When you are falling asleep, you may feel hypnic jerks, also known as sleep beginnings, which are abrupt, involuntary contractions of your muscles.

These jerks happen during the transition from wakefulness to sleep, which is referred to as hypnagogic (short for hypnic).

Hypnic jerks usually only affect one side of the body, like the left arm or leg, and occur seemingly randomly as you fall asleep.

Why Does My Body Twitch at Random Times at Night?
Although the exact cause of hypnic jerks is unknown, there are some ideas. The same area of the brain that regulates your startle response is where hypnic jerks and other forms of myoclonus begin. It is thought that a misfire between nerves in the reticular brainstem occasionally happens while you fall asleep, causing a reflex that results in a hypnic jerk.

For instance, your brain can erroneously believe that you are actually falling when your muscles fully relax, even though this is a typical aspect of falling asleep, and respond by causing your muscles to twitch. Another possibility is that hypnic jerks are a bodily response to the accompanying dreamlike images.

A hypnic jerk may be more likely to occur if you have certain risk factors, such as excessive caffeine and stimulant use, intense activity right before bed, emotional stress, and lack of sleep.

Excessive Caffeine or Nicotine Consumption
Caffeine and nicotine are examples of stimulants that awaken the brain. These drugs can also interfere with sleep by remaining in your system for a number of hours. People in one study still had problems falling asleep even after quitting coffee six hours before bed. Hypnic jerks can result from consuming excessive amounts of caffeine or nicotine or by doing so too soon before bed.

Exercise generally has a positive impact on sleep practically all the time. It’s crucial to understand, though, that exercise is an energetic activity that increases alertness rather than fatigue. This is why hypnic jerks can result from very intense late-night exercise.

Sleep Deprivation
Sleep deprivation can result from both difficulty falling asleep and an overall lack of regular sleep, whether from persistent insomnia or a bad night’s sleep. Lack of sleep may raise your chance of hypnic jerks, among other undesirable side effects, such as diminished mood and concentration.

Stress and Anxiety
Chronic stress and recognized anxiety disorders can both contribute to insomnia, which causes the type of sleep deprivation that increases your risk of experiencing hypnic jerks. Your cortisol levels stay high while you sleep when you are anxious or stressed, which reduces the quality of your sleep. Additionally, worrying thoughts can keep you awake at night, making it difficult to fall asleep and perhaps causing a hypnic jerk by interfering with the wake-to-sleep transition.

Some people who frequently have hypnic jerks may even get anxious about sleep, which only makes them more likely to suffer from sleep deprivation and have more hypnic jerks. Many people discover that using a weighted blanket while they sleep helps reduce anxiety at night. The thousands of five-star reviews Bearaby has received show how popular they are with both us and many other people due to their durability, vibrant color selection, and bulky knits.

What Do Hypnic Jerks Feel Like?
Myoclonus, a group of quick, involuntary muscle movements like jerking or twitching, includes hypnic jerks. Before your body relaxes once more, you can jerk once or more times in quick succession. A hypnic jerk is frequently accompanied with other feelings or mental imagery, such as a dream or hallucination, in addition to these movements. People frequently report hearing pounding, crackling, or snapping sounds, seeing flashing or blinding lights, or feeling as though they are falling. Although some people report a tingling or unpleasant sensation, hypnic jerks are often painless.

At different moments, hypnic jerks may have distinct sensations. They may be powerful enough to startle someone out of sleep and interfere with their ability to fall asleep. At other times, they could be so subtle that the person who is affected doesn’t even notice them, while their sleep companion might.

Although they can happen to anyone at any age, hypnic jerks are more common in adults. The fact that some of their potential causes—like excessive coffee consumption and high stress levels—are also more prevalent in adulthood may help to explain this.

Are Hypnic Jerks Normal? Should I be Concerned?
Although they can be unnerving, hypnic jerks are not harmful. Hypnic jerks are experienced by up to 70% of people.

Although hypnic jerks can be bothersome and interfere with your partner’s sleep, that is usually the end of their negative consequences. A slight injury could result from a particularly severe jerk, but this is uncommon.