Uncontrollable shaking facts

Uncontrollable shaking of the hands or legs might be really upsetting sometimes. This kind of shaking can have a large variety of causes, many of which are not serious or long-term, but sometimes it can indicate a neurological disorder as well.

The first symptoms include uncontrollable and unstoppable shaking of the hands, legs or the head that usually last for a couple of seconds. There might be several different reasons for the uncontrollable shaking, including cold temperatures, fever and associated chills, anxiety, too much coffee, low levels of glucose in the blood and used medications, but it could also point to thyroid problems, essential tremor or Parkinson’s disease.

Common Causes of Shaking

Young people shouldn’t automatically worry about Parkinson’s disease as the cause of their shaking. In most cases, their hands or legs shake because of anxiety or an excess intake of caffeine. Everyone can get nervous at some important meetings or events. People might experience anxiety, suffer from panic attacks and also some uncontrollable shaking when feeling nervous. There is no reason to worry about seeking physical medical treatment, if once the cause of nervousness passes, there goes anxiety and shaking as well.

Drinking too much caffeine, from coffee to energy drinks, may also cause shaking. Caffeine stimulates your brain and interferes with its functioning, causing your body to react with involuntary shaking when consumed in large amounts.

Low blood sugar, after a long day without sufficient amount of carbohydrates can also be the cause of muscle weakness and trembling hands.

Cold and fever can also be some of the reasons for uncontrollable shaking of the hands and legs. When it’s really cold outside, you might experience “cold chills” or shivering of the body, as the normal reaction to the cold weather.

More Serious Causes of Uncontrollable Shaking

Use of certain medication can also have shaking as the consequence. Anti-depressive medications, drugs used to reduce stress and Albuterol could cause shaking of the hands and feet. Albuterol, used to treat asthma, is also known to cause seizures in some of the patients who use it.

An overactive thyroid gland can produce excessive amounts of thyroid hormones and thus cause involuntary contraction of the hand and feet muscles and lead to the shaking of these body parts. Because of that, anything that affects the thyroid gland, whether medications or diseases, could cause uncontrollable shaking.

Sepsis, in which the immune system becomes overloaded while fighting a serious infection, can also cause uncontrollable shaking. Sepsis, which leads to a fever and chills in addition to a rapid pulse, sweaty skin, trouble breathing and fainting, among other symptoms, is a serious medical emergency. Immediate care is needed to save the person's life.

Essential tremor and Parkinson’s disease are the most well-known serious causes of uncontrollable shaking of the hands and legs, and so people who start shaking may immediately be worried about them, especially Parkinson's disease. Essential tremor is a disorder caused by damaged nerves. It can be inherited and the resulting shaking could affect any part of the body.

Parkinson’s disease is caused by the deterioration of the specific part of the brain, related to muscle movement. Nerve cells in this area of the brain start to lose their function and patients eventually lose the coordination and the ability to voluntarily move some of their muscles. This condition can be eased and treated with some medications and physical therapy.