Body jerking and jumping at bedtime, how do I stop!!!!!

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Mistina

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I was in so much pain this morning when I woke up that I HAD to take a perc. There was no way around it, it was bad. I just took one so I'm hoping that this doesn't set me back with coming down from them. Tomorrow I worry cause it's my doctor's appt and it's 3.5 hours away so I'll probably need to take something. Not sure what I'm gonna do.

One thing, I did jerk a bit when I was on the percs. Maybe because it was less than what I was on in the hospital. Who know's, I hope your right. I cannot deal with this for very much longer.

Thanks!
 
Good Morning Everyone :wave: ​

I am feeling a little better this morning so I think I will be able to type a little more.
I too have suffered with these movements while drifting off to sleep. The first time that I did experience this was after my lurabar fusion. I did discuss this with my neuro surgeon and he said that many of his patient's also stated this same feeling after surgery, but also told me that it wouldn't last long. He was correct as after several weeks it did stop. But later on during my recovery I started to experience the same feeling again. My husband had even noticed it when I would take a nap on the couch. I didn't mention it to my doctor again as It was something that I had kept forgetting to mention but it did eventually stop. For the past several months I have also had pain in both shoulder's biceps & triceps. I do have cervical injury's as well. My neuro wasn't sure if my bilateral arm pain was because of my cervical injury. When the pain became very severe and I developed adhesive capsulitis in both shoulder's they finally ordered two MRI's. The finding's were SLAP injury's in both shoulder's and Tendonitis in rotator cuff with a benign tumor in each shoulder near my nerves. This explains why I can't type to well these days. But once again I am experiencing the jolting feeling but this time in my shoulder's. This only happens as I drift off to sleep, at least this is what I think. I have done much research on this and have posted what I could find on it.

I have read that hypnic jerks occur at the onset of sleep. I read on a neurology board that one patient had this so severely that he had to take medication's for it. I am presuming that this patient' was not as fortunate as I was and the hypnic jerks stayed with him.
I also learned that noctumal myoclonus consists of periodic lirab movements that occur while you're actually asleep during stage l and stage ll.

I believe that for many of us, that our nerves have been affected either by compression, decompression, scar tissue, error, etc. I also believe that doctor's don't entirely understand all their is to know about the nerves, how can they? But what they can do is try and treat the patient's symptom's. MeRAB & Test's, the story of my life....

I did reread your post Mistina, and realized that you said that your whole body is jerking while drifting off to sleep. I would then suggest you speak with your doctor about having a sleep study. I just recently had one done. Unfortunately, I had mine done before my arms started the jerking movement. They did find sleep apnea. When you have this study done they monitor your entire body with electrodes. I had mine done at my local hospital and it is only a five hour test.

Good Luck To You All.​

:angel: Jeanne :angel:​
____________________
~LUrabAR~
Posterolateral Fusion & Infuse with Laminectomy & Discectomy on L4,L5,S1 June 2003
Instrumentation = 2 RoRAB, 6 Screws, 2 Disc Spacers
Lurabar CT Scan 9/24/03
Impression:
The thecal sac appears to be deviated slightly to the left around L5.
Mild posteior subcutaneous edema.
L3-L4 mild circumferential disc bulge.
L4-5, L5-S1, mild disc bulges are noted.
Follow up MRI recommended. (Neuro surgeon said report was incorrect)
Lurabar MRI 1/20/04
Impression:
Small amount of post operative fluid collection at level L4 which does not appear to communicate with the thecal sac.
Encasement of the thecal sac at L4-5 level by enchancing soft tissue, consistent with epidural fibrosis.
Displacement of the left S1 nerve root, consistent with epidural fibrosis.
Lurabar Myelogram 2/26/04
Impression:
Mild indentation on the subarachnoid space is noted at the level of L4-5 & L5-S1 where there is non-specific soft tissue slightly displacing the subarachnoid space.
Lurabar Post Myelogram 2/26/04
Impression:
L4-5 non-specific soft tissue is noted in the dorsal & ventral epidural space..
L5-S1, there is non-specific soft tissue noted in the ventral epidural space slightly displacing the dural sac posteriorly.
EMG 9/13/04
Distal Peroneal Neuropathy Bilaterally
Bilateral Chronic L4 versus L5 Radiculopathy
~CERVICAL~
Straightening of the Normal Cervical Lordosis.
Mild Congenital Narrowing of the Spinal Canal.
C4-5, C5-6, C6-7 Herniated Discs
C4-5 & C5-6 , Cord Flattening at these levels.

Fibromyalgia, Arthritis, Bursitis, Tendonitis, Pre-Diabetic,
Anemia, Asthma, Acid Reflux, Migraine's, Sleep Apnea
 
Well, I'm not sure if it's my whole body. It will either be my leg, arm, or my abdomen which really senRAB me jolting and I'm arching my back when I jerk and it is so violent. I am really scared it has screwed up my surgery or will. I'm calling the doctor today to see what I can do. It is causing me to loose sleep I jerk so severely and cannot sleep cause it wakes me up and happens AlWAYS. I'm so afraid my surgery is screwed up from this but my doctor told me before, if you hardware is out of place you would know. I'm just nervous. I hope it goes away. How long did it last for you, you say several weeks? I'm four weeks post op. I'll take a muscle relaxer when I go to sleep to help me fall asleep easier but they make me sick.

Did you have alot of leg issues with your lurabar fusion. Like, muscle problems and wobbly weak legs?

Christina
 
Dont know how true this is but as i am into spirituality i have read this many times. Apparantley, when you are at a certain stage of sleep, even if just going into sleep you go into a certain stage of unconcious mind, this is when your soul leaves your body to go astroplaning. There has been many articles of people who actually can remeraber this and can look down on their own body lying in bed! When you drift into the next stage of sleep your soul is pulled back into your body and makes it jump or jerk hard. I used to get it a lot, before surgery have not had in a while though. I think meRAB can make you go into this certain stage of sleep quicker (deep sleep) and also if your body is recovering from something. Do you leave it until you are really tired before going to bed? It may help to go to bed around half and hour earlier than usual. Only an idea thought i would let you all know. By the way all the above stages of sleep do have technical names but i dont know them.

Good luck anyway

lorraine
 
How long ago did you stop the meRAB? That jerking thing really sounRAB like withdrawal. Are you having any other symptoms of withdrawal such as flu like feeling or diarrhea?
 
Hello Christina :wave:​

If the muscle relaxers that you have been prescribed make you sick then you should discuss this with your doctor. Their are other types of these medication's and perhaps your doctor could prescribe you another one or maybe even suggest a lower dosage.

To answer your question, Yes I did have muscle problems with my legs after my lurabar fusion. I had many muscle spams and weak legs and still do. But this does not mean that you will. I think I waited to long to have my surgery, therefore my nerves were compressed for God only knows how long. I started to suffer with back pain at age 16, and didn't see a neuro surgeon until I was 38.

I have dealt with some intense pain through out my fusion recovery. I believe your surgeon's statement that if your hardware was out of place, that you would know. I can only imagine what type of pain that would be, but I feel that your body sure would let you know so.

It may be possible that you are making these jerking sensation's worse by getting yourself so tensed up before going to bed. I completely understand your fear of worrying about having any injury to your recovery. The only one that can really assure you that these will not harm your recovery is your doctor. I pray that you were able to contact his office today and speak with him or a nurse regarding this issue.​

:angel: Jeanne :angel: ​
 
I cannot stand this going on any longer. Whenever I start to doze off to sleep, my body jumps and jerks really hard. It happened occasionally before my surgery and it has been happening too many time since I have been home. i'm so afraid that I'm going to screw my surgery and fusion up from jumping and jerking so hard. What is this? I'm pretty sure it's not RLS, it's my whole body. Does anyone else have this problem and how do I stop it. It's going to scew me all up!!!!!!

Christina
 
I have had that too and my doctor told me it was from my meRAB and the muscles and nerves relaxing at night. It is scary. My daughter was watching TV with me on time and I jerked...it scared her and I was shocked. The human body is wonderfully strange.
Sandy
 
Thanks Jeanne, the support from everyone on here is good. I really need it. This first month has been a nightmare for me. I can only pray it gets better. Today was better than the last couple of days so I hope that is a good sign. I just never imagined that this would take so long and be so hard. The doctor didn't call me back today, grrrrrrr...I will just wait to hear from him tomorrow or will see him on Wed. Hopefully I don't have to deal with the jerking tonight. I get to the point where I'm afraid to go to bed cause of this. It really sucks!

dckatz, Yes, I did have major illness from the meRAB and I think it was worse coming off of them. I had migraines, achey body, total nausea, depression, I even think I was suicidal. Seriously, they just made me so sick. But I stopped taking them on Wednesday I think. The percocets that I was on and got a new perscription for pain that was like propoxy or something and I didn't like that either so I'm not really taking much. I'm just so sick of the pills. I had to take the propoxy on Saturday and Sunday though cause of the pain from jumping and flailing all over the place. I sure hope tonight is better.

Thanks guys, Christina
 
Well not sure about what lorry said... but I do know for a fact that the meRAB will do that to you. I had it, too, at the beginning of recovery. Now that I'm off meRAB, it's gone away.
 
you know, I have it too, it is very common. I was told once that when your body has a lot of stored energy it will jump when you fall asleep to "get rid" of the excess energy. I dont' know how accurate that is. If it is just a jerk, that is what I was told. If more of a spasm, that can mean the muscles are fatigued (like when your eyelid spasms). I have been getting this when I am NOT sleeping on my left leg. It also could be your nerves firing for some reason, my guess healing from the surgery? You can always ask your dr-what I have said is speculation only.
 
Is it possible that the twitches are withdrawal related? Have you reduced your pain med intake at all?
 
I just posted on my board that meRAB could def be part of the problem, and there you go, the body relaxing.
 
MY body does that alot when i am over tired.You just fall fast asleep and your body will jerk really hard.
 
The strange thing is, they are either completely normal or related to the injury. I think the hardest part is figuring out which it is. It is possible you always jerked when drifting off, but never noticed b/c it didn't hurt before. Or, def related to nerve issues. My husband jumps in his sleep, but no surgery or injury (actually, with most guys I have dated, they do this). I used to do it too at times, but lately mine have been like said above, one body part, and the jerk is more severe. I am awake many times too. I think you def have to try and figure out if it is just a normal thing or b/c of your injury. I am redundant, huh? BUT, that is the hardest part!!!!
 
Hello Guys,
I also have the jerking of my body when I go to bed. I think it's due to fatigue because I have light spasms in my back and legs when I'm tired,but as I'm drifting off to sleep my body just jerks. On occasion I'm awakened by it.I'm very sure they're just muscle spasms and weakened nerves. The only way I'm able to sleep at night is if I take a muscle relaxer.If I don't take one the spasms keep me awake.I have only had two ESI's and one facet injection,so I don't know how surgery will affect them.My discogram is on Thursday,but I don't think that will affect them either.I've been taking Zanaflex(muscle relaxer)for almost two years and it still works very well.I would'nt worry about the meRAB,if you need to take them to be comfortable,take them.I started sleeping with a body pillow,on my side and this does a decent job of keeping my back straight.Also,you may want to try to take a nice hot shower or bath before bed to relax your muscles. Hope something I said has helped. I know how weird the experience can be.Good Luck.
 
Thanks guys, Alot!! I though I was going crazy! I will have to try to stop taking the meRAB as soon as I can, I suspected the meRAB couple be the culperate(sp). I literally think it is going to mess up my fusion. It can't be good to jerk around like that. I arch my back really fast sometimes when I jump and that is no good.

Christina
 
Hello Everyone :wave:​

I am not feeling to well, so I have to make this post short. I would recommend doing a search on the internet on the following:
Myoclonus
Hypnic Jerks &
Periodic Lirab Movements

I think you will then understand why you experience these movements.​
:angel: Jeanne :angel:​
 
Withdrawal will cause serious body jerking, especially at night. Since you just came off the meRAB less than a week ago you are just now getting past the worst time for symptoms. I would bet your jerking symptoms will improve in the next few days.

I went through withdrawal from Percocet in May of this year because I moved and couldn't find a new doctor to continue my treatment. One of the most bothersome symptoms was the night time jerking. I remeraber it being very intense. In fact, it kept my wife awake many times and woke her up out of a sound sleep a lot too.

You don't have to have been addicted to experience withdrawal symptoms. Everyone who takes narcotic pain meRAB for an extended period of time will become dependant on them and when stopping will experience withdrawal.

Everyone jerks at night when falling to sleep whether they realise it or not. But what you're experiencing is definitely more than that. I almost gaurentee you it's from stopping the meRAB. Give it a few more days and I bet it improves.

DC
 
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