Can't Sleep - Hypnic Jenks I think?

[katniss]

Hey everyone,

I was almost over my anxiety when it came back with a vengeance last night. For some strange reason I couldn't sleep. I have had this problem twice before in the last 3 years. Both times it was due to terrible anxiety and work stress.

I am no longer working and currently on mat leave at home with my two kiddos. I don't usually get a good night's sleep so yesterday's incidents were particularly disconcerting. I went to bed around 1am (I spent too much time on social media, should have tucked in earlier) and every time I would doze off I would just startle myself awake. No twitches or anything, it was an odd feeling. I would literally doze off and suddenly just wake up. This kept happening until 4am! My heart was racing and I was literally scared to fall asleep because it was so traumatic :( At 4 am my toddler walked in and somewhere in between putting him to bed I fell asleep myself.

Does anyone know how to combat this? I don't want it to happen again and I can't stop thinking about it. I'm so scared to go to bed again tonight. Anyone have any experiences they can share?

Ps. Both times it happened before, it just went away the next day. No idea how. But this time I'm a little more anxious because I don't get a lot of sleep as is and losing three to four hours in the night is hard enough.

[Ellecee]

Yes! This happens to me often. It's the worst! It used to scare me half to death. Now I just find it annoying. I noticed it happens when I'm overstimulated and overtired. Can you try to go to bed a little earlier tonight? Maybe try and take a bath and really relax.

Hope you get some better sleep tonight.

[Toaster]

Ahh Hypnic Jerks. Freaking love them. One of my Top 3 favorite anxiety symptoms.

First time I had them I was freaking out. Thought I would never sleep again. Ativan made them go away as its a sedative and a muscle relaxer. Now that I know they are caused by overstimulation and being overly tired, I do what Ellecee recommended.

A nice bath and an early bed time.

[katniss]

Hey guys,

Thank you so much for your replies. I will try the early bedtime tonight. However, I'm not sure if I will be able to be cause I am dreading it so much :( Yikes. This sucks. Will update you all.

Also, judging by the lack of comments, I am assuming this is an uncommon symptom of anxiety?

[MyNameIsTerry]

Also, judging by the lack of comments, I am assuming this is an uncommon symptom of anxiety?

I would say it's a pretty common one. I've had it at my worse stages and I know others who found it more prevalent at those times and also found as you start to recover it seems to settle down or go.

These jerks are actually a well recorded sleep phenomena aside from anxiety. They can occur, along with a whole range or strange symptoms, during the the sleep stages Hypnagogia (falling asleep or within 2 hours of doing so) and Hypnopompia (waking).

I've seen tons of threads about them, and commented on plenty too.