Still having "Jerks"

After about 35 days of therapy i still have body jerks?
While i do feel better im wondering why i get jerks..?

What should i do about jerks?

If they don't bother you I would not worry at this point. Gradually you should find them going away

ok i understand.

They dont bother me, but they do sometimes wake me up right as i fall asleep. and not every day.


Did you have this problem?

A hypnic jerk, or hypnagogic massive jerk, usually occurs just as we are falling asleep. People often describe it as a falling sensation or an electric shock, and it is a completely normal experience. It most commonly occurs when sleeping uncomfortably or over-tired. There has been little research done on the subject, but there are some theories as to why hypnic jerks occur.

When we drift of into sleep, the body undergoes changes in temperature, breathing and muscle relaxation. The hypnic jerk may be a result of the muscles relaxing. The brain misinterprets this as a sign of falling and signals our limbs to wake up; hence the jerking legs or arms.

A hypnic jerk may also occur during the Rapid Eye Movement phase of sleep. The REM phase is the time when dreams happen and all voluntary muscular activity stops along with a complete drop in muscle tone. During REM, some individuals experience slight eye or ear twitching, and this is also when the hypnic jerk occurs. Some people with sleep disorders do not achieve muscular relaxation and have been known to act out their dreams.

In most people, a hypnic jerk usually occurs just once or twice a night. However, when a person is deprived of sleep or trying to fight sleep, it may happen more often. In extreme cases, the muscle twitches can happen every thirty seconds or more. This disorder is called periodic limb movement.

Another theory put forward to try and explain the hypnic jerk is that the body reacts to falling asleep much in the way that a body may twitch when dying. The hypnic jerk is a reflex used to keep the body functioning. The brain might register falling asleep as a situation in which the body needs to be stimulated.

A hypnic jerk can also occur when you wake up. This is far more rare and can also affect auditory as well as muscular nerves. In the phenomenon known as an auditory sleep start, waking from sleep is accompanied with a very loud snap or cracking which seems to come from the center of the head. Some people have also been known to have visual sleep starts, in which a blinding flash of light awakens the sleeper, but these cases are also extremely rare.

Related topics Hypnic Jerk Myoclonus Sleep Symptoms Of Myoclonus Myoclonus Jerk Feeling Of Falling While Sleeping
Sleep studies have shown that hypnic jerks affect around 10 percent of the population on a nightly basis. Almost 80 percent of people are affected occasionally and 10 percent are rarely ever affected. So when the person falling asleep next to you on the bus suddenly twitches for no reason, you may well be justified in calling them a hypnic jerk.

Starone wrote:What should i do about jerks?

My wife has found that ignoring me usually works when I'm being one.

Sleep starts were recently discussed in this forum in a thread that you can get to by clicking on the following link.

viewtopic/t56087/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=55 ... 56#p523756

jnk wrote:

Starone wrote:What should i do about jerks?

My wife has found that ignoring me usually works when I'm being one.
viewtopic/t56087/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=55 ... 56#p523756

Wow, from newyorknative's response, it sounds like he knows a lot about jerks. I've heard stories about the Big Apple and what it's like for a noob to drive there. It sounds like they've got so many jerks they've developed a pretty impressive taxonomy to describe them. There's hypnic jerks, hypnagogic massive jerks, myoclonus jerks. Then, I suppose, there's your common jerk, or Mill jerk, also known as your common run-of-the-mill jerk.

Wow, I've never split them down that far. In my corner of the cage there's jerks and total jerks. I tend to be the opposite of OCD, whatever that is, so I've never made a study of it.

Next time someone cuts me off on the freeway, I'll be sure to call them a myoclonus jerk, though. That sounds like an impressive insult.

(removing tongue from cheek)

Starone wrote:After about 35 days of therapy i still have body jerks? While i do feel better im wondering why i get jerks..?

Starone,

What an interesting question. I used to have them all the time before I started CPAP. I don't think I have had it happen at all since I started on the machine. I hadn't even noticed that it went away until you mentioned it. It used to happen to me when I was using the computer, which is often given that I work in information technology. Most often, my mouse would end up going sailing and hit the wall when this would happen. My co-workers thought I had tourettes. Not that there is anything wrong with that...

-john-

I had them frequently before CPAP, almost every night at first when I started CPAP, and your post made me realize I have not had one in quite a while now. So maybe it calms down with more normal sleeping patterns.

I used to lie awake 20 minutes or longer before falling asleep BC (before CPAP). I made up boring stories in my head to make myself go to sleep. That jerk would signal the end of the story for the night.

Now I'm so conditioned to it that I can barely remember touching my head to the pillow after I put my CPAP on. No more time for stories--I miss them

If you like, you could keep count on how often they happen.
I think you will notice them diminishing over time.
It's also a good idea to stay away from politicians, insurance reps, and attorneys---

jnk wrote:

Starone wrote:What should i do about jerks?

My wife has found that ignoring me usually works when I'm being one.

Jeff, I knew someone was going to make me laugh! I'm glad it was you!

I don't have OSA but occasionally I'll feel a jerk as I'm falling asleep and it wakes me right up. When I check the clock I've only been asleep for about 10 minutes. Then it takes me awhile to finally fall asleep again.

I used to jerk awake alot before CPAP, I still have this happen occasionally but the frequency is now decreasing the longer I have been using my machine. Hopefully yours will get better also.

Maybe counting the jerks will help you fall asleep.