Involuntary body jerks

[Polly-90]

Hey Guys,

I've been suffering from health anxiety for about 4 months now and I feel like I have had every symptom under the sun and obviously every serious illness going!! :weep:

My main worry at the minute is body jerks, they happen mostly at night when I'm trying to get to sleep ... randomly my shoulder will jerk or my leg, last night my head done it ... it totally freaks me out! I'm worried about MS or a brain tumor and when this happens at night I am more than convinced I've got one of these which sends me into a frenzy and I can't sleep for hours! Then the more I think about it the more it happens!

I don't really get it during the day unless I'm sitting watching tv...but only occasionally. In addition to this I sometimes see flashes of light when I've got my eyes closed (again trying to sleep) ... that freaks me out too! Ive had my eyes tested and everything was ok there!

Lastly, I sometimes hear strange noises , like a crackling noise that feels like its coming from the back of my head which adds to my brain tumor worries!

I've mentioned all of this to the doctor but he didn't seem to worried about it ... so why am I?! I've got another appoinment on Friday but I want to be able to actually sleep before then!

Does anyone experience any of these symptoms as a result of health anxiety?

Polly:)

[AnxiousMummy]

hi polly ... i get these too they are called hypnic jerks ... totally normal an non life threanening :O) x

[Polly-90]

Hey,

Thanks for replying! Are hypnic jerks when you feel
Like you are falling and you jerk as a result? I don't get the falling feeling and I am still awake when they occur, I don't feel like I'm nearly sleeping?

Polly x

[Trish]

Polly I've been suffering these since 2005 (see my early posts) and I'm still here :) They are horrid, I hate them, but gp and hospital don't seem to be bothered about them, I do think its stress related tho.

Trish x

[Ingenious]

Polly are you on medication of any kind? I've always had the odd body jolt (usually when falling to sleep) but mine increase dramatically when on antidepressants. On Citalopram some of the jolts were so big I'm surprised I didn't fly out of bed. On Mirtazapine I don't get the jolts but I do get quite noticeable flashes of light across my vision (at night time with my eyes shut).

To cut a long story short, it's highly unlikely given the number of normal healthy people who also get this that it's anything to worry about. Or to put it another way, I've had body jolts since childhood and several decades later I'm still alive and kicking.

[AnxiousMummy]

i get jolts , sleep paralysis, vibrating head which scares the crap out of me ... but i dont get the falling sensation x