I don't know if this is the same thing, but sometimes at night while lying in bed, when I am just about to fall asleep, it feels like we are having a mild earthquake or an aftershock. But in reality, it is my body. This can last any where from a few minutes to a few hours. I have never discussed this with my doctor, and I have no idea what causes it. I am on medications, but none of them list this as a symptom.

The first time it happened, I had just fallen asleep, and it woke me up. At first I thought my husband was shaking the bed, but he was fast asleep, and wasn't moving. Then I thought it might be a mild earth tremor, but it was not that either. It was a few moments before I was awake enough to realize that it was my body. Unlike when you get the shivers, this was a slow, consistant tremble of my entire body.

I have searched online, trying to find an answer, but have yet to find anything as I have just descibed. I do not suffer from anxiety, I do not frighten easily, and I do not have a nervous disorder. I am normally a very relaxed, laid back person. If it can't kill me, I don't worry about it. These body trembles only happen occasionally. Maybe once every 7-9 months. I just lie there, and wait for it to stop, and then go back to sleep. If I cannot get back to sleep, then I will get up and do something until I am tired enough to get to sleep.

I do have a sleeping disorder, but I have had that most of my life, and I have only had these body trembles for the past few years. I am in my fifties. If anyone knows anything about this sort of experience, or have had this condition analysed by your doctor, then I would love to hear from you as to the cause. I would like to know what makes my body do this. Thanks.

hey ,,,, my name is omar ,,,, and im 14,,,, i was just sleeping when all of a sudden i felt myself shaking and it got stronger until finallly i woke up ,, sweating ,,, mmm i thought i should check it out and i came along this website,,, this doesnt happen often ,,,, it has happened occasionally but i thought maybe if i let it be then it could be a daily thing ,,,, and after seeing these posts im concerned,, is their any advice u can give me ,,,, other than tell my parents ?? lol ... i wouldnt like to worry them ,,,

hey ,,,, my name is omar ,,,, and im 14,,,, i was just sleeping when all of a sudden i felt myself shaking and it got stronger until finallly i woke up ,, sweating ,,, mmm i thought i should check it out and i came along this website,,, this doesnt happen often ,,,, it has happened occasionally but i thought maybe if i let it be then it could be a daily thing ,,,, and after seeing these posts im concerned,, is their any advice u can give me ,,,, other than tell my parents ?? lol ... i wouldnt like to worry them ,,,

I find that my sleep has been disturbed mainly due to anxiety and the shaking that I tend to get at around 4 every morning. Sometimes through my day I can feel the back of my neck shaking and I start sweating. And the pressure in my head comes about. Do you guys think that there is any natural remedies that could help the anxiety at least. There are some teas called cloudwalking and Walk in Balance, both made by Nuwati herbals. Are these legitimate stuff that may help one way or another?

I have same shaking problems! But so do my children that is what is worring me. Its proberly not so much shaking with 3 0f the children its twitching but its really bad. There girlfriends are freaked out by it. My partner says i should see a doctor because my whole face moves & i groan. I am 41 & have had some problems with health i had blurred vision, twitching musules & a terrible feeling of dread when falling sleep.
I had a MRI scan for it about 2yrs ago. Then found what i thought was a cure...i stopped using sweetener, I used to chew gum & drink lots of diet coke. I stopped children to & it seemed to help. But the twiching & shaking is back. It really scares me because of my children. Does anyone have any answers.

I have same shaking problems! But so do my children that is what is worring me. Its proberly not so much shaking with 3 0f the children its twitching but its really bad. There girlfriends are freaked out by it. My partner says i should see a doctor because my whole face moves & i groan. I am 41 & have had some problems with health i had blurred vision, twitching musules & a terrible feeling of dread when falling sleep.
I had a MRI scan for it about 2yrs ago. Then found what i thought was a cure...i stopped using sweetener, I used to chew gum & drink lots of diet coke. I stopped children to & it seemed to help. But the twiching & shaking is back. It really scares me because of my children. Does anyone have any answers.

I also have the same problem. Just recently I got an infection and near the end of it I started to get tremors, and now I wake up in the night many times shaking for maybe a minute or two and, sometimes feeling cold. I am not on medicine anymore, I have been off of it for a week now. Its very annoying and makes me nervous cause I have not figured out why yet. I have been to the Doctors and we are in the process of working on it.

I have been fighting morning shakes for the last 2 months. I am on prozac and have to take a ativan in the mornings to pull it togeather. My better half said I snore and it sounds like I stop breathing in my sleep. My father had sleeping apnea. I am scarried that I may have the same problem. But these shakes in the morning and feeling like I have to puke really sucks. I dont want to be hooked on ativan every morning to help me get my day started. I am not pregnant as to had every thing removed from cancer. I am actually a very healthy person eat right and exercise every day. Just tired of feeling like this in the morning..

I just turned 19 years old and i have been experiencing the exct same symptoms as la_kevin!!!

its so scary! it has only happened to me 4 times or so but it started like 4 months ago
the first time i woke up and i thought that my bed was shaking like there was something vibrating under it, and i jumped off my bed scared that something was under there and after a couple seconds i realized it was me shaking, and it felt like it was coming from inside me, like my core, like my limbs werent visibly shaking but i could feel my body shaking from the inside out

it was terrifying!! and i felt like something was really wrong with me, but after about 45 sec of walking and jumping a little bit around my room it went away, but i was too scared to go back to sleep

and like la_kevin i feel that jolt right before i fall asleep, its like a dream will begin and in that instant that i am dozing off ill jolt back awake, i dont feel like i cant breathe but its really scary and i feel like im going to die or something

none of it is painful, just wierd, and i went on webmd to look it up and a couple of other places and found nothing

i have been feeling this wierd sense of dread and like doom since this has started, i would think that i had some crazy disease that nobody else had but now im so glad that i found this forum because i know that its not that scary and other people feel it too, and i feel like a weight has been lifted because everyone is saying that i should see a doctor but its not something serious which is a HUGE relief!! i just want to thank everyone for sharing their stories, and i hope someone else can get a little peace of mind from reading my post as well

also my boyfriend who i moved in with likie 2 months ago asked me if he felt the bed shaking tonight, and i think he may be feeling the same things im feeling now, is there anyway that i could have passed it on to him?

i have beensmoking for about a year but i smoke about a pack and a half a day and i read that too much nicotine and caffine can cause this

and i think i have panic attacks as well, i have a really bad temper which can switch on and off and i have huge mood swings and i dont know if im bi polar or not

and i think i have been depressed lately which might all be causes for these wierd symptoms (so i read)...

I have been waking up shaking at least since I was a teenager and my son who is now 13 has been doing it for years. It doesn't happen every day, but frequently enough that I notice it.

I'm not on medication and I've never mentioned it to a doctor because I always forget and think it is nothing major.

I have Crohn's Disease.

I only shake for 10 or 15 seconds right when I wake up and then it goes away. I have no idea if I shake in my sleep. It never occured to me to ask my husband.

If anyone ever gets a diagnoses... I would love to hear about it.

This has happened to me for only a short time. A month or so. It is not frightening for me though and my breathing is not impaired. I am fully aware of my surroundings as well. I just wait til it passes and then go about my day. I am surprised that there is no official diagnosis though. Perhaps it is a manifestation of anxiety. I do not have episodes/attacks during the day and am generally a laid back person but I do have a lot on my plate right now and I have a very high stress job.

hi everybody it's so good that i found this forum. I experience the very same thing as mahamy does (that feeling when dozing off and that jolt at that time!). It's not a pleasent feeling i hate it. Also i think i have anxiety problem.
Mine goes about 4 months back. I went to ER in late august and i spent the night there with 120 bpm pulse. There was nothing wrong with me, just the pulse. Also the next day i visited a cardiologist, he has gone over EKG, Echo, treadmill test, 2 times Holter monitor. Nothing was wrong, except on treadmill my pulse jumps to 180 easily. and he has come to a conclusion that i need to excercise, to walk. But i didn't mention this jolt thing to him. I'm thinking of visiting him again around these days.
this trembling happens to me occasionally. Sometimes it comes and I need to wait 1 2 hours for it to pass because i can't sleep of shaking. By the way I'm 22 years old male

I am so glad I found this board. I thought I was crazy. I am a 26 y/o F. Never had tremors before. Recently developed tremors upon waking and also at moments before I am just about to fall asleep. Pretty much daily. I also have a mild tremor all day in hands & feet but its so minimal nobody notices but me when I am holding a paper or something. I began having these when I began having anxiety and using xanax a month ago. I stopped the xanax, still have some anxiety but I feel there has to be another reason. The tremors go away when I move around and sit up. I am going to see an endocrinologist and a neurologist next week. Anyone still checking this board? Thanks!

hi, nice to see someone else post. i was having these shakes and other symptoms like chest pain, stabbing, muscle twitches... all these prevented me from sleeping. also concerning or thinking too much about health or vital organs like heart or lungs prevent sleep too. Yesterday I visited a psychatrist and told him all these things I'm experiencing. He told it is anxiety disorder alright and gave me antidepressant. He also said that this is seen common lately.

I'm sorry it's a bit off topic but the relation is that if you have some other weird things other than this shaking, you should ask for psychological help, it doesnt't mean you're crazy but it can be this anxiety disorder.

Thanks for the reply. I am hoping that it is just anxiety believe me. I think I am going to see a psych after I have my neuro apt to rule out anything physical. It couldn't hurt I figure...
So I may have that, being increased by anxiety. Its just so disturbing you know...it ruins half my morning after it happens, then I get over it until the next day. Let me know if the antidepressants help!

Because of my own problems with this issue, over the years I have come up with several possibilities that may be a causative factor in creating nocturnal tremors. Keep in mind that this list is by no means complete and often there may be an overlap of these various causes:

*Food allergies or sensitivities:
Very often the things we love best or eat often can trigger a sensitivity in our autonomic nervous system (ANS) that can put it overstimulation mode especially in regard to our sympathetic, or fight or flight nervous system. Unfortunately, a large part of the medical community is terribly uniformed when it comes to nutrition and when questioned about food as being a cause for nocturnal tremors(or many other disorders for that matter)they will often dismiss it as unimportant or even state it's all in your head. Discovering which foods may be causing the problem goes beyond the scope of this post as everyone is different, but often the big offenders are wheat, gluten, dairy, coffee, sodas, chocolate, certain nuts, tomatoes and others. Again however, it can be something totally different for you and considered 'healthy' by most people. The best way to discover what the offending food might me is to simply eliminate one or two items for a few weeks and see how you feel. An internet search over food allergies and sensitivities is very useful but use some discretion as there's a lot of misinformation out there. Also be aware that as we age foods that were never a problem for us can develope into one. Food allergies and sensitivities are also implicated in other disorders such as anxiety, ADHD, colitis, arthritis, depression, etc... This is not to say that it is always the cause, but for many it can be.

*Gut dysbiosis: Again a nutritional problem where the internal flora of our intestines is disturbed leading to chemical byproducts that can wreck havoc with the brain and nervous system. An excellent book addressing this subject is Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD, MMedSci (neurology), MMedSci(nutrition).

*Unresolved trauma or emotions: Yes, this can be a big causitive factor for nocturnal tremors and other psychological issues but in my experience it is only a part of the puzzle. The body, mind and emotions are not seperate as most of current medical paradigm treats them but are interrelated in such a way that a single, myopic approach to a problem such as nocturnal tremors is often not enough. If you are someone who has been doing therapy for years with little success you might want to look more in the nutritional direction just as someone who is nutritionally fit with unresolved emotions problems may want to see a good psychotherapist.

*Electromagnetic energy sensitivity: I don't believe this is such a great problem that many claim it to be, but for some it can.

*The wrong meds. Even if your doctor tells you it's good for you, you may have a sensitivity to a medication of any type that can causes tremors. If your doctor ignores your complaints simply find another doctor.

*Unknown thyroid disorders: There is an incredible amount of scientific research which shows that many people (women in particular) have a thyroid problem but aren't being tested properly and as such are told that nothing is wrong with their thyroid. Futher information about this mismanagement of thyroid disease can be found at thyroid.about.com Some of the symptoms of a thyroid disorder are tiredness, anxiety, disturbed sleep patterns, dry skin, depression and others.

There's more to list but since I'm not sure there will be many people reading this I will leave it at here. If more information is needed simply make a post on this site to that effect and I will list some more causes of nocturnal tremors.
Regards,
Dr. Rob

Several years ago I ate snails (escargot) for the first time at a restaurant. When I got home my legs and arms started jerking gradually. But then it kept doing it util my entire body was shaking terribly. I loss control of my bowels. I went to the emergency room and went through several tests. They called it Myoclonic jerking. After I was released my symptoms continued for a year. My body would tighten and I would shake uncontrollably especially on my right side and especially my right leg. It would last for about 30 - 60 seconds. It would happen during the day and at night while I was awake or asleep. I was getting frustrated seeing doctors and going through tests, taking medications, all with no help. FINALLY, I found a neurologist who said he just did a seminar on a disorder similiar to mine. He said even though I wasn't having seizures, it was going to take a seizure medication to retrain my brain to stop the jerking. I was very skeptical but I took the medication (sorry, I can't remember what it was called.) and the symptoms slowly started going away. I stopped taking the medication and after 1 1/2 years now, I haven't had another symptom!

My husband and I think I was poisoned or had an allergic reaction to the escargot and it caused a seizure type disorder and didn't get out of my system for 2 years. I'm great today......but I will never eat escargot again!

When I wrote my previous post, I hadn't read all the posts to this.
Someone had asked for people to lists symptoms. So I wanted to add to my post that I also had the "electric shock" feelings and very weak feelings before the shaking would start. Someone had posted that they could stop the episode if they stood up, I could sometimes, but most of the time, it didn't stop it and I would just fall if I didn't grab onto something.
Someone had mentioned being off balance. That is where I failed at the doctors office, when they would do the balance test and make me close my eyes while standing, I would fall to the side. During the reflex test where they hit your knee, that would send my leg into a jerking/shaking episode.

Even though my symptoms are gone, I'm still baffled and don't understand it all, so I keep looking for answers, which is what brought me here. I wish I could help with the name of the medication the doctor gave me, but it's been 1 1/2 years since my last episode and the bottle is gone.

Just want to thank those who posted recently. I am still obsessed with this syndrome I have with tremors waking/falling asleep. I had an EEG and will have results back this week. I will not have endo results back until a few weeks from now. I find it interesting that the tremors could be related to intestinal problems as Dr. Rob mentioned, or due to a food reaction as sfla mentioned. I had an onset all at once of a horrible stomach virus/infection who knows (never diagnosed) and the tremors which have now been present since. Also, I started anti-anxiety meds the same week as well and have since been off them, but who knows....I am trying to tell myself it cant be any real scary thing since nobody on here has been diagnosed with anything bad yet....please keep any info coming. Thanks!

Good luck with the results and keep us posted Jenny