the worst. The small size of those places, and god forbid it's packed, is terrible. Almost 2 years ago my head shook while a stylist was trimming up my sideburns and she asked "why are you shaking"? I haven't been back. Sitting in traffic is another issue. Being at a red light with cars all around just about does me in. I get that terrible sensation that I'm being stared at and I can feel my head starting to shake. Making, what appears to be, eye contact with the person behind me via the rear-view is even worse.

Going to the grocery store is hell. I try to go early when nobody is there. Bars and clubs are out. Dates have been on hold. I truly wish that the comfortable feeling one can achieve via alcohol could be felt by me all day long. Perhaps even that "chill" feeling you get from just being alone in your room reading a book. That "calm". It doesn't translate to the outside world. 

Muscle tension is terrible as well. Constant. Without proper meds, I feel the best option is what others have stated. Cut down or elimination of caffeine, alcohol, nicotine. Proper diet and proper exercise, rest and possibly meditation and therapy. Good luck all.


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## swen

I happened to catch a radio program about the benefits of magnesium supplements just prior to finding this forum. This was on the Coast to Coast show and the guest was Dr. Carolyn Dean. Also read some comments in this thread and others about magnesium supplements, so I decided to check it out.

Almost all of the magnesium supplements that you find in pharmacies and groceries is magnesium oxide. The oxide is not very well absorbed by the body (about 4%). The rest acts as a laxative and is expelled in bowel movements, meaning that if you take too much you risk diarrhea. I used (1) 250 mg pill twice a day for almost a week. This dose did not give the laxative effect but also didn’t change the way I felt.

While I was using the oxide I ordered some magnesium citrate. The citrate comes in a powder form in 16 oz. containers. The stuff I am using is called “Natural Calm”. You can supposedly buy this citrate in health food stores but I ordered from the net. Cost about $20-25 per container – will probably last me about 2 months at the current rate of usage.

You mix this powder with water and sip it throughout the day. I have been using ¾ teaspoon in 16 oz of water twice a day. This cup of water is always with me. You need to adjust the dosage based on how the citrate affects your bowel movements

Day 1: Was weird. My whole head felt like it was shot full of novacaine (numb) and I was incredibly tired all day. I've read a lot about this stuff and haven’t heard of this affect on anyone. Perhaps it was something else I was going through?

Day 2: From this day onward the shaking has subsided almost completely. My neck muscles aren’t tight anymore. Previously it felt as though my head was too big for my neck to hold up, this feeling is gone. I have not been in any high pressure situations yet, but for everyday easy living this stuff has been great. Some of what I have read indicated that it might take a while for your body to restore its optimal magnesium levels but I noticed virtual immediate improvement.

Have been using this for 11 days now and plan on continuing it. Supposedly there are even better forms of magnesium to take but the citrate seemed cheap enough to try.

Dr. Dean has a book that she was pushing on the radio show called “The Magnesium Miracle”. I haven’t read this yet but am waiting in line for it at my local library.

Not sure what this website’s policy on links is so I wont give you any but:

A search for Carolyn Dean will lead to her personal website. There is a bunch of info there.

A search for Carolyn Dean on youtube will also yield results. The Coast to Coast radio program with her is currently there as well as several other short video clips.


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## lindugh

Glad I found this sight. Reading everyone's posts, I'm gonna try some suggestions before asking my doctor for profonal. For the past six months my head tremors in stressful situations have gotten way worse. Last week I had to get an eye exam and had severe head tremors during the exam. So embarrassing. Now I need to get my hair cut and styled and I know this is going to be tough. I am going to take an entire Ativan before I got but it will may be tired. Better that than head shaking. I had taken 1/2 an Ativan before my eye doctor apt and it did not help at all. 

I have recently stopped smoking and was given wellbutrin. I also take paxil (for about 35 years. I also have Ativan for anxiety as needed.

I am 59 yrs old. I abused alcohol and speed in my twenties and early 30's. Getting off drugs/alcohol put me into a clinical depression. I have no problem taking pills to get through life as long as they work and I can function as normal. 

I have been diagnosed with Avoidant Personality Disorder with explains my love of alcohol and speed to get me up and happy and not terrified of meeting people and socializing. Of course, falling down drunk did not make me friends and I would just avoid anyone who saw me drunk. 

I'm so happy I found your sight and know that I'm not the only one who has these head tremors.


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## NHGIER

*Same boat*

Hello, I experience headshakes also. First I want to thank everybody who has posted in this thread because it is warming to know you're not the only one with this. I was in an accident in 2005 and have been told by my primary Doctor to have a CAT scan done. Did the CAT scan and nothing was found wrong. A year later I noticed it would occur whenever I leaned my head back and kept it in a tilt for longer than 5-10minutes. I just took it as being nervous because it happened to me at some awkward times. I took notice that it begins if I drink too much caffeine or am fasting. To fix this I have stopped drinking coffee all together thinking this might be the cause of the problem but it still happens when I feel like I'm under pressure/stress and others are watching me for it.My neck starts to feel tensed, probably because I'm trying to avoid doing it. Could it be the effects of withdrawal of coffee? However recently I went back to drinking coffee, I read somewhere else that you should avoid caffeine. Like other people have said it's just something I would like to stop but have not found a good way to go about it. It makes me more cautious of this occurring which affects my social life. 
Thanks again to everybody for posting.


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## Nick1982

Wow, i've had this on and off for so long. Literally started in my early twenties, about 23 if i remember correctly. I went to Uni, was social - had slight nervousness when meeting new people but pretty much just normal nerves, nothing unordinary. Then i spent 2 years smoking weed and bingo, finished uni, ready for my life, and here was this hand shake thing. So many stories on here i can relate to. It's been quite the experience, i'm quite lonely now from it. So in my experience what works? anyway i've been seeing a therapist for a bit now and we're working through it. so this is what i've learnt.

No1 - This is learn't behaviour - You are not mad - we've learn't to do this. It happens because your fight/flight survival brain now sees these situations as a threat-fear. through Avoidance, Obsession (thinking about it every day). Living in fear of it - will that happen etc "oh no people will think this". Its now firmly lodged in our brain.

I get this, but only with people i don't know that well. don't really get it at all with people i know. so therefore why? because we don't give a **** what people we know think about it.

- No2 rule - You have to learn to not give a **** about this. It's not going to go away until you adopt this attitude. Easy to say that now i know - in puplic with everyone looking, you need balls of steel my good people. 

N03 - Don't identify with this, You are still you. On occasion you have this shake, but don't see yourself as any different to anyone else. **** what they think! could happen to anyone ok. I have seen myself - without realising - this way for some time. Doesn't help
Feeling inferior to anyone is insanity. You might not realise it, but you're alright and you're the same as everyone.

No4 - Don't spend all day thinking about it figuring it out, There's nothing to work out - see No1 & No2 - If you do you will end up with generalised anxiety where your mind will be stuck in a cycle of trying to figure the impossible out - this can go on until the day that you die! can also lead to depression and Derealization/dp (same thing). DP is the most Sh*t scary thing i've had 

N05 - Forget forget forget forget - An element of this is forgetting you have this, once you start to get over this, and you will, and even when you have it- you need to forget this shake and focus your attention on something else. Trust me - I started making real progress with this by not drinking booze and socializing, eating drinking in front of people. Once it becomes normal you forget.

No6 - Isolation - avoid this at all cost if possible, eat with people everyday, chat to people - remember you are the same thing as the person you are chatting to. Don't think oh no they'll see the hand shake. Think **** it if they see my hand shake, i'm alright **** worrying about this. Life's too short. 

No 8 - Physiology - Exercise and a diet that is wise - Cardio and weight's will help burn of loads of stress and tension and stop it building up to the point where your neck feels like an ironing board. You've got no chance if you're physiology is already permanently tense. 

Meditation - Mindfulness - check this out - this can help with Generalized anxiety

Yoga - Amazing for releasing stress in muscles - Highly recommend this

PMR - This is really good if you stick at it for a couple of weeks, can really get you out of the head shake and out of the cycle. Google MP3's of a guided on. 


No- Gradually this will go, but key is to not obsess - it's one of the many weird symptoms of anxiety. If you worry about it you'll make it worse. Try saying to yourself, " i don't care about this anymore" or even " this isn't a problem for me now"

Another point is because it's anxiety, if you "need" to get rid of it you'll make it worse. It's a paradox.

So do the above, but do them because you're curious to see what the result will be. Be kind to yourself as well. Try and enjoy the exercise an mediation. 

Also last point - If you start facing these fears eating and drinking head shaking etc, make sure you burn off the stress afterwards and look after yourself because you'll need to be loose and feeling ok each time you face it. Trust me hitting it tense with ironing board neck is f*cking suicide!!!

Also, i plan to do this final thing as i see that i have no choice. I'm literally just going to tell people this happens to me and they can deal with it. I've got nothing to lose and everything to gain. Tell them you have a tremor if you don't want to say you're nervous.

You'll only get over this by exposure, not obsessing, loving yourself, and not giving a **** about it. And get some support, i wish i'd told all my friends when i was 23 rather then losing them and waiting until 30 and trying to make new ones. 

BE BRAVE, you'll all be ok if you follow the above.


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## Nick1982

Can i just say , i've been following my own advice for the last week and went to meet a friend. I went out for drinks with some of her friends and i didn't drink alcohol.

I drank soda water, and it was all ok! there was some tension there, i wasn't 100% but it was getting better. The bank holiday is over and i'm feeling alright, no messed up head from boozing and no beer fear. If you drink to deal with this problem, i urge you to stop until you are in a better place. 


Also - this is really important for moving on - 
You've just got to remember you are ok - whatever happened in the past that made you think otherwise is now over, so forget it. you're becoming someone new now. yourself! finally!

Anybody that was a d*ck to you, or you perceived them to be, is in the past. It's part of the past. any embarrassing social things that have happened because you've had 10000ml of adrenaline racing through you, is part of the past. So when you have these thoughts, observe them and say, oh - past stuff - . That's it. Don't analyse it, figure it out anything like that. Just say, past stuff, i'm moving on. **** this, i'm alright. And get into something else, that you enjoy. get a hobby.

But remember don't obsess over this, you'll get through it. Its only a f*cked up flight or fight response. Start smiling - everything will be ok, trust me.


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## Nick1982

Oh, and manage your physiology!!!!!!!!!! without booze and stimulants. Get yourself in the best shape ever. make it part of your life now. It's so important and looking after yourself in this way is something we have to accept. I have friends that can drink smoke eat whatever and feel fine, and there's me who can have one cup of coffee and feel like he's drank rocket fuel! i've made this analogy to keep you motivated:

I have a knacked ford fiesta, i never service it, drive it terribly, bump it - i basically don't really luck after it much yet it keeps going.

Then my very lucky uncle has a ferrari: now that thing needs constant maintenance, servicing and you really need to look after it if you want it to work. But the pay off is it's a f*cking ferrari! 

I think you can figure out the analogy.

exercise, healthy eating, no stimulants - payoff is - Feel good, happy, you're in control. top fun life. look good feel great, health improves!


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## Nick1982

I meant look after


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## NHGIER

Great post @Nick1982, thanks for posting.


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## Nick1982

@nhigier it will go my friend.

I think a huge part is forgetting, and not labelling - EG - i have social anxiety, i have anxiety, i have depression.

To be honest i'm not even sure how helpful it can be to log into these forums. is it not just reinforcing this identity? i always feel so much worse after reading others problems

If you build up a identity with it it can become a self fulfilling prophesy. how can you get over it if it is your identity?

I think people have to remember that with the correct professional support and treatment social anxiety is completely something that can be overcome. it just takes time.

I am getting better, and now i just want to forget the whole thing and move on. And all of you can too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## pesticid

I read a lot of the posts in this thread and I can definitely empathize with all of you. It can be terrible! I'll try to tell my story about my social anxiety and my head shakes, which I know will bring some relief for me and somebody else might find something useful in it as well

I started getting the head shakes when I was 16. The first time it happened is when I was at a pizza restaurant. There were couples and groups of people sitting around me and I felt nervous for some reason, I felt like I was being watched even though I don't believe this was the case. My hands started trembling, which made me ashamed and embarrassed as if I were an inferior person because of this. I always used to be able to look people in the eyes but at this moment I was so embarrassed that I tried not to look at anybody. My neck and head started to get stiffer and stiffer and my head starting shaking side to side. I panicked, I left money on the table for the waiter and I left. This was my initiation to social/panic anxiety so to speak. 

I keep thinking about it over and over afterwards. I became a different person. I was an outgoing happy kid and I started to become a paranoid, neurotic teen. My head shakes were so bad at one point that they wouldn't stop for days. I could be in the house alone and they will be there, constantly there. I would spend weeks locked in the house. One time I counted 3 weeks without even looking through the window. Yes, it was that bad! I thought a neighbor could see me and judge me because of this which would somehow bring the end of the world for me. 

The head shakes led me to body tremors. I would experience tremors in my arms, chest, pretty much my entire body. My mom thought it was something physical, I prayed that it was something physical. Went to a hospital for 2 weeks and had all kinds of exams done on me for the tremors. They determined that there was nothing wrong with me and that it was nerves. 

My mom took me to a psychologist who prescribed me medazepam (I believe it acts as clonazepam). All of a sudden after taking one pill I was me again. Loud, happy, outgoing, talkative and so on and so forth. After two weeks of taking it, my condition returned. 

My biggest fear was getting on the bus and sitting in front of people when they have nothing to do but look in your direction and see my head shake. I've had literally hundreds of panic attacks just on the bus. I would hate when girls would look my way I almost always had panic attacks because my fear was that my head would shake and they would think that I am a loser, an inferior person, etc., etc. I used to think about suicide every day, collecting money to buy a gun...I started taking clonazepam at age of 21 and thank God because I was able to go through college and university. I was still very anxious because I had a lot of negative spiraling thought and my cognitive skills were not there at all. Eventually, I learned certain coping mechanisms the most important one is to let the head shaking happen, let the sweating the heart palpitations, the cold and hot chills, the tremors to happen. Let it happen. I know it's tough what other people will think of you and what not but that's the best way to go about it. Face your fear and if it happens let it happen. It won't last too long as your body will be exhausted and you will understand that this fear is highly irrational. If you fight it it will get worse and you might last longer or actually sometimes a shorter period of time before having the panic attack. You can just concentrate on your breathing while it happens, but the key is to let it happen. I am still taking clonazepam every 3 days or so as I have trouble sleeping. I still get nervous at the bus, sometimes I don't drive so I can go on the bus, subway and let it go. I still get head shakes, presentations and other situations but just because I can let it go and not go into despair afterwards it happens less often not daily like before. More so once a month or even less. 

What I have noticed as well is that people used to tell me that I would get addicted to clonazepam but I have gone from 5 milligrams a day to .5 milligrams every 2-3 days.

As far as people having fear in eating in public because of the head shakes. I've had the same terrible fears, after all that's where my anxiety began, in a restaurant. If we concentrate and become aware simply of the food, how it smells, how warm it is, how it tastes - in other words Present Moment Living or Awareness it will be so much harder for the negative thought to creep on us. 

I am not saying I am cured, I might never be but taking a little bit of medication and allowing the panics to happen has taken me a long way. Jobs, friends, girlfriends, trips around the world and social dancing and you don't have to be a prisoner of your own mind as long as you make it a point to be embarrassed in public, to let it go and to have the body symptoms as terrible as they are, that and medications are the two ways that I have found work for me at least.


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## KayCali

*Head shaking or disorder?*

Let me just say, I have read every single post on this thread about head shaking. EVERY single one. This has truly been a blessing to read your stories. Another one of my prayers have been answered. I started having head shaking about 2 years ago. The day I developed social anxiety was when I was a senior in high school having to present a project in front of the class. My yea started to shake erratically and uncontrollably. I felt judged and disgusted in myself. I went to see a doctor and was diagnosed with ESSENTIAL TREMOR, I was out on medication, all it did was make me tired. I went back to a different doctor and was diagnosed with something different , CERVICAL DYSTONIA. This is a nervous system disorder. It also causes my head to tilt to one side slightly. Many of you may have this disorder. You are not alone. TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR. They will help you. I am sorry to tell you medication, Botox injections did not help me. IT MAY HELP YOU THOUGH! Try it! There are days I cry and scream and think about suicide. Today is a good day. I read these posts. I am going to try these methods you should too (magnesium, vitamins, exercise) good luck, if you have any questions feel free to KIK me(it is a social app) : Kayna_w . God bless you everyone just know you have this for a reason okay. I believe I have this because I used to judge people and talk about people and thought I was better than other and God wanted to teach me a life lesson . So here it is. I love everyone and I don't judge!


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## BRANtheMAN1998

*weed*

When I stopped smoking weed it got worsee, I think it treats this lol #onlypotheadhere


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## Alexpee

Joined this forum just to share my experience with head shaking 

I'm 16 and since starting high school ( 3 years ago) I've noticed more and more symptoms of anxiety with one of the worst being head shaking. When I spoke about it with my friend she said she'd noticed me doing it before I started high school, mostly in situations where I would have to stand in front of the class and present something, so only situations where I was extremely nervous, however when I actually became aware of my head shaking, about a year ago, it's just gotten worse and worse. I only noticed because as I was presenting in front of my class I could see people in the back mocking me so I spoke to my friend about it.

The high school environment led me to panic about my head shaking because I felt like people would laugh at me. Worrying about it just caused me to tense up more making me more likely to start shaking. One of the things that would trigger it was a teacher calling my name to answer a question. The moments before I knew the teacher was going to pick on someone, I began panicking and staring down at the ground, shuffling my feet and as soon as I heard 'Alex ' I would go bright red and my eyes would start watering before the evil head shaking would begin. I world try to rest my head on my head to 'support ' my head but I would ultimately just have to way it out until I calmed down and stopped shaking.

Towards the end of my last year at school, only a few months ago, I was getting stressed about exams and this only worsened my anxiety. The school bell began making me jump and I eventually became terrified and would have to disguise me covering my ears as just scratching my head or resting my head in my hands. The reason I hated it so much was because whenever something makes me jump, or catches me off guard, it triggers my head shaking , just like a teacher calling my name. 

As my exams begun, I went into every single one more scared of the bell ringing that the exam itself. In every single one, around 5 minutes before I knew the bell would ring, my hands would start sweating and I felt like I just wanted to cry. When the bell did ring I would almost jump out of my seat, drawing the attention of everyone in the silent exam hall, ready for my head to begin violently shaking. Also I developed a symptom where I would be scared of my stomach making noises leading me to clench my stomach all day long which cold get very painful, and I began to suspect ibs as I tended to get quite a lot of gas especially when nervous. This made me feel terrible in exams as I would have to wait for the sensational trapped gas to pass before I could continue answering a question.

It angers me somuch and I know my performance in these exams has been greatly affected by my nervousness. Also I've had to choose a sixth form where there are no bells despite wanting to stay on at my high school. However now that I've left school I hope I an go to a new college with a different outlook on 'education' as I think a lot of my triggers are linked to my high school rather than specific situations.

I spoke to a doctor about this but my mum came in with me and 'spoke for me' making my condition sound much less worse than it is, resulting in the doctor telling me to talk about it with my friends. I learned that I will probably just have to live with this head shaking, and I know that my friends understand it and they are the only people that matter.

It's crazy to think how much I've changed, only 5 years ago I could stand in front of 500 people and be the only boy in the school singing and talent contests and now I can't speak in front of a group of ten people without shaking.


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## plasticplant

I have this as well, since age 16. I'm now 40.
It is a very bizarre condition. Nobody understands it. I saw a neurologist and he was clueless.
It's a problem in the typical situations explained by others (eye contact, barber chair, eating with utensils, etc).
It is throughout my entire body. I can shake with a tiny bit of anxiety, a tiny bit of physical exertion, or a tiny bit of coldness. It is an amplified form of "normal" tremor.
Be careful pointing towards weed as the cause. Remember that almost EVERYONE has done weed, so of course there are going to be a lot of people here with a history of both tremor and weed. Correlation and causation are two entirely different things. I only messed with weed for a couple years around age 20, and I had already had this tremor for 4 years.
I've been taking Klonopin since age 24 and it works!!! Don't take more than you need. Benzo's negatively affect your cognition. I take .5 twice a day (180 lb. male)
I have noticed a postive difference when I flushed my bowel by drinking a huge amount of water (maybe 3 gallons in one hour). The release of toxins temporarily cured the problem - if I only knew which toxins....
I'm encouraged by what I've read on this forum about "The Magnesium Miracle". I'm going to start a magnesium regiment and report back on the results.
I really appreciate everybody's posts. I hope I've been able to add something of value. I wish you the best!!!


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## differentguy

All,

Barely touched weed. That isn't to blame for my condition. Glad (sorry) to see I'm not alone here. This is something I can't talk about. Ever.

I've been in the military for 14 years. I have to get my hair cut every two weeks - max. So I endure this crap a lot. I'm normally a jittery person. I love smoking, coffee, and drinking. The straw for me was going to get my hair cut. For some reason, the noise the clippers make cause uncontrollable head shaking. This is only at a public barber. At home, it doesn't bother me. Anyways, it was so embarrassing that I quit smoking. I quit drinking coffee. It got a little better, but not much. I can remember being in my early 20s and enjoying haircuts. They felt good and put me to sleep. I have no clue WTF is going on with me, but it is embarrassing. I sweat, have a hard time breathing, and shake like crazy when the clippers come near me.

I've noticed issues in other aspects--all public. Speaking to groups causes panic attacks. Writing on whiteboards in front of people causes uncontrollable hand shakes (embarrassing). I'm terrified of going up on stage in front of my people to accept an award, even though I've done it many times. I sweat, cant breath, and shake like crazy leading up to the moment.

It isn't all bad. I've successfully spoke to crowds, gotten haircuts, accepted awards, etc. It just pisses me off that sometimes I shake.


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## teopap

I have this shaking all over my body when I'm anxious. It gets even worse when I do something stupid (simple stuff) because I was so anxious.
The places where I get a bad shaking is when I sit in the bus and there are people (at my age mostly) in the back side of it, and in the classroom, so I try to get the back seats wherever possible.


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## loophole

Sometimes my legs or hands will shake.. People will notice it. So go take a pill.. Kpins help alot for them....


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## NHGIER

plasticplant said:


> I'm encouraged by what I've read on this forum about "The Magnesium Miracle". I'm going to start a magnesium regiment and report back on the results.


I haven't tried the Magnesium yet, even though I saw it brought up by others but I'll definitely keep it in mind. I wouldn't be surprised if that's one of the things the Neurologist brings up. After scheduling for an appointment with the Neurologist that got pushed back all the way from the beginning of February, I will go this September.
I'm not really in favor of taking any medication for it because of the side effects but I'll share my results after the appointment.
Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences on this topic.


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## firefltz

*frustrated!*

I've had the head shaking since I was a tween.I knew I had the chance as my aunt,father and sister all had it.So it's definitely ET
It has shaped me into being a social phobic.I avoid anything that will draw attention to it as that will give me anxiety.It's a never ending loop.
I will pop a xanax for certain things to get me through the event with out spazzing out too much.Going out with friends I will have a few drinks,however not a really a drinking fan.
But my own kid has started to question it and it makes me feel awkward.
I tried to get my general doc to direct me to some help,but he brushed it off to age(40's).At a recent surgery prep the intern said go see a neurologists.I know what it is..I just want it to stop.Since a dr appt would amplify it I would pop a xanax and it is less noticeable,but also helps with the anxiety which curbs it a bit too.
Last year I was having heart palps so bad,no energy and I thought I was going nuts,became depressed..yet still avoided doctors.(embarrassed)I thought if this is my life ..I want out.
Hubs convinced me to just go in,so popped an old xanax(I stock pile but only use in emergency's)got some blood work and they called back saying get my self to emergency room..I was severely anemic and way low on blood,enough my heart could just stop.This led to many blood transfusions and iron infusions.I would get benadryl at these so that made me drowsy and the shaking was minimal.End up with surgery to finally correct it all(which sucked as I can not tolorate any opiods for pain relief)ibuprofen is my limit.
I look at people in everyday life and think damn wish that was me..able to just carry on in life's little tasks without shaking..but I can't.Oh the person I could have been without this curse.
I'm seriously thinking I would like to try botox to freeze up my neck and hope like hell it would help.I call myself a social phobic,but it's really the idea of shaking that prevents me from living how I would like.
A cop just came to my door,I popped a xanax but it didn't have time to kick in..oh how shady I must have looked avoiding eye contact and trembling.
I have avoided so much in life due to this and I'm sick of it..guess this is my mid-life crisis/:


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## VDima

Hello,I also have this problem((( It began in the university,on my third year,the educator began to talk to me and I felt my head began to shake when I looked in her eyes! I tried to look to a different side and all my body was tensed. It happened few times in the university and also on final exams my hands were really shaking and I noticed when I wanted to write something,my hand got so tensed,as if cramped and I could barely write. Also have problem with wet palms. It wasn't really a problem until I came to the US and people shake your hand when they first see you! And every time I thought about it-my palms got really wet! Also noticed I feel fear when somebody knocks to the door and I don't know who it is,the same when my phone rings and I see unknown number or even feel light anxiety when I get text message. When I call somebody,I get really stressed! My palms get wet,my heart beats like crazy,I mix words and voice trembles. I am scared to drive a car. That's a huge problem 'cos I am stuck at home,can't find a job or go study,I always ask somebody to drive me. And I have panic attacks every time I think about driving! So many fears I have and all of them 'cos I underestimate myself,'cos I am not self-confident. I always tried to avoid public speaking 'cos it was just a nightmare!!!  When I graduated my life wasn't stressful anymore and then I forgot about head shaking, but always had a problem drinking and eating in public! I ALWAYS have a feeling that people look at me! Then I forgot about my head shaking,but there were a lot of situations when it could shake,when I got visa f.e.,but did not...Then almost 2 years passed since I came to the US and I had to get CPR certificate and something happened that day,my body was so tensed,I felt that as soon as got to the room with few people in it. ( By the way,I feel highly uncomfortable when come to the room full of people!!!! Also feel very uncomfortable sitting in the middle in the cafe,I feel much better somewhere in the corner. ) When lesson began there were like 10 people in the room and when I had questions,when I couldn't understand something,I didn't dare to ask!!! But other people were asking and behaved themselves so relaxed! When teacher said where snacks were ( I was very hungry and thirsty),but I couldn't get up and go to the kitchen!!! And only during the break,when 5 people stayed to get First Aid,I found way to the kitchen,my hands were shaking! They were shaking 'cos I felt everybody's eyes on me ( I think it is just my imagination ) and 'cos I was very hungry. After the break second part began and I felt more self-confident,'cos 5 people stayed and 5 left. When teacher began to speak,I had a question and when I wanted to ask,I felt my breathing in my ears and began to shake and heart was beating soooooooo fast,I could feel it everywhere! Then I raised my hand and he didn't notice it and I began to think,may be I don't have to ask? I got so nervous and felt soooo miserable 'cos I can't even ask a question! I worried (not because of my head shaking ) because of my voice,it is trembling when I am stressed,worried about my breathing...When I began to ask,my voice began to tremble and I was all shaking and I felt like all those people began to look at me and my head began to shake!!!! What a shame!!! I couldn't even finish my phrase and I didn't ask what I wanted to ask! I began to hide my eyes,not to look in his eyes and it was weird,I know! His eyes got bigger and he acted like nothing happen then...I felt so embarrassed!!!! I wanted to get my second education next year,but how??????? All life is ruined because of this! All ways are shut! I know I need to go to the psychotherapist! This is the only way to fight my fears or at least,look on them under different angle,but can't effort that now. I read a lot of Russian forums and people who went to psychotherapists overcame this! They are not scared to look like a fool in somebody's eyes,they are not scared to feel fear and they are not scared to be embarrassed! They don't care any more what other people think or say! And this is so important! 
If there is no possibility to go to the psychotherapist,so we have to work with our conscience. Ask questions,why it happens? Try to analyze the reason. What may happen? Will anybody bite me? No...Will anybody hurt me in some way? No...What may happen if I make a mistake,if I say something wrong? What? Will somebody laugh at me? And what??? ))) Does it worth all my nerves??? No!!! Tomorrow anybody even remember and I will nibble myself. No! Don't want that! Don't wonna spend my life on this! I wonna enjoy it,make plans and think about something very pleasant,something that gives me positive emotions and joy))) ( I showed an example of my work with my conscience,may be it will help somebody ) We have to throw ourselves to the situations where today we feel highly uncomfortable and may be tomorrow to go out and eat in public won't be such an extraordinary thing? By the way,may be there is anybody from Pittsburgh here? I think it would be very useful to meet and try to overcome this together. 
After that CPR,when I have some meetings with people I didn't meet before,I am scared that my head will start to shake and they will think there is something wrong with me,but I try to calm myself down and say : AND WHAT??? IT'S THE WAY I AM! If it happens,just say you get nervous for some reason,if it is job interview,say that it is important for you and that's why you get nervous. And after you say it,it will go away,'cos you let it out! I hope my post was useful for somebody.
I understand everybody with this problem...
P.S. Little tip...If you have an interview or some other thing that seems important for you and you think about it and it makes you feel nervous - DON'T THINK ABOUT DETAILS! Just go and do it. That helps me a lot!


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## Johnsone

"I have had anxiety for about 4 years now. It all sort of started when I used to smoke pot, and I gradually started concentrating more and more on how I appeared to people, in turn sort of losing my identity as a result. Since then my anxiety has been based around "head shaking"." I could have written this myself. I tried many drugs when I was a kid but of all the drugs I experimented with marijuana and hash were the things that made me paranoid and self conscious. Not LSD, or peyote, or mescaline, or psilocybin, just plain ol' pot. Except for me it hasn't been 4 years I have endured literally decades of anxiety that seemed to start with this drug use all those years ago. Unfortunately because a lot of people I associated with smoked pot and also because I liked some of the effects like heightened audio/visual acuity and a stimulated imagination I smoked on and off for years before I wised up and quit. I self medicated with alcohol to reduce my anxiety until I almost died of a heart condition which of course my doctor said was no doubt exacerbated by my heavy alcohol intake over the years. So here I am all these years later having quit alcohol and I take Xanax whenever I feel that my anxiety is affecting me physically which sometimes manifest itself with head shaking. I have had people literally ask me what is wrong with me when I get overly anxious and my head shakes or I get kind of jerky in my movements and all I can do is wish I could disappear. What do you tell people ... that you're scared? Because even though we call it anxiety it really just feels like simple fear which is strange when it is brought on by something as normal as eating in front of people or getting a hair cut or speaking up in front of even a few people. And although I know it started with drug use I really don't want to explain that either so I just go through life now carrying my Xanax with me everywhere just in case I need it which means anytime I eat out or get a haircut or even just meet with friends sometimes. It sucks. It just ruins life and takes the joy out of simple things that other people enjoy and take for granted. The only comment on here that seems healthy is the one that takes some real guts and that's just letting go and letting it happen when it happens but in the past I have had people make fun of me over it and I retreated into alcohol and now Xanax. If I could just blow people off if they make a comment I suppose I could just let it happen until I don't care anymore but that sounds a lot easier sitting here at my computer than I know it will be out in public when it starts happening.


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## Quanza

I also have this issue head seems to shake when nervous scared and angry I have been diagnosed with social anxiety and PTS this is embarrassing and affects my everyday life I avoid things people stare I don't get called back from interviews anymore when usually I knew if I am called in to an interview the job is mine HELP


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## LETTY777

*It happened to me*

Hey guys!! It happened to me for years!!, it made so!! Miserable for me to go trought highschool, and university, it was horrible!!

But, incredible!! You know, what it take it away!!?

Meditation!!, and pray to god, ask him during your pray, and during your meditation you don't need to ask for anything, just get to the point, where you feel like you are like floating.

Meditation can take about 30 minutes at the beagining to be reached, but every day, you will reach it sooner and easier, and, don't ask me, how, you can know when yoou reach a meditation level, because, bealive me you will know!!

Try it please, and your life will change
no more head shaking!!!, no more embarrasment


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## LETTY777

*It happened to me*

Hey guys!! It happened to me for years!!, it made so!! Miserable for me to go trought highschool, and university, it was horrible!!

But, incredible!! You know, what it take it away!!?

Meditation!!, and pray to god, ask him during your pray, and during your meditation you don't need to ask for anything, just get to the point, where you feel like you are like floating.

Meditation can take about 30 minutes at the beagining to be reached, but every day, you will reach it sooner and easier, and, don't ask me, how, you can know when yoou reach a meditation level, because, bealive me you will know!!

Try it please, and your life will change
no more head shaking!!!, no more embarrasment

the shaking stop soo smoothly!! About 4, to 5 years ago, that i forgot to thank god!!, but latelly, i had being reamembering, how hard it was, and how thankful i should be, and, now, every time i can i tell him:

Gracias diosito!! Por quitar el temblor de mi cuello y mi cabeza, lo hiciste con tanta dulzura, que ni cuenta me di cuando ya no lo tenia, y por eso se me habia olvidado darte las gracias!!, tantas!! Tantas gracias mi ninito dios!!, gracias mi santito!!, gracias mi papa dios!!thank you so much dear god, because my life is so much easier and enjoiable now without the shaking, and, now my ninito dios, mi santito mi papa dios, i beg you soo!! Much!!, for all this kids of you, that are going to that hard situation, shaking, make hard to have any kind of relationship, speccially when it get you nervous, so, i am here my ninito dios, asking you for a big gift for all of this people, all of this good people that are your kids, that if you could please, help them to feel to help them feel to libarate that heaviness on their neck, and headm that makes them sake, when nervous!!, por favor papa dios, let them feel normal again, like all those people they look at without this problem, that they wish to feel, and be like!!, por favor diosito, te pedimos un milagro de salud en este dia por todos ellos, amen!!


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## tooafraid

I feel like shaking and anxiety goes hand in hand. I would not know what it feels like to have anxiety without shaking. If I could get it stop I'd feel heaps more positive in social situations.


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## loophole

Have both had it real bad a few time.. crazy crazy bad.. Some panic attacks the basics I wouldn't call that. Take klonopin now and it's much better. . But sometimes still get me.. but no more severe trouble breathing ones


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## Anon82

*Thanks!*

I'm so glad to have found this thread. I also have the occasional head-shaking issue, but only in high-pressure situations. If I can rest my head in my hand a moment, or take deep breaths and wait until I can take a few sips of water, it passes within a few minutes. I thought it was weird, but nice to know it's a common anxiety symptom. And it makes sense; I know I tend toward anxiety. Usually if I can keep up my sleep and exercise, eat reasonably well and watch the caffeine, I do ok.


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## NHGIER

Just wanted to post an update. I’ve been meaning to do this for awhile now but just been real busy.
I went to see the Neurologist and I let them know about my situation and already having the CT scan. The Neurologist told me the type of things to avoid like the ones which have already been mentioned in this thread IE: caffeine. The Neurolgist asked me if I could demonstrate the head shake. Of course this is the time that my shakiness decides it doesn’t want to do it. The Neurologist told me that based off my injuries and what I described I have Brown Sequard Syndrome. The Neurologist told me that there's two things I can do. 1. They could give me a Botox injection in my neck :no, or 2. Just ignore it, since it’s not affecting your daily life in a negative way. Now that I got some time I did some more research and somebody referred me to trying the tremor products Tremor Calm and Tremor Smooth. As of right now I don’t know if I’m going to try them or not but just thought I’d mention them. 
Thank you everybody for the posts.


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## Kalliber

I don't hand shake.. nasty


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## UnrealVampire

*...*

*BUMP*

The reason this happens to us is obviously metaphysical, not scientific. We have either:

i) been preachy Christian/religious
ii) have informed someone of something that someone else would have preferred we did not, hence are "snitches" in someone's book
iii) have been hypocritical for extended periods of time
iv) have attempted to built character based on deception
v) evoked the wrath of God
vi) touched drugs and evoked permanent brain damage

KIDDING!!!

Sad thing is I used to wonder if they all applied to me, simultaneously. But then I remembered that the first time this happened to me I was like 14, had tried pot like twice, and hadn't gotten into my deceptive phase yet. I took 220 volts from a dryer as a five month fetus, with a mutant permanent tooth (they develop at five months) possibly meaning my DNA has been literally e-raped; I might have some deep seeded psychological or even physiological issues with perceptions of being shocked. At 14 I was Catholic and eating pizza with my hot Catholic girlfriend, and her adulterous & still married mother. The mom bought it, and I went to take a bite and my head almost exploded. I practically forgot about that and such things until I was in my early 20s. It was really at my attention after about an 18 month on and off drug phase, when I went sober. I had to completely quit caffeine after not realizing I met the criteria for the so-called 'allergy' after like 8 years, and it seems like the damage from that has allowed the (undoubtedly much lesser) symptoms to linger a bit. I managed to have a girlfriend for three years during that time, but beyond that and some moments with family and old friends away from dinner tables, those were dark, dark, times for me. I developed into a sort of 'hater' character in what I perceived as pure self-defense, and I'm sure that mentality just made it worse in the long run... I think it happens to a lot of people on some level, I've seen it happen to most or all of my family members at one time or another, and when I get hella tense on someone for whatever reason I have seemed to have caused it in people. Seems physical and psychological, and correlated to trying to be stealthy in your mind or believing your own bs to me. Pinched nerves, maybe?

Prescription atheism, ball-grabbing, and not giving two ****s beyond our infinite selves (that exist in small bits in other people) to all of us -D


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## marlon1505

*The cure*

Hi all,

I had this for many years. When reading through the posts,many symptoms are the same. Imagine you are in a room with people (work) and unexpected some one asks you a questions and everyone is looking at you. Sound familiar? Or when walking in a room full with people, and you need to tell something about yourself. Sounds familiar? Going to the hairdresser, everything is fine until its your turn. Especially after hair washing (when you lying backwards in this thing).

These are panic attacks. The muscles in your neck (left and right) are directly connected with your brain. These muscles going down via your spine behind your shoulder plates (here you feel the tension when the attack starts, or starts feeling warm)

I learned to cope with it. I never did drugs, I do drink coffee, and I have a very stressful job in worlds most admired company (guess who) I have to chair many leadership meetings, being questioned all the time a care a lot of responsibility.

So how did I overcome my problem?

1. Concentrate on your work and life balance. It is important to find your inner strength. Whatever you do in your life, focus on your talent, and feel confident of that what you are good in. Practice at home and feel amazing about yourself. When you feel confident, you project confidence. People will acknowledge that, and automatically you feel more confident, its a circle.

2. Search in youtube for Charisma lessons. I always thought that charisma is something someone has. Its basically a way of life and easy to learn. Believe me, this works when you understand what I mean.

3. Don't use alcohol just because to feel better, you will fall in the risk of becoming an alcoholic, problems will get worser. Alcohol makes you feel more confident, therefore look at point 1 and 2 in this message 

4. How more you are going to concentrate on different things, how more you going to forget the shaking and being afraid and ultimately, you will feel much better.

This will not happen overnight. Think what we are suffering. My GP once told me, imagine you open the door and a Lion is standing in front of you, your body will react and you freeze, your pupils will widen because of panic. This is the reaction before we start shaking. Only there is no lion, tiger or any other life treating situation.

I didn't shake for almost 1,5 year now. I suffered around 4 years, walked from doctors, to physical therapist, shrinks etc. Nothing helps, and I refuse to be on medicine. I beat it myself, and damn I am proud at that!!

You need help, PM me (if possible, I am new here) if not, react here and I will send you my private email address.

All the best,

Marlon


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## Freebirdd

I am so glad I found this site. I have been dealing with this for a few years and thought I was crazy. So glad to know I'm not alone. I remember when it first happened, it was during an interview for a new job, and I had to keep breaking eye contact to stop it from happening. Like others have said though, the more you turn into a hermit, the worse it gets. As hard as it is, you've got to keep facing the problem head on. Look it in the eyes as many times as you can, accept the feeling. I haven't fully conquered it yet, but I'm trying my damned hardest to. You've got to remind yourself that it's all in your mind, and you are in control of your mind, even though it doesn't feel like it sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I am still working on it, and have to practice what I preach. But don't lose hope. I know it is literally the worst feeling in the world when you are talking to somebody, drinking out of a cup, getting a haircut etc, and you feel that feeling coming on, but remember it's all in your head. Relax. I am trying to take my own advice, and I hope some of you can find solace in it too. Life is too short for anxiety. Remember that.


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## bdaemon

Because of this problem my girlfriend left me calling me a "Psycho". I dont have anyone to even talk to whatsoever. Sometimes I wonder why I am living


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## bdaemon

I have done nothing wrong in my life. I have given everything for the people I love. Why did God have to put me through this suffering. I dont have nay single friend. I am so ashamed of this. Because of my head shaking, people done give me jobs. I dont have money to take care of my parents. I just want to make them happy


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## hammerz

meow4me1 said:


> Plese reply if you are still on this site. I have lived with this for almost 46 years. If there is anyone else please email me.
> Carole


Hi Carole, you probably aren't on this site any more, but if you or anyone else that wants to talk about this condition that we suffer from, feel free to email me. hammerz333 AT yahoo.com. Just replace the AT with @, I did that so people won't scrape my email address.

29/male here that has suffered from social anxiety since I can remember, but the head/neck thing I've had an issue with for about 9 years. Haircuts, dentist appointments, looking in mirror, pictures being taken of me, etc are all triggers. I look like a freaking bobble head doll when I'm nervous.

Honestly the bobble head thing I think is because I work on the computer and have poor posture, something is out of wack with my neck and my anxiety triggers that particular problem in my body. My neck is always tense and I feel like there is a bowling ball sitting on my head. Who knows, LOL.

Anyway I guess this is my introduction here since this is my first post. Stay healthy friends.


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## hammerz

Also pot has nothing to do with this. I love pot, but I can only smoke when I have no issues and every things going well with me.


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## hammerz

Probably killed a whole blunt in the last year LOL. I love weed, but my mental has to be right.


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## anafranil

bdaemon said:


> I have done nothing wrong in my life. I have given everything for the people I love. Why did God have to put me through this suffering. I dont have nay single friend. I am so ashamed of this. Because of my head shaking, people done give me jobs. I dont have money to take care of my parents. I just want to make them happy


Hello bdeamon, do not loose your hope. Yes, God punishes us and we did not commit a crime. I think, we are the real sufferers in this world. I do not have a friend too, I have never had before. I am 28 years old. Maybe we can reduce our pain by communicating. I feel the same and it is one of the worst thing I have ever seen. We have to beat that problem, we have no other choice.


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## salvolatile

I read a great article in Cosmopolitan when I was 15 and it described many of the symptoms and signs of shyness. The worst must be "head bobbing" that convulsive spasm that makes you look like a bird doing some sort of courtship dance. It is absolute hell and worse if you try and control it eg take a sip from a glass .. eating soup in a restaurant would be impossible. And the smile thing is awful when it turns into lip twitch and you feel like you want the ground to swallow you up!
Public speaking when you end up gasping and everyone feels so sorry for you or wonders what the hell is going on ! Your heart banging away like a trip-hammer.
I had to walk across a stage once to pick up a long service in nursing award and my legs suddenly wouldn't do what I wanted them to and I did a "silly walk"
You don't stop being shy but you do learn to manage it 
I got through 36 yrs as a nurse/manager and most people wouldn't have an inkling and certainly don't believe I'm shy / I'm not quiet either!
Propranolol does work well for many because it knocks off the disabling adrenaline rush and masks the fear. My worst fear is to be pitied because it reinforces perceived inadequacies
I used the Propranolol for a classical guitar exam when my first attempt failed and my right hand and fingers suddenly became paralysed / not useful!
Shyness is absolute hell and my heart goes out to anyone suffering / it does get better and it doesn't look as hideous to others as you feel 
I see it as an endearing quality that you shouldn't be ashamed of and I wish you all the best x


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## xoxo143

I've been suffering with this problem for almost two years now. It started when i was fourteen a couple of monthes into the school year, i had just moved schools for the third time in 3 years. It started when i was standing in the lunch Q, if i looked anywhere but straight ahead or someone i didn't know looked at me, my head would uncontrollably start shaking. And i found that the only way to stop the shaking was to shuffle my body a bit.
Then one time i had to speak infont of my whole class... urgh it was a nightmare my head and my voice were shaking like crazy, making the papper i was reading from, and holding infront of my face shake.
Thankfully though in these two years i've managed to avoid public speaking as much as possible, and i've also managed to control my head shaking at bit.
But it's worst when i'm alone, or trying to eat or drink food in the school cafeteria. It doesn't happen when i sit with people im comfortable with, unfortunatly i have no friends and the only people im comfortable with are my sister and her friend.
Im kinda relieved to see that there are other people suffer from this head shaking, and reading all these posts had helped me at bit.
I read somewhere that the only way to cure it is to:
- relax
- dont panic
- accept it and face it


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## Walliesacci

Ive been suffering with head shaking for 2 years now and its terrible. Heres the thing, I'm a one of a kind head shaker. Well at least i think i am because my head will literally shake from anything i do. When I'm walking, every step i take my head will shake. When i click my tongue on top of my mouth itll shake. When someone pats me on the back or i give someone a high five it'll shake! Any movement will make me shake! i hate it! Especially since i love riding my skateboard every trick i do my head will shake and everybody will laugh at me. Even my own friends laugh at me and imitate me. What kind of friends are those but whatever I'm not going to stay home all day and do nothing. I learnt to fight it in a way in public but most of the time i will just hold my chin. There was a point where i wore a hoodie every time i went outside for a month straight, during the summer. Now there are two reasons why i think this all happened to me. One, i took a lot of drugs in life. I smoked weed at first, then went to ecstasy, to LSD, to cocaine but thats it! Heroin and meth are for junkies. Now i did a lot of cocaine and ecstasy thats for sure. My pill count is 56 and i took 12 tabs of acid in one month (all the LSD I've consumed). i did cocaine everyday straight for 5-6 months. Two, i broke my collar bone skateboarding but in the process i hit my head very very hard, i had a crazy vision. No joke i saw myself inside a cave and i saw those chalk drawings and writings on the wall like how cavemen used to do. by the way i NEVER told the doctor that i hit my head. That happened AFTER i took all of those drugs. I thought that all of those drugs I've consumed went to my head, then when i hit my head it just shut my brain down. So now I'm like a moving bobble head and I'm about to start collage soon and get a job and i really would like help from anybody or any tips. Thank you


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## moonrock123

OK, former sufferer here. Cured now. 

I had the kind where my neck and shoulders were really tense and if somebody would look at me my neck would shake side to side. This would usually cause the other person to look away quickly and I would be horrified. This ruined many relationships before they even began and eventually ones that were fine before. 

After many years of mindfulness, searching the internet, trying countless new things, I figured it out around a year ago. What's going on (and this is in my specific case) is that you are getting a signal in your mind to look downwards in a submissive fashion. This is very common if you have low self-esteem. For whatever reasons you are resisting this head nod and downward look, most likely because you (rightfully) believe this is an non-confident gesture.

What then happens is you send a signal to your mind to not look down and your mind is automatically trying to bring your head down. The signals meet in the middle and your neck shakes very uncomfortably.

What you need to do is learn that it is OK to lower your eyes once in a while and it is a normal thing to do. When you stop resisting looking down, your neck shakes will stop. In order to stop looking down, you will need to develop your confidence and self esteem.

I wrote a very inexpensive Kindle book about this that's available on Amazon for only $2.99 that explains everything in more detail including how to build the type of self esteem and confidence that stop these neck shakes and submissive nods. I can't post a link here but it is called "How To Stop Neck Shakes and Tremors: The How-To-Guide". You can search for it and purchase it if you are interested.


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## kmd1728

amy87 said:


> i've had this condition for around 2 years now (i'm 22). since then i've been living in misery with this problem. depending on who i'm socializing with and how relaxed i feel, i would get head shakes either when having eye contact (which has gotten much better) or when drinking from a cup and eating with a knife and fork (which i think is getting worse). i've never been on drugs, i don't even consume alcohol. i'm prefectly healthy, physically good looking, doing a masters degree, happily married, and well....everything about my life is near perfect. but i have an anxiety problem, probably from my full-of-tension childhood and it only started to appear recently.
> 
> i've been keeping it as a secret the whole time (only told my husband recently) and today i decided to see if anyone else on this planet has this unusual problem. and i was so relieved to see that yes! there are people out there!
> 
> i really want to face this i've had enough!


OMG of all the posts I have read yours reminds me SO MUCH of myself. Life is stressful in general but i'm not in any terrible situations. My childhood was very difficult. So without knowing what I was doing, I repressed my feelings and moved on without dealing with them. So, those feelings reared their ugly head when I was about 24 with a MAJOR panic attack that sent me right to the ER. Have had anxiety ever since but it's recently gotten much better than it was a few years ago. However, I went into a meeting today and felt a little uncomfortable and my head started shaking again! I felt as though I couldn't think or speak clearly and began to internally panic. I felt like everyone in the room could see what was happening and all I could concentrate on was not acting weird. It makes me so angry! Also would happen when i'm drinking or eating soup or something in front of someone I wasn't super comfortable with. I had to ask for a straw for my martini or I wouldn't have been wearing it. I hate that others have to go through this but will say it is quite a relief to know i'm not alone.


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## kmd1728

salvolatile said:


> I read a great article in Cosmopolitan when I was 15 and it described many of the symptoms and signs of shyness. The worst must be "head bobbing" that convulsive spasm that makes you look like a bird doing some sort of courtship dance. It is absolute hell and worse if you try and control it eg take a sip from a glass .. eating soup in a restaurant would be impossible. And the smile thing is awful when it turns into lip twitch and you feel like you want the ground to swallow you up!
> Public speaking when you end up gasping and everyone feels so sorry for you or wonders what the hell is going on ! Your heart banging away like a trip-hammer.
> I had to walk across a stage once to pick up a long service in nursing award and my legs suddenly wouldn't do what I wanted them to and I did a "silly walk"
> You don't stop being shy but you do learn to manage it
> I got through 36 yrs as a nurse/manager and most people wouldn't have an inkling and certainly don't believe I'm shy / I'm not quiet either!
> Propranolol does work well for many because it knocks off the disabling adrenaline rush and masks the fear. My worst fear is to be pitied because it reinforces perceived inadequacies
> I used the Propranolol for a classical guitar exam when my first attempt failed and my right hand and fingers suddenly became paralysed / not useful!
> Shyness is absolute hell and my heart goes out to anyone suffering / it does get better and it doesn't look as hideous to others as you feel
> I see it as an endearing quality that you shouldn't be ashamed of and I wish you all the best x


 I simply cannot believe what i'm reading from everyone. I have never met anyone with these same symptoms, especially the head trembling. Feels like my head is inside one of those machines that mix paint at Home Depot! I pray that this goes away for all of us and that we can somehow help and comfort others who suffer from these same issues. Please let me know if you ever need someone to talk with.


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## Bunglazia

I've been following this topic for quite a while now.
It's good to read that people are sharing their feelings about this and a lot of us are on the same page, a black page that might be for some.
I've been dealing with head shaking for 7 years now.
It all started when I was carying a heavy box for too long. I had to walk with this box from the store to the trainstation.
When I arrived at the station, I took a seat and wanted to light a smoke.
Once I lit it, my head was shaking 'no'. It was weird, I felt a great tense in my neck/shoulders and arms. I figured it must have been the muscles being tired from carying all that weight. The next day I took the bus to school and noticed my head would shake when people were making eye contact. I had a feeling of embarresment but still had the thought it would go away once my muscles could rest for some time. Well, it did not go away. Days, weeks, months passed by and the shaking just became stronger. It advanced in a way that I would avoid going to places where I had to face a lot of people, especially making eye contact. It felt like I was a prisoner in my own body, knowing I was always a very social person and never before had any trouble meeting new people etc. I dragged myself through a living hell, keeping this all to myself. My life was falling apart, I was losing friends, I dropped out of school, my mood would always turn nasty once I got the shakes. After 2 years I finally had the courage to tell someone about my issues. I felt so relieved and found a lot of support through friends and family once they knew. I went to a therapist and he diagnosed me with generalized social anxiety, OCD and a few other diseases that did not make sense, but at the time I was just content with the thought that I could give it a name. The therapist put me on Lexapro and I went to see him every week for about 4 months. At first the meds were hiding a lot of symptoms but after a while I felt completely numb and not connected to people. Therapy ended and I had to go figure the rest out by myself. After 2 years I made the decision to stop taking meds. That was a good choice. I felt somewhat alive and started to do normal stuff again, But about 6 months later I fell into a dark period again. I wouldnt go anywhere, the shaking was back in business, worse than before. I broke down. Now here's something you should know, all of this time, even before the heavy box, I was smoking weed. I never connected the weed as being part of the shaking etc, very ignorant. So once I was at the bottom of the darkness, I had to find a way to chance things, diffently. I decided it was time to stop smoking weed. So I did. After 3 months or so I felt something was changing in me, like I was reconnecting to myself. I know this because I was starting to getting control back over my mind and body. Now a year later, I am still working on 'getting better' BUT a LOT has changed for me. The head shaking only happens to me when I'm alone and very very very tired. If I do get spooked about going to a place with a lot of people, I stand in front of a mirror: I slowly turn my head to the left and right, looking over my shoulder. This is a great exercise to get rid of any tension in the neck. I also tell myself that if something goes wrong, it is OK. It takes a lot of guts to tell yourself that. But, once you get to that point, you will heal, just like me. Now, I must say this is not a very well known disease in modern psychology, but slowly we are finding more stories about it, mainly on the internet. I really hope it will be noticed and professionals will start studying these symptons. For me, I don't think it has to do with shyness in the first place. The shyness becomes a symptom of the shaking and everything else that comes with it, panick attacks, mental illness and physical stuff. For some of you, the shaking might be a symptom of shyness, if so, you can still treat it like I did.
Untill they find a way to cure it and get to the bottom of it, I can only give you this advice:
-don't take drugs in any sort: meds; weed; ......
-face it instead of running from it (IT WILL RUIN YOU)
-talk about it, if not a friend/family, reach out online, share your story
-tell yourself it's OK not be ordinairy
-work out, go for a walk, go outside!
-find a creative outlet (music, art, cooking)
-cut back on caffeine and sugar (I only drink water and green/white tea)
-fill your belly with healthy food
-rest when needed, but don't get lazy
-a good night sleep, but don't sleep in 
-stop overthinking everything, if you do, pinch yourself as reminder to stop
-the golden rule: BE HONEST, BE YOURSELF

I hope you take this advice, if you want to change and start living again, follow my rules, it's been working out great for me.
We all deserve to be happy, start caring about yourself folks! 
I am still growing to become fully myself again, but the progress has been mindblowing so far. Before, I thought I would be living with these issues for the rest of my life and at some point I was about to put an end to it all. Great respect I find in myself now for turning it all around. I know you all can do this as well! Don't stop working on it, even if you can't really see the change at times, you'll get there, I promise! 

If anyone feels the need to talk to me or has any questions, I'll be gladly helping you out, PM me or react on this post.

Stay strong friends.

MJ
(my grammar might be incorrect here and there, english is not my 1st language)


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## 7th.Streeter

yup I get the head shakes..only when I'm really anxious though


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## twitchy666

I love when animals shake / spin their heads like people. Reboot

I love the ability to say NO to salespeople before they even tout their stuff


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## Bori

*I had a feeling I wasn't the only one with this issue.*

First of all its nice that we can relate with other people on this, second of all I hate this head shaking in front of people.I been having this issue for a long time now this fear of people walking towards me staring at me weather they are I dont know but I just dont like another male staring at me for no reason, sometime if Im in a restaurant sitting eating or on my minilaptop my head shake (like my nerves make my head shake like im scared)when people pass by close to my area.Also loud sound makes my head shake sometime or weird sound or when people burp i guess it mess with my concentration and i guess Im sensitive to certain sounds.I used to smoke weed too and felt paranoid like on some phobia crap sometimes.I think this head shaking is cause by some sort of fear of people staring me or approaching me when i have my head down then I try to stop it but i feel weird thinking that people think or know that i'm scared to make eye contact with them and I always think people are putting me down by their thoughts when they stare at me then i feel like they know my weakness.Loud sounds or people screaming loud when they caught me off guard make my head shake.I dont wanna look like coward shaking my head and putting my head down when I walk by people.:blank


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## kennethken

Head shaking is the symptoms of various brain haemorrhages. And it is most commonly found in the patients having Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.


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## WhyMeWhyMe

kennethken said:


> Head shaking is the symptoms of various brain haemorrhages. And it is most commonly found in the patients having Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.


I don't think you know what people are talking about in this thread.

This involuntary head shakes are caused by tightness of neck when you feel as though someone is staring, not some brain hemorrhage.


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## WhyMeWhyMe

NHGIER said:


> Just wanted to post an update. I've been meaning to do this for awhile now but just been real busy.
> I went to see the Neurologist and I let them know about my situation and already having the CT scan. The Neurologist told me the type of things to avoid like the ones which have already been mentioned in this thread IE: caffeine. The Neurolgist asked me if I could demonstrate the head shake. Of course this is the time that my shakiness decides it doesn't want to do it. The Neurologist told me that based off my injuries and what I described I have Brown Sequard Syndrome. The Neurologist told me that there's two things I can do. 1. They could give me a Botox injection in my neck :no, or 2. Just ignore it, since it's not affecting your daily life in a negative way. Now that I got some time I did some more research and somebody referred me to trying the tremor products Tremor Calm and Tremor Smooth. As of right now I don't know if I'm going to try them or not but just thought I'd mention them.
> Thank you everybody for the posts.


Thanks for your input but I highly doubt what you have Brown Sequard Syndrome. I think your doctor might have gotten the diagnose wrong.


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## david harwood

thought i was the only 1 till today


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## Tphillips

I'm 17 and I only recently started having this problem. In school I'm always nervous I can feel my head slightly shaking, my heart pumping hard and my right hand shaking. I always blush when someone talks to me or I talk to someone. I don't know why I started experiencing the shaking. I mean I was always slightly embarrassed to talk and I blushed but I only got the head shaking around 2 or 3 weeks ago. I even get nervous when the teacher is calling out the register and I have to say here. Also I don't know why but in school I always close my jaw tightly nd when I release it I feel my teeth shaking. Sometimes even at home in my room my head shakes. I have no idea what to do and it makes my life harder.


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## Sigridi

Oh, I have this problem too. But I have discovered the cause of this problem.

Head shaking is caused by a severe Magnesium deficiency. I have it because my mother didn't give me food, so my problem is worse because it comes since my brain was developing.

My advise: take magnesium in any form. Hopefully you can find a doctor who is a specialist in Mg depletion, and can get it IV. In my country, no hope.


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## nealB

I have had cervical dystonia (head tremor) for over a decade. My head pulled to the left and I suffered constant head shaking. It make me very introverted. I tried every therapy recommended and the best that happened was the Paleo diet diminished it significantly but the dystonia was still very strong. Then I discovered NCR. Developed by Dr Howell, it involves precise body work followed by endo nasal adjustments determined by specific stability tests. The endo nasal adjustments involve a balloon being inserted down one of the three nasal cavities in either nostril and then being briefly inflated. (Slightly uncomfortable, but it only takes seconds) This adjusts the sphenoid, the bone which balances the head on the spine and influences in the cerebral spinal fluid system which, as well as being the fluid which nourishes the brain, also travels down the spine. This sphenoid adjustment has a profound affect on the neurological system. I cannot do the technique and its impact on dystonia justice in a short paragraph, but within my first 4 treatment block the dystonia reduced by roughly 80%. It is advised not to do the treatment more than once a month to allow the body to adjust and absorb the ongoing effects. I am half way through my second treatment and my head is nearly centred, mostly it now remains still and I am astonished at the recovery in such a short space of time. I wish somebody had told me about this years ago. Here is the website where you can contact practitioners http://www.ncrdoctors.com/ and of course you can also google local ones. I live in Australia and am fortunate to live near the only practitioner in the country, in the Bryonshire region.There is a practitioner in the UK: http://www.lsfo.co.uk/neuro-cranial-restructuring/


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## Rex87

I have the head shake thing. It started last summer. Which is when my true social anxiety started happening. Than I had a brief cure with my new girlfriend. But by Dec my social anxiety was back with a vengeance not even my girlfriend could help. Ending up losing both her and my job. I guess the head shake thing was just me saying I don't want to hear it or deal with it no more lol. So I guess I'm in my find myself part of my life. Hopefully I can get over this thing. I'm a fighter so I should but damn SA is so damn tough!


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## Mikezb

I've experienced this since age 10.
When trying to hold eye contact for more than a second or eat in front of people I didn't know, I would have head tremors, called, I believe, "essential tremors," which others have described as quivering in a way that seems to be tiny "no" head shakes.
Have come to realize recently that many people suffer from this.
It can be horrible.
One thing I learned helped was consciously relaxing my shoulders when I expected this to occur. I realized my shoulders would tense and rise when I was anxious.
Another thing was realizing that having it happen didn't make people shun me. It didn't affect friendships and I had many girlfriends in spite of this before marrying.
It still happens from time to time, but the frequency has lessened.
Hang in there and don't let this stop you from living your life. 
You're not alone.


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## Tigerx

Wow!! I am shocked to read everyone has the same symptoms as i..looks like this post has been around for a few years now, has there been any new developments to cure these symptoms? I wonder what we all have in common to be experiencing the same symptoms...Any interest in creating a facebook group in order to explore these symptoms and try to solve this and cure this terrible thing?


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## tommyunknown99

Im only 19 and ive had this for about 6 months. It has to be the worst thing i have experienced. Started off mild but is frequent now and even happens when im at home alone, although gets alot worse when im looking at someone in the eyes, especially a stranger. It has caused me severe anxiety and near on left me housebound. Transformed me from happy person to a complete mess. I dont know what to do anymore. Everytime i go out, i literally cant take my focus away from the shaking and i get pissed at myself and end up coming home angry. Its ****ed up my life so much. I pray theres some sort of cure out there, i cant take this **** much longer.


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