Violent Body Jerk at Night

Hi. Recently, I keep getting these very violent body jerks at night. It's not a constant jerk; it's one violent jerk where my entire body lunges forward. It almost feels like it's coming from maybe a huge spasm in my back, but I'm not for sure.  Of course when this happens, it wakes me up from sleep.  And this isn't the type that happens while you're falling asleep and feels like all of a sudden you're falling or something like that.  

I've been reading about clonus & myoclonus and I'm not for sure if it's either one of those - however, I'm still not exactly for sure what they are.

Does anyone else get these violent jerks at night or does anyone know if they are neurological?  

Thanks,
Kelly  

[twopack]

Have you ever had a sleep study done Kelly?  There are some sleep disorders that are characterized by the type of body movement you described here.  

It could be well worth the effort to investigate the possibility as sleep disorders seem to be more common in people with MS and can certainly intensify or be the outright cause of some of the things we consider to be MS symptoms.

Mary

[kelly97]

I actually did have a sleep study. They didn't really find anything wrong during it.  I don't know how they can really get any info from those types of studies - especially from someone like me. There's no way I can really sleep in a place like that. I need my own bed, my own sheets, and pillows, etc.  It's really creepy to me.  

Thanks Mary,
Kelly

[supermum_ms]

Hey Kelly,

Jen tried to help me to understand this same issue a while ago, lol wouldn't you know it but ha ha I can't fully remember all the tech info about it. A good place to look at this would be wemove.com (hope thats right) it has lots of worth while info that might help you to work it out. Ok from what my feeble shriveled up little pea brain can remember is that any jerks that wake you are predominantly nocturmal myoclonic, jerks that happen without any disease or damage to account for it, so inother words they are normal events.

The jerks that happen whilst you are awake are another story though, they are not normal, and they are neurologically based, which i didn't know because for me they have happened for years so my normal is a bit off lol I use to get them infrequently but not anymore, i liken them to a huge spasm too though i dont think thats technically correct. What i feel is fast and the only warning i get isn't worth the half a second of cognition that its coming.

I feel my self going all tense, no muscle is imune then i jerk hard, i did notice a sound like a hard click but i've not caught it again so i dont know if its relivant or not. I have had the wonderful experience (not) of feeling like i've been tazered, that was during tests to pick up the clonus and the only difference i'd say was that it was localised, where as these jerks are my entire self. No rippling affect at all, just the bang and holey crap reaction.

I'd deffinetely take note of them so you can bring it up with your next dr appointment, if this is new it should be brought up!

Cheers..........JJ

[kelly97]

I guess since mine have only been nocturnal, then I don't have too much to worry about with them happening.  My neuro might think I'm a little crazy then, if I bring it up to her.  

Thanks,
Kelly

[COBOB]

Do a search on "hypnic jerk" or "hypnagogic jerk".  It is pretty normal for a person to have one of these myoclonic jerks as they fall asleep.  Most people do not know that they do this, but may be aware of someone else in the bed doing it.  Most sleep studies look for this even with the electrode attached to your leg during the study.

Bob

[tingletingle]

I love the learning here. My wife said to me the other night 'did you know that your leg kept kicking me during the night'. I had no idea and because I haven't been tremoring in my arm for a couple of weeks I didn't know what to think. Now I do.

thanks
Blessings
Alex

[supermum_ms]

I just remembered something about epilepsy, my son at one stage had to be tested for it and in one of those pamphlets I was given, it said that nocturnal fits were one of the most common forms of epilepsy. I can remember a friend of my daughters who was dx with epilepsy and only ever had fits during his sleep. The point of mentioning this, is that just because it happens at night doesn't always mean its 'normal' and considering all the other brain activity issues thats going on with MS.

Its still not a bad idea to monitor it and bring it up with your dr sometime, even if you just say " I'm not sure this is worth mentioning but........" At least then you've mentioned it and if he/she thinks its not worth further investigation then thats that.

Cheers.........JJ

[Sidesteps]

I have myoclonus and a lot of twitching. Kelly, the sleep starts are pretty normal. They are ones that you get when you are dozing off and suddenly jerk. Another form of myoclonus that isn "normal' is a hiccup. It's when you are wide awake and it feels like a "tic" that it isn't so much normal.

Two years ago, I never had tremors, twitching, jerking anywhere noticeable in my body or any clicking in my ears. I also have random body movements where I'll be resting nearly asleep and my hand, arm, leg or foot will move back and forth without cause.

A few months back, I felt like a walking popcorn machine with all the sensations I had in addition to other issues. Now, most of them are gone. I have some residual vision damage, twitching, jerking and muscle weakness but overall I'm doing much better. I do not feel "sick."

SOOO - I decided that awhile ago that my determination for telling my doctor of symptoms is anything that is out of the norm for me. These are all out the norm for me, well, now that aren't but they were a year ago. :)

I think you should bring it up. It's a new symptom. It's all part of the puzzle for you.

[kelly97]

Like I had said in my initial post, this isn't happening when I'm falling asleep. It's happening in the middle of the night while I'm in the middle of sleeping.  Maybe 3 or 4 hrs after I'm already asleep.  

Epileptic seizures is an interesting point. I recently started Ampyra and it says that it could cause seizures. Hmmmm, then maybe it's some sort of seizure related to that.

I think I will talk to my neuro about it during my next appt with her.

Thank you everyone for helping me out,
Kelly