Jolts right before you go to sleep !!!

[Andromeda]

Does anyone else experience this ?
the only way i can describe it is like your about to loose consciousness .

my legs go weak and start to tremble , and i get a falling sensation :weep:

it terrifies me ! i'm scared to sleep

[Corinne]

I've read about that. It's normal. Don't worry.
Hugs

[RLR]

Well, you can relax and sleep all you want. This phenomenon is known as a hypnogogic jerk and results from the transition from wake to sleep via the reticular activation system in the brain. The body normally becomes physically disengaged from body movement in response to dream content, but during the transition phase in some instances, the body responds to the brain entering the initial stages of sleep and there is oftentimes a sudden jerking response to the sensation of falling or floating.

It is seen in patients with narcolepsy, but most often is produced in otherwise normal healthy people who are either tired or not experiencing quality sleep for a variety of reasons. It is harmless and does not suggest any sign of pathology in the absence of other qualifying criteria.

You'll be fine.

Best regards,

Rutheford Rane, MD (ret.)

[Brunette]

I'm surprised you didn't see the article on this very thing at the top of the page.

Do give it a read, it might help reassure you.


B

[Angela0872]

I experience a feeling when drifting off to sleep that I'm falling and going to pass out....hard to explain but my body does a funny jerk, my eyes open, I lift my head up, I look around the room to make sure I'm ok and my heart beats start doing a funny dance for about 30 seconds. It's a weird sensation and this happens to me 4 or 5 times most nights as I'm drifting off to sleep. It scared the living daylights out of me when it first started happening about a year ago but I've gotten used to it now. I find it happens more if I'm really tired. What I have found helps is reading in bed. I tend to fall asleep with book still in hand without even realising I've fallen asleep until I wake up the next morning. When i do this, I don't get the sensation and its probably due to the fact that I'm not thinking about it because I'm concentrating on the book.

[SamanthaAU]

I have had the falling sensation occasionally for as long as I can remember. I thought it was a 'normal' thing that 'normal' people do lol.

Take care

[Ryan]

I have this, almost every night... Drifting off then BAM feel like im falling... Very annoying! I also sometimes am just drifting off and I'm woken by what I can only discribe as a 'banging' sound like a baloon being burst right next to my ear but its in my head.

I've honestly had these things so long and so often that I've learnt to ignore it!

[victoria_s]

both me and my partner do this every now and again. totally normal. scares the crap out of each other when it happens though! :)

[suzy-sue]

I do it sometimes it makes your heart race ...:scared15:My husband is terrible ,he does it all the time and frightens me half to death ,.He sometimes ends up falling out of bed ..:roflmao:Im surprised he hasnt done himself some damage before now ..I keep threatning to get him a bed guard..lol Sue x:lac:

[Carys]

I think everyone gets this now and again, anxious or not anxious. It is very annoying and feels like you've been dropped from a height and hit a hard surface.

[muzz]

I this happens to me too - it reminds me of nodding off in church and suddenly jerking awake! The odd thing is that my partner says that I twitch for a little while, but to me all that twitching seems to be compressed into one big jolt awake.

lol Carys, feeling like I've been dropped from a height is normally how I feel in the mornings :)

[87sal87]

When I was nodding off lastnight, instead of getting the usually "jolting" I got the deep breath in, does anyone else get that?

[NeverRelaxed]

jolts galore lately when i try to sleep...its like i can feel my eyes roll and i get this shock sensation..I also feel like Im gonna pass out..all in one!! its insane..glad its normal though..Phew!

[kirstielu]

i get this ,but mine is more like i jolt cos i think im stopping breathing , not that im falling , its scary and have experianced it nearly every night for months now ,even got sent to a heart consultant at hosp and had one of those heart beat recorders attached to me for 24hours ,but everything came back normal .

[kirstielu]

does anyone wake up feeling like you are about to stop breathing ? right when you are going into a sleep ,I suddenly feel panicked and that im about to stop breathing .

[Spagetti]

I often experience the jolts/falling sensation when I am highly stressed x