To add onto CitizenKong's comment, the scientific name is hypnagogic jerk, shorthand hypnic jerk, and it's exactly what they said, the body shutting down the external neural responses that control your body.
this post was submitted on 16 Dec 2023
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Thanks for the addition! It didn't know the technical term.
Super interesting, thanks for sharing that link!
Anyone know what that shit actually is? Is it just the body doing some 'Alert Systems Routine Check' or something?
So, your brain is basically shutting down the nervous system of your body's musculature. This prevents you from moving around in your dreams. Otherwise everybody would be sleepwalking, it doesn't work right for people that are suffering from that. That's also where dreams of flying or falling come from as well as sleep paralysis, which is basically your brain shutting down your body while you're still conscious. Just before your body is shut down, the electric pathways of the nervous system of your musculature are discharged, which can manifest itself as a jolt through your body, ironically waking you up again.
That sounds fancy but I don't know if I believe you
It is thought to be a safety system from our ape like ancestors. The system is designed to rapidly wake us, and make us latch on, if we start to fall. If you're sleeping in a tree, this could be quite a critical response.
Unfortunately, sometimes, as we are falling asleep, the brain shuts down the senses etc in the wrong order. As our sense of balance shuts down, we can momentarily feel like we are falling. This triggers the previous response. Our muscles twitch fire, to try and latch on to something, along with a burst of adrenaline to get us awake. This is obviously less than ideal, if you are trying to get to sleep, in a nice warm bed.
I believe there are genetic components, but disrupted sleep is the most common cause. Overtiredness, disrupted circadian rhythms, or sleep disrupters (bright or blue light, caffeine alcohol etc) can all make it worse. If they are excessively common, they could be a symptom of a larger, more serious sleep condition (e.g. sleep apnea). Don't stress about them, but don't ignore them either, if they are disruptively common.
It's got to do with a poor sleep routine mixed with the stress and caffeine that it often comes with.
Cut out caffeine three hours before bed, don't eat too soon before bed, try get into a regular sleep and wake up routine and try get at least 6 hours minimum. And don't go to bed with your phone in your face!
Getting some exercise in the day helps a lot too!
Even more than 3 hours. Half life of caffeine is 6 hours in the body
I had surgery recently that put me on opioids to help with pain management and this happened to me constantly for the whole week I was on them. Shit sucks.
The other night, for me, it was getting shocked while repairing equipment. Touched the same damn place twice
My cat has this shit happen too sometimes. When he’s in my lap loool
Haven't had that in decades. I miss it as it was a sure sign that I was to fall asleep within a second.
Fuvk that shit. Being awake with horror and a running heart, in a sweat, having your hands and feet bang the bed like you did indeed fell. It's so uncomfortable.