We’ve just wrapped up Meeting #4 of the Sleep-Onset Oscillatory Vasomotor Myoclonus (SOVM) project, and the progress is exciting on every...

SOVM Sensitivity & Variability The following summarizes the integrated framework linking the three main sensitivity categories observed...

🧠 What we’re learning: • Hypnic jerking likely involves REM-like motor activity intruding too early into lighter sleep. • This reflects...

Summary of Week 3 Meeting • We explored personalized medicine for SOVM and identified direct treatment options mapped to my own...

Articles he's been sending me through the week were unbelievably validating to the SOVM theory. I'm super glad I've been recording the...

Dr. Jay Lombard, DO https://cmbm.org/team/team-member/jay-lombard/ Kickoff Meeting #1 – Summary, Agenda and Notes July 18, 2025...

Propriospinal Myoclonus: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3736211/ Surgical Treatment of Propriospinal Myoclonus: [https://www.cureus.com/articles/92223-surgical-treatment-of-propriospinal-myoclonus-a-case-report?#!/](https://www.cureus.com/articles/92223-surgical-treatment-of-propriospinal-myoclonus-a-case-report#!/) Excessive Fragmentary Myoclonus: https://sleepreviewmag.com/sleep-disorders/movement-disorders/excessive-fragmentary-myoclonus/? The clinical hetero

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

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

We have been having some positive responses to the application of lidocaine. I have often wondered why a person struggling from intractable hypnic jerking seems to show no evidence of jerking while under anesthesia. This article might explain why. One facebook group member received injections of lidocaine and experienced a few days of relief from her jerking. She then experimented with 5% topical lidocaine and shared her success with others in the group. There are a handful

Genetics, informing use of Diamox: In this article on central nervous system channelopathies, the below figure and table lists the genetic mutations along with the corresponding body systems and medications that treat them. Several people in the hypnic jerking group have received epilepsy genetic panel screens (you do not need to be having “seizures” to have an epilepsy genetic panel run). The identified mutations of group members indicate that Diamox could be an appropriate

Hypnic Jerking has had many names and has been hard to detect on testing. The diagnosis is easily overlooked because the involved muscle groups are small. This article sheds light on how to view evidence of the condition. "Excessive fragmentary myoclonus (EFM), previously called excessive fragmentary hypnic myoclonus, is defined by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) as at least five characteristic fragmentary myoclonus electromyographic potentials per minute during