Unintentional Muscle Spasms During Sleep Onset: Explanation Behind Twitching During Sleep's Early Stages
Hypnagogic jerks, also known as sleep starts, are a common occurrence for many people as they transition from wakefulness to sleep. These sudden, brief, and strong contractions of the body are often triggered by stress, anxiety, sleep deprivation, caffeine, nicotine, or intense exercise.
The main symptoms of hypnagogic jerks include a jerking, jolting, or twitching sensation, dreaming or hallucinating, feeling startled, a 'falling' sensation, tingling feeling, sensory flash, rapid breathing, increased heart rate, sweating, and even seizure-like movements in rare cases.
While hypnagogic jerks are generally harmless, they can disrupt sleep if they occur frequently or prevent falling asleep. It's estimated that nearly 70 percent of the population experiences these sleepy-time contractions.
Hypnagogic jerks may be linked to stress or anxiety, sleep deprivation, caffeine and nicotine, alcohol, and exercise. In rare cases, they may be accompanied by other symptoms such as multiple jerks during the day, other jerking or twitching movements during sleep, feelings of confusion upon waking, tongue or mouth biting while sleeping, injury caused by jerks, and wetting the bed.
Sleep starts usually involve one strong jerk that moves most of the body, with the arms and legs more likely to be affected. Seizures should not be confused with hypnagogic jerks, as seizures are a serious occurrence that can be a result of an underlying condition or infection, while hypnagogic jerks are benign phenomena not tied to any health conditions or concerns.
Incorporating low-impact exercises like yoga, Pilates, or stretching into a nighttime workout routine may help improve sleep quality. However, nighttime workouts can potentially disrupt sleep, especially if they are high-impact or performed close to bedtime.
Alcohol can negatively impact sleep quality and make one more susceptible to hypnagogic jerks. There is no proven treatment for hypnagogic jerks, but taking preventative measures such as avoiding caffeine, alcohol, and late-night exercise, practicing relaxation techniques, establishing a bedtime routine, and deep breathing exercises may help reduce their occurrence.
The International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICSD-3) classifies hypnic jerks as a sleep-related movement disorder under isolated symptoms and normal variants. Hypnic jerks are overall quite harmless and are classified as a parasomnia - sleep disorders that involve unusual and undesirable physical events that disrupt sleep.
