Body Jerks, But Awake

[ashezbryan]

My wife has (from what I've researched) hypnic jerks while falling asleep and while sleeping. We've been told this is normal. What isn't normal (in our opinion) is that she has these when she is awake. She might be reading, walking, writing, talking, or pretty much any activity. Some days she'll have quite of few of them and other days she won't. But she does seem to have more when she is tired or stressed. She's had an MRI and an EEG but the doctors told us they didn't see enything abnormal. I think they gave her Clenazopam (only if I remember right) but after awhile it stopped working. Has anyone else experienced this?

[colette0786]

I am a 21 year old female, who is experiencing the same thing. Im not sure where it came from, but I was also told that the jerks are normal. It only happens when i am really tired or just dosing off, but it only happens when I close my eyes. Some days I'll jerk for a long time, mostly when I start to wake up, and then other days I won't jerk at all. It is very strange to me that this is normal, plus I have had this since I was 18. I do not have anxiety, and the only thing I can think of is me not getting enough sleep. I wish I could give you some advice on what to do, but I have no idea on what steps to take on anything. Another thing that is strange is when I tried to show my doctor my jerks, I could not jerk in front of her. It seems like if I tell myself not to jerk, keep my eyes open or if Im thinking about it, I won't jerk. I hope that there is some kind of treatment that could fix this.

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello.

Such jerks are mostly stress induced. Can you identify stress factors in her life ? Reducing stress will help a lot. And does she get enough sleep ?

Regards

[ragonhild]

no this is NOT normal, thos is likely neuro lyme.
www.lymenet.org for more info.
I have had this, but it went away with antibiotic treatment (long term more than 1 year antibotics)

[sas2066]

i have this muscle jerking as same i don't know why is it happening? so i am too searching for it . i am 16 and it's been more than a year that started happening. any part of my body's muscle jerk at any time.

[opussaxest]

OMG I thought I was the only spaz on the planet. I have had this disorder since I was a little boy. I ALWAYS jerk. It varies in frequency depending on how tense I am but on average it happens every 30 seconds. I find that I can control it a bit when I meditate or forcably calm down but I cant stop it. It is driving me nuts and is emberrassing. I am 45 now and want it to go away grrrr. I think that the only time I dont have these jerks is when I am deep asleep. Where does a guy go for help with this.

[Nana0523]

My husband has these jerks when awake and I was thinking about it yesterday and he does not jerk when sleeping.  Interesting, you said this too.

[purdykj3]

I had the same problem this morning. I woke up with the sensation that I was falling. It continued when I went into the bathroom. It happened for about ten min. I got up and called 911. My phone could not get service and I was laying on the floor in my dinning room. It was happening about once every other second. I thought I was going to die on my dinning room floor. I have never been so scared in my whole life. All I could think of was my wife, son and our baby on the way. I prayed to god that he wouldn't take me now. I thought for sure I was about to meet my maker and Die. Has anyone had an experiance this bad and how have they dealed with it. If so email me at ***@****

[row27]

i have had these jerks for years i am a 37 year old woman. this upsets me because i can be at work an all the sudden i will throw my arm up in the air or slam the cp key board or just jerk my entire body.  i also am startled easy by noise or touch.  i can see u coming to touch me an i may jerk.  i jerk when im falling asleep the entire time till im asleep an may even do it while sleeping.  anyone heard of this? email me at
***@****

[Dr Rajgopal]

Hi,
Involuntary jerks of the body are termed as Myoclonus. Myoclonus is brief, involuntary twitching of a muscle or a group of muscles.The myoclonic twitches are usually caused by sudden muscle contractions. Contractions are called positive myoclonus. The most common time when people encounter them is while falling asleep (hypnic jerk). But myoclonic jerks may also occur while one is awake and are also a sign of a number of neurological disorders besides stress and anxiety. Mostly myoclonus is one of several signs in a wide variety of nervous system disorders such as Multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), SLE ( systemic lupus erythematosus) and some forms of epilepsy. It may also result from infection, head or spinal cord injury, stroke, brain tumors, kidney or liver failure, lipid storage disease, chemical or drug poisoning, as a side effect of certain drugs (e.g. tramadol and quinolones). It is also found in MERRF ( Myoclonic epilepsy and Red Ragged Fibres), a rare mitochondrial encephalomyopathy. Please consult a physician and neurologist to find out the cause. Hope this helps you. Take care and regards!

[HelenBryant]

I'm a 60 yr old woman diagnoised with myoclonic jerks 6 yrs. ago.  Neuo game me clonaspam 1 mg. at night before I go to bed.  This worked for 6 years as it only happend before I went to sleep.  Now, it has progressed into late afternoon jerks.  Sometimes they last for hours.  I have been under a lot of stress for 4 mths.  Then I took the stomach flu ended up in the hospital and they really got bad.  I'm ashamed to go out late at night because they come on with no warning.  I can't control them at all.  I have notice extreme fatigue lately and then if I lay down I go into a very deep sleep.  Does anybody else have these symptons?

[dagong]

Hi all.
Unfortunately like many of you I am here looking for answers and can not offer anything that may help you. since I was about 19 I have suffered from these sudden jerks mainly when I am in some form of winding down, about to fall asleep and even when I am asleep and rarely while awake. Often before I get into a deep sleep if I think about something like running my legs will shoot out as if I am about to run the 100m dash. My fist will shoot out in a jab with the slightest thought of it (I am an old amateur boxer). I wake my self up constantly due to my dreams (as in the movies). Is this stress which i know my symptoms increase when I am stressed? I also have bi polar and am on Epilim for the last 4 years. Any ideas before I head out to see my Doc?

[princesareen]

Hi to all from another victim of hypnic jerks. I used to get these jerks during my childhood, while awake and sleeping but they went un-noticed since almost everyone has encountered these jerks and they take these jerks as part of life – perfectly normal.

But for me, recently, the frequency of these jerks has increased to almost daily. The jerks are so strong that they even wake me up from my sleep. I’ve consulted a neuro specialist who has advised me that this is normal and he didn’t notice anything abnormal during his investigation/diagnosis. But still I experience these jerks and the exact reason is unknown.

To me it seems the reason is lack of sleep. I’ve been doing very frequent night shifts for a year now and due to this I hardly get a sleep of 4-5 hrs a day.

I believe we can handle these jerks by getting a good sleep and going to bed early. I follow the same procedure of getting a good sleep and now the frequency of these jerks is almost zero. I get the jerks only if I stretch my day for more than 17 hrs.

[col36]

Is there a connection between myoclosis jerks and carpol tunnel?  my neurologist said i had myoclosis but i know i've had a pinched nerve in both wrists for quite some time (CTS).  At first i thought the jerks were a result of my pinched nerves but i'm not really not sure.. any ideas?

[flibbit]

I am female, 29, and have had this daytime myoclonus for about 5 years now. I not only have myoclonus but I have other sensations, such as buzzing in my head, white flashes of light, some noises, dizziness, etc. Went to the neurologist thinking they might be seizures but had the full MRI/sleep-deprived EEG done and everything appeared normal. Neurologist, after some more consideration, decided this was a sleep disorder related to the normal hypnic jerks most people experience while falling asleep. For those who know a bit of neuroanatomy, he said it was probably down to poor thalamic gating. We discussed treatment options and decided that the best approach was to improve sleep habits and also to seek treatment for a hormonal condition (PCOS) which I have, since hormones may be playing a role in this sleep disorder.

Just wondering if any other of the women on here have a condition like PCOS, insulin resistance, diabetes, etc.-- especially since so many people on here have reported these conditions coming on either during or post-puberty, possibly indicating a role hormones may be playing.

[frogprof12]

I had a spinal cord stimulator implanted in July of this year, and in the last month or so I've had what appear to be myoclonic jerks around 9:30-10 PM every night. This isn't bedtime for me -- I'm still up watching TV -- but it sure irritates my cat, who is plastered to the leg that gets the stimulation! I don't get awakened by any jerking, and my pain doc put me on potassium supplements [which have helped a bit, but not totally], but I'm wondering if the SCS could have anything to do with the jerking. Anyone?

[nelson4]

Hey guys, I have these jerks at night while im still awake. I get this cramping in my lower back and then I jerk it can last for awhile or just a few min.  I have had alot of lower back pain and part of my leg going numb. I am a 27 yr old female.  I also am wondering if any of this could be due to the 13 scar's on my back from my 1st epidural 9 yrs ago.  He tried sveral times to get the right spot and I have a feeling that Im paying for it now.  I dont know how to approch this with my doc. because when you start talking about back pain every one seems to stop listening.  I am not a drug abuser so I dont know where to go from here.

[Lemenna]

It seems like I sound like you guys! I have been searching for answers about what is wrong with me and even posted on here today before finding this.  For me I can feel a sensation coming (sometimes) and then will all the sudden jerk my head/neck straight back and to the right so that my face goes left.  It never turns the other way.  It happens when I am tired, but any time of day.  It started in my mid teenage years and has progressively gotten worse.  I am now nearly 31. I have had done it so severly that I have banged my head into things and even pulled my muscles.  I am guessing sleep is the answer, but just want to know what it is.  When I asked my PCP he thought I was falling asleep, but when I have asked people to watch my eyes they say I am still awake.  I can be mid sentence when it happens and still talk through it so I am not falling asleep.  I can do it while sitting or standing.  Does this sound like any of you?  I have never encountered anyone else that does this and it is embarrassing.  I had to tell my students about it when I taught at a college so they wouldn't worry.  I can't really stop it even when I feel it coming.  Also I can have it induced when someone tickles just the right spot on the back of my neck sometimes.  Let me know what you think!  Thanks!

[NneenZ]

Well, we are all in the same boat!  I have suffered from what I call 'shocks' for years.  Mostly it effects my legs, which means that I am randomly trying to kick people and small animals (sometimes they deserve it - if you're going to have a weird affliction, get it to work for you) .  

I've read a couple of things tonight that have suggested stopping smoking, getting more sleep, and checking your B and D vitamin levels.  I've just given up smoking, (if someone could explain to my children) I will get more sleep, and I will explore the B vitamin thing, in particular it said B-12.  

This is preferable to the worst case scenarios that straight away came up in Google! :)
Yours in twitchiness!

[Destannie]

I started experiencing violent jerks while falling asleep a few months ago, after I had been out to a pub. I had quite a bit to drink, was REALLY tired, but when I lay down, the right side of my body wents NUTS, twitching every 5 seconds or so. It took a LONG time to fall asleep.

I've had this problem every night since then. When I talked to Doc, he said it's normal. I don't see how it can be normal when it's something that wasn't like this before. I read a lot online to try to find out if it was lack of vitamins or minerals. I take a regular multi-vitamin, and eat really healthy. My B12 and D levels were tested not long ago because of other issues I had (tiredness, dizziness). The levels were normal.

But then I read about MAGNESIUM defiencency, studies on magnesium and it's role in the body. I read about it's interaction with calcium...In the end, I decided to go to the health store and ask about it. She said I could try magnesium. I talked with my doctor and he said it'd be fine. After about a week, my jerking got better. But it's the case now, that if I take the supplements, I'm fine. But if I don't take the pills, then I twitch. Though I don't understand WHY I'm lacking magnesium, I seem to need more of it then what I get in my food.  

I would HIGHLY recommend that you look into MAGNESIUM. Here's one website to get started:

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/magnesium-000313.htm

[tweaty]

I too am suffering with this problem.  I figured that a Dr. would not know what was causing it without doing 500tests.  From reading your situations, I feel a little bit better knowing I'm not psycho (unless all of you are too).  I hate it because mine is anytime, anyplace,any muscle.  Yes I also do not like the jerking but I hardly leave the house.  My hubby has cancer so I  have to take care of him.

[larryr]

I get these leg jerks along with dizziness after being seated.  when i stand and begin walking a few steps i can feel the dizziness coming on.  I have to get to something i can hold onto before the legs spasms come on.  I get to the point of almost blacking out, my left leg(always only my left) jerks or buckles in and out. the rest of my body.... i dont even know how to explain it..... kind of moves like doing the pelvic thrust from the time warp in rocky horror picture show.  so i guess the motion is similar to that of the leg but no synchcronization.

[pd1949]

I have exactly the same symptoms..did you find out what is it due to ?

[Mikoto]

Hi I am  40yr old female , I have had this random jerk, twitch, jolt for as far back as I can remember. Both of my children a girl, and boy, and my younger sister have the same thing. It can happen when I am driving, reading, working, sitting or lying down. I have never had repeaters, just one really good jolt that makes my shoulders, arms and head move. I can not say it happens daily since I never tracked it. That might be a good idea. This affects me more when I am wake than when I am asleep. I can not attribute them to stress, or illness as I have had them for at least 30 years. It does not affect my every day life, but I do feel I look pretty strange when it happens in front of people. It just always seemed normal but weird.

[worriedwifeTN]

My husband (age 48)  just said he wasn't feeling good. like his body was aching from flu onset. Anyways, he laid down and his body jerked like a flailing fish for 2 secs. Then did it again. He's sleeping now.  He wouldn't let me call 911. If it happens again, I will.  Should I be worried? He mostly healthy, but doesn't eat nutriciously in my opinion (enough vitamins etc..)   He is stressed, doesn't get enough sleep etc....

Worried Wife

[worriedwifeTN]

I really can spell, just worried.  I meant "nutritiously".  =o

[worrywart51205]

I am a 30 year old woman and for the past few months I've been going through some sort of hell. It started one day with twitching muscles all over (well mostly my arms and legs). These happened mostly at rest. It went on to tired muscles in my left leg but that went. I went to the Neurologist and had a normal MRI and normal EMG and my PCM looks at me like I'm nuts and gave me anxiety meds. I went dancing last night and this morning I can hardly walk. My leg muscles are so tired and achy. Has anyone experienced this?? I'm getting a little scared now. Oh and I also have the myoclonus movements while awake. I got them far more often at times of high stress and little to no sleep and they've calmed down but are still there. Can anyone tell me anything that might ease my fears a little?? Thanks