Why do we shake randomly sometimes when dosing off to sleep?

I mean just now I was falling asleep in bed cause I was watching some Planet Earth and that guys voice always sends me to sleep. Anyways I randomly just had a shake and woke right up but wasn't dreaming or anything and this happens quite often but it also happens to everyone else I talk to about it. So I was just wondering why does it happen?

Ah for god sake this website has sooo many bugs, it wont let me edit the title :(

Dozing*

It's the body trying to stay awake, I think.

perhaps it is just you, never happened to me anyway.

Shake or Jump whatever you want to call it, it's like when you watch a horror film and something makes you jump.

It's a spasm, a quick jolt. I know what you're talking about. There are five stages of sleep, the first of which is the easiest to slip into and when you do so it feels like your falling. When your body tries to stay awake, it is as if you are jerking back up.

You mean when you get the feeling like you're falling for a split second, and you jump/shake/spasm? We don't know for sure, but many scientists think it's an evolutionary throwback to when we slept in trees, and sometimes you might fall when you are going to sleep, and the feeling is to make you grab onto something to stop you from falling.

Well atleast I know that whenever I'm sleeping in a tree I'll be safe.

I think I know what you are talking about, but I haven't had this happen in awhile. The only thing I could compare this too was several years ago I woke up at night, I began to walk to the bathroom and when I came back, everything felt different and everything felt alot slower, until I went to lay down. This actually isn't exactly the same as what you mentioned, but I thought since you were talking about something weird I thought I could throw my experiences into the hat.

Dreaming makes u move, if u have a pet, there dreaming when the move in there sleep

See a doctor that does sound natural

"I think I know what you are talking about, but I haven't had this happen in awhile. The only thing I could compare this too was several years ago I woke up at night, I began to walk to the bathroom and when I came back, everything felt different and everything felt alot slower, until I went to lay down. This actually isn't exactly the same as what you mentioned, but I thought since you were talking about something weird I thought I could throw my experiences into the hat."

"Karmum said:

"I think I know what you are talking about, but I haven't had this happen in awhile. The only thing I could compare this too was several years ago I woke up at night, I began to walk to the bathroom and when I came back, everything felt different and everything felt alot slower, until I went to lay down. This actually isn't exactly the same as what you mentioned, but I thought since you were talking about something weird I thought I could throw my experiences into the hat."

You woke up in the middle of the night and felt disoriented? Holy shit! Somebody call Dr. House!"

Happens to me too, I get the falling feeling when im like barely awake almost sleeping and then I like jump up.

Falling dreams!? I dunno. That's all I can think of, I often have falling dreams right as I'm falling asleep.

Its call a "myclonic jerk".  Its your mind starting to drift off into a real sleep from the first stage where you are kind of still half here but your body saying...woah, wait, ummm, are we dying here!  And so what your body instinctivly does is sends a vat of electrical energy through your body to try and get you going.



P.S.  If my mom or dad every come on Giantbomb thinking I am a terrorist and go through my history, thanks for floating the 4 years of pre-med so far, I guess they have paid off. :)

That happens to me and I think it is hilarious. I like flipped out and my leg spazz'd out too.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure every person gets those.

I think I get something similar. Sometimes it feels as if I'm falling for a second and it scares the hell out of me and wakes me up. lol

Maybe I'm alone on this one, but does anyone get that feeling sometimes when they're falling asleep, and everything gets a lot louder, and movement/touch feels a lot more noticeable. It's difficult to describe, and actually kind of cool.

Don't human senses heighten at night time?

"Maybe I'm alone on this one, but does anyone get that feeling sometimes when they're falling asleep, and everything gets a lot louder, and movement/touch feels a lot more noticeable. It's difficult to describe, and actually kind of cool."

"Don't human senses heighten at night time?"

"DualReaver said:

"Don't human senses heighten at night time?"

Don't they tell you not to drive at night because your judgment is impaired while tired?"

I'm tired right now, so maybe my statement was impaired.

Perhaps the impairment you have driving while tired is just slower reflexes? I must go google this now.

Edit:
I can't find anything. >_>
But I always thought that at night time we kind of felt more uneasy causing us to be more aware to what is around us, or something like that.

It's normal, ReTarDedFisHy has it all the time. But mostly "dozing" off to sleep means that you shouldn't be, so it's your body making random spasms to stay awake. It's ReTarDedFisHy's guess anyway. Ask your doctor :D

"I mean just now I was falling asleep in bed cause I was watching some Planet Earth and that guys voice always sends me to sleep. Anyways I randomly just had a shake and woke right up but wasn't dreaming or anything and this happens quite often but it also happens to everyone else I talk to about it. So I was just wondering why does it happen?"

Ive honestly never had that happen to me, then again, i dont fall asleep at random places. xD

Sometimes when I doze off, my leg involuntarily kicks forward. Is that what you're talking about? 

Funny Story: One time i was in a hotel room and sleeping on the opposite end of the bed (for no reason). I had just started to fall asleep when I had a dream where I was about to kick a soccer ball. In my dream when i kicked the soccer ball, my body actually reacted accordingly and my leg kicked. On the nightstand i had left a pop sitting there half full. My leg hit it and it flew across the room and smacked the wall. But yeah it was pretty funny this thread just reminded me of that.

I hate 'em, it feels like I just took a fall. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnic_jerk

i remember having a dream when i was about 10 years old were i was in the wild west during the 1800's and i was having a pistol duel with Yosemite Sam (looney toons cowboy guy) and after i drew my pistol, he shot me right in the chest and as soon as he did i jumped awake (much like you described) and i had a really bad pain in my chest. freaked me out. 

Happens to me rarely, gives me this frightened unsettled feeling afterwards:P.

That happened to me last night when I was dreaming about falling off a cliff. It makes me feel really funny afterward too...

the shaking is you re-entering the atmosphere. you're getting abducted by aliens and they're sending you back

"the shaking is you re-entering the atmosphere. you're getting abducted by aliens and they're sending you back"

it's a tumor