I wake up vibrating

[Michelle]

I know it sounds wierd, but several times over the last couple of years, I have awakened from sleep, feeling like my chest is vibrating.  No pain, no sweating, no faintness, but it scares me.  At first I thought I was imagining it.  Then I thought perhaps I was having some kind of muscle spasm or something.  Now I'm beginning to think it's my heart.

It happened most recently this morning at 5:00 a.m. and I was having a lovely dream about skating around alone in a peaceful setting.  So I don't think it was an anxiety attack.  The vibration is very rapid and regular, but it seems to stop when I become fully awake.  I'm not a medical person, but I felt my wrist for my pulse this morning, just as soon as I became aware that I was having another "episode," and it felt like my pulse was vibrating along with my chest.

I am 45 years old, female, 45 pounds overweight, don't smoke, don't drink.  Don't take any kind of medication for anything.  No allergies.  I'm pretty active; my job involves regularly lifting 30-lb boxes and climbing up and down ladders pretty often. I do drink two cups of coffee every morning.  Could this have anything to do with being pre-menopausal?  

Thanks for your help.

[charlie]

I also wake up vibrating sometimes. I thought it was my heart on super warp speed from a bad dream or something, but it feels like my whole body is vibrating. When it happens it is difficult to get back to sleep.  I also get a similar feeling when I hardly get any sleep.  If for example, I only slept a few hours I often get the vibrating feeling, although milder. Feels like my heart is responsible somehow.

[richgruber, robin]

My 15 year old daughter has been diognoised with SVT and POTS. Rapid heart beat (supraventricular tachyardia) and elavated heart rate upon raising from suplime position expecially upon awakening (postural orthostatic tachycardia sydrome). She takes antenenol 50 mg 1x a day. Her heart rate when runnning elevates to 220-240, and when elevating from bed 180. Lately she complains of "chest pains" she explains to be a tightening sensation to the outer left side of the breast area mostly just beneath the breast line, no other symptoms occur. Also she has experienced a couple of heart "fluttering" sensations. We have discussed the posibility of a abalation procedure to possibly correct the SVT. The difficulty would be in getting her heart into an episode in order to locate the the causal tissue to remove it via carterization. The problem is whether the SVT or POTS is creating the major problems and if we would be able to create an SVT episode, would this be worth the risks? Candace did begin about nine years ago to exhibit anxiety after her father's death. And although I do believe that anxiety may aggravate her problem it is not the cause or a major issue. It is more the heart problem that creates an anxiety state.

[Anne]

Michelle,  I also have had these vibrations and what appears to have been causing all of my excessive ectopic heart beats (99 per hour), tachycardia, high blood pressure, AND vibrations in the early mornings was hypothyroidism.  This probably was effecting not only my muscles, but also the heart.  See Pete's answer above concerning low oxygen levels.  I know my whole body would slow down markedly during the night.  Since I have been on Synthyroid I have not had these vibrations or chest pains with exercise, and the general muscle weakness is getting better.  The vibrations started before the general muscle weakness. Please note that if you are on Estrogen therapy it may mask any hypothyroidism.  Also, please note, that most doctors do not apparently have a good medical foundation in diagnosising hypothyroidism.  At least, that has been my experience.  Good luck.

[Wayne]

Michelle..have I seen you on the TAPIr Anxiety boar before? I hope you see this as here it is last day of June. Well..after reading so many posts on here and trying to digest all the different symptoms, problems and diagnose's, it at least makes me feel better knowing I ain't the only one with this vibrating torso feeling! Mine..usually when I get near the bed or later at night ONLY! Mine started about three yrs ago after quitting my 25 year job carreer and going into a different field. That didn;t work out so I started my own biz here at home and lately it's been slow, along with in laws being sick and wife's anxiety over her new job position. So I'm certain mine is anxiety related as I have dreams about strong physical activity and/or sadness or maybe about my old job and BOOM!..I wake up with a rapid hard pulse, a sort of gurgling sensation in my chest and that vibrating too..mainly in the torso. Scary stuff but Dr says I had a perfectly normal EKG. I seem to dwell on recurence constantly and I know that does not help. Med hels some but not always as I had an Ativan along with my Lopressor BP stuu at bedtime...although last night's event was mild. Thanks for listening!

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Thanks to all of you, you made me very happy today.
I thought I was going out of my mind,
and I never even told my wife about the vibrations.

I was looking for information about blood pressure
when I found your discussion.

To add to your info:
1. I have vibrations only when I wake up.
2. It stops when I sit up.
3. The frequency of vibrations seem to me too fast
to be explained as my heart fluttering. IMHO. I may be wrong.
4. I am 57 years old, in good shape, former Olympic athlete,
never had any heart problems, quiet the opposite,
I represented my country in Bicycle Racing.
5. My "vibrations" started only few months ago.
6. I suspect it has some connection to my recent jump
in blood pressure from 130/85 to  150/95.
7. I suspect both are the results of being recently under emotional tension.

[Pete Skirrow]

I found the comments about 'waking up vibrating' on the Web,
having for a while been bothered by occasional irregularities of
heartbeat which, after two days of great stress and sleep
deprivation turned into frightening sudden changes in rhythm just
for a few hours.  I too have often noticed the vibrations, at
times when my heartbeat was regular and normal.

Having studied the mechanisms involved (I'm an electronics engineer)
I'm surprised no one seems to link this with Attrial Fibrilation.
I understand that while Atrial flutter is a rapid but all-encompassing
depolarising of the Atria, Atrial fibrillation is a more scattered
depolarisation, each bit triggering off another in random fashion.
In theory therefore, mild fibrillation could begin without taking
over from the main, sinus node triggered, rhythm, and any depolarisation
is going to result in contractions of the Atria and hence modulate the
blood pressure, so that it is felt in the pulse alongside the normal
beat.  I see this as a jitteryness that shows a degree of irritability
not quite enough to go into full fibrillation.  The latter presumably
demolishes the Sinus Rhythm so that the ventricular contractions
become irregular, the ventricles picking up randomly on the Atrial signals
which are 'overdrive limited' by the AV node.

Suggestions that if this were a heart problem it would persist on
getting up make no sense. The heart becomes more irritated when
oxygen is low, so it seems likely to me that low oxygen while
sleeping, and perhaps posture too, are just what it takes to shift the trigger threshold
a little and bring on 'partial fibrillation'.  Any support for
this theory?  I guess an ECG may not reveal much here because the
p-wave from the Atria is small anyway, so partial triggerings are
likely to just add a bit of noise around it.

Pete