When you’re exhausted and craving some shut-eye, it’s incredibly frustrating to feel like your own body is sabotaging your efforts.
For many, the challenge lies in calming a restless mind before hitting the pillow, while others are plagued by sudden spasms that thwart their attempts at slumber.
Dr Sooj Kukadia, an NHS doctor, has taken to TikTok to explain why some individuals suffer from “night time glitches and hypnic jerks” as they try to wind down from a hectic day. In his video, he explains: “Do you know someone who glitches in their sleep? This is called a hypnic or hypnagogic jerk and is an involuntary sudden jumping sensation in the body.”
He goes on to describe the specific moment these jerks occur, stating that one must be transitioning from wakefulness to sleep.
He elaborates: “We don’t know what causes it but one theory suggests that our brains gets confused by the signal as we fall asleep and by our muscles relaxing and it thinks we’re falling. It reacts by twitching our muscles. People usually only really notice them if they wake up from their sleep because of these jolts.”
Dr Kukadia also posits that this could be a trait developed through evolution to prevent our ancestors from tumbling out of trees. Factors such as stress, anxiety, fatigue, lack of sleep, nicotine, caffeine, and excessive exercise before bedtime can all provoke these jolts. The doctor advises scheduling a consultation with a doctor if the episodes persist or start occurring while one is awake.
Viewers shared their own experiences in the comments section of his video, with one individual stating: “I was told our brain thinks we’re dying so it gives us a jolt.” Another person mentioned: “I do this all the time.”
A third viewer shared: “Happens to me every night while I’m trying to get to sleep and also wakes me when deeply asleep. Also suffer from sleep walking, vivid dreams and occasional sleep paralysis.” One more commenter said: “Usually it happens because you are dreaming so your brain gets confused between dream and reality. with me it happens in dreams where I start falling or I am about to fall.”
Meanwhile, another person stated: “Literally happens every night for me all night. I don’t sleep, I might get like three four hours and that’s a good night. I literally go all the time with no sleep cuz my body just doesn’t allow me to.”
A final commenter added: “This happens to me after 3 days of no sleep and it gets so bad I start to get anxiety I hate it so now I do everything I can to keep a steady daily night of sleep.”