hello, ive posted on here about my relentless insomnia which has cause major sleep deprivation for over 5 months. i sleep an average of 2 fragmented hrs a night in separate blocks and i dream a lot. some nights i sleep zero. as of a couple weeks ago i have had non-stop startle/jerking just as im drifting off to a deeper stage sleep...my body really wants to sleep but it seems my mind keeps telling it to stay awake. sort of like its in danger if it feels it might actually fall asleep. i know this all started with anxiety, but now i dot feel so anxious, i am more accepting of my severely fragmented/non restful sleep...but it doesnt matter cause my mind keeps jerking me awake every few minutes all night . i know hypnic jerks are common and usually happen once a night ( i use to get them only once and then be able to know out immediately after, so theyre not scary)...but this is happening repeatedly dozens of times and every couple minutes. this doesnt seem normal at all, and it often keeps me up all night . neurologist just said "theyre normal jerks that make you feel like youre falling so your mind wakes you up"...okkkaayayy, but one after another after another for hours?! she didnt seem to believe me, either that or she had never heard of someone having more than a couple at a time. anyone every felt this or know how to overcome this...will it ever go away?! im so scared. i hope i dont develop seizures or maybe have some other degenerative disease and this is a type of myoclonus
i deal with this as well.. i literally cant get passed the jerks unless i take pills. ive been on them for a year now.. none of my doctors seem to have any answers either i cant imagine what im going to do when they take me off my pills…
Oh how i can relate to these. I used to suffer them predominately in the neck, shoulders & arms. They would happen just as i would finally start to fall asleep. I would average and hour & a half to 2 hrs sleep everynight to the point i actually contemplated taking my own life because of it. It cost me my fulltime job (i resigned) because i could barely function & i worked in a hospital. I now take a benzo called clonazepam to keep them under control & i no longer get them. Only once in a blue moon. No known cause was ever found. Every case is different but often they will go away on their own but if not & there’s no known cause (often there isn’t) & they are interfering with your daily life, the only option is medication. Benzodiazapenes are the most common drug used to treat this kind of problem. Also severe sleep deprivation can aggravate them too. Good luck.
hi michelle, thank you for the info. when/how did yours start? i am reluctant to take bezos cause i actually weaned off pf using them for 2 months…i actually think this is partly what cause them, but im not sure. benzo use and gaba depletion go hand in hand and the little that i know is that there might be a possible link between low gaba and an i crease in these jerks. did you have high anxiety prior to first having episodes of these? i kniw for me, chronic stress probably depleated my gaba and killed my sleep…then the cycle began, and benzos only helped minimally, only putting me to slepe 3-4hrs max. i totally know what you mean about feeling like giving up which all the sleep deprivation. how long where they going on before you decided to started taking the clonazipam? also, did your doctors rule out other degenerative brain diseases ? hope all is well, take care.
hi michelle, thank you for the info. when/how did yours start? i am reluctant to take bezos cause i actually weaned off pf using them for 2 months…i actually think this is partly what cause them, but im not sure. benzo use and gaba depletion go hand in hand and the little that i know is that there might be a possible link between low gaba and an i crease in these jerks. did you have high anxiety prior to first having episodes of these? i kniw for me, chronic stress probably depleated my gaba and killed my sleep…then the cycle began, and benzos only helped minimally, only putting me to slepe 3-4hrs max. i totally know what you mean about feeling like giving up which all the sleep deprivation. how long where they going on before you decided to started taking the clonazipam? also, did your doctors rule out other degenerative brain diseases ? hope all is well, take care.
hi michelle, thank you for the info. when/how did yours start? i am reluctant to take bezos cause i actually weaned off pf using them for 2 months…i actually think this is partly what cause them, but im not sure. benzo use and gaba depletion go hand in hand and the little that i know is that there might be a possible link between low gaba and an i crease in these jerks. did you have high anxiety prior to first having episodes of these? i kniw for me, chronic stress probably depleated my gaba and killed my sleep…then the cycle began, and benzos only helped minimally, only putting me to slepe 3-4hrs max. i totally know what you mean about feeling like giving up which all the sleep deprivation. how long where they going on before you decided to started taking the clonazipam? also, did your doctors rule out other degenerative brain diseases ? hope all is well, take care.
did they Rx you benzos? also, out of curiosity when/how did these start for you? was it after a stressful time in your life, after being on certain meds, were you having really bad insomnia prior , or just out of the blue?
Hi again. Mine started completely outta the blue. No rhyme or reason. I guess you could say that maybe there could have been some stress involved but i don’t solely believe that stress is a major cause of these other wise just about everyone would be getting them all the time. Benzos do come with some risks, i agree with that but when you’ve exhausted other avenues, what else is left. In my case, this medication literally gave me my life back. I had every test done known to man with the exception of an MRI as i can’t have 1 done due to a piece of metal in my head. As mentioned in my previous post, nothing was ever found wrong with my brain or it’s wiring. My specialist said to me that often there is never a cause found, they just happen to some people. I was severely sleep deprived from them for about 14 months, 7 days a week. Imagine that!!
Hi , just been told by my doc ive got this condition prior to that ive had 8 weeks sleep deprevation after a trauma now this i just was getting it under control started sertraline/zoloft and had come off sleeping pills my life has snowballed out of control the attacks are constant every time i close my eyes drift off then bam awake a twitching my first sign. im very anxious atm and serverly sleep deprived as proir to this only had 1 to 2 hours a night taking a sleeping pill its as if this thing doesnt want me to sleep ever again how are you doing now do you have any tips or advice ? have you got rid of this awful thing . i have been given a weeks supply of sleeping pills told to take anxiety medicine and relax .. somehow dont think this is going to go easy i could prob cope but its so severe
I am experiencing this problem for a week. Also, I suddenly wake up with gasping air while falling asleep. I am scared if this will continue all my life and cant sleep.
Stay away from Chocolate if you have Hypnic jerks, Chocolate is a trigger for migraine and Hypnic jerks which are tied together. Chocolate contains phenylethylamine is a major culprit, Phenylethylamine Is also in Anti-depressants. There is even a study of escitalopram(anti-depressants) causing or inducing hypnic jerks which contain phenylethylamine. I am not sure why doctors or others haven’t put that together.
Dear I hope you get well soon. can you please tell me do you take some sort of drugs means weeds alcohol cocane etc. have you involved in some activities in one go where all the activities were providing pleasure and release of dopamine in your brain for example taking drugs then having your favorite meal then having sex or masturbation and then enjoyed your favorite music at high volume etc… ?
I have just started to experience this after an experience with health anxiety due to the recent pandemic, I was having palpitations every night. So I had a meeting with a cardiologist that got me into a very stressful week of medical tests that came out with results that show that I am not sick at all but with just a little calcium deficiency. What boggles my mind is that it became much worse after I got the medical results, I was hoping that knowing that nothing was wrong with me would have calmed me down. Now I’m really afraid that I might not be able to have a good night sleep any more. It’s been happening now every time I’m about to doze off instead of just experiencing it once a night during the stressful week. Can some of you give an update as to how are you guys doing now and how are you dealing with this problem. Thank you!
It’s my first time having been kept awake 24 hours by this relentless jerking as soon as I’m about to fall asleep. Before I’ve only had these jerks happen 3 or 4 times in a row but today I’ve slept zero hours. I’ve also experience palpitations for over 2 years now but only the last 2 weeks have all this happened to me. Do you also feel it in your chest when your body twitches? The palpitations are worse with this twitching. I’m actually losing my mind.
Hi,
I also got them when i had covid, i was extremely stressed and in anxiety. Just before I fall asleep I startle and wake up, it’s been happening for about 4 weeks now. Has anyone had any luck in treating them or have they disappeared? Dr has put me on mirtazapine so that i can get some sleep.
Thanks
My hypnic jerks started almost 2 months ago (coincidentally I tried to unsuccessfully cure my insomnia with Trazodone for a couple of nights) and before that I’ve been having ‘brain zaps’ for about 4 months. Brain zaps would happen multiple times every night (usually in the second half of the night) at sleep onset right on dozing off so do the jerks (some resources say they’re both considered hypnic jerks), however they tend to happen in both first and second half of the night. The jerks usually affect many body parts and even my face and jaw (depending on the position). I also feel a sudden burning sensation in my stomach almost each time I experience the jerks, and every sound (even a quiet one) can make me startle when I’m in bed. I’m an hypochondriac so my doctor prescribed Prozac and I’m 3 weeks in on it but it has no effect so far. I follow all sleep hygiene rules.
I think I can say that I was stressed when all of that started. A 48h EEG didn’t show any abnormal activity same as my blood work results.
My left foot started to twitch even in the day time but maybe it’s not related (might be caused by extensive walking as I try to walk at least 10k steps/day).
Sounds like my story almost exactly. I had a lot of anxiety in August because of tinnitus and hearing loss and couldn’t sleep so took Klonopin for 3-4 weeks and when I tried to come off got severe insomnia for 3 weeks. I also have health anxiety. I was sleeping ok for about a month then dad and mom got covid and dad almost did not survive. For the past 2 months when I try to nap especially, and often trying to sleep at night I get strong body jerks, twitches, zaps and what feels like a surge of anxiety. Primary said anxiety but very scary. My foot also started twitching a bit during the day .
Hi I too have been suffering from this for months I would be awake for hours at a time the jerks were getting so strong and very upsetting it go on for hours and I was exhausted during the day I felt very anxious and depressed I tried everything I even took sleep pills for first time my life I decided not a route I wanted to go down so I took maybe just 3 or 4 anyways I hated the way I felt so I decided I need help I found this guy lovely man named mark who is an emotional intelligence coach I started end November I am now in my fourth session and have come along way I am alot calmer my jerks got to point were nearly noticable but I felt I was stuck and not moving forward so my coach came up with few solutions firstly he pointed out to move forward I need to be ok with not being ok and not care about jerks he said laugh at them mimicking them while in bed so I did I went to bed with attitude I dont care if i sleep not bothered attitude and mimicked jerk was weird the didn’t bother me i even shouted out no instead of jerking i had very peaceful sleep i was asleep in under hour first time in months I’ve turned a corner I’ve decided to not let it bother me because as mark send if u spend your energy thinking I hope I dont jerk tonight your are allowing the thought in so I have decided no also I am taking mellissa dream excellent reduced jerks severity and I’ve completely cut out chocolate and caffeine apparently chocolate cause insomnia effects muscle and nerves as I was eating more than I should since pandemic I feel may have contributed but overall my mental wellbeing improved since I have some mind coaching took few sessions but I’m determined never to go to that point I’ve more energy and focus now I hope my experience helps someone else
Yes completely agree I was eating chocolate every day since pandemic I eat more so I cut it out it really should come with health warning like on cigarette packs 
yes, it’s happening to me, and I am so so glad that I found this site and I’ve read your story because nobody wants to help me, they thought at first that it was me detox in off of alcohol, which it’s not and the jerks just don’t stop, and I just want to sleep, my body is just so exhausted, there is a point where I was up for 3 nights straight and my body was giving out, so one of my friends gave me a benzo and I finally got some sleep, I even been in to 2 different emergency rooms, they did CT scans on me and nothing, but when I went into the emergency room, I went in on sleep, deprived 3 days, no sleep, they gave me a benzo automatically, felt better and fell asleep, so it just seems like benzos are the only thing that help with this, and it’s just really hard to talk to your doctor to even prescribe you anything like that ..I am just praying and hoping that I would be able to get help because I can not continue to keep taking my friends benzos I just want to sleep, I just want my sleeping life back, I don’t know what to do, I feel like giving up sometimes, but I have 5 kids, so it’s hard to be a mother after I’m, so sleep deprived, thank God for my husband, that’s been there for us, I don’t know what I would do without him, and I never knew that something like this exists. I thought it was all in my head I thought I was going crazy so coming across this website and reading everybody stories, I know I’m not the only one, but is anyone getting any sleep from any other pills besides benzos, please let me know, and I’m sorry that you all are going through this, I will be praying for everybody on here, because I hate it, it’s an ugly, ugly thing, God bless good night, well, I don’t know if it’s going to be a good night, but yeah.