Does anyone else get odd neurological symptoms, like body/head tensing/jerks when they are trying to fall asleep? Or is it just me?
I quite often get hypnic jerks when Iām about to fall asleep. You know the kind of sudden falling feeling as you are on the edge of sleep where you jump and wake up with your heart racing. I think everyone gets them occasionally but since I got MAV I have them more regularly and occasionally I can have one after another so it takes me a couple of hours to get to sleepā¦horrible! x
Yes I have had this I think they call it periodic limb movement, occurs when your asleep as well but you donāt realise cos your asleep. I get it in my hands and arms, whole body and head. I had a drastic reduction in these symptoms when I stopped all caffeine and chocolate. I harldy get it now at all.
I think this is common even among non-migraineurs. I often wake with a start and a rush of adrenaline about 15 minutes after falling asleep; in the past this would always happen with a dream of slipping on wet leaves, my feet flying up in front of me. I now have a phobia of wet leaves on pavementā¦ I walk on them, if I have to, like eggshells!
LOTS of weird things happen in the twilight between sleep and wakingā¦ thereās even something called āexploding head syndromeāā¦ Iām not kidding!
I used to get it before I had even gone to sleep when I was just sat at rest or lying down mainly usually in my hands or arms. I know what you mean though I have also had the jumpy dream thingy, mine is just after I have gone to sleep I dream I have fallen off a cliff and then AH! Jump awake, I think this is a hypnic jerk. When I got migraine I had this over and over again before I had even got into a sleep enough to dream. I was awake for 4 days and got zolpidem off the GP in the end because I was so exhausted.
Lolā¦now looking up exploding head syndrome! 
I feel like I have exploding head syndrome most of the time anyway 
I couldnāt believe it. Really thought it a joke when I read in yesterdayās Daily Mail of Exploding Head Syndrome but itās mentioned in many old threads on here. Apparently according to Dr Andrew Dowson headache specialist at Kings it could well be migraine related.
ābeing jolted awake by a loud bang in your head is a sign of exploding head syndrome (EHS)ā
I am sure the experience would be no laughing matter but itās a strange sounding handle to give it all the same. I think I can recall current members discussing similar experiences under a different name which I currently cannot recall. Any takers? Helen
Iāve twice in my life had the experience of being jolted awake by a bright flash of light (illuminating the entire room), accompanied by a loud bang. Initially you assume a bulb has shattered, but it hasnāt. The first time it happened was around the time my VM first flared up, 12 years ago. The second time was last year, around the time I had my second big flare-up of VM. Iām not sure if itās a rare sort-of aura. Very disconcerting experience.
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I know a lot of people experience that jolt back awake whilst nodding off to sleep. But what you had certainly sounds much more condition related. I expect Dr Dowson would give you an EHS diagnosis. Youād be able to add it to your diagnosis collectionš which I cynically suspect is about as much good as it would be likely to do youš.
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I am very anxious when trying to fall asleep and sometimes realize how tense my body is and try to relax. I have insomnia, so it usually takes me a while to fall asleep, but then I get the hypnic jerks. It also has a few other names. I will post a link below. Iāve had these for a couple of years and way before I got VM/BPPV. I donāt think anyone knows what causes them, but they can be very scary.
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I have this problem badly, havnāt slept properly in about a year now. but i have narrowed it down to chocolate. Do not eat chocolate at all if you have hypnic jerks or migraines. Migraines and hypnic jerks are tied together. I suspect phenylethylamine is the culprit, Hopefully this comment helps someone.
Edit, phenylethylamine is also in some anti-depressants.
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I know this is an old thread but Iāve been struggling with hypnic jerks for a few nights now. They just randomly appeared out of nowhere. Whenever Iām falling asleep I wake up with a mini jolt and a gasp or a snort. This happens multiple times until I eventually fall asleep. Then if I wake up during the night it happens again when Iām falling back asleep. Itās startling and sometimes makes my heart rate and I get a great gasp of air. I know itās harmless but itās annoying when itās disturbing your sleep and there isnāt much you can do about it. Itās happened before randomly out of nowhere, lasted a few weeks then disappeared. I hope it will go away again soon, I want to sleep properly. I also started with headaches again at the same time these jerks started so Iām guessing itās related.
When sleeping and feeling the feet rise, this is a deficiency of vitamin D, anemia, and colon gases that cause and lack of sleep causes, and it increases dizziness and vertigo.
Sleep jerks also happen to almost everyone for no real identifiable cause. Everyone gets them at some point and itās a natural part of falling asleep. Itās not always caused by deficiencies or health problems.
Iām glad this old thread has resurfaced.
I have Sleep Apnea on top of VM. I only bring this up because I am required to take periodic Sleep Studies about every five years or so.
Dying my last Sleep Study, the Doctor made a remark in the notes that I move my limbs while Iām asleep far more often than normal and that he believes this movement is interfering with my ability to benefit from sleeping and awaken refreshed and ready to go. I almost always wake up tired and sleepy and want to go back to sleep. If Iām allowed to sleep uninterrupted for as long as I want, I will routinely sleep 12 hours at a time.
I was supposed to schedule another visit with my sleep therapist last December, but that fell through the cracks and never got done. I guess Iāll get it done now.
Thanks for reviving this thread.