Hypnic jerk Anyone else ?

That horrible spasm in the body just when you are about to sleep How awful it is. My insomnia is exacerbated by these so called hypnic jerks. If they go away then only my brain will start healing .Are there any benzo buddies who are suffering like me ?I know it is a rare phenomenon . Feel so helpless .Is any body else there in the same boat

That horrible spasm in the body just when you are about to sleep How awful it is. My insomnia is exacerbated by these so called hypnic jerks. If they go away then only my brain will start healing .Are there any benzo buddies who are suffering like me ?I know it is a rare phenomenon . Feel so helpless .Is any body else there in the same boat

 

Hi,

 

Hypnic jerks are actually not that rare, and many not in benzo withdrawal have them.  I did, for many years, though they got more frequent during my withdrawal.  Now they've returned to normal.  I also had "exploding head syndrome" during withdrawal as well.  The important thing to remember, though, is that these things will not hurt you. Though alarming at first, they are harmless.  And, if you didn't have this before, it's temporary.

 

Thanks Megan .Yes they were not there before benzo use .Thanks for giving hope

That horrible spasm in the body just when you are about to sleep How awful it is. My insomnia is exacerbated by these so called hypnic jerks. If they go away then only my brain will start healing .Are there any benzo buddies who are suffering like me ?I know it is a rare phenomenon . Feel so helpless .Is any body else there in the same boat

 

I FEEL YOUR PAIN!!!!   for me, this is been the absolute most horrific symptom out of all wit drawl symptoms.  I am currently experimenting with different sleep aids in an attempt to calm this sensation down and actually get to sleep without so much trouble. Some nights I only sleep two or three hours due to this horrific haunting of the nervous system!

 

Have you found anything that helps? I would love some advice or something I could take!

 

One thing that I have found is definitely avoid caffeine or stimulants of any kind in the afternoon or evening hours! Makes this much much worse…

Are you suffering with an actual spasm when you fall asleep, does you body physically jerk? How often does it happen?

 

Mine, though it may have been caused by AD withdrawal, is where I get a bit of an adrenaline surge as I'm drifting off. The heart starts racing. From what I've read up, it's to do with the natural pauses in our breathing as we go into a sleep start, our anxious brains panic due to the pause in breathing and this causes the heart to start racing. People not going through withdrawal get them from time to time just not as severe.

 

As for physically jerking, I imagine that could also be a sleep start, where the CNS is relaxing ready for sleep. It's probably used to being much calmer and having medication do half of its job, so now our bodies are getting re-used to doing these things naturally.

 

Also, the more sleep deprived we are then the worse these symptoms become.

Yes there is a mild improvement I have started sleeping on the couch in the living room .I play white noise on my laptop next to my couch What I realized was that conscious mind had to be distracted when you try to sleep .I focus my mind on the noise and shut my eyes When I drift to sleep, conscious brain misses the opportunity to wake me up .This was my discovery while I was in my 16 hours flight to Australia ,Despite the horrible engine sound, I slept like a baby. I may sound crazy but thats my observation

Yep I have a fan going in the background in my bedroom and if I just lay there, eventually I fall asleep. To me though, it's just a temporary problem, caused by withdrawal or drug changes. If it is withdrawal, eventually it will sort itself out, time is the only thing there and slower withdrawal to not make it worse.

My hypnic jerks have calmed down a little. These spasms are horrible as you are drifting off to sleep. I too only starting getting them after becoming tolerant to benzos.  I seriously thought I must have some kind of a brain tumor the first time it happened to me many years ago. These jerks are very disturbing and can jar your already fragile CNS to the core.

My hypnic jerks had subsided for quite some while but now they are back in a bit different form When brain is drifting to sleep I get a strange sensation my brain a vibration like sensation It is very mild but I  can feel it

 

Feeling really bad for myself today Fourth month post withdrawal and this non sense has re emerged 

Hi white swan, I have vibration in head sometimes when falling a sleep and sometimes when I wake up. Could you please describe your vibration?  My vibration is like someone starts hamering inside my head and it is about double to heart rate speed. When I wake up it goes a way less than minute when waking up.

Hi Thomas  mine is like a mild tremor or zapp like sensation  It goes away the moment I open my eyes. It is as if it comes with the intention of waking me up . It is a step backward to my recovery that is why I am upset

Hi Thomas  mine is like a mild tremor or zapp like sensation  It goes away the moment I open my eyes. It is as if it comes with the intention of waking me up . It is a step backward to my recovery that is why I am upset

 

Thanks, it seems that we have the same symptom. In my case it also goes away when I open my eyes. In my case it started already when I tapered and has lessened a lot. It is very mild nowadays so I think we have good chance it goes away. Yes, somtimes symptoms come and go so it is upseting. Well, it is not probable it is something else as we as benzo wd persons have it so I think it is good news. BTW when I started take propranolol it lessened the tremor a lot. Tremor is my only driver to take it at the moment. Take care! T.

I am 22 months out and still have the physical jerks some times when falling asleep.

During the last 12 months I have had loud explosion type noises when falling asleep that have now stopped.

I have had a loud short buzz noise when falling asleep, this has almost stopped now.

I have had physical jerks when falling asleep and although still around not aa bad as it was and getting better.

I seem to remember the physical jerks happening on rare occasions pre benzo but post benzo they became pretty much a nightly thing.

I am sure it will finally go away in time.

 

2trusting

I have had hypnic jerks as well, and they were scary and frustrating at first. But, actually after learning more about it I learned to accept and not worry about them and they gradually faded away. It is part of withdrawing, however it happens for other reasons as well and it is actually not rare. Being sleep deprived is a trigger. It seems that in the process of falling asleep our brains gets confused a little and interprets it as danger of really 'falling' and wakes us up; which makes it very frustrating. The best thing is not to get upset and learn how to relax. Do not let this worry you to death otherwise you will make your 'interpretation' of it worst and heighten your anxiety more. Things that have helped me a lot are restrictive sleep therapy, sleep hygiene, cbt, relaxation, and breathing techniques. I am also trying some amino acids which help. I am doing this under supervision of a doc though. As far as noise is concerned, I guess everyone is different when it comes to tolerating different kinds of noise. My doc actually recommended me not to sleep near any electronics and cut the wi-fi at home. I have opted for listening to 'brainwave therapy' before going to sleep and smelling a mixture of lavender, chamomile, jazmin in my diffuser. I am getting 7 hrs of sleep lately which is a stretch from 2-3 hrs that I was getting. No more hypnic jerks...at least for now.