Re: electric/shock sensation while falling asleep?
Very interesting thread and I'm somewhat relieved it's not just me...To me, I would describe it as grabbing 110V on accident while wiring your home and then it's gone in an instant. I can't say that it's localized or radiates from any one spot, but it rushes over my body as quickly as it over. The only piece I wanted to add is that it seems to occur more frequently/severe if I take nap during the day and I'm curled up on the couch with my knee's and arm's bent. If I lie stretched out in my bed or supine (flat on my back) on the couch it rarely occurs and if it does its just a minor pulse at best.
Re: electric/shock sensation while falling asleep?
Are you on PPI medications? I'm on Nexium BTW. The same kind of thing happens to me too...like some weird sensation springing up from the chest and there, you are awake just as you were falling alseep. Hard to describe but it is the mixture between a shock of fear, falling from like a roller coaster under gravity, shudder, sudden, twisting, ....a whole mix but a real feeling that is very sickening. This only started after I took this medication that I'm currently on for GERD / IBS. Wonder whether this has something to do with any meds especially given for GERD since some posts are mentioning this condition?
Re: electric/shock sensation while falling asleep?
Hello everyone,
Wanted to let you all know that I had an upper endoscopy and everything was completely normal. No hiatal hernia or signs of gerd.
Any other diagnoses that could fit these symptoms? I'm also wondering if any of you sometimes wake up with the sensation that your heart has stopped completely? I get the jolts in my chest at night prior to falling asleep but sometimes I wake up out of a dead sleep with the sensation that my heart has stopped all together.
I am currently wearing a heart event monitor for a month to get some of these shocks/sensations on tape. I am still very scared so any insight is more than welcome.
Re: electric/shock sensation while falling asleep?
I am a 32 year old female with severe HA related to my heart. Last night when falling asleep I had what I can only describe as an electric shock. It started in my chest and went outward. I've never had this before. I'm freaking out thinking my heart is stopping. I've had multiple ekg's, a stress test, echo (2011), holter monitor(2011), and MANY trips to ER. It's always the same dx (non cardiac chest pain or anxiety). I'm at my wits end.
The following user gives a hug of support to ryates80: masadaman (11-15-2012)
Re: electric/shock sensation while falling asleep?
Hi , I am a 15 year old boy.
It's the middle of the night right now and i'm really scared. I read all the posts and i can relate to most of them. This is what happend to me 20 minuts ago :
I was just about to fall asleep and then suddenly I felt a lightning bolt going trough whole my body and i immediatly woke up and was paralyzed for a few seconds. I was really freaked out and like most of you i thought i was going to die. Also i saw something like a sparc right in front of as i felt the shock. I also heard the sound of a sparc , some sorth of snap. I'm really scared and i can't go to sleep right now but I will try. If this happens again during the night , i will go right away to a hospital and get me checked out. Ill let you guys know about it.
Re: electric/shock sensation while falling asleep?
I have been having this sensation now for a couple of years. It happens most times I am just falling asleep when I go from that point that you are just slipping from consciousness to sleep. I jerk awake bolting upright clutching my chest with the feeling like my heart has stopped and I am dying. This will happen sometimes over and over each time I start to drift into sleep. It does feel like an electric shock somewhat. I am 62 years old and my Dr. says it is anxiety. I sometimes take an ativan which seems to help, prescribed by my Dr. It IS very scary and I can relate to all of you who experience this. Just be comforted by the fact that I have been living with it for some time now and I am not dead yet..lol. I also had the heart monitor on for a month and it showed nothing as well. Sometime it is SO violent it actually hurts. It amazes me how FAST I bolt upright out of a sound sleep. I take Lisinopril and amlodipine for blood pressure and prilosec for my stomach..who knows, maybe it's related to these meds.
Re: electric/shock sensation while falling asleep?
I doubt it...I think it IS stress related... it is like when you take the load off of a machine that is running ...or when your driving your car and you put it in neutral the engine suddenly races. I think were all under stress throughout the day and as we drift off, start to relax and it is like suddenly releasing the tight rubber band that is all wound up...it jolts us wide awake. Maybe??
Quote:
Originally Posted by kymkat
I have been having the same peoblem and I take tylenol pm almost every night to get to sleep wonder if there is a connection?
The Following User Says Thank You to masadaman For This Useful Post: kymkat (11-29-2012)
Re: electric/shock sensation while falling asleep?
Hello,
I second the notion that this is FREAKING SCARY. These sensations start even before I come close to drifting off. It starts with me getting these electric surges in my brain as I'm tossing and turning. With every few exhales, I will get an electric jolt that runs through my head. It feels like my brain is violently rolling around and dropping in my head. Sometimes I fall asleep, but other times, as is described above, I am abruptly awoken with the sensation that my heart has stopped all together and I am dying. I am only 22, so I'm scared that this is something I will have to live with forever. I do have some important things to note however.
In the mix of all these weird sensations, I have had what I believe were a few "nocturnal seizures" I would be awoken to paralysis and my body shaking. It would only last a few seconds, until I focused all my energy on snapping out of it. Although I couldn't prove it was seizure activity, I was prescribed lamictal and gabapentin (anti-seizure medicine). Since being on the meds, I have not woken up with the seizure sensation, but I do still have these electric jolts and shocks that everyone is describing. Therefore, I believe that these sensations are not seizure related if anyone is thinking that.
Second, I have been on xanax and klonopin for all of 2012 as I frantically tried to figure out what was wrong with me. I am currently tapering off the meds and these drugs have so many nasty side effects...especially if you have been taking them for months or years.
Once your brain becomes dependent on the benzos, you will suffer tolerance and interdose withdrawal between each dose and if you don't increase the dose. The withdrawal is horrendous. Many people say it's worse than heroin and the list of symptoms is incredible.
I would also urge you guys to have a sleep study if you have insurance and can afford it. I was recently diagnosed with sleep apnea about 3 weeks ago. The sleep doctor said that when you stop breathing in your sleep, your body sends an abrupt signal to wake you up and initiate breathing again. Your heart rate also tends to slow down during sleep, making you more susceptible to palpitations. It could be that your breathing is stopping as you drift off or when you are completely asleep. I am currently on CPAP. It's not the most comfortable thing, but I have not been jolted awake since using it. Now, I only have the sensations as I'm trying to fall asleep.
Lastly, I too had an event monitor and managed to get some of these heart related sensations on tape. However, it showed almost nothing (I did catch one PVC event). Being a health anxiety freak, I naturally thought the event monitor malfunctioned or something, and I needed to have another one. But I believe that's not the case. I believe that this ultimately boils down to anxiety. I know, I hate even hearing the word anxiety. I always thought doctors used it as a cheap cop-out for their lack of knowledge. These symptoms are so real and scary and it feels like something is physically wrong.
Please Let me know any updates. Reassurance through this site and others is the best way to stay calm. Please share you're thoughts. And if any of you have found a cure or diagnosis please share with everyone else. I know it can be easy to never return to this site if you are cured, but the rest of us are still suffering. Thank you and God bless.
Last edited by Administrator; 11-29-2012 at 09:02 PM.
Reason: posted disallowed website
Re: electric/shock sensation while falling asleep?
I am curious if any of you are sleep deprived before these sensations happen and if you've been on the computer shortly before going to sleep. My son has had similar things happen and it's usually when he doesn't get enough sleep and is spending hours on the computer before going to sleep. Any connection? Perhaps overstimulation coupled with anxiety, maybe??
Re: electric/shock sensation while falling asleep?
Hello from Adelaide, Australia. I don't post in forums much but I think it is important to add ones experiences cause it really sucks when you start having the "am I dying?" conversation with yourself.
I have been having these on or off for just on 15 years now (since I was 25). I have been on Zoloft for for four years, and people say that causes them, but I can say that in at least my case I had them well before - in fact after 11 years of struggling it is probably a key reason why I am on Zoloft!
For me I get them right at that instant prior to falling asleep, there's that millisecond of falling then bam i am jerked out (like foil on a filling is how I explain it) - I get it through my brain, temples, down the jaw line and through the teeth.
Often I will physically jerk up with a sensation that I am bleeding from the mouth or nose, and I grab the pillow looking for blood. Quite scary actually.
I typically get at least one a night, but I have had up to 30 or 40 (several hours or falling asleep, bam, falling asleep, bam). When you get them chronic like that it's like a double edged sword - its exhausting but you can't sleep.
I have never met anyone with the same problem, and when I went to the doctors it was difficult to explain and mostly not believed. I've haven't found a cause or prevention, though for me I have had a better existence on Zoloft. My guesses for a cause include;
serotonin issues (history of depression in family / had a mild affair with extasy in my late teens to early 20's)
nerve problems round the temple, like a short circuit, maybe TMJ (Temporomandibular Joint Disorder) / teeth clenching related
stress & exhaustion - it does appear to happen more often
mild epilepsy - if it was discovered that it was a very very mild epileptic fit I would not be surprised
tumour - I don't think so, never been checked, but hey for all I know it could be a vestigial twin
teeth - an extreme case of sensitive teeth?
neck / spine - I have a lot of tension in my neck (scared of chiropractors though) - maybe it is compression of the nerves at the back of the neck, then as you relax some tension is released a bam a short circuit?
All of these are guesses based on my symptoms.
Sorry for the long post, but as I said some of this information may give some comfort to the next person. I was convinced after the first couple of years I was going to die but 15 years later I am still kicking - so if you are just experiencing this or have had it once or twice I wouldn't panic - see your doctor, get the tests done and if all is okay don't panic, you are just in a small club of freaks :O).
Time and experience helps as well. I can now feel the transition to sleep occurring and am concious enough to be aware it could happen - if it doesn't then that's the last thing I remember, if it does I don't panic so much - this seems to keep the count down to maybe once or twice.
Again sorry for the long post.
The Following User Says Thank You to anikan For This Useful Post: headintheclouds (12-09-2012)
Re: electric/shock sensation while falling asleep?
I was surprised to see how many people have been experiencing the same thing, tho my experience is a little different, I don't really feel it in my chest or stomach like all of you its in my brain, and I see a a very dim flash. My whole body will jolt but i can tell its from my brain like it shorted out, then in a instant my body jerks like a reflex, this may sound "crazy" but I think its paranormal, government agency, or aliens. Because when this happens I never feel alone, and one time I actually felt a hand on my head like someone was sending a signal to my brain, sometimes I know when it happens other times I can't tell it even happened, I probably shouldn't tell you this but why not tell the people that are experiencing the same thing rather then going through it alone, I don't think its harmful necessarily because I always wake back up in the morning and it doesn't scare me its quite interesting if you ask me, I always give a quick look around when I can, always nothing but many times have physic experiences or communication with one time a laugh, that was freaky but it was just like they were ******* with me, like a friend would do. I can see no real pattern and I have never had it happen more then twice in a night, so 25 times is crazy to me. I don't have any proof only gut instinct, so idk if anyone else has anything similar, next time try to tell if it is coming from your brain and jolting your body instead of just in your chest or stomach, or if you do change your diet and eating habits if it changes and be consistent about it so you can rule it out, and if it still happens then who knows. **** now I'm really going to get it
Re: electric/shock sensation while falling asleep?
Easy with the conspiracy theories there buddy. You are experiencing hypnagogic hallucinations associated sleep paralysis and you might very well have sleep apnea. When you stop breathing in your sleep, your body sends a jolt to wake you up. Sometimes when these arousal's happen in deep sleep, you can wake up in a state of paralysis, since your body automatically goes into paralysis while you sleep so you dont act out your dreams. In other words, you're mind is waking up before your body does. Hallucinations often in sue. This thread is describing sensations during the onset of sleep. Electric surges or jolts that happen over and over. I would recommend getting a sleep study done if you can afford it. For everyone else, look into benzodiazepine use (xanax/klonopin etc.) Withdrawal or tolerance from these drugs can cause these electric jolts! wish you all good health
Re: electric/shock sensation while falling asleep?
hi
I have been getting these sensations for years,i also get spinning backwards feelings, I started to investigate these weird scarey electrical heart stopping events and one night i cannot explain it but i did not jump up in fright ,instead i stayed with the feeling only to find myself looking down on my body lying in the bed,I was told i had an OUT of the body experience
Re: electric/shock sensation while falling asleep?
Uh wow, that sound horrifying. I hope I don't go through that. But I hear what you're saying. Usually I spring up out of bed to check my pulse and see if my heart is still beating. Lately I just have been ignoring it because I know it's harmless (or at least I think it is!). But I've never had an out of body experience. Please let me know how you're doing down the road.
Re: electric/shock sensation while falling asleep?
Shocked to find so many other people experiencing the exact same symptoms word for word as I am. I was starting to think I was a lunatic with some type of mental issue. I sit here typing this at 4am because I can't sleep due to experiencing these exact symptoms several times in the last few hours while trying to fall asleep. I gave up trying to fall asleep and decided to google this issue and stumbled upon this thread.
Like everyone else just as I am doseing off at the very instant when I'm about to fall asleep I literally jump up in a panic gasping for air as if my heart stopped and I was about to drop dead but saved my own life by waking myself up. It is the strangest/scariest feeling I've ever experienced. I'm a 26 year old male and have never had any type of sleep disorder or issue before. I would always sleep solid through the night 8-12 hours no problem at all. This just started in the last few months, it would happen one night out of the blue and then go away for several weeks or months and then come back again randomly.
I have not changed anything in my life as far as diet or sleep schedule or work hours and I'm not on any medication whatsoever. The only issue I have is I know I have some type of acid reflux or GERD which I need to have checked out but when it bothers me I usually just take some tums or Zantac or something and it goes away. I'm no doctor but I don't feel like its sleep apnea due to its randomness and the fact that it just started out of nowhere.
This is getting very frustrating as it always seems to happen when I have to wake up early the next morning and I'm up all night fighting this until I eventually fall asleep or just give up and stay awake. Hopefully someone can get an answer and help us all out.
Re: electric/shock sensation while falling asleep?
Quote:
Originally Posted by theramses
I've been having these weird electric/shock sensations occur right when I'm about to fall asleep.
It's hard to describe, but it's like my brain all of a sudden sends an electric current throughout my body waking me up? Could be my brain or my chest, I'm not even sure. All I know is when it happens it scares the crap out of me. I feel like I'm going to die or something.
Thanks.
Hi there,
Have you been on any PPIs recently like Nexpro or anything similar? I have had what you describe and that all started when I was put on PPI drugs. Getting off of the PPIs did not stop this. Going to an Ayurvedic doctor I was diagnosed to have nerve damage caused by the PPIs (the PPI I was given was Nexium). The damaged nerves must have been causing this because when I started treatment for that, it reduced and now it is hardly there apart from the odd day which is when I have a heavy meal and the heart and stomach has to work extra hard. I was told that the damaged nerves are the ones that are between the heart and the diaphragm. Hope this helps you...
Re: electric/shock sensation while falling asleep?
To 03Cobrra,
I also thought this was a sleep disorder but later found out that it wasn't. Have you also been on PPI drugs recently? I have experienced what you guys described. Pls read my response above to the original poster...it might help you.
Re: electric/shock sensation while falling asleep?
What "treatment" helped with your nerve damage? The sensations I experience are in between my heart and my diaphragm, so I think I might have the same thing. What helped?
