Sometimes when falling asleep I feel like I'm falling. What's happening?
February 11, 2010 4:14 AM Subscribe
Sometimes when falling asleep I feel like I'm falling. What's happening?
Sometimes when I'm just about to nod off my left leg shoots away like I'm suddenly falling. It's a real jolt that I'm getting and I'm wide awake with my pulse raging like mad after it happens. It's a thorough shock, like when you wake up and think "oh no, I fell asleep at the wheel" and realize you were sleeping in the drivers seat at some rest stop. it takes a second to figure out everything is in fact okay.
What's happening here? Is this muscle-related* or some kind of dream or something else entirely?
*=I do marathon training and quite presently run north of 80km/week but I'm not sore enough to have muscle spasms during the day.
Sometimes when I'm just about to nod off my left leg shoots away like I'm suddenly falling. It's a real jolt that I'm getting and I'm wide awake with my pulse raging like mad after it happens. It's a thorough shock, like when you wake up and think "oh no, I fell asleep at the wheel" and realize you were sleeping in the drivers seat at some rest stop. it takes a second to figure out everything is in fact okay.
What's happening here? Is this muscle-related* or some kind of dream or something else entirely?
*=I do marathon training and quite presently run north of 80km/week but I'm not sore enough to have muscle spasms during the day.
Previously, previously, previously (and there are more). This is one of AskMe's most popular questions, it seems...
posted by game warden to the events rhino at 4:28 AM on February 11, 2010
posted by game warden to the events rhino at 4:28 AM on February 11, 2010
Yahoo Answers, first Google result for [feel like i'm falling when in bed].
posted by Jaltcoh at 5:32 AM on February 11, 2010
posted by Jaltcoh at 5:32 AM on February 11, 2010
Yep, happens to just about everybody. Isn't it weird? I wonder if it's just a biological accident or if deep down there used to be some sort of ancient purpose to it.
posted by Cygnet at 7:18 AM on February 11, 2010
posted by Cygnet at 7:18 AM on February 11, 2010
Huh, after further inspection, it appears that some people think that the hypnic jerk is a remant of the infantile Moro reflex, or startle reflex, to prevent falling. Can't find any good scientific papers about it though.
posted by Cygnet at 7:21 AM on February 11, 2010
posted by Cygnet at 7:21 AM on February 11, 2010
Humorous article about hypnic jerk and other crazy things your body does.
posted by geekchic at 8:14 AM on February 11, 2010
posted by geekchic at 8:14 AM on February 11, 2010
Response by poster: once or twice... that made me laugh. I have those way more often than that.
posted by krautland at 8:34 AM on February 11, 2010
posted by krautland at 8:34 AM on February 11, 2010
I think nearly everyone's had them once or twice.
understatement indeed!
l I had two last night. and one earlier in the week.. I seem to get them in waves at a time. Often when sharing a bed with a new partner I'll get them regularly for a few months. then they seem to mostly go away ie only one every 3-4 months or so.
posted by mary8nne at 8:35 AM on February 11, 2010
understatement indeed!
l I had two last night. and one earlier in the week.. I seem to get them in waves at a time. Often when sharing a bed with a new partner I'll get them regularly for a few months. then they seem to mostly go away ie only one every 3-4 months or so.
posted by mary8nne at 8:35 AM on February 11, 2010
Oh, sure, I have them on a regular basis, but I was just covering my bases. I once described the sensation to a college roomie and she looked at me like I was completely nuts, until a semester later when she fell out of bed after a string of stressful biochem finals. After I was done laughing at her, she said "it's the thing! That you told me about! I didn't believe you!" But it never happened to her again that year. Lucky girl.
posted by Mizu at 9:17 AM on February 11, 2010
posted by Mizu at 9:17 AM on February 11, 2010
I've heard from a nutritionist friend that this may occur more frequently when you've got an iron deficiency. Might be an old wives' sort of answer though.
posted by ejoey at 11:33 AM on February 11, 2010
posted by ejoey at 11:33 AM on February 11, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Mizu at 4:18 AM on February 11, 2010