Electric/Energy surge to brain when trying to fall asleep.

HI Caroline,

I hope you don't mind me answering you. I also had this whilst falling asleep for a good while, months not years. For me it was caused by anxiety. I had a lot going on at the time and I got into a kind of habit of dreading going to sleep in case this weird electrical zap panic attack type thing happened at the onset of sleep. I found myself in a viscious cycle of worrying so much about it happenign that I was actually causing it to happen from my stress. It became a kind of subconsious reaction to falling asleep. I no longer have this unless I am mega stressed at which time I worry that its going to happen but it doesnt. If you test negatuve for lyme I would guess stress. First of all try to lessen your fear around not sleeping. Tell yourself its ok to not sleep you can function on much less sleep than you think. You wont bwlieve this at first but tell yourselff it anyway as eventually you will. Also use distraction while falling asleep. Read, put the Tv on low, watch something on your phone and let yourself drift off while distracted. Also if it happens let yourself experience it. Don't fight it, fall into it and tell yourself over and ovwr 'I am going to be ok, I am safe and well, I am ok. I am just stressed'. Sniff lavender, drink camonnille tea etc. I saw a psychologist who helped me de stress as I was having marital problems, work problems and another problem where I was really annoyed with someone so I was just far too stressed. The paychologist used CBT to help me. CBT just helps you change your thoughts about certain things. It's a very practical and effective approach. It was such a tough time in my life but there is hope. You will be ok. The original poster does come back to say that he got through it by de stressing and changing his life habits to be less stressed too. If you look through the comments you will find his somewhere. I have more info bit dont want to ramble too much! I will look out for your responses. I hope I have given you a little comfort. Soon you will be back to normal. Definitely get the lyme disease checked too. Oh the other thing to do is take magnesium tablets or rub magnesium oil on your skin as this problem can also be caused by magnesium deficiency.

Hey im a healthy 32 year old man with the EXACT same thing happening to me. it started about 3 months ago and it is hard to describe but you described it perfectly. i describe it as like a bussing inside my head that i need to shake or being zoned out. and the electrical surges when trying to sleep. its frightening ive had every test same as you except an eeg. have you had any answers is it still happening to you? my neuro says its anxiety. help please!

were you checked for pheochromocytoma??

were you checked for pheochromocytoma??

were you checked for pheochromocytoma??

I've had the same thing happen to me, with the surge/electric zap or adrenaline rush feeling as I'm seconds away from falling asleep. It wakes me up, and sometimes keeps me from falling asleep for the entire night. Has been going on for about half a year now. I also have numbness and tingling feeling in my hands and forearms, which I think is connected to the "zaps", and the hand issue is only felt when I'm trying to fall asleep, never during the day.

I'm in my middle 30's, and have gained about 30 pounds in the last couple of years. I smoke and drink, and my diet could be better than it is. I had bloodwork done and have found out that I have a vitamin D deficiency. I have not had follow-up blood tests yet, but have started taking multi-vitamins (because I'm probably deficient in other vitamins too). My bloodwork has shown that I also need to watch my cholesterol, and if I keep going the way I'm going, I risk developing diabetes. I also have elevated blood pressure. I don't think I have sleep apnea, but I was more comfortable laying in bed before I gained the 30 lbs.

I go out to bars a lot, although I don't drink on weekdays, I do drink heavily on the weekends. My zaps/surges and numbness in the hands is usually the worst on Sunday and Monday night. I cut out alcohol and started taking vitamins (b12, multi-vitamin, vitamin d, and magnesium). After about a week, the zaps stopped, and my numbness in the hands also went away. I have been able to sleep without issues for the last 2 weeks.

This is what has helped me, maybe other people on this board have zaps for other reasons, but I think my issue has been resolved by what I stated above. I would always go to the gym often but I just became really lazy and let myself go these past few years. I am going to change my diet, take it easy/cut out the consumption of alcohol, and cut down on the smoking. It seems to be working for me so far (fingers crossed).

Anyone had any minor injuries to their spine?(skiing accident-couldn't lift a 0,5l bottle because my lower spine hurt so much, and then went untreated) I fear that this is caused like this:

Spine compression causes muscle spasms which are in your head. After i get them i allways strech my neck and they are gone(kind of like streching after getting a cramp) for a while.

Also when i strech bottom of my spine(where i got injured) it sometimes makes it worse OR completly dissappears.

I found out that caffine also causes minor tension headache half an hour after i drink it.

Alcohol also makes it easier to sleep(pointing at anxiaty). After that, headaches become more frequent and intense(hungover). Intensity lowers again in the folowing days.

wow I am so glad other people have these symtpoms. My doctor also has no idea what im talking about. If this helps at all, I have narrowed my hypnic jolts and shocks down to only happening it seems on the days I drink coffee. I used to be able to drink as much coffee as I want but now I get super anxious and fatigued when I drink it. I still drink it somedays regardless because its addicting and my jolts and shocks appear to only happen on days I drink coffee when im about to sleep. I noticed quite a change when I stopped coffee. The diet and magnesium solution I read might help too so im trying that.

I am so happy I found this thread, I felt so alone and terrified, but it actually gives me some reassurance knowing that I am not crazy and that others are experiencing the same thing.

Here is my story it is currently 3-10-20, in september of last year my wife and I were a few days from opening a restaurant of our own and I had what I thought was a full blown panic attack, wound up in an ambulance convinced I was dying.  Got checked out and told I was healthy, went to my doc a few days later and did every test you can imagine and I was given a clean bill of health, I was 39 and never had any health issues prior to this.  I did notice after the panic attack I was experience symptoms of anxiety like numbness of extremenities and weird metallic taste in my mouth.  In october I discovered that my wife was having an affair with someone at our restaurant and we separated, my anxiety levels stayed about the same.

We managed to work things out and things are actually really good between us.  A few weeks ago just as I was about to fall asleep I felt a surge of energy from my stomach shoot into my head, felt like my head exploded, I jumped out of bed unable to breathe, feeling went away after about 10 seconds but I could not fall asleep, this has continued almost every night since then, the only time it does not happen is when I drink excessive amounts of alcohol, but I am also experiencing some weird brain shivers during the day that make me feel like I am in a medicine fog, very disconnected from everything and very hard to get motivation to even leave the house.  

That is my story, I will continue to follow this thread, I am going to try some of the different recommendations I have read here.

-Steve