tremors during sleep

[bobito]

I'm a 60 year old men, in excellent health, except for experiencing tremors during sleep that wake me up and have difficulty going  back to sleep.  As I start to fall sleep again, I feel these "rumbleling" (tremors) around my upper body.  I immediately wake up again.  These tremors last for about 10-15 seconds after I wake up.  The first time I experienced this condition was exactly two years ago.  It lasted for about four days and it simply went away.  Except for minor incidents (by "minor" I mean I experience the tremors for about two nights and go away) with no major disruptions in my sleep patters.  Last week, however, I experienced another episode which does not seem to be going away.  The first two nights I simply could not go back to sleep at all.  My body wanted to go back to sleep, but, as I mentioned above, everytime I fell sleep the tremors woke me up.  I'm on my  9th day and there seems to be no sign of letting up. I went to see my doctor on the fourth day--He prescribed Zolpidem, which I have been taken since.  Interestingly enough, even under the influence of the sleeping pill, the tremor wake me up, but they are short-lived since I go back to sleep almost immediately.  My doctor said to take the medicine for about two weeks and essencially placed me on a "wait-and-see" mode.  My concern at this point is "how long can I possobly survived on this medicine.  Does any body "out there" know anything about this condition?  As you can immagine, it is extremely debilitating.  I'm, for my age, a very atheletic man who is the right things, no vices and bikes to work every day--About
twenty miles a day.  Married with two grown children.  My job is very stress-free and very enjoyable.  Any ideas?  Thank you very much.

[bl218]

Thanks Mike.  Got my GI results.  I guess it shows some improvement, but it's still not great. My ratio of good to bad bacteria is still way off.  However, all of the "other bacteria" listed as "possible pathogens" are now gone.  Summary is:

Good:
- secretory IgA is now within normal range (it had been elevated)
- no bacteria listed as "possible pathogens"

Bad:
- Bacterial diversity is still way off.
- Triglycerides went way high.  This is surprising since I don't eat any refined sugar anymore.  On the other hand, I haven't been getting much exercise.
- E. Coli is very high (above the labs upper limit) which is concerning.  I'm not sure why E. Coli at this level is not considered a possible pathogen.  So maybe I picked up E. Coli form somewhere and that's causing some of my problems especially since I have a somewhat comprise immune system.

Again, I'm not sure that my GI problems are the cause of my vibration/sleep problems.  However, for me, there is definitely some GI upset that occurs at night when I have the vibrations.  It could just be a "comorbid condition" as the docs like to say.  I'll look into Candizyme and also see if I can pick up some ElectroMix.

Thanks for the advice and for continuing with this "experiment."

-b

[mikezzxxyy]

That's interesting (and good) that the ConcenTrace seemed to help.  

I've been taking magnesium malate for the last couple of weeks or so and I think it's been a good thing.  I'm continuing with the electrolyte mix but at lower amounts (1 packet/day or so vs 2-3) and all continues to be good.  Also, my palpitations have completely resolved - didn't even realize  this until I was talking to a friend yesterday and it came up.  Then I realized - wow - no palpitations for a while now.  Not sure if it's the magnesium malate or the electrolyte mix or both.

I have 2 different thoughts with why the electrolyte mix helps - I'm absorbing that form of magnesium better so ultimately it's a magnesium issue.  My other thought is that in the mix the forms of the electrolytes are carbonate - so alkalizing.  So getting into the acid/alkaline discussion.

In the past I've had a good reaction to a liquid magnesium citrate and Ive also had bad reactions to beef and other acid forming foods (I see this now in hindsight).  So I can make a good case for either.

Based on all of the research magnesium glycinate should be as well - if not better absorbed - than most other forms but I tried that in large doses for long periods of time without significant results....which argues against the magnesium itself being the problem.  Or maybe it's an absorption thing with mag glycinate somehow?

The Electro Mix has come available lately on some sites - seems to be available for a handful of hours then sells out.  I picked up a few more boxes off of Amazon yesterday.  You may want to keep an eye out - it would be very interesting to try if you could get some.  I talked to the manufacturer a few weeks ago and it hasn't been discontinued but that's all the info they had.  So I pick some up when it comes available.

Also, magnesium malate & alkalizing.  I'd say they are both worth looking into.  I still don't know exactly what the answer is but I believe it's in the above info somewhere.

I am continuing to try to narrow this down and will keep updating with any relevant thoughts.

Hang in there with the GI stuff - it will probably take a while (based on my experience) but you'll get it figured out.  Candizyme is a digestive enzyme that I tried several times with pretty decent results - may be worth looking into that or similar.  I tried other "standard" digestive enzymes a number of times without much in the way of results.

You may also want to get a book titled Digestive Wellness by by Elizabeth Lipski.  Hands down the best GI book I read - I have the older edition.  Got the new one for a friend and I didn't think it was as good.  I don't have mine handy right now but I believe it's the 2nd edition.  Blue/grey cover.

[mikezzxxyy]

Any luck with the ConcenTrace?  I tried it for a while and don't really have much of an opinion either way.  It may have made a bit of a difference but it had a fairly significant laxative effect for me so just kind of got away from it.

All pretty much the same here - good...but I'm still trying to figure out exactly why.  

[bl218]

Not sure.  I think I was feeling a bit better for a while. Vibrations were slightly reduced and I got a couple more hours of sleep.  But then I relapsed last night.  I think I may have eaten something that didn't agree with me.  I also tried some digestive enzymes with lunch which may have backfired. My vibrations have been accompanied by some GI problems for a while now and they were particularly bad last night.

Yeah, the ConcenTrace definitely can have a laxative affect. I guess it has a good amount of magnesium.  So I backed off a bit on the dosage and I try to sip it in a big bottle of water throughout the day.

I have my next appointment with the functional doc on 12/8 where I should have the results of my latest GI Effects test.  I'm not optimistic.

[bl218]

I found an electrolyte concentrate at Whole Foods yesterday. It's called ConcenTrace Trace Mineral Drops from TraceMinerals.  The main minerals are:

Magnesium 250 mg
Chloride 650mg
Sodium 5mg
Potassium 3mg
Sulfate 40mg
Lithium 1.5mg
Boron 1mg

plus a list of minerals in trace amounts. They have a very informative website at dubdubdub dot traceminerals ******* if you want to know more specifics. I'm going to start mixing this into my water today and we'll see what happens.

My status hasn't been great over the past few days. Still having lots of myoclonic jerks while drifting off to sleep and the vibrations have stayed about the same and my anxiety level is pretty high.

It occurred to me that things seemed to get a bit worse after I had my mercury fillings replaced recently. Maybe my body felt that that was traumatic or maybe I ingested more mercury despite all the precautions the dentist took.  Who knows.  It's so easy to pull causal relationships out of thin air when you're desperate.

So for now, I'm taking 1 OTC doxylamine periodically to help me get to sleep. This seems to make me drowsy enough to get passed the initial jerks and vibrations so that I can get about 5 hours of sleep before my first wake up with vibrations. It's not optimal, but that amount of sleep at least reduces my anxiety levels and helps me be more functional during the day.

-b

[mikezzxxyy]

Yes, sleeping through the night and if I have the opportunity to sleep in I can without any problems.  Only times I wake up are to pee...and the frequency is possibly a bit better.  Tough to say since I really don't pay attention to it too closely.  More than I should would be my best answer.  Talked with a couple of drs about it and they ran some tests (blood & urine) and all looks fine.  I've found in my own research where imbalances and/or deficiencies can cause frequent urination.  Off the top of my head I believe I've seen it for sodium, calcium & magnesium - not sure about potassium.  

[bl218]

That's great news Mike.  So just to be clear, are you now sleeping through the night?  Also, has your urinary frequency died down too?  I was thinking that frequent urination could be one cause of losing electrolytes.

-b