Body vibrations when falling asleep or waking?

@bille76 I have them also. I called them heart palpitations but the cardiologist ignored my complaint and ordered a sleep apnea test. Not that either. Interested in this. Linda

@danielgg
I am having this same issue when falling asleep and suddenly waking. It started when I was pregnant and I attributed it to the increase blood volume. But it persist 7 months post partum. Another symptom I’ve noticed is an increase in blood rushing to my head when I bend over. Almost suddenly all the blood is in my head. Not sure if related. Would love to know if any results or answers for you

Yup! Going on almost two years for me now. Here's what happens to me... At around the 7 hour mark of sleeping, I start waking up with what feels like an adrenaline surge in my chest and arms. Sometimes with heat that feels like what happens when you have a CT scan with contrast dye (heat flowing through your veins). Once I get up I'm fine all day long! But if I try to fight it and go back to sleep it keeps waking me up. I've worn the holter monitor and had EKG's which have all been normal. I'm a 59 year old female using the estradiol patch and progesterone tabs at night. I also tried to see if switching from Cymbalta (been on since 2007) to Lexapro but that only helped my mood during the day. I learned about Guanfacine that is an ADHD med primarily (which I don't have) but can help with these crazy surges. I just started and the surges seems to be less severe so far so I'm hopeful things will improve to the point that I don't wake up terrified every morning. Oh and I'm supposed to do a sleep study soon. In the meantime, thank you all for your posts and I'll take any and all advice!

I started a similar link back in 2020 because I was having vibrations just as a was falling asleep and just as I was waking up. For the first several months they really scared me and I was nervous even about going to sleep. Over time I found the less a worried about them and realized that they seemed harmless, they continued but not so strong. Now when I feel them I just know I have entered the stage of falling asleep, stay calm and go to sleep. Mornings aren't so bad because I am getting up and they go away. I have had them everyday since 2020. I have excepted it as a permanent feature of my sleep cycle.
Have having read tons of messages with all kinds of different histories, medications, ages, sex, and medical conditions I have not seen any common factor emerge to explain. How this helps.

@edornton this helps me thank you. I have also not seen any common factors in this with all the people I’ve read about. Thank you for the positive feedbaxk

@edornton any update on this? I have a very similar thing going on. When drifting off to sleep or being woken up shortly after falling asleep, some kind of get rhythmic shaking, feels like mostly upper spine or head but depending on what part of my body is pressing hardest against the surface I'm on I could feel it in my upper legs or arms. Goes away as soon as I sit up usually, under a minute. It's like I wake back up and there's a frequency that was already there and somebody just showed turned up the volume knob so I could feel it, and I adjust and it goes away. No covid vaccination, did have covid though. Happened to me a few years ago for a few months, then stopped for almost two years and then came back. Seems like it may be connected to neck and back strain a lot of the time. Only when I'm laying down to sleep.

I am so curious. Have you learned anything else about this?

I have not learned anything new. Do know that the sensation, in varying forms, is experienced by numerous people with no common cause linking them. Fortunately they are often a little annoying but, as far as I can tell, harmless. I still have mine every single day and just know if they are occurring I am about to fall asleep or will go away once I open my eyes. I hope yours are the same. So my take away is not to focus on them and they may reduce in intensity to the point you don't even notice them anymore.

@edornton hey thanks for the reply. I've had x-rays, MRI, and EEG done and nothing stands out. I think you're right, calming down about them has helped, and a more regular sleep schedule plus being tired when I lay down seems to stave then off. Still a very curious thing, but outside of being weird, it hasn't caused any issues. Good luck then, friend, and thanks again.

@ederton. I am reading the above and although I cannot explain the physiology of the vibrations sensation I have eliminated it by getting more sleep. It seems that sleep deprivation causes this. I think if one tries to get about an hour more of sleep a night you will find it goes away. Let me know if that is not the case for you.

@dualtruss man, you might be onto something. I have always neglected sleep. That's the time when I get things done. 5 hours feels great, and I don't feel bad on 3 or 4 for at least a few days straight. After the first time this started happening (when I was getting very little sleep and it was often interrupted multiple times), I went for over a year with no rocking or shaking or whatever, and I definitely kept neglecting sleep, just not for weeks at a time. But it started back up again in full force this year after a month of intentionally waking up even earlier.

It doesn't bother me in the mornings, but if I stay up late I do run into problems and I get too wired and jittery. Been trying to cautiously tiptoe around it and go to bed on time but wake up early. If I drift off and wake back up anytime, it happens, and I think that happens more often when I'm sleep deprived, even if I don't feel too rough.