The myth that you "can't have coffee" because of Parkinson's tremor

It turns out that there is an important myth in Living with Parkinson’s disease and this myth may affect your quality of life. The myth: that drinking coffee will worsen your Parkinson’s tremor.

Watch our facebook video on the myth of drinking coffee worsening Parkinson’s tremor.

Here are some tips about drinking coffee and your tremor:

• The data suggest that drinking coffee will not improve but will also not worsen your Parkinson’s tremor and motor symptoms. Ron Postuma and colleagues have performed a few studies to clarify this important issue.

• There are some tremor types that may be worsened by coffee or by the intake of large amounts of caffeine. If you have one of those tremor subtypes, you can address this issue by purchasing coffee with lower doses of caffeine or purchasing a decaf coffee. Please remember that decaf coffee actually has a little bit of caffeine.

• There is absolutely no reason in my mind that a Parkinson’s person with tremor cannot enjoy coffee— but please note that once you get up past 4 cups a day this may drive other tremor types and drive a tremor that is actually present in people with and without Parkinson’s (physiological tremor).

• If you have Parkinson’s and are on certain medications (e.g. depakote or a benzodiazepine) —the caffeine may worsen the tremor associated with those medications.

• Happy drinking!