Body Jolt

Hey guys, sometimes in the middle of my sleep I'll feel like I'm jumping out of my body. It almost scares me and sometimes after my back or neck will be a little sore. I dont know if if this is happening in a dream/REM stage or not, but not sure what it could be... maybe over tired? anyone have any insight on this and ways I could eliminate it. thanks!

Sounds like hypnic jerk or some variation of it, i heard they are sometimes caused by unstable sleeping schedule and anxiety, but i am not sure. :-?

*Moved to Sleep and Health*

I once caught this phenomena on file while recording my sleep with an accelerometer next to my eyes by my temple. Here is a sixty second printout of the recording - the spikes in the first half are the heartbeat and the 4 or 5 peaks at the end are the jolt... I would have expected them to be much more intense:

http://lsdbase.files.wordpress.com/2...ng?w=640&h=320

I used to get them everytime I was about to fall asleep. My arms would even fly up and hit things around me. It doesn't happen anymore, but I found that either having not slept enough, being too stressed out, or haven drinken too much caffeine earlier in the day was a major trigger.

There is a wide range of potential causes, including anxiety, caffeine, stress and strenuous activities in the evening.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sambrosia

Hello! Thought I'd share this, though most people probably have some sort of idea of this already.
I read an article recently by some sleep researcher or other about the light emitted from computer monitors, TVs, and cell phones. The short-length light waves from these things will greatly disrupt the production of melatonin. The researcher suggests not using them for an hour or more before bed time to get the easiest sleep.

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Sourced from:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myoclonus
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnic_jerk
dreamviews.com/sleep-health/145037-electronics-before-bed.html

Whenever someone mentions this, I always think of that Oatmeal comic :)

My brain as I'm falling asleep on the couch - The Oatmeal

I once had a hypnic jerk while my cat was laying on my chest, she flipped out, flew about 7 feet into the air, and hid under the bed for hours.