Are twitching during sleep normal? Here you will find out everything you need to know – and learn a few simple measures that can help against twitching.
After a busy day, you are finally in bed. You feel totally relaxed and slowly slide into sleep.
Somehow, however, your body doesn’t seem to be through with the day.
- Because suddenly it starts with the twitching under the covers.
- It can happen that your partner gets something.
You certainly don’t like it yourself: often disturbing dream sequences occur at the same time. We are then woken up with a shock.
A great many people make surprising movements at night. Usually this is only uncomfortable for a short moment, but in some cases it also causes a lack of sleep .
This article will tell you what causes are most common and what methods you can use to help yourself.
Index
What you should know about twitching
The feeling of twitching while sleeping is a very common phenomenon.
Many people who experience this are not even aware of it.
- There is even a medical name for it: (sleep) myoclonus .
- The term describes muscle twitching in the arms and legs when falling asleep and when sleeping lightly.
Often these sleep twitches are sufficient to wake up or maintaining sleep to care. Sometimes, however, your bed partner is also the victim.
These symptoms usually occur during the first phases of sleep.
Are twitching when falling asleep dangerous?
Usually, you don’t have to worry if you experience twitching every now and then when falling asleep.
It can just be intermittent movement of limbs (which the body subconsciously stimulates to relax).
In addition to the muscles in the arms and legs, many patients also complain of involuntary head movements. This especially leads to head-rolling or head-throwing.
- Sometimes the twitching as you fall asleep can be a symptom of a wide range of health problems.
- This includes, for example, very serious diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s.
Therefore: If the twitching occurs more strongly over a longer period of time – but especially if you feel disturbed – you should have this checked by your doctor.
While not all involuntary muscle movements can be prevented, there are some techniques that can help you stay calm while falling asleep.
Before that, however, I would like to briefly cover some general information that is useful for understanding muscle twitching when falling asleep.
Why do we twitch when we fall asleep?
The clinical name for this sudden and involuntary contraction of muscles is myoclonus .
- Because these twitches usually occur during light phases of sleep or when falling asleep, you and your sleeping partner may not notice anything.
- Sometimes the movement can be very strong, or it can be so frequent that the twitching is hard to ignore. The reasons for this have not been fully researched or are not yet known.
In short, many researchers believe that an excessive response in the area of the brain that controls muscle movement is responsible.
Often light, noise or other stimuli such as alcohol in the evening or touch during sleep trigger such a reaction.
Tip: Noise protection curtains provide additional silence in the bedroom – and usually also provide excellent darkening.
Other causes
Muscle movements aren’t always when you move at night. Sometimes cramps or spasms are the triggers.
This can happen especially when falling asleep. This is due, for example, to sore muscles if the muscles have been heavily used during the day.
This can also be the case particularly often when exercising too late before bed .
- In addition, twitching occurs in diabetes, arthritis, and thyroid disease.
- Incidentally, muscles can also move more frequently during pregnancy.
But nerve damage during cancer treatment can also lead to involuntary muscle twitching.
Sleep-related triggers
Incidentally, sleep-related health problems can also be the cause of night twitches.
These include the “Periodic Limb Movement Disorder” and the “Restless leg syndrome”.
- In the periodic limb movement disorder problems in the nervous system. There are twitching and jerky movements of the legs or arms when sleeping. Often times, people do not consider this a serious health problem. However, the disorder can very well lead to insomnia.
- The Restless leg syndrome (RLS) is considered severe neurological disorder. People suffer from uncomfortable feelings in their legs. Sometimes moving the muscles helps to shake off the feelings. Because symptoms worsen when lying down, many patients have trouble falling asleep.
As a reminder: If you have major problems with muscle twitching or feel badly bothered by them, you should consult your doctor in any case to rule out serious illnesses.
What helps with twitching when falling asleep?
While you may be given medication for an illness like restless leg syndrome, common twitching as you fall asleep is often not so clearly treated.
In most cases, however, it is better not to take medication right away anyway.
Try these simple tips first, and keep checking to see if symptoms change:
Avoid caffeine
Are you raising your eyebrows right now? Most people just can’t go without their cup of coffee.
The fact is, muscle movements can also be triggered by too much caffeine. Of course, a direct connection is often difficult to prove.
However, researchers have established with great certainty that the consumption of caffeine not only causes tooth discoloration , but can also be linked to periodic limb movement disorders.
- It is definitely worth trying to avoid caffeine if you have sleep problems .
- Watch for a few days how this benefits you and your body.
- You will be amazed how this affects your sleep and wakefulness!
Tip: It is best to replace the black coffee with a sleep & calming tea .
Exercise
People who are athletic and lead active lives have fewer problems sleeping.
- Various studies also show that exercising during the day helps hold back muscle twitches while you sleep.
- Your body is less tense and therefore unconscious twitching occurs less often (which is supposed to relieve tension).
Whether you have an intensive training session in the fitness center, use a fascia roller to massage away tension or do a lot of walking during your day – any kind of movement helps.
Exercise can be the key to solving many sleep problems and other complaints such as shoulder pain after waking up .
Do something good for your muscles
Sometimes you don’t have to do anything anymore, just let yourself go!
- A warm bath before going to bed not only relaxes your muscles, but also puts you in the right mood for the bed.
- Yoga or autogenic training before going to sleep also help to calm the body.
Tip: A gentle massage on the affected areas can also be helpful. However, do not overdo it and use only light pressure so as not to strain the muscles.
Better sleep affects general wellbeing
It pays to think a little about your own sleeping habits.
This not only helps with twitching, but also improves the rest of your health.
Regardless of whether it is daytime sleepiness , disturbed sleep phases or heavy sweating at night : If sleep is disturbed, the whole body suffers.
So invest in your health and think about how you can make your sleep even more restful (most of us still have some catching up to do here.
I link below another guide, here are a few suggestions: Try it once with a regular afternoon nap , a matching pillow or the correct sleeping position .
Does your baby twitch when falling asleep?
As with us adults, bedtime twitching can also occur in babies or children.
- This is an unpleasant experience, especially with babies, and can frighten parents.
- Most of the time, however, these symptoms are quite normal and not a cause for concern.
This can even lead to convulsions reminiscent of an attack.
It is particularly crucial: When do these twitches occur?
If the twitching only occurs at night or while sleeping and then stops immediately, this is a sign that it is just harmless myoclonus .
Reasons for this are:
- Babies’ nervous systems are not that mature.
- Your movements are even less conditioned during sleep than during the day.
An indication of a real seizure is abnormal eye movements that occur with the twitching. If your baby has trouble breathing or if the seizure lasts longer than 5 minutes, you should see a doctor immediately.
Of course, if you have any doubts, you should always consult a specialist (who can diagnose problems far better than any advisor on the Internet).
The most important in a nutshell:
Twitching while sleeping or falling asleep is perfectly normal and shouldn’t cause you any worries.
Especially if the twitching occurs very rarely and does not disturb your sleep.
Keep in mind : Clarify with your partner whether he feels disturbed. If you are scared of the night twitches or if you have problems over a long period of time, you should consult your doctor.
Closing word
You are also welcome to browse the other sections and find out which measures you can take to improve your sleep:
- The bedroom category provides helpful tips on how to best furnish your bedroom .
- In the next section you will find more information on common sleep problems and sleep disorders .
- We explain current studies (understandable for everyone) in the category of sleep research .
- General tips & strategies for a healthy night’s sleep can be found here: Sleep better .
Hope this article on sleeping twitches has been helpful to you.
I created Sleep Knowledge to share my interests and experiences on healthy sleeping with others. On this page I am therefore dealing with interesting questions about the optimal night’s sleep & everything else that goes with it.