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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Sudden Body Jerk In The Mid Of The Night?

i have some weird thing going on at night while i sleep, all of a sudden my full body jerks violently like a convulsion. Seems like i'm startled awake to become fully conscious. It happens only a few times a night and sometimes not at all . Doesn't seem like night terrors or it just being a bad dream a friend said it might be sleep apnea, my brothers wife says he stops breathing at night so he may have it. If so is this my body's reaction to get me to wake up and breathe ?
Wed, 30 Sep 2015
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Psychiatrist,  's  Response
Hi,
The nature of problem mentioned by you sounds to be atypical from the usual manifestation of sleep apnoea. In sleep apnoea, one would expect a person to feel the sensation of choking/breathlessness during sleep, leading to awakening and rapid gushing in of air.
The rapid whole-body jerks possibly suggest either a sudden violent reaction to an on-going dream, or the classical 'night terror', wherein a person wakes up fully conscious and sweating, trembling or screaming, without recollection of the dream content.
It is difficult to precisely label or group a certain behavioral complaint into specific diagnostic category, as the body has variable means of presentation and adaptation of symptoms.
I would like to rule out a possibility of myoclonic jerks, wherein such body jerks are known to occur. I suggest you to take a Neurology consultation and run an investigation for Sleep-EEG (electro-encephalogram), to document the brain wave activity during sleep.

Hope this addressed your concern. Happy to help for further questions, if any.
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What Causes Sudden Body Jerk In The Mid Of The Night?

Hi, The nature of problem mentioned by you sounds to be atypical from the usual manifestation of sleep apnoea. In sleep apnoea, one would expect a person to feel the sensation of choking/breathlessness during sleep, leading to awakening and rapid gushing in of air. The rapid whole-body jerks possibly suggest either a sudden violent reaction to an on-going dream, or the classical night terror , wherein a person wakes up fully conscious and sweating, trembling or screaming, without recollection of the dream content. It is difficult to precisely label or group a certain behavioral complaint into specific diagnostic category, as the body has variable means of presentation and adaptation of symptoms. I would like to rule out a possibility of myoclonic jerks, wherein such body jerks are known to occur. I suggest you to take a Neurology consultation and run an investigation for Sleep-EEG (electro-encephalogram), to document the brain wave activity during sleep. Hope this addressed your concern. Happy to help for further questions, if any.