Sleep with arms raised. wtf?!

[PavlovtheCat]

recently started to wake to find me on my back with both arms in the air. or on side with one arm up, or sometimes holding hands together in the air, or rubbing the hands or arms with each hand. it wakes me as obviously not meant to happening and my arms hurt because the muscles are tense in that position for goodness knows how long before I wake up.

Sometimes, not often, have acted something out in my sleep, with hands/arms, like waving them if I am waving in my dream, or going to shake someone's hand.

It's only been the last couple months. I mentioned to the doc when talking about something else; a locum who looked at me like this and then shrugged. Suggested maybe due to some neck pain that I have. I wouldn't be surprised if it's this causing the neck pain. it's not pain related, the reason for doing it, I am sure.

Any suggestions? Anyone have it?

@kategale You described exactly what I do! I'm 38 now and have been doing this my entire life. Never went to a sleep specialist for it though as I thought it was just a self-soothing thing. I also record myself sleep and recently realized I do this 4-5 nights a week. I'd love to compare footage too haha as weird as that sounds

Thank goodness I found this group! Last night, I woke up to my arms being straight in the air. I was gently massaging one arm with the opposite hand. I was also lightly scratching the palms of my hands. I was so surprised to wake seeing this yet I felt extremely relaxed and soothed. I asked my boyfriend about it this morning and he said I do it all the time along with talking, laughing. I’ve never heard of anything like this. Today, I searched the internet and thankfully, I found this relatable group. The last year has been the most challenging and stressful 12 months of my life. I’m doing much better and overcoming a lot of it (loss of loved ones, divorce and work stress). I don’t have any health or sleep issues. Advil PM for sleep . Really would like to know if there’s a medical term for this. Thank you all for sharing your posts! So glad to know that hopefully, it’s just an odd thing.

For anyone who hasn't figured it out the body does this to control blood pressure and improve circulation. Get your blood pressure in line as well as stress levels and I guarantee this will be alleviated.

Source? You a Doctor? Sleep Therapist? Anything besides an avg mf trying to act like his guess has anything more backing it up more than other guesses besides "Trust Me"?
B/c if not then you know as much as the rest of us and I, for one, am tired of listening to guesses based on F all. Especially when that guesser acts like it should be obvious.

I mean, elevating the limbs such as putting your legs up against the wall is common knowledge and has been practiced in Yoga for a long time. It alleviates inflammation, brings more blood back to the heart. I hope I didn't come across as condescending as you have, lol.

oatext.com/Effects-of-passive-leg-raising-on-cardiovascular-functions-as-analyzed-by-fingertip-pulse-pressure-profiles.php

Also a study showing how having your head raised in bed instead of flat can aid vascular health: clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04502225

Calling crap on your so called studies, one is not even finished and only used 44 people as a study group.The other group uses 8 men.And I am not sure what it has to do with people raising there arms for short periods of time lightly rubbing the other arm. Seeing that your intelligence surpasses and one on here why don't you put it in layman's terms.Then we shall decide if what your saying holds any validity.

I never claimed to be more intelligent. I was simply sharing my knowledge from a medical standpoint. In layman's terms like you asked; it's stress relief.

Just like letting out a big sigh after something stressful or what makes you upset, this is the bodies natural response to bring oxygen and blood to necessary parts of the body, and giving the brain a small dose of feel good. The tickling of the arm is just another sensation of human touch that we find satisfying and relaxing. While there may not be any direct studies about this rare phenomenon, it doesn't mean there isn't a medical reason for it. It's quite interesting how different body positions can shift the flow our cardiovascular system.
www.ahajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1161/01.RES.3.5.478

Strange I do this too !! We must all have something in common . Maybe we are related who knows . Definitely odd wish we could figure it out !

So I just started doing this yesterday. I also just received surgery yesterday in which they injected me with a type of anesthetic for my nerves. Now I’m also on pain killers, and I already take a prescription for nerves (actually used on some to suppress seizures, for me it’s been for anxiety). I’m pretty positive it’s all related. I’ve been doing the rubbing arms thing others mentioned and I’ve also been fairly itchy. The rubbing is soothing. I don’t like it though. I just feel like my whole upper body is tingling.

My boyfriend has been trying to tell me that I’ve been doing this since we met. He said it kinda freaked him out the first night we stayed with eachother. I didn’t think much of it till he sent me this photo.

Hi,

Wow I’ve quietly followed this thread, been so helpful to hear everyone’s situations…

I’m 25 and been doing the exact same as you all for god knows how many years. I think I started getting concerned once I started filming this as I had realised that though it appears to be self soothing I then go on to crack all of bones which is pretty scary considering I’m completely unconscious. So I finally plucked up the courage to speak with my GP as I believe this is a big reason on why my body hurts so much and I’m always so tired amongst many other things that cause me issues daily… so they referred me onto a neurologist who have conducted a few test including: Sleep Deprived EEG, MRIs, Polysomnography and they are suspecting the cause of this to be epilepsy- frontal lobe seizures to be specific. I’m still awaiting for some results to come back but from what they have found so far it’s pointing towards that.

Now I know this isn’t the case for everyone in this forum so please don’t think this is of course the case for yourself as epilepsy is unfortunately within my family and I of course strongly say if your concerned please speak with your GP but having honestly hearing everyone’s stories made me feel so comfortable as it can be quite awkward thing to do haha! I simply made this mumsnet account just to write this- but I’m more than happy if anyone wants to discuss more as it’s all super interesting!!

I’ve been doing this for close to 15 years, at least that is when my partner caught on that it was happening. I’m 37, in relatively good health, and I have no idea why this happens. My wife calls my her little ballerina. I put both arms straight up with my hands bent and fingertips touching, much like a ballerina, but instead of putting my hands over my head I’m putting them straight above my chest while laying on my back. Then a begin moving one hand down my arm Lightly stroking from my wrist to my elbow With my fingertips, going back up and then alternating to the other arm. I will do this over and over for who knows how long.

At first I didn’t believe my wife when she told me I was doing it and as we both sleep at the same time it took her year to get it on camera, but once she did there was no denying it any longer. I assumed it was a type of sleep walking and since it hasn’t seemed to have an adverse affect on my life I kinda just ignore that I do it. But I think I’ll bring it up to my Doc and see what they think. I found a thread a few years back on another website of people who do this samething, it sounds like it is rare but not unique. Just wish we had a definitive answer as to what it is, even if it is harmless, just so when someone young first finds out it’s happening they could easily jump on the net and find out what’s going on. I’ll update if I ever get an answer as I hope any of y’all would too.

Wow it's 2023 and I'm just seeing you're message 2019
Thanks so much .. yes I still do it...don't know how much cuz it's just me. Sometimes I know I'm doing it and wake up then back to sleep. I'll Google that now
Thanks again so much
Hope all is well four yrs later. Wow

Wow, you described what I do..I found out in the 90,s that I did it. To this day haven't found out why or what it means...
I just found a message here from 2019 I'm just now seeing...
Let me see if I can put it here share with you
She says it sounds like it could be what we do. I haven't Googled it yet. I thought I'd read a few of these and saw yours
So let's check it out
Let me know your thoughts
Hope I can share the s shot

I do this with the stroking thing too. I’ve known about it for years and my
husband always says he just pushes my arms down. I just went in to give my son a kiss on the way to bed and he was doing the exact same thing. So clearly inherited 😂

My boyfriend of going on 12 years now does and always has since I can remember in his sleep, I've even tried to rub his arms for him while he sleeps to relax his arm but it doesn't seem to even phase him. He just continues with his arms innthe air one scratching lightly or rubbing the other. He is not on any medications and has never been but it does seem the heavier he sleeps the more likely the occurrence.I would suggest elevated stress, overthinking, holidays, work, perhaps a psychological soothing mechanism triggered by anyone of these things or a combination of them to help our subconscious in a more physical yet subconscious way. Good luck hopefully someone will figure it out soon. Peace to you

¯ \ ( ツ ) / ¯

I do this too sometimes both arms are raised in the air. I am not conscious of it. But my husband has told me When I do this, he presses my arm or arms down. I'm i'm inquiring as to what's wrong with me? does anyone know what this is?

My husband does this most nights when he is asleep. I mean I see him doing it most nights. Other nights I might miss it if I fall asleep before him. He uses the tip of his forefinger and tickles/rubs up and down one arm and then swipes it away with the back of his hand. Then he does the other arm the same. He also tickles his neck in the same way. Sometimes he tickles his neck while he is awake, normally when he is concentrating on something or in an awkward situation. Anyway back to his sleeping habits, he also talks a lot and kicks and is very restless in general. He sleeps on his side for a few minutes then turns on his back for a few minutes then back on his side again for a few and so on. Also does not remember in the morning that he went for a wee in the middle of the night. This as well as very heavy snoring, moaning and groaning makes for a night of hardly any sleep for me and I'm pretty sure that's why he has such a lack of energy in general. I have told him about this and he doesn't want to talk about it. Like he is embarrassed,which I can understand,sort of. We have been together for 15 years and I still cannot get him to go to GP about it. He is on statins and nerve pain medication but he did this before he started the meds. Apologies for such a long post but I didn't see anyone on here that mentioned the other issues aswell. Please let me know if anyone else has all these symptoms. Much appreciated

Just a quick update, I’ve been ruled out that this is related to epilepsy! I’ve completed x2 sleep studies all in which my arm raising wasn’t captured (typical lol). All that was collected was I’m a snorer and it takes my brain a little longer than the average person to come round when waking. I’m working on seeing if a home sleep study could be carried out as I don’t feel as settled when in hospital.

I’ll be really honest, nobody really seems to know exactly what it is I’m just under an umbrella of sleep disorders and my case is with a professor. All that’s been recommended is medication which I’m yet to try and a snore guard. I was hoping this journey would bring some clear answers as I know that I’m not getting the best sleep.

I’ll write here if any updates! Curious has anybody else managed to get a diagnosis?

Are you fighting in your sleep ?