Pregabalin (Lyrica) for the Treatment of Essential Tremor

Inclusion criteria

• Outpatients with essential tremor diagnosed by a movement disorder specialist.
• Age 18 years to 80 years.
• Postural tremor severity score of greater than or equal to 2 in the dominant hand/arm as measured by the FTM rating scale.
• Women of child-bearing potential must use a reliable method of contraception and must provide a negative pregnancy test at entry into the study.
• Baseline EKG read as within normal limits (no clinically significant abnormalities)obtained from primary care physician or cardiologist (performed within the past year).
• Serum creatine kinase, complete metabolic blood count, liver function tests, renal function tests, and platelets are within normal limits (blood drawn within the past year).
• Stable doses of all medications for 30 days prior to study entry and for the duration of the study.

Exclusion criteria

• Any illness that in the investigator's opinion preclude participation in this study.
• Pregnancy or lactation.
• Concurrent participation in another clinical study.
• Dementia or other psychiatric illness that prevents the patient from giving informed consent (Mini Mental Status Exam score less than 24).
• Legal incapacity or limited legal capacity.
• Presence of severe renal disease (BUN 50% greater than normal or creatine clearance <60 mL/min) or hepatic disease.
• Presence of severe daytime sleepiness.
• Abnormal creatine kinase and/or platelet count in the past year.
• Present complaints of somnolence, dizziness, blurred vision, bleeding tendencies, cardiac abnormalities.
• Previous lack of response to other ET therapies (propranolol AND primidone).
• Patients who have had deep brain stimulation (DBS).
• Concomitant treatment with gabapentin.