Help i can't sleep - hypnic jerks

[Steve62]

Hi all -I'd be extremely grateful if any one can help me.

About three month I developed a problem sleeping in as much as every time I was just about to fall asleep I would jerk myself awake (usually my legs but sometimes my arms). Since that night I have this constantly and it is begining to play havoc with my life.

I know what these starts are call (Hypnic Jerks) and I realise they are not a health issue and are deemed normal but I can't understand why they have started happening to me and how to deal with them.

I have had anxiety issues in the past so when I went to my Doctor he has tried 3 kinds of anti-depressants - none have had any affect. I appreciate that he should approach it this way but do get a bit frustated that he doesn't think about any other physical cause that may cause it. I know he's heard it before but this started when I had no problems in my life and it may not be anxiety related. I don't think it is RLS as my problem only happens when I am falling asleep.

To get an idea of how it feels, imagine being really tired and as you are falling asleep someone pushes you and continues to do this again and again and again all night everynight. I've been going about so tired and tho' I am loathe to do it, I really think I may have to take some time off work as I am finding so hard to function (I have never done this before).

The only thing that seems to help is alcohol and I do not want to go down this route - although it is very tempting.

If anyone has suffered from this i would really like to hear from you on any tips you may have.

Thanks

[countrygirl]

Do your limbs actually jerk around or is it just a feeling as if you have fallen without any movement???

When I am very anxious, invariably about a health issue and getting panicky then I find that every few minutes as I lay down and try to get to sleep I get a weird sensations rushing up my body into my head - its like the bed has tipped up and I have slid down and my heart races afterward and I can hear it booming in my ears. This can do on for an hour before I eventually fall asleep.

I once had this every night for months and was convinced I was about to ahve a stroke but was assured it was caused by adrenalin rushes due to anxiety.

[Trapped]

You don't need to explain it to me because I have it too.
I have had it so bad that my body goes into spasms, I also have tmj (clenching my teeth during sleep) or what passes for sleep these days.

[Socalneurotic]

My daughter does it every night as she falls asleep. I lay with her till she falls asleep and that is how I know she is out for the night. Doc said that they are totally normal. I have had it at times too, especially if I am really overly tired

[Trish]

I have suffered with these jerks for about 3/4 years now...and i hate them! I went into a sleep clinic for a week about 2 years ago for a ambulatory eeg where they stuck electrodes all over my head, but it didn't show up anything.

I think that some meds i take don't help the jerks, i take inhalers and statins at night and i do think they contribute to how many jerks i have each night. Also if i'm on the lappy late at in the evenings that too doesn't help.

I feel for everyone who suffers these dreadful jerks, the last 3/4 years have been a nightmare for me (no pun intended!)

[HollieHonez]

I have recently developed panic and anxiety and am waiting for a blood test result. Because I have been extra anxious the past couple of days my symptoms have got worse and i have started experiencing hypic jerks. The first night I noticed them I was literally having them every 30 seconds, as I was so tired I kept trying to drift off to sleep and every time I was just about to drift off I woke myself up with one of these jerks! I ended up having to take 5mg of diazepan and ten minutes later I was fine. Last night wasn't as bad, I made myself a cup of chamomile tea and listened to a relaxtion tape before bed. I woke up about 2am and couldnt get back to sleep so I took half an over the counter sleeping pill and was fine after that. If you try and relax yourself as much as possible before bed and have a sleeping pill ready as a last resort it tends to calm it down.x

[lesleya]

I suffer a similar thing when im dropping off to sleep i jolt awake and feel like ive stopped breathing and my heart races.
Its awful and it scares me. But have to live with it now bt sometimes its not as bad as other times.
Hope they can help you some way
xxx

[rps]

My hypnic jerks began in December 2008 and I tried everything to get them to stop, but nothing worked and I suffered like the rest of you.

However, as of yesterday (almost 5 months later), I finally got them to stop.

This is due to taking "Chelated Magnesium", 250 mg. I take a tablet a couple of hours before sleep. If I wake up and have the HJs again, I take another tablet. I also have started to chew pieces off a tablet during the day, a little bit every hour. Too much, and you get loose stool/diarrhea.

I tried to take regular magnesium supplements but they didn't work. There is something about the chelated version which makes it more absorbable by the body.

For the first time today in many months, I was able to lay down for a nap without an HJ onset. This experience has been horrible and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Good luck in beating this.

[Kraggy]

RPS, Thank you for bumping this topic up, if you readthe forum, just one post below this one I made a topic about Leg Spasm's when im about to fall asleep, they seem to be the same as these!

[Tips2U]

I have just found this site a week ago and thanks to all the postings about hypnic jerks, my husband is "finally" able to sleep (as well as myself because of it :blush:)!

It started 3 years ago and has been getting worst and worst over the years; after talking to his GP about it, he was diagnosed with nerve endings damage; he's been prescribed all kind of nerve medecine such as Gabapentin, Tramadol for the severe pain caused by hours of jerks every night, etc. and his doctor kept increasing the dosage as well as the frequency of these medications since it has been getting worst and worst. So much so, that my husband was afraid to even lay down for fear of these violent jerks taking over.

One week ago, I read one of the posts and concluded that "hypnic jerks" is what his problem has been all along. A while back my physician prescribed me some medication to help me sleep on occasions by the name of Nitrazepam 5mg. When I realized that hypnic jerks were caused by the conscious brain not letting the subconcious take over just prior to falling asleep, for whatever reason weither anxiety or over tireness. I gave him one of my sleeping pill and... guess what??? For the last week and for the first time in 3 years, he has not been having any jerks whatsoever and has been getting full nights sleep! He is slowly coming off the Gabapentin & Tramadol and thanking God I came upon this site because he was desperate for relief.

Perhaps your problem is similar. Try a sleeping pill and see if you can fall asleep without jerking, it's worth a try.... WHAT A RELIEF!

[roggmanny]

I had these as well. I actually started getting them as my other anxieties started winding down. It seemed as those as soon as I got use to one of the physical symptoms of anxiety another one would appear.

I still get these jerks occasionally. I don't know anything about your diet, but I noticed mine were worse when I had too many stimulants durning the day - sugar, caffeine, nicotine etc. Or if I am really tired. Now I avoid these almost entirely and the jerks really only kick up on bad days. Now, when I do have one I can usually point to something I ate or drank that day as the culprit. I also take Xanax occasionally before bed if I've been in a "high anxiety" mode.

[mariedenla]

Hello..... I would like to suggest to stop the Tramadol, I was given this medication for nightly pain in my feet, which I was taking each night, but it gave me terrible nightmares, and awful body jerking, which I never experienced before. So I knew right away, that Tramadol was the reason. I did not take them anymore, and the nightmares and jerking stop.....
I wonder if your husband, who was on Tramadol,gave him all these side effects? Worth trying to stop taking them
I now take two Tylenol 3, for chronic pain in my feet, each night, and it works, with no side effects.
Wish you and your husband well . :)

[pb]

This has just happened to me but I was asleep having an afternoon nap and my head jerked and I woke up.
Scared now that something has popped in my head but I feel ok.
Has anyone had this while asleep and not as they fall asleep.

[courierdude]

sleeping with a mobile phone next to your bed can cause this.

[SJB]

I've had this problem for the last couple of months - continually woken up by jerks, can't sleep, get major anxiety before bed.

The key is destressing before bed. Not lieing awake thinking about how the jerks are going to wake you up. I believe it is really in the mind.

My strong advice - download a sleep well app, which is a kind of hypnosis, and use that to go to sleep, completely calms me, took about 20mins before bed, had best night's sleep in ages.

It's free, no medication, easy to use - give it a go and let me know!

[Praveen]

Hello..
But how long this sleeping pills can be taken to avoid jerks. Isn't it bad on a long run?

[zacman777]

Do your limbs actually jerk around or is it just a feeling as if you have fallen without any movement???

When I am very anxious, invariably about a health issue and getting panicky then I find that every few minutes as I lay down and try to get to sleep I get a weird sensations rushing up my body into my head - its like the bed has tipped up and I have slid down and my heart races afterward and I can hear it booming in my ears. This can do on for an hour before I eventually fall asleep.

I once had this every night for months and was convinced I was about to ahve a stroke but was assured it was caused by adrenalin rushes due to anxiety.

I get this too! mine kind of feels like a dizzy, almost vertigo like feeling that lasts for 1-2 seconds and is accompanied by an adrenaline rush, thought the rush seems to come microseconds after the dizzy feeling but who knows I may be half awake when it happens, and then it definitely feels scarier at night.