falling through your bed?

Question

Anyone ever been half asleep or asleep and you wake up all of a sudden because you feel like your falling through your bed??

What is this and what causes this feeling when sleeping?

Answer 1

This strange falling sensation and muscle twitch is known as a hypnagogic myoclonic twitch or “Hypnic jerk” If this has happened to you on more than one occasion, don’t worry, you are not alone. Close to 70 percent of all people experience this phenomenon just after nodding off, according to a recent study at the Mayo Clinic.

The general consensus among researchers is that, as your muscles begin to slack and go into a restful state just as you are falling asleep; your brain senses these relaxation signals and misinterprets them, thinking you are falling down. The brain then sends signals to the muscles in your arms and legs in an attempt to jerk you back upright. This misinterpretation that takes place in your brain may also be responsible for the “falling” dreams that accompany the falling sensation. These “dreams” are not really normal dreams, as they are not produced from R.E.M sleep, but rather more like a daydream or hallucination in response to the body’s sensations.

While this phenomenon happens to most everyone, studies have recently begun to link occurrences of “Hypnic jerks” to sleep anxiety, fatigue, and discomfort. People who are having trouble sleeping or can’t get comfortable in bed appear to experience the sensation more often throughout the night. It is especially more common with people who are trying to fight falling asleep or have deprived themselves of sleep for more than 24 hours.

Researchers believe that the lack of sleep from sleep anxiety or sleep deprivation confuses the muscles and the brain. The muscles continually attempt to relax and shut down for rest, while your brain remains awake creating continued “misinterpretations” of falling or loss of balance.

Answer 2

Don't know the cause but it is a very common feeling and it usually bothers you for a while and you grow out of it or move on to something else. I used to dream I was floating all the time too and the falling one is a really scary one. No more of those. So, it should pass.

Answer 3

The only time I feel like that is right after I go fishing.
I usually get so used to the swaying of the boat that at night I feel like my room and bed are swaying.

Answer 4

I felt like this as a child and my grandmother taught me to think of it as going to dreamland, so that it was not scary but exciting. As I grew older and learned a bit about lucid dreaming, I started to think about it as the gateway to my subconscious. As long as you don't fear the sensation, you can come to see it as a transition stage from consciousness to REM sleep and greet it willingly. Maybe that's where the expression "to fall asleep" came from... who knows?

Sweet dreams.

Answer 5

I think it was the time that my waterbed sprung a leak.