This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

I never noticed this before. Waite, I should say I never paid attention to this before. I've noticed that when I go to sleep, I occasionally get woken up by a sudden spasm (if that's the best way to describe it) in my left upper arm . Kind of a sudden jerk. This never happens when I am upright, sitting or standing, only when I go to sleep. Just the kind of thing that is so sudden it just wakes you up. I never paid much attention to it before because I thought it was just a nerve twich.
From anyone that has a somewhat knowlegable opinion could this be because of a difference in the blood flow when I'm horizontal as apposed to upright? I'll have to pay more attention to this ,but my left side and leg is where I have more of my spasticity or tightness. I'm just wondering if this could be related. This spasm I occasionally get I think only happens to the left upper arm and / or side and only when I go to sleep. This never happens during the day.

It is perplexing, Mech. There are complexities of seratonin and dopamine that could be involved, though it is odd that it seems localized to your upper left arm. That sounds more MS/CCSVI-like (in my un-learned opinion). Do you tend to go to sleep in the same position? What happens if you change that habit?

Are you prescribed any SSRIs? (Prozac, etc.) I have a close acquaintance who is on some form of anti-depressant, and when she is falling asleep, she gets whole-body spasms that wake up her husband. I suggested a little of God's own dopamine before bed, and she reported that it helps somewhat.

If we can get liberated, those will be amusing, academic questions. Imagine, no more wondering what is MS, or not. I'm just a bit afraid to find out that I am a curmudgeon because I am a curmudgeon, and not because of MS. Grin.

_________________
My name is not really Johnson. MSed up since 1993

It sounds like something I get! Sudden jerk, only when sleeping. Often my 'weak' left arm!

Has been described by my neuro as a syndrome called "periodic limb movement of sleep". Not sure if that is the whole story. Almost never get when awake/upright!

Camilla

I've done research about this before - it's likely that it's a hypnic or hypnagogic jerk, common in the entire population and not exclusive to MS at all. Wikipedia has a short explanation, but you can find plenty more info elsewhere on the web. The single limb version is similar to the familiar sensation of "falling" asleep, which is where that phrase comes from in the first place. "Periodic limb movement" is explained as well:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnic_jerk



I discovered it when I started a daily symptom chart about 5 years ago during my LDN Experiment. I named this column "One Jolt Clonus" since it seemed sort of Myoclonus-y, but only happened once or twice a night, usually to my left arm. Right before I dozed off, my arm (or occasionally another body part) would jerk straight out. Once. A couple of times my head jerked back and felt like it was going to pop off instead.

I rarely put a checkmark in the column these days since it never changed or seemed to progress, and I found out it was just as common in the "normal" population. And it's not dangerous, except for the bruises I got when my hand hit my nightstand a couple of times.

Full blown, regular Myoclonus, on the other hand, is one of the more serious of neurological problems, so I'll post a link to info about that, too.

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/myoc ... clonus.htm

It would be great if every single weird symptom in our lives was entirely due to MS, and then they identify CCSVI in everyone with MS, and then they decide MS is entirely due to CCSVI, and then they come up with a single, quick, simple procedure to fix it, and then all the doctors are trained to do it, and we're instantly cured and free from it all... But this one is likely a universal trait in all of mankind instead.

My mantra, "It's not always MS...it's not always MS...it's not always MS..."

_________________
Dx'd with MS & HNPP (hereditary peripheral neuropathy) 7/03 but must have had MS for 30 yrs before that. I've never taken meds for MS or MS symptoms except 1 yr experiment on LDN. (I found diet, exercise, sleep, humor, music help me the most.)

I couldn't fall asleep last night as I wanted to pay attention if it hit me again. What I noticed this happend after I fell asleep. It was like a twich which actually effected my left side of the neck and upper arm or shoulder. It's almost hillarious becuase the moment it happened, It woke me up and I started thinking " Okay what exaclty happened here". lol
It's not as if I'm in the process of falling asleep and I suddenly awake with a jolt. This is when I'm sleeping. I don't honestly know how long ago this started. I never really analized it until now.
Yes this may not even be an MS thing. Some of your explanations make sense.

I regularly get the "one-jolt" clonus in my legs, also only when I am laying down in bed. When I'm awake and laying/sitting in a recliner with my legs up, I can actually watch one or both legs slowly contract, almost like a jolt in slow motion. This slow motion twitch begins as a mild urge to move my leg, growing in intensity until my leg contracts, and occurs at a rate of about once every two minutes.

I've been on Baclofen (10 mg 2x per day) for two months but it has not helped.

Hi astro,

The "slow motion twitch" is almost certainly Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS), yet another weird non-MS phenomenon that comes up regularly in the General Forum. You gave a perfect description of it, and one of the giveaways is the way the spasms are so regular. I would count the seconds between the spasms to lull myself to sleep, generally about 15 - 30 counts, and each spasm is separated by the same number of seconds.

I've posted on it many times over the years and there's plenty of info online. I seldom get it any more, now that I discovered my food triggers - with me it's certain junk food from the snack machine. I keep daily symptom charts and lists of what I eat, so now I only get an occasional mild twinge. It's also caused by certain meds.

When mine were bad, it felt like the nerves deep inside my legs were trying to claw their way out to escape from the surface, and then my skin & muscles slowly squeeeeezed them back into place. Over & over & over...then the spasm would often end with 5 kicks. I basically don't get it any more since I gave up the snacks - I'm pleased that I figured out how to control it without meds. My body hates meds.

Although I assume my 2 nerve conditions (MS & HNPP) could easily contribute to my plethora of tingly, twitchy, spasmy symptoms , they are not the direct cause of them all, although HNPP is always a more likely culprit (see below).

(...it's not always MS...it's not always MS...it's not always MS...)

Good health to all.

P.S. At the RLS foundation site, they say:

_________________
Dx'd with MS & HNPP (hereditary peripheral neuropathy) 7/03 but must have had MS for 30 yrs before that. I've never taken meds for MS or MS symptoms except 1 yr experiment on LDN. (I found diet, exercise, sleep, humor, music help me the most.)

Count me in as having:
- whole body twitch (more like an earthquake!) just as I'm falling asleep, maybe once a month or so
- nightime twitches according to hubbie that don't wake me up
- daily spasms, mostly in quad muscles in both legs, appearing in clusters every 30 secs or so for hours at a time

I have a prescription for Baclofen, but have never tried it. I used to use Gabapentin to control them, but I am trying to stay away from drugs that relieve symtpoms and manage my symptoms in other ways. Acupuncture helps, as does exercise when I am able.

I had very low iron levels, which may explain some of the twitching/spasms, but funnily enough when my iron got so bad I could not move at all a couple months ago, I had no spasms at all for about a month. When my anemia was gone, the spasms returned. Same thing happened after my father passed away in 2008 -- no spasms for over a month. I wondered if the spasms required energy and when my body was so depleted it had no energy to spare the spasms simply didn't happen.

I think this may have something to do with circulation because if I move my leg voluntarily by shifting sitting position, standing, or walking, the impending spasm does not happen. But it may not have anything to do with MS...

Cheers,

~ Sandra

_________________
National CCSVI Society: <strong><br /><a href="http://tinyurl.com/44znbct">http://tinyurl.com/44znbct</a> ~Website<br /><a href="http://tinyurl.com/3wzmkmg">http://tinyurl.com/3wzmkmg</a> ~Facebook</strong><br />

I know that many spasms that MS patients get (like full Myoclonus ones) can be serious and detrimental to one's health, mobility, and enjoyment of life, but in my case, I've never, ever considered making an attempt to control the pesky things with medication. Even the RLS, which sounds pretty creepy in print, only happened occasionally - even at its worst, disappeared in a short time, and gave me no pain. All I had to do was get up and walk around for a little while.

I seldom notice the nightly jerks, they don't indicate anything abnormal anyway, and I've become used to the "popcorn twitches" that have covered my left leg 24/7 for the last 6-7 yrs. Even the peripheral neuropathy causes mainly numbness, which goes away sooner or later anyway.

Every single one of them is only occasionally irritating and not disabling. On the other hand, most of the meds that would be used to treat them scare the holy crap out of me and could potentially give me side effects worse than the original problem.

My healthy diet & exercise seem to have been as effective as any of the meds I hear about.

_________________
Dx'd with MS & HNPP (hereditary peripheral neuropathy) 7/03 but must have had MS for 30 yrs before that. I've never taken meds for MS or MS symptoms except 1 yr experiment on LDN. (I found diet, exercise, sleep, humor, music help me the most.)

I have had that problem for years, except in my legs. My previous MS neuro explained it as nerve(s) misfiring which cause the limb to jerk. She prescribed me Baclofen, a muscle relaxer . I take it at night, because it helps with the stiffness, but the jerking is not so bad after taking it. This might be what it is but ask your MS neuro.