Albert Knapp MD , Aug 21, 2002; 08:12 a.m.
Camera shake is the bane of all photographers. We all have a
low-grade "essential tremor" that only worsens with age, caffeine
use or stress. This "essential tremor" is not to be confused with
Parkinson's disease ! One excellent medical therapy that
alleviates "essential tremor" is Inderal (propanolol.) The usual
dose is 10 to 20 mg taken one hour before the putative
photographic foray. Given inderal's short half-life, repeat doses
are required every 6 hours. Please however contact your
physician to make sure that this LOW DOSE of inderal is right for
you as the medication can aggravate underlying diabetes or
worsen a slow heart rate amongst other things. However, it is a
very safe medication used therapeutically by tens of millions of
people world wide for hypertension therapy.
Albert Knapp MD , Aug 21, 2002; 08:15 a.m.
An addendum: This will markedly decrease you tremor but will
not make your 400mm handheld photographs perfectly clear.
Therefore, a tripod will still be required in many circumstances.
sparkie , Aug 21, 2002; 08:25 a.m.
Albert: can I take it with a Heinekin?
El Fang 
, Aug 21, 2002; 08:33 a.m.
What about propanolol's potentially deadly effect on asthmatics? Why bypass the tripod for prescription medication with potentially serious side effects?
El Fang , Aug 21, 2002; 08:37 a.m.
Hypertension therapy is a legitimate use of prescription medication (risks vs benefits analysis, something every medical student learns in their first week of Pharmacology). On the other hand, "Hmmm, you know what, my pictures aren't sharp" and "Hmmm, I just need to run 0.3 seconds faster to clinch a gold medal" are not legitimate uses.
Al Kaplan - Miami, FL , Aug 21, 2002; 08:40 a.m.
Like I told my primary care physician, I didn't have any of these problems when I was dating 16 year old girls...
Robin Smith 
, Aug 21, 2002; 09:37 a.m.
Albert
I have to say I am surprised you are seriously recommending any recreational drug use to be honest; it sounds a very pooor idea to me. It is one thing if you have hypertension, but just to (possibly) be able to take the odd shot at slow speeds seems misguided.
Phillip P , Aug 21, 2002; 10:11 a.m.
And to think some people have problems with discussing Hexar and Contax on this forum :-)
roger michel 
, Aug 21, 2002; 10:16 a.m.
are we in a full moon?? things are getting very weird around here.
B VA , Aug 21, 2002; 10:31 a.m.
Hey doc, try taking a deep breath instead of dosing up. Another sign of the medical profession wallowing in the same muck as the legal. Sorry, but just my uneducated 2cents.
