Falling

Trey Smith

After performing some research, I have discovered the recurrent sleep issue I have -- very prevalent after these possible seizures -- is called a hypnic jerk. While it is reported that this tends to be a harmless condition, it may be a form of myoclonus associated with epilepsy.

I have dealt with these hypnic jerks throughout my entire life. It is not a routine experience, but one that flares up frequently. Sometimes I get them for no apparent reason and it may last anywhere from 1 - 4 nights in a row. I almost always experience hypnic jerks when I'm ill (i.e., when I have a fever). When I'm sick, I just can't seem to get any sleep. I will experience these jerks all throughout the night.

And, as I've indicated in my posts today, they always come on after these seizure-like episodes. After my episode on Saturday night, I simply could not fall asleep. Every time I started to drop off, I would jerk awake because I experienced the sensation of falling. I would sit up and try to calm myself. After a while, I would try to sleep again and the same thing would happen. By 7:00 am on Sunday, I would guess I had suffered from at least 10 - 15 hypnic jerks throughout the night.

After we arrived home, I finally was able to take a nap without incident and I slept fine that night. But these sorts of episodes -- with or without the "seizures" -- tend to unnerve me. Even though I slept relatively well on Sunday, I am very nervous about going to bed tonight (I'm writing this post on Monday night). I will grant that it probably is nothing more than an irrational feeling, but I have a sense that the hypnic jerks may return. Since these jerks tend to be terrifying at the time, I will go to bed with a sense of dread and the dread will last for a few more nights until I am sort of confident that this round is over with.