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Body jerks during the night

Athene

ihateticks.me
Messages
1,143
Location
Italy
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

Most books and websites say 400mg is the highest dose, higher than this should only be taken on medical advice. So I do think 1000 mg is high. I have to stuff down 6 tablets a day to get this level in me!
 

Tulip

Guest
Messages
437
Most books and websites say 400mg is the highest dose, higher than this should only be taken on medical advice. So I do think 1000 mg is high. I have to stuff down 6 tablets a day to get this level in me!

I "drink" 800mg a day of magnesium. Have you looked for it in powder form? You just mix with water and drink away :Retro smile:
 

sleepy237

Senior Member
Messages
246
Location
Hell
Hi Tulip, yes I experience the jerking. I am not sure what to call it. Everything that I have looked at has already been mentioned. Apnea/Epilepsy...
I do get a tremendous shift when I am hormonal (just now) which leads to complicated migraine/seizure type symptoms. I do have lamictal that I wont take but I guess I am going to have to bite the bullet because I can't contend with these symptoms any more. I can't define it seems a mix of migraines - numbness, vomiting, dizziness, temples spasming, myoclonus/restless leg syndrome all occuring at once for me - waking up with jerking head and feet jumping around. I think it is neural over activity. Hope this stops for you. It is so horrible to experience. Hugs ~Sleepy
 

Athene

ihateticks.me
Messages
1,143
Location
Italy
I "drink" 800mg a day of magnesium. Have you looked for it in powder form? You just mix with water and drink away :Retro smile:

I did try some powder to drink, but I found the taste so yucky I preferred the tablets! I've tried lots of different brands, but this one seems to work best for me - it is some super-absorbable form. With the other brands I just didn't seem to be getting enough even though it was theoretically the same dose. I'd keep breaking the china, always a sure sign I need more magnesium...! Oh, that and "tripping over the floor", as my sister puts it.
 
Messages
33
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.
Hi
I have these exact same symptoms. Horrible. Loose sleep for 3 nights straight sometimes. It got worse after
an Epsom salt bath so I am terrified to try Magnesium again.
 

xchocoholic

Senior Member
Messages
2,947
Location
Florida
I was dx with nocturnal myoclonus at a sleep disorder clinic in the early 90's. Klonopin takes care of this for me but I'm going to try taking more magnesium again instead. Klonopin is making me feel drugged / sluggish the next day.

Tx .. x
 
Messages
33
I was dx with nocturnal myoclonus at a sleep disorder clinic in the early 90's. Klonopin takes care of this for me but I'm going to try taking more magnesium again instead. Klonopin is making me feel drugged / sluggish the next day.

Tx .. x
Yes, tempted to try the Klonipin. I was on it years ago for anxiety for about 4 months. Was extremely difficult to come off of. Would it get rid of the fasciculations in my muscles? Are you concerned about tolerance at all? How much are you taking? Sorry for all the questions but I need to do something soon. Mt sleep is terrible. The sleep starst are so bad I have almost whiplash from the head twitches. For me it seems the Epsom salts triggered this so I am confused. Others on the board think I may have soaked up too much of the Magnesium Sulphate at once.
 

xchocoholic

Senior Member
Messages
2,947
Location
Florida
Yes, tempted to try the Klonipin. I was on it years ago for anxiety for about 4 months. Was extremely difficult to come off of. Would it get rid of the fasciculations in my muscles? Are you concerned about tolerance at all? How much are you taking? Sorry for all the questions but I need to do something soon. Mt sleep is terrible. The sleep starst are so bad I have almost whiplash from the head twitches. For me it seems the Epsom salts triggered this so I am confused. Others on the board think I may have soaked up too much of the Magnesium Sulphate at once.

I had to google fasci... it appears to be same as myoclonus. Klonopin is commonly prescribed for myoclonus. I take up to 1 - .125 mg dissolving tablet at bedtime. I reduce the dosage regularly because the less I take the less drowsy / sluggish I am the next day. And if I continue at .125 mg nightly I start feeling seriously drugged during the day.

I went off it completely for about 4 years but re-started when it finally dawned on me that I was still jerking during my sleep. I'd love to get off of it but I haven't found anything that works as well and like you my jerking is too intense to ignore. I used to get ones where it felt like my abdomen cleared the bed. Exorcisms didn't work. Lol.

If you haven't already you may want to look at gluten or other glutamates as triggers. Dogtorj has info on glutamates.

I'm gf except for a few gf processed foods that are probably cross contaminated. I had a rough nite last nite so I'm re-evaluating the gf foods I'm eating that I thought was safe. It could be unrelated too of course.

Fwiw I sleep better if I've gone for a 20 minute walk that day but not too close to bedtime.

Hth .. x
 

NilaJones

Senior Member
Messages
647
You might try some zinc and copper. You have to take both, at different times of the day, same as magnesium and calcium.

I find that when my zinc and copper are out of balance (too much or too little of either one) I get sleep paralysis that can last for an hour or more. And when zinc is low I get RLS. All these and the jerking are inter-related, I think.

A sleep study costs $3,ooo where I live in the US, if your insurance doesn't pay for it. That's for one night.
 
Messages
58
Zinc can be the answer for restless legs. My husband was prescribed some expensive prescription that has horrible long range effects. I googled and put him on zinc and it cured the RLS. It works especially well for older people and anyway it's good for your immune system. I don't think there's any good test that can be done, it's just trial and error. My husband had to take several zinc capsules at intervals the first night and after a couple of hours he was fine. Now he just takes his zinc morning and night.
 

Avalon

Senior Member
Messages
112
Location
Oxford, England
Zinc can be the answer for restless legs. My husband was prescribed some expensive prescription that has horrible long range effects. I googled and put him on zinc and it cured the RLS. It works especially well for older people and anyway it's good for your immune system. I don't think there's any good test that can be done, it's just trial and error. My husband had to take several zinc capsules at intervals the first night and after a couple of hours he was fine. Now he just takes his zinc morning and night.

@seaflower What dosage does your husband take of zinc per day to counteract RLS? Does he take every day or does he stop for few days before resuming again. I know that too higher dose can make hypoglycemia worse for individuals who are prone to it.
 

Avalon

Senior Member
Messages
112
Location
Oxford, England
You might try some zinc and copper. You have to take both, at different times of the day, same as magnesium and calcium.

I find that when my zinc and copper are out of balance (too much or too little of either one) I get sleep paralysis that can last for an hour or more. And when zinc is low I get RLS. All these and the jerking are inter-related, I think.

A sleep study costs $3,ooo where I live in the US, if your insurance doesn't pay for it. That's for one night.

@NilaJones What dosage do you take?, do you just take it at night before bed? I take it that you know it works because you feel refreshed in the morning or you are just not waking up during the night?
 
Messages
58
Zinc--my husband takes it every night. He was on Mirapex, an expensive prescription, and we just substituted the zinc and it works better, no side effects. Especially if you are older you will probably need more zinc. Last night he didn't take it and was kicking and jumping around in bed. I got mad and said, "take the zinc." He did, it stopped his legs moving and he went right to sleep. I will have to check on the dosage he takes but I really don't care what the doctors say because he takes enough to stop the restless legs and that's his dosage.

Some people need magnesium for restless leg, some need zinc and some may need something else. It's all individual.
 
Messages
58
Oh, on magnesium, you take it until you have diarrhea from it. I didn't spell that right, my Klonopin has worn off and I am tired and can't go back to sleep. But I can take 1000mg of magnesium easily. There is something wrong with me and I can't absorb any kind of magnesium and my former doctor didn't know why or even where the magnesium was going. I don't get any diarrhea from it either. I try to get equal amounts of calcium and magnesium citrate.
 

physicsstudent13

Senior Member
Messages
611
Location
US
so you find that the magnesium works and cures the jerking? is it safe to take the magnesium or epsom salt bath?

the jerking may be hypnic seizures or PLMD. I take 0.5-1mg of klonopin before bed and it helps a lot for these seizures. I think the hypnic jerking may disrupt your sleep architecture so that you don't get any slow wave sleep. you should definitely get a sleep study to diagnose sleep apnea or central apnea, OSA where they measure your O2 stats overnight
 

physicsstudent13

Senior Member
Messages
611
Location
US
maybe zinc and mirapex are much better alternatives for RLS or PLMD. I've read some bad side effects about klonopin but I personally have not noticed any at all
In fact I took restoril before a sleep study and it normalized my O2 levels, but I think it destroyed my sleep architecture

I would speculate that klonopin deals with the seizure aspects and the mechanism of gabapentin still works to increase SWS
 
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Messages
33
Zinc can be the answer for restless legs. My husband was prescribed some expensive prescription that has horrible long range effects. I googled and put him on zinc and it cured the RLS. It works especially well for older people and anyway it's good for your immune system. I don't think there's any good test that can be done, it's just trial and error. My husband had to take several zinc capsules at intervals the first night and after a couple of hours he was fine. Now he just takes his zinc morning and night.
Thanks. I will look into the Zinc. Is a serum blood test needed?
 
Messages
15,786
there is a pretty inexpensive vitacost chelated magnesium/calcium vitamin and magnesium oxide might be better absorbed
Actually those are the worst forms for getting absorbed, and they trigger diarrhea in pretty much everyone. Any other form should work fairly well if magnesium deficiency is causing the jerking.