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Body jerks during the night

Tulip

Guest
Messages
437
I have been getting these body jerks every single night for the past few months, this corresponds with a massive decline in my health which began in september 2009.

Does anyone know what causes them or what can be done to stop them if anything?. They are annoying but also scary.
 

Sherlock

Boswellia for lungs and MC stabllizing
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corresponds with a massive decline in my health... They are... also scary.


Do you mean that you jerk awake? Or while trying to fall asleep?

If it wakes you, it might be sleep apnea. That happened to me for the first time ever on Monday, three times that day... and I'm not overweight.

What's more scary is
Sleep-disordered breathing is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, high blood pressure, arrhythmias, diabetes, and sleep deprived driving accidents.
...wikipedia/en/wiki/Sleep_apnea

What to do about is apparently not simple. In fact, I'd recently heard someone talking about how expensive sleep studies are, not to mention the machines (CPAP and APAP).

I bet somebody with experience here will reply to you before long.
 

heapsreal

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As sherlock has mention apnea, get that ruled out otherwise meds like neurontin and lyrica could help as well as something like klonopin. If its waking you from sleep you need to get onto it as it will ruin your sleep quality over time.
 

caledonia

Senior Member
#1 get a sleep study done.

I was waking up with my heart racing, which could either be sleep apnea or acid reflux. The study showed no apnea, but surprise, periodic limb movement disorder ie restless legs. I greatly increased my magnesium intake which stopped the limb jerking. I also use a wedge pillow for the reflux and am taking a supplement to heal the gut. Problem solved - sleep great.

Medicare acted like they weren't going to pay for the sleep study, but they did anyway. They also said they would only pay for this one, and no more.
 

Tulip

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437
Thanks for the replies, I am 99.9% positive that this is not sleep apnea. These wake me up and keep on going for around 30 -60 secs after I have woken, and it's my whole body, but coming from my torso.
 

Sherlock

Boswellia for lungs and MC stabllizing
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I was waking up with my heart racing
This past Monday, I was feeling suddenly very tired and fell asleep on the couch. I woke up in the middle of a strong motion with my upper body and also somewhat lower body having jerked upward, plus hearing the loud snort-intake from my throat. Yet my heart was not pounding; I also immediately felt my pulse and it was normal. It happened again an hour later, then again once at night - but not ever since.

Does apnea necessarily include a strong heart reaction from the body trying to catch up from temporary O2 deprivation? Can it be apnea without the heart racing? I'd guess it wouldn't.
 

justy

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Hi Tulip, i wonder if like Caledonia it is a type of restless leg syndrome. You can get this in the torso as well as the limbs and sometimes involving both. I get this ususally at night and usually when i have been more ill and then try to relax. My whole torso and legs, shoulders arms can jerk and it takes a while to settle down again. Taking magnesium totally got rid of my restless LEGS but then the body jerks started, i feel magnesium is a help though.

In terms of sleep apnea i dont know if this is similar but i wake up sometimes choking and at other times taking inm a massive breath whilst asleep, this has happened since i was a child, but doesnt happen every night. Is this the same as sleep apnea?
 

Sherlock

Boswellia for lungs and MC stabllizing
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FWIW, here's a newspaper article on hypnic jerks:

http://www.kansan.com/news/2008/feb/28/case_jerks/


A case of the jerks

By Kaitlyn Syring

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Watson... is one of millions of people who jerk awake during sleep or right before falling asleep. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 60 to 70 percent of Americans experience this jerking motion, called a hypnic or hypnagogic jerk.

Though it does end with the (irritating to me) advice about "sleep hygiene".
 

Tulip

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437
I don't think it's restless leg syndrome as I do not meet the criteria for it.

I don't get the falling thing when it happens or a racing heart or gasping for air. I actually feel calm when it wakes me up (although scared in the morning), but strange if that makes sense, i'm on high dose magnesium and sleep hygiene is fantastic (has to be with a young child to look after!).

I am actually wondering if these are nocturnal seizures? :confused:

http://www.epilepsycentre.org.au/info/classifications/nocturnal.html

I guess it's off to the doctor.
 

*GG*

senior member
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6,389
Location
Concord, NH
I used to have some kind of jerking motion when falling asleep, (it would wake me), my whole body would jerk, if I recall correctly. I have had a few sleep studies done, one 5 years ago or so, and I was found to have little REM sleep.

I had a major flare up of my symptoms about 2 years ago and was in massive pain and had insomnia. I had another sleep study done then, and was found to have obstructive sleep apnea. I have put on some pounds in the last 2 years(mostly during my 3 month flare up), and some before that, not as active but still have an appetitie.

I also had my Dr prescribe me oxygen based upon my sleep study results. FYI

GG

PS Not sure if the VPAP machine or perhaps LDN has helped resolve the body jerks? I do chalk up my better digestion to LDN!
 

justy

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Hi Tulip, i think a visit to the doctors is a good idea -i hope you get some answers.
Your thread has prodded me into investigating my own jerking problems and i think that i did have restless leg syndrome and i was iron and magnesium deficient (both risk factors) but since i have been taking these supplements my RLS has gone away.
The other jerks i am getting are not like RLS, there is no crawling sensation or need to move the limbs, i just have large kjerking movements on both sodes of the body, especailly noticeable at night and recently also on waking. This looks to me more like a type of Myoclonus, which is linked to either brain problems or cns problems -so very likely.
I dont usually bother my GP with things like this, but maybe its worth finding out what he thinks. I see from reading that one of the parts of the brain that can be affected and cause myoclonus is right next to the startle reflex part of the brain, which i also have big problems with.
 

Athene

ihateticks.me
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1,143
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Italy
I had these very badly. Sometimes I would spring horizontally off the matress into the air! At its worst, I was hospitalised several times and had to sleep with electrodes glued on my head to see if it was epilepsy.
It wasn't.
I sometimes get brief twitches in the daytime too. I'll suddenly drop something or throw something across the room.

Now I have a doctor who told me to take magnesium, 1000mg a day (this is the maximum safe dose). You need magnesium to repair nerve damage. This illness seems to damage our nerves constantly. Now the twitching has pretty much gone. If I run out of magnesium it comes back in about 2 days.
You need to make sure you have adequate calcium, which is also important for nerves. If you don't drink/eat dairy foods it might be worth taking calcium too.
 

floydguy

Senior Member
Messages
650
I think I have similar issues. If so, I've not had much success with doctors. Most likely they will diagnose you with sleep apnea and issue you a CPAP. The problem I think is they don't investigate why you are not breathing/sleeping properly; they just assume sleep apnea (even if you are not overweight like in my case). I did find that I have positional apnea and do much better if I don't sleep on my back. Being cheap I sometimes wear a back pack when sleeping so I can't roll onto my back. I've found it much more helpful than the expensive and very, very annoying CPAP.

My advice is to press them to properly assess the situation and not just assume which they will do unless you stay on top of them.
 

Tulip

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Messages
437
Thanks :D

I have been saving up a list of things to go to the doctors for and putting them off until absolutely ness, but this one is making me go. Although i'm not holding my breath that I will get anywhere with it!.
 

Mya Symons

Mya Symons
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1,029
Location
Washington
Tulip, do you also have fibromyalgia? That is a symptom of Fibromyalgia--involuntary muscle twitching or jerking. It is sometimes so hard that it feels like a jerk and It has often been so intense that it has "jerked" me awake. It happens most often when you lay down to go to sleep or when you are asleep. When it wakes me up it scares the crap out of me. When I don't get enough sleep, I get them when I am awake too. I have actually kicked out involuntarily and my neck has snapped back which caused me to spill what I was drinking all over the place.

Muscle relaxers or Klonopin help. However, I just learned that Klonopin is quite addictive.
 

*GG*

senior member
Messages
6,389
Location
Concord, NH
Now I have a doctor who told me to take magnesium, 1000mg a day (this is the maximum safe dose). You need magnesium to repair nerve damage. This illness seems to damage our nerves constantly. Now the twitching has pretty much gone. If I run out of magnesium it comes back in about 2 days.

You need to make sure you have adequate calcium, which is also important for nerves. If you don't drink/eat dairy foods it might be worth taking calcium too.

Are you sure that 1,000mg of magnesium is the maximum safe dose? It doesn't sound like that much, especially when you condiser how important magnesium is for some many processes.

GG
 

*GG*

senior member
Messages
6,389
Location
Concord, NH
I think I have similar issues. If so, I've not had much success with doctors. Most likely they will diagnose you with sleep apnea and issue you a CPAP. The problem I think is they don't investigate why you are not breathing/sleeping properly; they just assume sleep apnea (even if you are not overweight like in my case). I did find that I have positional apnea and do much better if I don't sleep on my back. Being cheap I sometimes wear a back pack when sleeping so I can't roll onto my back. I've found it much more helpful than the expensive and very, very annoying CPAP.

My advice is to press them to properly assess the situation and not just assume which they will do unless you stay on top of them.

I have heard of people sewing a pocket in clothing and then putting a tennis ball in their to keep a person from sleeping on their back.

I use a CPAP, I don't find it that bad, you just need to find the right mask and set yourself up well!

GG