Hypnic jerk in throat/involuntary swallowing right before falling asleep?

Hi and welcome to the A/P.:)

I am sorry that you are having this bothersome symptom! I have had this as well, when my anxiety was very high.

I can't recall that it happened during sleep/upon awakening. I remember it more as an involuntary gulp while awake...but it is probably a little different for everyone.

I am sure that mananging the anxiety will help to bring this symptom under control...so whether you increase your Lexapro dosage, or work on it in therapy/self-help with muscle relaxation/self-calming skills...I am sure it will improve.

One thing that I thought might be good to check out...just in case however...

I see that you also post in GERD, so I just wonder if you should ask your doctor if this could be related to acid damage...or possible sleep apnea?

I am confident that anxiety alone can cause this...but it never hurts to just have everything checked out from a medical standpoint as well.:)

I hope that you get the answers and relief that you need soon.

Post with us anytime!

Scaredy Cat

Shrtcake81-

Hi, I was wondering if you this swallowing reflex at the moment of sleep ever resolved for you? I have been under a lot of HA lately, and just in the past week have started having hypnic jerks as I try to go to sleep. I am much like you in that at night I fall asleep pretty easily because I am tired and also take OTC sleep aid, but in the early morning when I could still get a few hours of sleep but am not as tired, I have trouble falling back asleep because of these jerks. They started out as just an arm or foot or hand jerk at the moment I was drifting off, and now they have begun to add this involuntary swallowing action. I feel as though it must be because of my high level of anxiety, but at the same time, it adds to my anxiety so I feel as if I am in the middle of a vicious circle. I was just curious if yours resolved as your anxiety got better or what? Thanks so much for any help you could give me!

Not sure how to address this, probably better if I just tell you my experience. I have Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. Undiagnosed for 19 years, my symptoms intensified and I started to get aphasia (just stopped talking mid sentence but never knew why), anesthesia of the throat, and spontaneous swallowing. This motivated me to see another neurologist, since my previous one was adament that nothing was wrong with me, and a short time later I was correctly diagnosed and medicated.

When speaking to my wife about them, I refer to them as seizure swallows. It's caused issues once in a while with food, not ready to swallow and wham, it's gone down the throat. Once, with a mouth full of Listerine, I was gargling and I swallowed it all. OMG, I thought I was going to have to go to the hospital, but it said on the label that if you swallow more than would be used to gargle to seek help. It never even made me sick.

It is still a frequent breakthrough symptom for me, so if I start to get sick, or don't get enough sleep, etc., I get these unexpected swallows. If it gets more intense or if it worries you, you might want to float it by your doctor. Yours is different than mine, I never had them while falling asleep, not that I remember, so it's possible it is as others have suggested, but I wanted you to know my experience with it.

Be well.

JoJo09:

You are responding to a post that was last active 7-1/2 years ago, and the OP hasn't been active on the boards in over 8 years. It's a good idea to start your own thread, but I must warn your that the boards are notoriously slow and you may not receive timely responses.

Sharon

I went to the search engine and typed in:

"involuntary swallowing/anxiety" and found an article from Feb. 21, 2020, which thought anxiety played a part in this, stating:

“A new study has found that anxiety related to swallowing disorders was a better predictor of symptom severity than a standard clinical exam, according to the findings published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology.”

“While clinical exams are still important, psychological causes may be an underappreciated contributor to physical symptoms and should be incorporated into evaluations of symptom severity….”

“These are important factors that drive patient symptoms and they probably are going to have major implications for who’s going to improve with treatment,” Carlson said.

“Dysphagia is a condition where people have difficulty swallowing or experience the sensation that something is stuck in the throat. (Dysphagia also includes any swallowing disorder says www.hopkinsmedicine.org).

Someone above, Scaredy Cat, tied in your Gerd condition with the swallowing trouble.
about that, Mayoclinc.org says,

“Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) occurs when stomach acid repeatedly flows back into the tube connecting your mouth and stomach (esophagus). This backwash (acid reflux) can irritate the lining of your esophagus.”

Medtronic.com says: “Treatment for dysphagia will vary based on the cause of your swallowing problems. For dysphagia caused by gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), treatment may focus on bringing your GERD symptoms under control while managing your dysphagia symptoms.”

So, it seems that it could be GERD or anxiety or a combination. These are just my findings on the net.

As for hypnic jerks, sleepfoundation.org said:

"Hypnic jerks can be unsettling, but they’re not dangerous. In fact, they’re considered a normal part of falling asleep. Up to 70% of people experience hypnic jerks."

Post Edited (Tim Tam) : 8/28/2022 7:37:40 PM (GMT-7)