Blog Posts

SOVM: Sleep-onset Oscillatory Vasomotor Myoclonus: Hypothesis - Generating Framework from an Index Case

My hypnic jerks began suddenly in July 2022, shortly after a traumatic event and a COVID infection earlier that year. Every time I fell asleep, it felt like a defibrillator shocked me awake —a violent full-body jolt followed by an intense adrenaline surge. This repeated for hours each night. Over time, the jerks evolved into falling sensations, body twitching, and repeated sleep-onset adrenaline surges. Alongside them came a cluster of symptoms that felt almost PTSD-like: hea

Article Integration Summary – SOVM Sleep-Onset Oscillatory Vasomotor Myoclonus 1. RAAS in PTSD: ACE and ARBs Reduce Symptoms (J Clin Psychiatry, 2012) ACE inhibition linked to reduced PTSD symptoms; implicates central RAAS in stress resilience and neurovascular modulation. In the case of SOVM, provides outside validation that RAAS signaling impacts CNS function, supporting SOVM's theory that low ACE/A2 worsens sleep-state regulation. https://www.psychiatrist.com/jcp/renin-ang

Reframing Chronic Hypnic Jerks Through A Neurovascular Lens—Informed by Case Study and Group Trends Link to manuscript pre-print: https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-8309723/v1 Abstract Background: Hypnic jerks are considered benign, transient motor events during sleep onset. However, in a subset of individuals, they evolve into chronic, disruptive episodes marked by neurovascular instability, autonomic dysregulation, and impaired sleep continuity. Because these sympto

Our 2-year-old daughter has been having Hypnic jerking since she was 4 weeks old. She’s had 3 EEGs, and seen 5 neurologists, 2 sleep specialists, a movement disorder specialist, and a hematologist. I discovered I was anemic in pregnancy, so we followed up by giving her an iron infusion. We gave 3 doses of iron a day to be sure, and eliminated all dairy from her diet. Still, they persist. No one has answers. It seems no one cares. I can’t get anyone to conduct any genetic test

While preparing to write my story, I reviewed the journal which I have kept for four years, now totaling 100 pages. On August 27, 2018, the jerks hit with no warning. There was such a sense of bewilderment and disbelief about what was happening. The first five doctors I saw could not unravel the mystery as to what caused the jerks or how to stop them. One neurologist declared that in his 35 years of practice, he had never seen anything like this. He was not alone. The doc

My Clonazepam Taper This is a long post about my clonazepam taper. It’s my experience. Yours may differ. None of it is intended as advice. Please consult your doctor before changing medication doses. I’m three years into sleep myoclonus. For more than two of those years, the benzodiazepine Clonazepam allowed me to sleep, with some support from other medications, supplements, and behavior. Without medication, I’d repeatedly awake with a strong jerk in some muscle or muscle gro

Angiotensin is a protein hormone that causes blood vessels to become narrow. It helps us to maintain blood pressure and fluid balance in the body. I created the below chart several years ago as I realized that angiotensin conversion problems could be the main contributor to hypnic jerking and the issues I was experiencing. The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) plays an important role in the regulation of blood pressure. Angiotensin II (see in the chart) is the princ

To a large extent, the science of sleep has remained a mystery. Let’s look at the role of the spine and the brain for a moment. We know that when we are conscious (up and moving), there is high pressure exerted upon our discs: our muscles are taut, and we hold position better. As we relax and drift to sleep, complex physiological changes are occurring along our spine and spinal cord. These pressure changes also occur within each intervertebral disc segment along our spine. Th

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Dear CoRDS Partners, We hope you all are doing well and your new year is off to a great start. As you have noticed, CoRDS has been working on new features for participants, partners, and now researchers. We are excited to announce the launch of our new researcher access portal. This portal will be used for researchers to submit requests for data or to have CoRDS contact participants on their behalf. Researchers will be able to obtain the de-identified data in real time throug

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You might find these practitioners helpful along your journey. Find an Atlas Orthogonal doctor https://atlasorthogonality.com Find a functional MD/practitioner: https://www.ifm.org/find-a-practitioner/ Find a neurological chiropractor: https://acnb.org/DoctorLocator.aspx

Calcium Dysregulation and Melatonin: See earlier blog entry regarding calcium cell signaling driving sleep entry. Can more answers be found in studying calcium? This article addresses the use of melatonin in the case of COVID. However, I’m reviewing it because it highlights that melatonin is not only an antiviral, but it seems it can address calcium ion channel dysregulation. A theory is that this dysfunction is what sufferers have in common that contributes to the Hypnic jer