Connect
Body vibrations when falling asleep or waking?
After many google searches for the reason I feel vibration in my head, shoulder and arm just before falling asleep and waking, I found nothing that satisfactorily explained it. Of course anxiety seems to be a common explanation but there was nothing specific enough to help me. I am currently reading Incognito by David Eagleman. It discusses the functioning of the brain as an organ. This morning, going through my routine to get ready for work, I thought of a way to understand the vibrations. Similar to the hypnic jerks we experience occasionally just before we fall asleep, I think the vibrations are intended to arouse me to stay vigilant. Which is the fight or flight mechanism in action. So there is the anxiety connection. Originating in the amygdala. I was thinking Parkinson's or MS but my symptoms don't indicate those conditions, thankfully. It seems counterintuitive to be anxious and sleeping at the same time but the brain can do that. The cerebral cortex sleeps but the life support systems of the brain must stay online, obviously. If you thought you were in danger, sleeping would put you at risk but at some point sleep becomes absolutely necessary. I think the vibrations I have been experiencing are caused by my sympathetic nervous system and not a neurologic disease. Thankfully !
Like
Helpful
HugInterested in more discussions like this? Go to the Sleep Health Support Group.
Connect
@pro123: Internal Vibrations are a mystery to me as well! Just this morning I awake with my entire abdomen vibrating. First I thought it was my heart rhythm beating fast, but pulse is normal and regular. I really feel BAD and wonder if I am dying. I would love to know what causes these episodes, so please let me know what you discover. Thanks!
Scientific literature links them to vitamin B or D deficiency, long Covid, menopause/premenopause, anxiety, or cortisol abnormalities. You can start to decipher there; none of these are confirmed causes for me. Per a prior post, it can be a flight or fright response from the sympathetic nervous system. Again, I don’t feel validated personally without a more definitive diagnosis—which I’m starting to believe may or may not come.
check also Cortisol awakening response
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortisol_awakening_response
there should be a test to measure individual Cortisol levels over the day
can you just collect saliva at awakening and send it to a lab ?
Thanks, did that early on with PCP order. I was a "20" when "22" is the low end of abnormal, so of course (evidence based medicine), my primary care said I was "normal." I tried to get an ENDO appointment; one declined my case for never hearing of internal vibrations and the other gave me an appointment in May.... : (
I too also experience body vibrations while sleeping or near sleep but they don't happen all the time. I guess it's possible that it is a long covid symptom, although I never had a bad case of covid and no other long covid symptoms? I'm still thinking mine has to do with stopping Klonopin after 7 months cold turkey due to the side effects it was causing me, which included daytime body buzzing/vibrations which were very noticeable internally. Stopping the Klonopin (especially cold turkey) can also cause protracted withdrawal symptoms for months/years. I've been off for 19 months and still notice the vibrations, although significantly less than before. Doctors are clueless when it comes to this stuff, I know! BTW, I used Chatgpt to ask if Klonopin withdrawal can cause these symptoms and it came back as a definite yes, it can cause for extended periods of time. Just my experience. Best of luck to all, its very frustrating.