You know how sometimes, your body can jerk in your sleep, almost like a serious case of the twitches?
Well, there is actually a reason for it, with the ‘sleep starts’ being down to your body experiencing a sudden increase in muscle activity as it unwinds for the night and begins to settle down.
It’s basically a full body hiccup, and can feel like the end of a nightmare, but there is nothing to worry about if you suffer from them – unless your sleep is being seriously disrupted obviously.
Carl Bazil, M.D. Ph.D., director of the Sleep Disorders Centre at New York–Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Centre and a neurology professor said the level of sleep jerking varies from person to person.
He explained:
One of the things that happens as you fall asleep is your muscles relax, but the awake part may still be stimulating enough that it will temporarily overreact and you get this jerk of muscle activity.
So to avoid the twitches, caffeine is a no-no, meaning coffee and red bull are out, along with any other stimulants like tobacco.
You also need to sleep more – and let’s be honest, no one is going to turn the chance to snooze for an extra half an hour down as winter approaches!
