When I'm just about to fall asleep my body jerks?

basically, whats happening is your "brain" is going to "sleep" before your muscles and other parts have fully relaxed so the jolt is your muscles moving and your brain waking up to that movement. take a few deep breaths before actually falling asleep.

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When I'm just about to fall asleep my body jerks?

It feels like a tiny jolt of electricity in my arm or leg. People tell it happens when I'm asleep too. It's every few seconds. Other times my skin crawls really bad all over and I have to scratch, but it comes right back. Both of these things get worse as I get sleepier and keep me from...

Your symptoms sound pretty close to RLS (Restless Leg Syndrome). Here's what I found on a website that may help you:

Restless leg syndrome

Nocturnal myoclonus; RLS; Akathisia

Last reviewed: August 28, 2009.

Restless leg syndrome is a disorder in which there is an urge or need to move the legs to stop unpleasant sensations.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors

Restless leg syndrome (RLS) occurs most often in middle-aged and older adults. Stress makes it worse. The cause is not known in most patients.

RLS may occur more often in patients with:

Peripheral neuropathy

Chronic kidney disease

Parkinson's disease

Pregnancy

Iron deficiency

Use of certain medications

A form of RLS may be passed down in families. This may be a factor when symptoms start at a younger age. The abnormal gene has not yet been identified.

Restless leg syndrome can result in a decreased quality of sleep (insomnia). This lack of sleep can lead to daytime sleepiness, anxiety or depression, and confusion or slowed thought processes.

Symptoms

RLS leads to sensations in the lower legs that make you uncomfortable unless you move your legs. These sensations:

Usually occur at night when you lie down, or sometimes during the day when you sit for long periods of time

May be described as creeping, crawling, aching, pulling, searing, tingling, bubbling, or crawling

May last for 1 hour or longer

Sometimes also occur in the upper leg, feet, or arms

You will feel an irresistible urge to walk or move your legs, which almost always relieves the discomfort.

Most patients have rhythmic leg movements during sleep hours, called periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD).

All of these symptoms often disturb sleep. Symptoms can make it difficult to sit during air or car travel, or through classes or meetings.

Note: Symptoms may be worse during stress or emotional upset.

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Do you have an iron deficiency? If so, then that might be what's causing it.

Try a sleep study...I agree with the guy above that it could be Restless Leg Syndrome. Not a horrible thing to have just getting it diagnosed would really help!

Good Luck!

This is supposed to be a residual fear/caution carrying on in our mind from our days of arboreal living (living on treetops). Our limbic system (especially the hippocampus which stores episodic memory) is a primitive brain still existing along with the neocortex. The fear of falling from tree in sleep of those days (millions of years back) is still supposed to exist in our limbic brain. This experience (of a feeling of falling off and the body jerking to offset it just before you fall asleep) being so common and prevalent round the world, the above explanation seems quite authentic.

It happens to everyone. Your brain sends these signals to test if you are ready for sleep. If you are ready for sleep, your brain will still send you these itchy and tingly sensations but you will not react to them because you wont be aware of them and would be ready for sleep. It happens all the time, you just don't always notice it because you are sleeping

Is it kinda like your twitching? And you just can't help it? My body does that a lot I have no idea what it is I'm trying to also find out why it does it and how I can stop it