Strange Body tremors at night just before falling asleep

[xleannexwrightx]

Hey guys, I havent posted in a while as ive felt like my symptoms have calmed down a bit, ive had anxiety for almost a year now, and its drived me crazy. Ive started to get used to the symptoms, but in recent weeks due to possibly 'new' symptom im petrified of going to sleep as i think i might die.

Im a bad sleeper anyway, always have been, but just wondering if anyone else has had these symptoms before? Just as im tryin to relax and about to fall asleep, i get this imense 'jolt', 'tremor' or even 'fit' (cant explain it) but only for a few seconds, in that time it feels like my heart stops and i gasp for breathe, also i feel numb in different parts of body - but only for a couple of seconds. It causes me to jolt out of bed scared beyond belief. This only happens at night and is getting more and more frequent.

I think of it as a fit as i feel like im shaking or moving fast, but im totally aware of it. It doesnt happen when i am asleep, just as im tryin to fall asleep.
Has anyone else experiecend this? Please reply, its freaking me out :(
Im a 21 year old female in my final year of university - so scared if its anything more serious especially at my age :(
Many thanks xxx

[JT69]

Hi Leanne, I have had this in the past and as you describe just as you are about to drop off it happens. Really wierd. I dont think its a fit but I dont know what causes it. Please dont worry as I get it too so you are not the only one. Jo.xx

[NeverRelaxed]

i had this for a while. sometimes i felt it in my head, sometimes my chest..verrrry strange..it will pass though.

[xleannexwrightx]

Thanks for the reassurance jo, it scares me to death! Appriciate your reply xxx

[countrygirl]

I don't know if this is same but if I am over tired especially if I have been rushing around or if I drink too much caffeine then I get what feels like a electric shock that shoots from my middle up to my head in a huge jolt and I feel as if I have fallen down a huge deep hole which leaves me with a racing heart and cold sweat. I will do it every few minutes as I relax for sleep and eventually after about a hour of this I will fall asleep.

I have had this on and off for many years and assume its an adrenalin rush for whatever reason.

[xleannexwrightx]

Thank you :) Yes that could explain it, i always have problems switching off, sometimes i wont sleep at all and be up all nite and the next day. Ive always had sleeping problems, and having this added stress makes sleeping worse. Thank you for your reply ...and thank you neverrelaxed too xx

[hugs]

Hi, don't worry I've been experiencing this symptom very recently and it's just before I'm about to drift off to sleep when I'm not even feeling that anxious. To me it feels like I am shaking quite violently or vibrating but I can't see it, I can only feel it I'm not actually physically moving. I wrote a post too coz I was really worried but people said that you spend the day so tense and anxious that when you're finally relaxing and going to sleep your body is just releasing it all, it's not a bad thing hun although it feels very scary. I'm a 25 year old female so not much older. xxxx

[Withthanxs]

Hi, I've just joined the forum as I've been trying to find others who possibly might be having tremors just prior to falling asleep, my symptoms are the same as those listed and so worried was I, I sought medical advice, I was fitted with a 24 hour heart monitor which was fitted with an invent button to be pressed should tremors occurred, I did have tremors and I did press the event button several times, on receiving the test results I was shocked to learn I had incurred multiple sinus rhythm events with multiple tremors from my heart, I've now been fitted with a 7 day cardiac event monitor for further investigation, I ignored my tremors for almost a year fearing something was wrong! It's not worth suffering in silence and or relying on comforting words within the forum, go and see your doctor tremors before falling asleep are not normal
I'm a 54 year old male who's been fit all my life!!!!

[Anxious_gal]

The shaking when you are falling asleep is NORMAL.
You can have all sorts of odd sensations while drifting off, shaking, hearing a bang, hearing someone say your name, feeling like you are falling, jerking awake etc..
It can be scary but it is harmless, more likely to happen if your very very tired or extra stressed out :hugs:

[countrygirl]

Agree with mishel here that in the majority of cases strange sensations when falling asleep are weird but nothing to be alarmed about, all sorts of names for them from exploding head syndrome to hypnic jerks etc but all normal.

What previous poster feels is not necessarily what others have been feeling and like ectopic beats that we feel anything happening with your heart will give you physical sensations - so please everyone don't all panic about strange falling asleep feelings as its almost 100% certain its normal and not your heart!

[Gemma T]

I've had hypnic jerks since I was a child. They can be really scary but they are perfectly normal.

I also suffered with shaking bed syndrome. When ever I fell asleep I would hear my ned banging on the wall. Initially I though I was haunted but somone got me a nightmare encyclopedia and I read about it in thee. It says one of the causes is anxiety. What happend is my body shakes as I fall asleep.

In fact my sleep behaviour has ranged from sleep walking to night terrors.

All body hocus pocus but nothing dangerous x x x

[selphie]

funny you posted something like this dont get tremors or anything but last night when i went to bed i was laying there and diffrent parts of my body started to twitch cant explain it as i was really tired my head done a funny twitch then my leg then my arm i got a bit panicky but i was sooo tired i must have just fallen asleep but im hoping it wont come again tonight when i sleep coz it sure was freaky:unsure:

[xfilme]

lots of things cause jolts etc. it could be hypnic jerks, which is totally normal. its when your brain sends a message to you limbs to check they are working ok still. happens at night when you are drifting off. if you frequently feel jolts in your legs, then it might be restless leg syndrome. whatever it is, it doesnt seem sinister. people with anxiety are extra sensitive usually when it comes to sleeping. its possible that before your anxiety, these things still happened, you just never noticed them.

[Worried_Male]

Yeah i get this sometimes. I used to get it a lot when i used to smoke cannabis. Could be anxiety related.

[PanchoGoz]

Tremors in the hypnagogic state are more common in those who have high stress levels, but are harmless. Make sure you wind down before you go to bed and don't eat sugary things past 5 o clock.

[duke246810]

your not alone, i am so scared of going to sleep incase i die, i used to keep myself awake everynight, but then realised its not healthy to do that. in regards to the jolts, this is something that i have had alot of experience with, they scare me everytime they happen, even though im used to it. ive kind of adapted to them lol, i dont get them so much anymore. once you have concored your fear of sleeping they should start to die down. hope this helps, good luck and take care xx

[lindajane1971]

Hi,
Ive had hypnic jerks a few times and its very scary but they are harmless :)
I am experiencing werid similar sensations at the moment which are really frightening me...
when i doze off to sleep, before im in a deep sleep, if im woken up, i have this awful shaking/trembling round my heart, its hard to describe apart, like my heart is shaking really hard each time it beats.
Its not there when i wake up in the morning, its only if im woken from sleep not naturally..... scaring me a hellova lot :(
Linda

[Dazfoxy530]

I used to get strange jolts when drifting off to sleep, and I remember it was scary. I was on seroxat at the time and sort of put them down to that. But they just stopped after a while. It's quite a few years ago and I don't have then anymore. Hopefully yours will go too.

[Rebecca10]

Hi there - I get this a lot!! Just before I drift off my body will just jolt or sometimes just my head it's really weird! I mentioned it to a neurologist last year and she said it's completely normal. I even see my dog doing it when he's asleep haha!

[dreamlandukhardcore]

Wow, i've been sufering from pretty much everything listed above for over a year now, last night was the worst tho, it was more of a fit than just suddenly shooting out of bed like i normally do. Im sure it started when i was taking citralopram so don't know if thats got anything to do with it, i would defenetly say i'm stressed out alot tho, so its probably something to do with that. :)

[orangejuice]

hey I've just found this thread after doing a google search about what was happening to me!

I'm glad other people have written about their experiences, its quite reassuring.

I find that sometimes, always just as I start to feel myself starting to drift off to sleep, there is a sensation of falling backwards. I start to hear a buzzing noise, and suddenly I become paralysed, and am unable to breath. The buzzing becomes a roar. At this point I can't breath at all and I'm struggling to release myself from paralysis. Sometimes only one part of my body can move, like my toe or one eyelid, and I feel like I have to wrench myself out of this state. It feels like an electrical storm is happening inside my brain and I'm shaking involuntarily all over. It lasts for about 20 seconds and its totally terrifying. It will happen again and again during a particular night, so I end up too scared to let myself fall asleep -as every time I do, this happens.

I've had this happen for years but I was interested that it only ever happened after, shall we say a heavy weekend raving.. I'm completely healthy as far as I know, and on no medication so it did freak me out and everyone I told about it thought it was made up or a dream.

I have no idea what its called, or if its dangerous (it feels every time like I'm going to die) but would be intrigued if anyone noticed that pattern as well?

best wishes

xx

[Anxiousram5692]

Hey everyone I am new to this forum but its been really helpful and I wanted to contribute myself. I suffer from panic disorder and have been having a really hard week. This happens to me sometimes at night, for example tonight, and I get really sleepy and suddenly, BAM, I'm hit with the most intense fear and sudden rush I've ever experienced. I shoot up in bed and collect myself for a second and it goes away and I'm tired again. I also get a strange numbness somewhere in my body and it repeats over and over; I even sometimes get a dull headache. I get really nervous about it and it keep me up for a while. I hope there's nothing wrong but then I can't help but lay and worry. It only seems to happen on really stressful days. I'm a 20 year old male.