Quetiapine and essential tremor

The safety and tolerability of quetiapine (up to 75 mg/day) as monotherapy on essential tremor were investigated in an open-label study in 10 patients. Five men and 5 women, with a mean age of 66.3 years, affected by essential tremor participated in the trial. They were treated with increasing doses of quetiapine to 75 mg/day over a 6-week period. Side effects included a paradoxical psychiatric reaction in one and anger in another, and in both cases quetiapine was discontinued. In two other patients, somnolence led to dose reduction. There were no pre- versus post-treatment differences, but 3 out of 10 patients benefited (improvement >20%). Although the study was not powered to assess efficacy, quetiapine seems to be a safe drug for the treatment of essential tremor.