involuntary body jerking

what causes your body to jerk so hard it wakes you from your sleep. this happens several times during the night.  I sometime have jerking when I am awake during the day.

[Dr_Smita_S]

Hi

The sudden, involuntary jerking of a muscle or group of muscles is known as myoclonus. It may occur alone or in sequence, infrequently or many times each minute.

The twitching cannot be controlled by the person experiencing it. The simplest form consists of a muscle twitch followed by relaxation. The simple forms of myoclonus (hiccups and "sleep starts") can occur in normal persons and cause no difficulties.

A more widespread myoclonus may involve persistent, shock-like contractions in a group of muscles. More severe cases can distort movement and severely limit a person's ability to eat, talk, or walk. These types of myoclonus may indicate an underlying disorder in the brain or nerves.

Myoclonic jerks usually affect the whole body, with muscles on both sides of the body affected simultaneously. In some people, myoclonic jerks occur in only a part of the body, such as the legs, with all the muscles in that part being involved in each jerk.

The cause of myoclonus may lie in underlying infection, head or spinal cord injury, stroke, brain tumors, kidney or liver failure, chemical poisoning or other disorders.
I would advise that you consult a neurologist for complete medical evaluation and investigations to rule out any medical disorder. The treatment of myoclonus is usually based on the medications that are also used to treat epilepsy.

Hope it helps.

Regards

[thester6474]

I have Myoclonus as well and was prescribed Requip 1 mg at night.

[miste]

i have had the whole body twitches as I call them for about 4 months now.The only thing I have changed is a Med.(Zolpidem Tartate 5mg for sleeping and also Anetol or Zolofft.Would that be any reason for the twitch?