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Anxiety symptoms / Sleep disorder?

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GD10
GD10

Hi guys, I'm new to the site but glad I found somewhere to share my symptoms.

I have read quite a bit about anxiety/stress and these symptoms below may fall into this category but the issue I have with this, is that I have nothing to be anxious/stressful about! All is OK with job, money, house, relationship etc so I'm not sure how this all started. Could I be anxious about this illness? Symptoms below.....(also posted in sleep disorder forum).

I'm getting a sort of electrical shock when trying to fall asleep. This electrical shock seems to be described on other sites as 'jumps' or 'zaps' or 'surges of energy'. It happens not when I'm sleeping but the moment I am about to fall asleep. Its like a sort of butterflies feeling in the stomach and then a rush/surge of energy to the brain which gives you a 'jump' and electrical feeling in the head and sometimes upper body. The more extreme they are sometimes produce a twitch in maybe the arm or leg. Its not painful but I guess is quite scary when it happens. These can happen numerous times a night.

Many friends/family I have spoken to say this is normal and they are familiar with the symptoms (I understand what they mean as it can be quite similar to when you suddenly wake from a bad dream) but mine seem to be a lot more often and extreme. I know my symptoms don't seem to be normal.

I've been having these for about 5-6 weeks now (some nights are worse than others) but generally its been more or less every night. This has turned into a vicious cycle because when you actually close your eyes at night to go to sleep you are actually waiting for the 'shock' to happen instead of trying to sleep. Obviously the less sleep you have, the less functional you are the next day and so on and so on. You then get sleep deprived which I believe also may trigger this.

The only other thing I can add to my symptoms is sometimes during the day I get a spaced out/empty/dizzy/cloudy feeling in the head (hard to explain). Sometimes this can turn into a sort of brain/head sensation where you feel you need to kind of 'shake it off'. Again, its hard to explain, something like if you have restless feet and you need to kick out of it but its in the head so you need to give yourself a shake to snap out of it.

About me - I'm a fit and healthy 35 year old guy. I actually exercise quite a lot (go to gym/swim 4 times a week and have run numerous marathons over the past year). Although this fitness regime has stopped since I have started having these symptoms as I am feeling quite weak/tired due to not getting much sleep due to it. I have no major prior illnesses and I am not on any medication. I don't want to get in the habit of taking sleep medication.

I have been to the hospital and spent the night where they performed numerous blood tests/Heart ECG/X Rays/Urine and all came back OK. The only issue I had was slightly high blood pressure (but not high enough to be put on any medication). I have also been for an MRI scan and EEG epilepsy test. I will find the results with these in about 5 weeks time.

Anyway, that's my symptoms and hopefully someone might feel at ease that they are going through something similar.

Reading similar posts on the internet I don't think anyone has come to the conclusion on what in fact is causing these problems, even though a lot of the people actually been for tests and seen doctors. Has anyone experienced these issues?

Thanks guys, feel free to get in touch smile

1 like, 41 replies

41 Replies

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  • nicholas1979
    nicholas1979 GD10

    Posted

    Hello, im sorry that u r experiencing these electric shocks cause they r pretty scary and unnerving. Im a schizophrenic and my encounter with these shocks was a frightening matter. I actually had a demonic voice that said he was God put a flip on it to make it worse. I found out that it wasnt just anxiety but it was EXTREME internal anxiety. No matter how i tried to relax at night when falling a sleep, the built-up anxiety of the day would bolt threw me when trying to sleep. Thats my answer! Not being able to relax, and then becoming relaxed -just about asleep, bam! Zaps. My Dr. Prescribed me a benzodiazepine and thank God -all is well!!! Its just built up anxiety. If u have a problem with benzos maybe your Dr. could prescribe something else at bedtime. Anxiety medication worked better than sleep aids because i felt like i got better sleep in the morning. Dont face that bull anymore talk with your Dr. and educate him on whats going on. My Dr. didnt know or had he experienced such a case. Be well and i hope u get some peace.

  • rebecca84995
    rebecca84995 GD10

    Posted

    God I'm so sick of all of it the same symptoms its hell it true ly is I will write again later when I have the time! Xxxx
  • elle41037
    elle41037 GD10

    Posted

    Hi, I have been getting that weird dizzy/cloudy feeling in my head for over two weeks now. It feels like someone has picked me up and shaken me about. I have suffered with panic attacks since I was 9, I'm now 26. I have been to the doctor as a child and in my early 20's and basically been told to get over it and not offered any support. I have managed to cope with it by myself and even hide it from my family. However over the past few weeks, since I started getting this feeling it has made my panic attacks 10 times worse, to the point were I have lost all control. I have a Doctors appointment today becuase I have been wheezing and tightness in my chest (not panic related, possibly asthma) but I'm not sure if I should mention my anxiety. I'm worried they will dismiss it again or just put all my symptoms down to anxiety. 
  • katey64108
    katey64108 GD10

    Posted

    I get the same thing .like butterflies but in heart sometimes whilst awake and sometimes whilst dropping off to sleep .its awful not painful but scary .i was droppim off sat up on sofa other day and it happened and i flew up off the sofa an nearly had a panic attack .oni had it for few week due to anxeity over another issue .doctor just gave me some propracolol i fink its called.
  • Duucckky
    Duucckky GD10

    Posted

    Perhaps this is a question for your doctors and hopefully will shed some light on things. But I know what you are feeling, I have been suffering from this feeling for almost two years it doesn't always keep me from sleeping but I have to take otc sleep medicins to sleep well. It's like a humming bird is buzzing in my chest. and then when I am almost asleep something seems to violently SHAKE me awake. and it happens so many times a night that I end up just never falling asleep that night, and waking up feeling defeated and like I can't face the day.  I have been researching this for a long time, I also have been on a low carb diet and so on a seamingly unrelated topic have been doing a lot of study on food and how it affects the hormones in your body. I think that this type of anxiety is adrenaline in your body. Adrenaline is a hormone that causes the fight or flight response that tells your body that something bad is going to happen (in the cave man days this would probably mean something comming to eat you) and that you need to stay alert to protect yourself. So it prevents you from relaxing enough to completly fall asleep.  Now that is as far as I have gotten on this I don't know what causes an increse of adrenaline in the middle of the night for no freaken reason. But I really really want to know WHY it happens. So I am going to continure researching and maybe see a doctor. Good luck.
  • viccrackwaqas
    viccrackwaqas GD10

    Posted

    yup started having those 2 weeks back . doctor prescribed me a sleeping pill but iam not getting it . its the sensation in the head and belly that kept me awake . doc prescribed me an to anxiety med now i have to take it till 2  months . i hope this goes away because it does but it will take time and also depend on your thoughts . 

    iam glad iam not alone ,   

     

  • matthew43840
    matthew43840 GD10

    Posted

    Hi. Very relieved to read all of the above comments. I had the night from hell with these symptoms last night. Mine are a little different as when I lie down in bed and try to sleep I get a weird tingly adrenaline type feeling in the top of my head and it slowly runs down through my body into my feet (talking about 3 secs in all) resulting in me curling my toes. This happens several times and then when I do manage to nod off it'll be for a few seconds then I do a seriously big jump out of my sleep with my legs and arms jerking.

    I used to get these symptoms the night after I had drank excessively, say a night out with friends and I had got drunk.

    I keep really really fit and do both Ironman triathlons, cycling and marathon running. I had suffered with panic attacks many many years ago but they went.

    I'm happy to read that these aren't too serious as I was worrying that it was the start of fits or something worse.

    Does anybody have similar to the above? I do drink too much caffeine as I'm one brew after another at work and probably end up having ten or more in a normal work day in the office. I have no real anxieties but do get stressed and mithered having two little girls to look after when I'm off in the week and Mrs is at work.

    Any ideas please?

    • clcannon416
      clcannon416 matthew43840

      Posted

      Hypnotic jerks/sleep starts. They are VERY annoying but benign. I have them right now trying to get asleep
    • Rais
      Rais matthew43840

      Posted

      This. Right. Here.

      The only difference being that instead of the tingling starting in my head, it very specifically starts in the right side of my chest and spreads outward from there. When this tingling is present, I know that I'll be jerked awake once I start to drift off.

      I've had this happen before, once our twice. But this week, (tonight included) has been the worst. Being jerked awake is now accompanied by a minor panic attack. It's happened three times tonight so far.

      I just want it to stop... I've had to wake my wife every night this week to talk me down. I'm so grateful for her. But this needs to stop.

      I tried chamomile tea this evening before bed, as I was already feeling that tingling sensation. It knocked it out, but as soon as I was ready to drift off to sleep, I was jerked awake with that sensation flowing through me.

      I'm su done with this...

  • Spankalishh
    Spankalishh GD10

    Posted

    I have the exact same symtoms, it's caused by acute anxiety. I'm on sertraline the last few months. It builds up serotonin in the body. Anxiety is usually caused by stress of some kind, but in my own study and my own thoughts, adrenaline can add to anxiety. Serotonin can decrease anxiety, making a person feel better and less stressed. Serotonin is mostly found in the gastrointestinal tract and nevous system. In my case as my stomach is fairly messed up from Alcohol and foods and other things my serotonin levels are low or the serotonin my body is creating is not as good as it would be if my stomach was better. I would advice a lot of the people here to check their diet. A bad stomach/intestine is one key ingredient for anxiety and these twiching disorders. Also keep fit, this helps decrease adrinaline and increase seratonin in the body, and try relax. 

    Just my experience and thought. Cheers.

    • ann55375
      ann55375 Spankalishh

      Posted

      Hi, im on low dose anti deps and having trouble with sleep.  Take 5mg diaz in middle of night but keep waking feeling awful and full of anxiety.  Hard to get back to sleep in bursts but keep waking feeling weird. Tried cbt, breathing techniques, relaxarion tapes, feel too hyped up to domrhem now.  Any help please
  • matthewfrownfel
    matthewfrownfel GD10

    Posted

    Oh my gosh I've been having similar problems. It's making me feel like I'm dying or something is really wrong. I'm scared to sleep now cause when i lay down its like i know it'll happen. I'll be almost asleep and it'll happen. I feel many different weird feelings that are hard to explain. Like last night it felt like a weird feeling in my head and like pressure behind my f face and eyes and like my veins are about to bust in my face. And some nights is like i can't breathe and have weird feelings in my upper body and throat. Please help if you can

    • aurelia85857
      aurelia85857 matthewfrownfel

      Posted

      Do you found any solution to your sleeping problem? I've been having the same problem as you do. And I need some advice.

  • matthewfrownfel
    matthewfrownfel GD10

    Posted

    And it just started happening a year or so ago maybe a little more. But it's weird cause during the day I'd fall asleep perfectly so i don't know...

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