SSRI induced hypnic jerks: A case series

A hypnic jerk is an abrupt, involuntary, nonrepetitive contraction of muscles of the body that occurs during the onset of sleep in stage 1 of nonrapid eye movement sleep. Various physiological and stressful stimuli can precipitate hypnic jerks with no further neurological sequelae. Although selectiv...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rakesh Kumar, Syed Naiyer Ali, Shatabdi Saha, Subir Bhattacharjee
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2023-07-01
Series:Indian Journal of Psychiatry
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/indianjpsychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_207_23
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1825206164406665216
author Rakesh Kumar
Syed Naiyer Ali
Shatabdi Saha
Subir Bhattacharjee
author_facet Rakesh Kumar
Syed Naiyer Ali
Shatabdi Saha
Subir Bhattacharjee
author_sort Rakesh Kumar
collection DOAJ
description A hypnic jerk is an abrupt, involuntary, nonrepetitive contraction of muscles of the body that occurs during the onset of sleep in stage 1 of nonrapid eye movement sleep. Various physiological and stressful stimuli can precipitate hypnic jerks with no further neurological sequelae. Although selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) medications are well known to disturb the normal sleep cycle and cause rapid eye movement sleep behavioral disorders, there were only a few case reports of them causing hypnic jerks and those were reported due to Escitalopram only. Here is a case series of four cases of hypnic jerks found to be associated with the use of various SSRIs, Escitalopram, Sertraline, and Fluoxetine. Clonazepam was found to be very effective in reducing the hypnic jerks associated with SSRIs. In all the cases, the sleep-induced Electroencephalogram was normal.
format Article
id doaj-art-8516acc4de7b460da5add5f63101409b
institution Kabale University
issn 0019-5545
1998-3794
language English
publishDate 2023-07-01
publisher Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
record_format Article
series Indian Journal of Psychiatry
spelling doaj-art-8516acc4de7b460da5add5f63101409b2025-02-07T11:23:05ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsIndian Journal of Psychiatry0019-55451998-37942023-07-0165778578810.4103/indianjpsychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_207_23SSRI induced hypnic jerks: A case seriesRakesh KumarSyed Naiyer AliShatabdi SahaSubir BhattacharjeeA hypnic jerk is an abrupt, involuntary, nonrepetitive contraction of muscles of the body that occurs during the onset of sleep in stage 1 of nonrapid eye movement sleep. Various physiological and stressful stimuli can precipitate hypnic jerks with no further neurological sequelae. Although selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) medications are well known to disturb the normal sleep cycle and cause rapid eye movement sleep behavioral disorders, there were only a few case reports of them causing hypnic jerks and those were reported due to Escitalopram only. Here is a case series of four cases of hypnic jerks found to be associated with the use of various SSRIs, Escitalopram, Sertraline, and Fluoxetine. Clonazepam was found to be very effective in reducing the hypnic jerks associated with SSRIs. In all the cases, the sleep-induced Electroencephalogram was normal.https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/indianjpsychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_207_23hypnic jerkssleepssri
spellingShingle Rakesh Kumar
Syed Naiyer Ali
Shatabdi Saha
Subir Bhattacharjee
SSRI induced hypnic jerks: A case series
Indian Journal of Psychiatry
hypnic jerks
sleep
ssri
title SSRI induced hypnic jerks: A case series
title_full SSRI induced hypnic jerks: A case series
title_fullStr SSRI induced hypnic jerks: A case series
title_full_unstemmed SSRI induced hypnic jerks: A case series
title_short SSRI induced hypnic jerks: A case series
title_sort ssri induced hypnic jerks a case series
topic hypnic jerks
sleep
ssri
url https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/indianjpsychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_207_23
work_keys_str_mv AT rakeshkumar ssriinducedhypnicjerksacaseseries
AT syednaiyerali ssriinducedhypnicjerksacaseseries
AT shatabdisaha ssriinducedhypnicjerksacaseseries
AT subirbhattacharjee ssriinducedhypnicjerksacaseseries