Hypnic Jerks/Muscle twitches?

[MYJC]

Hello. I'm a 22-year old male with no real medical history. I am not on any medication.

Over the past year or so, I have had problems with something waking me up from sleep occasionally. It happens just when I'm falling asleep, I'll have some kind of thumping or spasm that wakes me up from sleep, usually in the upper chest or neck area and occasionally it'll be my legs. At first I thought it might have been a rapid heartbeat waking me up (because I can feel some kind of jerks around my upper chest area) but if I feel my heartbeat right after I wake up it isn't unusual, so I think it's some sort of muscle spasm, maybe strong hypnic jerks.

This is sporadic and doesn't happen everyday, probably a few times a week. But on days it does happen it may happen more than once.

I actually went to the hospital and had an ECG and chest x-ray, and other than a high resting pulse (100 bpm) they didn't find anything unusual. I notice that if I drink alcohol before bed it doesn't happen, and it's more likely to happen if I nap or if I go to bed unusually early or late.

Any advice?

[Suri123]

Hi MYJC, how are you? Can you provide some more details regarding the jerks you are going through - how often they occur and is it a continuous one or keeps repeating in an on and off pattern? Has any one observed whether these jerks you mention does continue even after you fall asleep? Is there anything that you do or it stops on its own? Usually, hypnic - sleep jerks or twitches are normal and can occur while you tend to fall asleep or when you try to wake up from sleep. You might also probably be suffering from severe stress and anxiety, which can also be a trigger factor. Also you might probably be having Rhythmic movement disorder. Have you noted your blood pressure readings? Do try to overcome the stress and relax. Physical therapy, body massage, regular stretches and warm bath before sleep can be helpful. Avoid smoking, excessive coffee/tea and alcohol. It is better to consult a neurologist and sleep specialist for further evaluation. Take care and update on your progress.

[Amanda300]

I'm almost certain that it's nothing to be worried about because sudden jerks are quite common when you start to enter Stage 2 of slow-wave-sleep (this is according to my psyc books). If you're really concerned then it might be a good idea to talk to a sleep doctor and see if one of those overnight studies is a good idea. Since alcohol effects the brain, logically it should effect sleep too if you drink right before bed so I would not reccommend using it to try and avoid the jerks and it's also quite possible that the two might not be related as well (which sounds silly I know but this is my psyc books talking again).