I am a 21-year-old male and I am having problems with fatigue and sluggishness despite the fact that I exercise and eat as healthy as possible. I am thinking it may be due to my lack of sleep. I find it hard to get to sleep at night and when I finally do, I wake up early and I wake up several times throughout the night. Sometimes, I feel some sort of an “electric shock” enough to jolt me from sleep. Do you have information regarding this? Any ideas how I can deal with the fatigue and sleeplessness?


To me, it looks like you are suffering from sleep deprivation. It is during sleep that our body relaxes and recharges to get us ready for a new day. When we are sleep deprived, the body is unable to do what it does during sleep which is relax and repair itself. The result: fatigue.

Effects of sleep deprivation include fatigue, sluggishness, depression, irritability, inability to concentrate, poor memory, slowed reflexes, and depressed immune system, to name a few. Any form of exertion like exercise and even minor activities can increase the feelings of fatigue. Even eating healthy foods may not be enough because the body itself is in a state of unrest.

Sleep deprivation doesn’t only mean sleeplessness or lack of sleep. You may think you are getting enough number of hours of sleep but the body is still unrested because you are not getting quality sleep due to sleep disruptions. Sleep apnea is the most common form of sleep disruption. This is characterized by snoring, waking up in the middle of the night gasping or choking and brief absences of breathing which can last up to 20 seconds.

If you feel you are exhibiting signs of sleep apnea or if your partner notices these signs, try to consult a sleep specialist. You will be asked to undergo sleep studies and when proven you have apnea, CPAP therapy, the simplest, most effective treatment of apnea, will most probably be prescribed. A CPAP is a machine that will help you breathe during sleep allowing you to get a good night’s rest.

You also mentioned having these “electric shock” episodes which jolts you out of sleep. This, too, causes sleep disruption and sleep deprivation. These “electric shock” feelings are actually called hypnagogic jerks or myoclonic jerks. This is pretty normal. This usually occurs when a person is tired or is sleep deprived, like in your case. When you are sleep deprived, the body somehow gets used to the state of sleep deprivation that when sleep comes, the brain refuses to fall asleep, sending involuntary signals to the muscles.

Right now, the best you can do is to get a sleep study done. It is only then that you can determine what kind of sleep problem you are having and what measures you can do to take care of that. Your physician can refer you to a sleep specialist who understands the sleep phenomenon better. Practicing good sleeping hygiene also helps in dealing with sleep problems such as yours.