Hypoxia and Medicine

Late night tremors, insomnia?

I'm not sure what to call this, but for the last few weeks when I get ready to go to bed, I end up spending 2 hours trying to get to sleep. What happens is that about a dozen times a night I'll start to fall asleep and hit that moment where you are just about out and I'll jerk myself back awake. I was indeed unconscious for maybe a a few seconds to a minute, but when I regain consciousness, it feels like my pulse is beating around 180 bpm. I check my pulse on my carotid artery and it is normal. So it appears that the rapid pulsing throughout my body is possibly muscular? I need to get up and calm myself down with large slow breaths to make it stop. Repeat this process 10-12 times and then I eventually pass out after 2 hours. I'm 26, male. 240 lbs with no major medical condition. No medications. I'm curious as to what this is because the lack of sleep is starting to affect my work and school. Does anyone have an idea what this could be? And when I say that "I jerk" it's definitely involuntary. Thanks for the response. I generally feel pretty tired most of the day. I've never been told I snore and I'm quite sure I've never nodded off randomly...cept maybe after a big meal =P . I generally end up falling asleep around 2 am and am awoken by the dogs at around 6:30 and then off to work. I may visit a doc, but I just wanted to see if anyone had experienced anything like it. It's just rather weird how my body pulses as if it were my heartbeat, but when I physically check my pulse, it's normal. I just find it odd. Thank you Nicky. I'm very sorry to hear about your mother. I had a hunch it was stress, but I was just curious if their was a known condition or anything. You've assuaged my fears. I will get my thyroid checked out as there is a history of thyroid problems in my family. I thank you both for your responses.

Public Comments

1. Yes, it's a bad case of insomnia. And probably anxiety or stress issues as well. How do you function during the day? Do you feel awake and well rested when you get up in the morning? Do you find yourself falling asleep while driving or at work? Have you ever been told that you snore? Do you ever wake up gasping for breath? I'd get a doctor to prescribe you something for the insomnia there are plenty of medications that can help you to get a good night's sleep, especially since it is affecting your life. You could have other sleep issues as well such as sleep apnea or narcolepsy. But you won't know until you get tested. For the type of insomnia you have (I have it too) only sleep medications will work!
2. Hi, I don't think you need to bee too worried about this. I have suffered it previously, and it's starting up again after the loss of my mother three weeks ago. Last time I had it, after many tests it was related to two things..partly stress and partly because I had an over active thyroid. Ask your gp to check your thyroid activity (a simple blood test), and try to work out if it could be stress related. If it's stress you could just need some medication to get you back on track. As an added note, my doctor initially put me on betablockers and although they helped slow down my heart rate, they actually made the problem of insomnia and night tremors far worse. Once I realised it was stress related, (basically a panic attack) and not something seriously wrong with me, that helped a lot. Things like slow deep breaths, and laying with my feet slightly raised, helped a lot to control the episodes. Also the age old blowing gently into a brown paper bag helped, and someone gave me a tip about coughing my heart back into rhythm and that helps too if I can catch the palpitations early enough. Really do think you will find its stress related, but do get your thyroid checked. Know its horrible for you, but promise it does get better. Let me know how you get on.