I have a strange form of insomnia that has been going on for many months. I wonder if anyone has heard of this. I get sleepy at bedtime and am drifting off to sleep. I seem to start to dream right away and then BAM, I startle and am wide awake. This goes on over and over until I feel overwhelmed by anxiety and I have to get up. Sleeping pills have very little effect. I am on trazodone 25 MG, which usually dampens down the startle and makes it more bearable. But lately it has not been working. Taking more makes me so sleepy in the daytime that I can't function and does not seem to help with sleep. I have been to a sleep doctor becauseI also have restless leg, but that doesn't start until later in the night. He tried sleep restriction and sonata which was a truly horrible experience. I go back in a few weeks. Meanwhile, I am worried that I am going to completely fall apart. I don't know what's wrong with me and I dread going to bed because of the startling. Has anyone ever heard of this or have any kind of advice?

You might consider talking to your Dr. about having a sleep study. The results may give some insight into your sleep difficulties.

Thanks. I see you are also over on ptsd forum and will go over there.

Pepper, Take a look at the series of threads posted earlier this year by dabearzfan85, and see if anything looks/sounds familiar.

Doc

Hi there,

I have something very similar, every night when I'm almost asleep I get this weird feeling all through my body, it's like internal shaking and it's awful, then I suddenly feel so afraid and the only thing that stops it is to get out of bed.

I wake up over and over, get out of bed and cannot breathe properly.

I'm sorry to hear that, Sitke. I don't know what that is, but it sounds anxiety-realted, maybe? Lately I have been taking inositol for anxiety and it does seem to help. I take a teaspoon of the powder in the morning and a teaspoon before bed.

Hi pepper,

Yes, was thinking it could be from severe anxiety, I've been in a heightened state of anxiety for a long time now.

Going for a sleep study next month.

It just always happens right before falling asleep but wakes me up too, also noticed my face feels like it's "moving" very hard to describe, just a weird sensation.

Hope you get answers soon, it's awful.

I have had this problem for years. It's not constant but it comes and goes. I'll be falling asleep and a rush of electricity runs through my body and I jump up with pounding heart gasping for breath.

I have the same issues and am realizing that it is purely an anxiety/OCD issue with me. It was recently made severely worse thanks to withdrawal from lorazepam.

What is currently working for me is ASMR videos on youtube. It keeps my mind occupied enough for me to fall asleep fairly quickly.

I have a very similar problem causing severe sleep-onset insomnia. I went to a sleep disorder center, a really good one, and they couldn't figure it out except to confirm that I was waking up during sleep-onset over and over again according to the EEG without apnea or myoclonus, although to confuse matters, I have some daytime myoclonus, but that doesn't accompany this from what I can tell.

So I've been stuck on ambien for 15 years. I'd love to stop taking ambien, but the problem lasted for so long and was so intense that I stopped really sleeping. It feels like someone shouted "Boo!" in my ear, which causes me to wake up, and then it keeps happening over and over again. Unlike a hypnic jerk, I did not feel like I was falling and did not physically jerk, so that was ruled out. I've not seen this described in any sleep books, so I don't know what it is.

Strange. You're the first person I've heard say this. I hope they figure it out. If you find out, will you post here? I've been trying to find this out for 15 years now. Luckily, medication does help me, but only ambien; I tried dozens of other sleep medications without luck.