I’ve been thinking, that the 15-20 minutes of shaking after every vasovagal syncope event are not psychogenic.  There’s a problem with the mind-body separation hypothesis, and it infects the diagnostic criteria for movement disorders.  The mainstream medical establishment wants to know if a non-epileptic seizure is psychogenic or physiologic.  I don’t see the distinction because the mind and body are not separate, but inextricably interactive at all times.

There is no shame in being anxious.  People are afraid of all sorts of things, because we’re human, and because not a single one of us has escaped trauma in our past.  Fear is a gift, when not overwhelming.  When I say I’m not anxious of needles or blood, it doesn’t mean I’m fearless.  Sure, I’ve got white coat syndrome, but that’s not what makes me shake.  It doesn’t help though, and biochemically speaking is something that makes it worse.

I’m going to speculate that the reason my shaking episodes look like parkinsons, and act like parkinsons, with akathisia, and a little dystonia thrown in for good measure, is because of 15-20 minutes of relative dopamine deficiency after an acetylcholine spike.  I’m going to speculate further that some dysautonomia tremors can be fixed with Benadryl, and some can be fixed with beta-blockers.  The medical forum comment cloud of people have already figured out that beta-blockers help sometimes, but I’ve never heard anybody describe a dysautonomia tremor as extrapyramidal, and I’ve never heard anybody try Benadryl, except maybe the mast cell activation syndrome people.

I’m not really interested in hearing that it is a “hysterical psychogenic pseudo-seizure.”  Words matter.  If you called it a transient relative dopamine deficiency instead?  Or a transient extrapyramidal response to neurocardiogenic syncope?  That is a lot better, because I’m not phobic, I’m not faking it, and it has a biochemical basis, which means it is potentially treatable, and even preventable.