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[katMB]

Hello everyone,
I am fairly new here, although I have posted a few times last year regarding some horrible muscle twitching I was (and still am) experiencing.

The reason I am posting today is because of some weird and frightening symptoms I have been having recently. I have searched in the search bar but I don't know if I am experiencing exactly what other people in this forum have described so would like to see if this seems familiar to anyone else.

I am 46 now and possibly in early stage perimenopause (my period are still fine and I havent had any hot flashes etc) but I have had terrible anxiety for the last 3 or so years. I was on Propanolol for a while but it made me so lightheaded and out of it that I have had to stop using it. But recently I have been getting lots of hypnic jerks in the night, which jolt me wide awake as I am about to drift off to sleep. However, over the last 2 weeks I have had a number of nights where the jolts are so severe as I am drifting off to sleep that I have not managed to get any sleep at all. I am almost asleep and I wake suddenly with a feeling of doom and complete dread. My heart is racing and my entire body is trembling and shaking. Sometimes it feels like the trembling can be felt from my head to toes. This can happen repeatedly throughout the night. At times my tinnitus gets so loud in my head. So I am not necessarily being woken from sleep - at times I dont get to sleep at all.

I have also been experiencing another weird sensation whereby I may be sitting at dinner, or chatting to a friend and I suddenly get a weird sensation from my neck up the back of my head. It is almost like a cold sweat and I feel weird and panicked, like I am about to faint. I need to go and lay down and sometimes don't feel right for a few hours. But it is almost like a head surge. Does this make sense to anyone?

I just realised I originally posted this in the postmenopause section - so apologies for this.

[DottyD68]

Hi katMB,

Yes I have had the nightime jolts on several occasions and seemingly randomly. Absolutely terrifying - I sometimes think I am dying (as dramatic as that may sound). I put them down to adrenaline surges and once  realise what it is I am able to calm down and go back to sleep.

I have had a reoccurrence of night sweats recently and what you describe is similar to my nighsweats (wake with a jolt followed by a hot flush). I think it is all linked.

Once you know what it is it becomes less scary. Take care. X

[katMB]

Thanks for your reply Dotty.

Yes totally terrifying. I feel like I am about to have a stroke or a hear attack, and it takes ages to calm down from the adrenaline rush. No sooner have I done that and am starting to drift off to sleep, the same thing happens again! I just don’t know how to cope with this as it is making me very anxious about bedtime. I am almost anticipating it happening each night which probably makes it worse

[CLKD]

Oh I often step off a pavement as I am dropping off to sleep, have never worked out why it happens.  DH would lift his bowling arm out of the covers as he was drifting off ......  .

Adrenaline 4 me is hot water coursing through my veins, frightened the Life out of me [obviously not literally] when it first happened many years ago. 

I also get head zaps due to the medications that I take. 

Eating every 3 hours may help U, to keep blood sugars even : every 3 hours, 24/7.  A drop may cause anxiety.

[DottyD68]

I can relate to the coursing through your veins sensation CLKD. The first time I had a daytime adrenaline surge I had no idea what was happening. It felt like I had had a treble espresso injected ino my veins and it rushed up from my chest to my head really quickly. Whoosh!

KatMB, I try a number of things before I go to bed these days - try not to eat late, drink chamomille or sleepy tea, have a bath and also listen to my Headspace meditation app. Doesn't always help but it at least it distracts me from thinking about the sleep I will or wont get.

[DottyD68]

KatMB,

My husband has tinnitis so most nights we have 'Rain sounds' playing on Alexa in the background. It's a gamechanger. If you don't like the soubd of rain you can have the sounds of sea etc. These are also available on the meditation apps. You can have it on all night or just for an hour or so tl you fall asleep.

[WildOtter]

This started happening to me when my oestrogen was low, I've stablised a bit now and it's stopped

[bluebird68]

It is terrifying!

I used to get like vibration during the drifting off to sleep and jolts

My GP didn't know what to make of it. It sounds common in peri. HRT may help with this.

Hope you are feeling less anxious knowing lots of us have experienced this

[CatR]

Hi KatMB,

I’ve not posted on here for some time, but I believe you may have posted on my thread previously about muscle twitching. I’m still getting these, nearly 2 years on. I‘ve had spells where they’ve subsided nearly completely, but just recently again they’ve returned all over, more so in my left side oddly - feel like I’m being thumped from the inside out! So fed up with it, but I do my best to ignore in the hope they’ll disappear again eventually 🤞
Re the surges, I’m getting something similar at the moment, either just as I’m falling asleep or a couple of hours after I’ve fallen asleep. Very difficult to explain, I wake suddenly feeling like I’m on the verge of a panic attack, but my heart isn’t beating fast enough to cope, but I’m frightened that I’m going to have a heart attack.  I can’t really explain it any better. It’s a horrible feeling. I’d put it down to my thyroid, as my thyroid has gone very underactive following a radio iodine treatment to suppress the gland. Maybe it’s nothing to do with my thyroid and just another weird symptom like the twitching 😞 there’s no end to it x

[Delso]

Hi, this seems similar to what I have experienced before. The jolts, tremors and shakes were horrible and body just wouldn't allow me to shut off and sleep, would be jolted awake. Deep breathing and calming nervous system guided meditation helped. Think my hormones went through a crash and felt in flight or fight mode. Was horrible so really sympathise.  Back on HRT and think that's helped too.

[JoannFran]

HI there

This sounds exactly like what I experienced a few years ago.  I am 48 now but started around 45 with those horrible nighttime surges.  Literally felt like someone had zapped me with an electric current and the my body would vibrate all night.  Racing heart, shaking, trembling.  I thought something was seriously wrong with me.  I didn't have any hot flushes or night sweats so didn't think it was perimenopause.  I'm now a few years on and this has improved considerably.  I am on propranolol (this also makes me really light headed and feel weird but I'm too scared to come off them).
I'm also on HRT and take magnesium glycinate every night.  I'm not sure which of these things (or a combination) have helped, but I hardly have nights like this anymore.  I used to absolutely DREAD night times.
I still occasionally get the feeling like I'm gonna feint or have a stroke (very weird head sensation).
Are you on HRT? xx