Posted: 11/28/2004 9:34:10 AM EDT
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Sometimes when about to fall asleep, my muscles twitch or spasm as if I am suddenly catching myself from losing my balance or something. Anyone else? Everyone else? Strange pehenomenon... |
I get that same thing every now and than too. Always chalked it up to not drinking enough fluids durring the day though. |
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The Neutral Observer has had some weird things happen when He sleeps. The Neutral Observer doesn't sleep much anyway; there is too much else to do. The Neutral Observer will occasionally be drifting off and start to dream about something or the other that's unpleasant; apparently he isn't completely asleep and will tense up or jump and jolt Himself awake when the bad thing, whatever it may be in the dream, is about to happen. It rattles the headboard against the wall and shakes the bed, and wakes up and scares the wife, who is always asleep before The Neutral Observer and tends to sleep more heavily. It always happens shortly after The Neutral Observer drifts off. If The Neutral Observer has been sleeping for a while before He starts dreaming, He just wakes up without the jumping part. It's odd. Twice, The Neutral Observer has woken in a half-asleep, half-dream kind of state and has been unable to move. The second time this happened, The Neutral Observer was dreaming that he had heard a noise and someone was in the house. He was trying to grab His pistol on the nightstand but couldn't get His arm or His legs to cooperate. With a good bit of concentration, He got his hand on the grip of his pistol, but then couldn't manage to rack the slide and chamber a round. In The Neutral Observer's dream, he was hearing the noise come closer to the door, and He still couldn't get the pistol into action, so He decided, in all of His half-asleep wisdom, to yell to frighten the intruder off. With all of the ferocity The Neutral Observer could manage, He attempted to open His mouth, and let out a soft "maaaaaaa" bleating-type of sound. The Neutral Observer, still half asleep and in full panic at this point, tried again and managed to let out a squawk loud enough to wake Himself fully. Upon waking fully, all of the previous attempts to move the limbs suddenly happened, and The Neutral Observer found Himself crouching on the floor in front of the bed, with a ready pistol leveled at the bedroom door. At that point, The Neutral Observer also realized that the noise was part of a dream and that there was not a single person in the house. Once, about a year ago, The Neutral Observer woke up, fully awake, and His legs were paralyzed completely. After He sat up, the ability to move them came back slowly over a minute or two. It's never happened before or since. It's strange. The Neutral Observer has heard of some of that sort of stuff happening to other people, but doesn't know why it happens or anything else like that. |
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It sounds like you have a touch of Restless Leg Syndrome. This is very real, and very disturbing. My wife just had a bout while pregnant with our child. She couldn't take any meds. For those not pregnant, treatment is quite successful with some of the anti-Parkinson mads. Speak with your doctor about it. It will eventually result in your sleep patterns being ruined and starting to have changes in your life from a lack of sleep. Don't speak to your doctor at your own peril. My wife was miserable for weeks. Hers cleared up, yours may need treatment. Hope all goes well. |
| Yes, a lot of times when I fall asleep, I get the feeling that I am falling suddenly. The bummer is that I usually like to caress my wife's breast when I am sleeping and when I get the sensation that I am falling, I get a reflex action and I squeeze my hands and since I am holding you know what, my wife gets pissed off at me. |
It's an old reflex action to keep our ancestors from falling out of the tree they were sleeping in. |
You probably have back problems. Sounds like Sciatica. Get your back checked out and do the suggested intake of water/potassium/magnesium before bed. You may also want to take a look at your diet. |
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I've noticed that taking antihistamines for allergies or colds seems to increase my chances of being "sleep-startled". Occasionally, it'll make me involuntarily bite my tongue or the side of my mouth – Man, that'll wake ya up! Atkins dieters are especially prone to leg cramps, due to lack of potassium. This diet tends to cause dehydration, and doesn't allow you to eat much fruit (which is high in potassium). Most potassium supplements don't really contain much potassium. However, a pinch of potassium chloride salt substitute ("NoSalt™") dissolved in a soft drink can add a considerable amount to your diet. I actually prefer the taste of Diet Coke after adding the salt substitute – guess it's sort of like adding salt to watermelon to make it taste sweeter. |
I do have back problems. Lower back problems. Hurt it in baseball. |
I have this too. Its part of the whole sleep apnea thing. This is the exact opposite problem the original poster asked about. Here is the deal as I understand it: We have a mechanism in our brains that basically paralyzes us before we enter REM sleep, or we would run around if we dreamed about running (and hurt ourselves). The problem is when there is a disconnect when we are waking up, and our brains are awake, but the paralyzing effest has not been lifted. I have this all of the time and it is scary as shit. My wife has what the original poster asked about and it is called "Restless Leg Syndrome". |
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20iner, I sympathise with you. You might try stretching exercises too. Two of the best ones are a calf stretch and then, when seated, bend over between your legs and grab your feet. Those plus the water/magnesium/potassium/diet will help, but in the end you have to do something about your back. |
I have been working out a lot lately, so they are less frequent. But I've never had good flexabilty. I can't touch my toes when stretching, which is weird because I can leg-press over 500lbs and run pretty fast. |
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The cramps and waking paralysis sound bad. Especially if it makes one start speaking in the third person (just a neutral observation). I guess I'm fortunate these muscle flinches haven't really affected my sleep, and they're rather infrequent. Just a rather curious happening. For various reasons, I haven't been as hydrated lately as I should be, and I've been taking potassium supplements when I remember. Maybe this is what Kramer referred to as "the Jimmy-Leg." |
Not strange, you are entering the alpha sleep.... you can read up on this sort of stuff in metaphysical readings..... |
| I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. I would jump violently out of bed and onto my feet gasping for air still 3/4 asleep. Then awake Id be trembling from fear. The sleep jerk thin i still get but I too believe it is diet timing before bed. Not something lacking but something taken whether food or meds at a certain time prior to sleep whether it be a couple of hours or shortly before bed. Eating late sometimes causes this for me. |
this is easy to get rid of i use to get them all the time.Ok when it happens place your hand at the back of the leg right behind the knee than with your other hand bend your leg as far back as you can and hold till the cramping subsides than slowly release and streach your leg out. for some reason this helps the muscle stop spasming and relax but you have to bend your leg so your hand is sandwiched in there. |
Happens to me a couple of times a month, mostly when I'm really f'ing tired. Note: this is different than the "charlie horse" cramps caused by being dehydrated/ not enough potassium It's like I was hovering a couple of inches above the mattress and fell down onto it. |
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Dude, check THIS out (LOL)! I "suffer" (Actually, I've learned to enjoy it over the years) from Sleep-paralysis. Had it ever since I was a kid and it used to scare the shit outta me......... What are the symptoms? * A complaint of inability to move the trunk or limbs at sleep onset or upon awakening * Presence of brief episodes of partial or complete skeletal muscle paralysis * Episodes can be associated with hypnagogic hallucinations or dream-like mentation (act or use of the brain) Polysomnography (a sleep recording) shows at least one of the following: * suppression of skeletal muscle tone * a sleep onset REM period * dissociated REM sleep Is it harmful? Sleep paralysis is most often associated with narcolepsy , a neurological condition in which the person has uncontrollable naps. However, there are many people who experience sleep paralysis without having signs of narcolepsy. Sometimes it runs in families. There is no known explanation why some people experience this paralysis. It is not harmful, although most people report feeling very afraid because they do not know what is happening, and within minutes they gradually or abruptly are able to move again; the episode is often terminated by a sound or a touch on the body. In some cases, when hypnogogic hallucinations are present, people feel that someone is in the room with them, some experience the feeling that someone or something is sitting on their chest and they feel impending death and suffocation. That has been called the ?Hag Phenomena? and has been happening to people over the centuries. These things cause people much anxiety and terror, but there is no physical harm. WEIRD shit for sure! I've been wakin' up unable to move a couple of time a month since I can remember. Scares the livin' crap out of you while it's happening.  I don't have any of the other signs of narcolepsy so i think i'm just crazy 
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I get the occasional twitch like I'm falling off a step or something, too. Just once in a while. The freakiest thing that ever happens to me is when I WAKE UP INSIDE A DREAM. I'm sound asleep but FULLY CONSCIOUS. After a bit, I realized that I was actually still asleep, and then I try to actually wake myself up. It's quite a struggle! Once I did that, or so I thought....and realized that I had looped and had broken into ANOTHER layer of dream sleep. I'd managed to wake up and was STILL asleep. I struggled with waking myself up and succeeded, and it was a scary, stressful experience. My heart was racing, I was sweating, and I performed a number of tests to be SURE that I really did wake up for real. I THINK I did, anyway. If not, I'm posting this while still asleep and it's all a dream. CJ |