Sudden waking during sleep? (like a shock)

this happens to me all the time!
i dont really know the reason either

John Q. Llama and Absence of Self, pretty much nailed it on the head. Good, concise info A of S.

I can't help thinking, 'Restless Leg Syndrome' is a manufactured condition, to coincide with, a manufactured pharmaceutical. I imagine the drugs they push.., sorry, prescribe for it, would be some kind of anti convulsant ?

Have your dreams interpretted www.sleeps.com...

Your Psyche/Soul/Spirit is trying to Alert you.

This has happened to me so many times, up to 7 times a night, in about 10 to 15 minute intervals...

Just as i'd fall asleep, a shock would go through my entire body...mostly my head though, and i'd jump up gasping for air, feeling my heart beating like crazy...

I am on a lvl 7 prescribed sleeping tablet at the moment

Hasn't happened since

Hi Fingapointa.

First of, thank you for the compliment.

Secondly, though i do not want to de-rail the thread too much, I had a little time at work today and was thinking of your suspicion that the RLS incidence rate was effectively inflated via select marketing.

Taking a look at the public data I have come across some information which may be of interest to you.

The products used to alleviate symptoms of RLS are technically dopamine agonists targeting D2/D3 receptor sub-types to mimic the effects of Dopamine as a neurotransmitter and thus provide temporary alleviation from symptons as neurons in the basal ganglia and substantia nigra degenerate.

(I say temporary since these drugs only effect symptoms and do nothing to prevent neuro degeneration)

These drug types are normally employed in the treatment of Parkinsons.

If you subscribe to the BNF you can read up on them here: 4.9.1 Dopaminergic drugs used in parkinsonism

There are effectively two main compounds licensed within the UK for the treatment of RLS.

These are:

1.

Pramipexole: BNF ref and Wikipedia Ref. Marketed under the names of Mirapex, Mirapexin, Sifrol and Pexola by the german pharmaceutical giant the Boehringer Ingelheim group.

It is considered to be the worlds best drug for the symptomatic treatment of Parkinsons and in the year 2005 was worth 430 Million euros p/a. (a value which was up 52% on the previous year)

Not so fun side effects include:

BNF
nausea, constipation; postural hypotension, hypotension, headache, confusion, drowsiness (including sudden onset of sleep), fatigue, insomnia, dizziness, hallucinations (mostly visual), dyskinesia, peripheral oedema; hyperkinesia, delusions, abnormal dreams, paradoxical worsening of restless legs syndrome, and behavioural changes including pathological gambling, binge eating, hypersexuality, and changes in libido

2.

Ropinrole: BNF ref and again Wikipedia ref. Marketed under the trade name of Ropark by Sun Pharma, and as Requip in the US and as Adartrel in Europe by our good friends at the unstopable pharma-monster that is GSK (GlaxoSmithKline).

This one has happy side effects like:

the same BNF source as above.
nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dyspepsia; hypotension, syncope, leg oedema; drowsiness (including sudden onset of sleep), dizziness, nervousness, fatigue, dyskinesia, hallucinations, confusion; less commonly psychosis, pathological gambling, hypersexuality, and increased libido; very rarely hepatic disorders; also reported paradoxical worsening of restless legs syndrome.

GSK has even given this one its own fun filled web site: Requip - A Medication for Restless Legs Syndrome

(Cont...)

So you may ask: What's the problem with ReQuip?

Well... the problem is here:

Glaxosmithkline's Marketing Strategy for Requip: A Case Study in Product Lifecycle Management

Restless legs market to grow five-fold in next 10 years - WestLB

Giving Legs to Restless Legs: A Case Study of How the Media Helps Make People Sick

Conflicts of Interest and the Marketing of Requip

The "RLS Gene" Story: Requip Ad Disguised as News on ABC

RLS Drug Has Side Effects Not Commonly Known

Campaign boosts sales by 40 per cent

Finally, an antidote to TV drug ads

Glaxo and the Making of a Blockbuster Drug

So... Yes, The diagnosis of RLS should probably be taken with a pinch of salt.

Interestingly, the prevalence of these drug types also have implications for reports on Paranormal Phenomena considering the list of 'not so commonly' published side effects.

Hope that helps..

Absence.

p.s.
Many apologies to SystemiK for the size of that post.
Sorry about that.


[edit on 5-6-2008 by Absence of Self]

Originally posted by The Soldier Of Darkness

This has happened to me so many times, up to 7 times a night, in about 10 to 15 minute intervals...

Just as i'd fall asleep, a shock would go through my entire body...mostly my head though, and i'd jump up gasping for air, feeling my heart beating like crazy...

I am on a lvl 7 prescribed sleeping tablet at the moment

Hasn't happened since

what you're probably experiencing is called "sleep apnea" this is a condition where you actually stop breathing when you enter a deep sleep, which causes your brain to wake you up. occasionally, you will only wake after your body has been without oxygen for a significant period of time, which accounts for the elevated heart beat and the gasping for air you speak of. i know this because i too have sleep apnea, which i was diagnosed with after i went to a sleep clinic to have a sleep study done for sleepwalking, and i did the same thing you were doing.

needless to say i didn't sleepwalk at the clinic, because it's hard to sleepwalk when there's a ton of cables glued to your head, almost holding you down all night.

since you say it hasn't happened since, maybe it was an isolated incident? im not sure though, just thought i'd put my 2 cents in.

Theres nothing paranormal about it. You get a fright in your sleep and it wakes you up. Ive had that happen to me once or twice.

I have this exact thing happen to me, but finally figured out mine.

A year ago I had a heart attack and was in the hospital, well I spent 4 nights there anyhow it was sleeping at the hospital that it was finally figured out why this occured to me. It was sleep apnea. And I have it bad.

Sleep apnea is when you stop breathing in your sleep, which can cause unconsciously flailing (as if drowning/suffocating) then you come to an abrupt awakening that is just a shock as if you fell and his the floor in a dream and awoke abruptly.

anyhow at least thats why mine occured, I always wondered what that was in my sleep and being in hospital and having nurse tell me I had stopped breathing like 30 times that night (which according to doc is light sleep apenia which shocked me 30 sounded high to me).

anyhow not saying that is what it is for you or other's experiences but at least for me that is what caused the same feelings to me at night.

reply to post by SystemiK


It's funny you should make a thread about this, because the last few weeks I've been experiencing the same thing multiple times a night. I don't think I have sleep apnea, and I don't have restless leg syndrome that I'm aware of. It happens regardless of where I've been sleeping, and it's really bothersome. Last week I jolted so violently that I punched my gf in the face (luckily she is a deep sleeper and doesn't bruise easy, so I never told her ) When it happens to me I tend to push my arms out, full extension almost like im trying to push someone off of me or something. It's been aggravating and is definitely impacting my ability to get the most out of an 8 hour sleep night.
In other regards, I know a lot of you are skeptics, but I have had a number of out of body experiences, and I used to mentally attempt them. Gradually however the experiences got worse and worse, and I constantly felt like there were malignant beings/spirits/whatevers in my bedroom. So I stopped trying and I have subsequently stopped having them. These constant jolts just as I fall asleep are nothing reminiscent of that however, just generally a pain in the arse. I never find myself gasping for air when I wake up, or have headaches or any of that jazz... just a very strong muscle jerk.It seems to have the greatest occurence when I am annoyed at the heat in the room or not being able to readily fall asleep... so perhaps in my case it is just stress? I'm not sure, but at any rate it did happen three times last night and I stumbled across this thread and thought to myself "hey no way, someone else is sleepwalking through the day because of this damned thing!" My sympathies to you in any event.

~Grizzly

reply to post by sandman692


I am not sure, I also thought it was perhaps sleep apnea after i looked up what might cause this...

It used to happen a lot at one stage, especially if i was very tired and went to bed late ( i have an extremely hard time falling asleep )

Then it would stop for a week, or a few weeks, and it would just start happening again randomly...

It is pretty scary, because sometimes I actually think I was about to die...

I managed to get a very strong sleeping tablet prescribed for insomnia, and since I started taking it I haven't had at happen to me since...

So i am not a 100% sure what the reason is this happens to me...

Can only hope it's not too serious

[edit on 6-6-2008 by The Soldier Of Darkness]

reply to post by xxpigxx

Yes some say that, and I think it might be true. I've experienced this a few times and it wasn't ok.
But might not be the same thing though. I was dreaming and I woke up with a shock, but it took me 2 minutes before i could open my eyes. I couldn't open them completly and while i was trying to do that i wasn't sure what was happening to me. I was conscious, but still i kept fighting to open my eyes. Also i couldn't move, i just sat there almost like I was cought inbetween two worlds. I was very weird and scary at the same time. On one of the times i wasn't alone, but with my roommate, and she freaked out.
After that i asked around, luckily for me i have a few friends who are into these things. So i found out that most of the times, these kinds of rough wake-ups happen when you wake up, but the spirit is still detached to the body. so it makes the waking up part very confusing and aggressive.
Sorry i can't backup what i said with some real info.
i don't know what to think myself. but it sure felt like i was dreaming and awake at the same time.

reply to post by pain_is_an_illusion


This happens to me constantly. What is really odd is once "it" or whatever started talking to me. Told me all kinds of weird things. Then when I asked who it was or rather if it was a certain person it said decidedly "NO!" and left. It hasn't been back since. So may be I angered it.

When this last happened I was not asleep. As soon as I felt it leave I looked around the room and nothing seemed out of place.

Anyway I figure I have one hell of an imagination or I am being haunted.

reply to post by Absence of Self


Thanks for the info. Sometimes it is not just a beep. Once it sounded as if someone were dialing cell number. Several tones in a sequence. Odd thing about that is I heard it only in one ear. The one that I have a 70% loss of hearing. Go figure!!

I don't know if this fits it with this thread, but I usually wake up at the same time every night. It is increasing though. It used to happen sporadically and now it is much more common.

I believe that I am just so paranoid and scared that I wake myself up to "check things out". Am I making sense?
I hate the dark and I hate sleeping by myself so I figure that is why. I get myself so worked up that I subconsciously wake myself to make sure everything is alright.

I don't really bolt up though. All of a sudden I am just up. Eyes wide open.

Originally posted by Grizzly Bear
It's funny you should make a thread about this, because the last few weeks I've been experiencing the same thing multiple times a night. I don't think I have sleep apnea, and I don't have restless leg syndrome that I'm aware of. It happens regardless of where I've been sleeping, and it's really bothersome. Last week I jolted so violently that I punched my gf in the face (luckily she is a deep sleeper and doesn't bruise easy, so I never told her

) When it happens to me I tend to push my arms out, full extension almost like im trying to push someone off of me or something. It's been aggravating and is definitely impacting my ability to get the most out of an 8 hour sleep night.

This sounds like PLM (periodic Limb Movements) that would be associated with sleep apnea. One of the protection methods that your body has when its having sleep apnea is to jerk in that manner, as your reacting to the decrease in oxygen and fighting to clear your airway. I have seen exactly this same thing in patients, were one would punch the other side of the bed in their sleep as a result of PLM’s. Though you may think you don’t have sleep apnea, you might only have it at certain times or when laying in certain positions. I will tell you the same thing I tell everyone else on here, find a board certified sleep physician and certified sleep lab and have yourself checked out.

reply to post by SystemiK


Nothing wrong with this, I don't think it's anything to worry about

I've had it a lot of times and I'm sure many others have.

Originally posted by Faith628
I don't know if this fits it with this thread, but I usually wake up at the same time every night. It is increasing though. It used to happen sporadically and now it is much more common.

I believe that I am just so paranoid and scared that I wake myself up to "check things out". Am I making sense?
I hate the dark and I hate sleeping by myself so I figure that is why. I get myself so worked up that I subconsciously wake myself to make sure everything is alright.

Waking at the same time every night is a sign that you are waking from REM Sleep, which happens at roughly the same times every night. Your REM cycle is in sync with your circadian rhythm which is set by the sun, sort of like an internal clock. Sleep Apnea is going to be worst in REM sleep due to the lose of muscle tone associated with REM. So someone will go into REM sleep, choke, and wake up, normally at the same times on a nightly basis. Additionally, feeling claustrophobic, or anxious at night is a subconscious reaction to the fact that your brain knows it is choking in its sleep. Again, you should have this checked out by a board certified sleep physician and have a Polysomnography test run to check if you have it or not. Its better to take care of it early as it can become a catch 22 cycle which gets progressively worse over time.

reply to post by defcon5


Thank you for your reply. The only reason I think this is untrue is because when I sleep over my boyfriends, I do not wake up. If I am sharing a room I am fine. It is only when I am alone. I honestly think it is just my paranoia of the dark.

Last night I woke up saying "what" as if someone was speaking to me. Looking back, I think it was just my stomach growling that I misinterpreted as garbled speech!

Man I hate the dark!

This happens to me too but usually only when I'm awake, but just about to fall asleep...it is like an electric jolt that comes out of nowhere...very frustrating!