 Sometimes when I am about to fall asleep, I feel my body do weird stuff such as shallow breathing, weird spasms in my stomach, etc. I also become aware of my heartbeat (feel it in my chest or hands, or hear it because of my pulsatile tinnitus) and it either seems to miss a beat everytime I am about to drift off, or it's my consciousness being slowly shut off, so that I can no longer pay attention and therefore it only seems like it misses a beat.

Whatever it is, this makes me instantly go up a level in consciousness or you could say become more awake again, which make the sensations stop. 10 seconds later I'm about to drift off again and the same stuff also happens again. And this goes in cycles.

I get weird thoughts -&gt; My body does weird stuff - &gt; I become aware of it -&gt; Poof more awake -&gt; Try to fall asleep again. And repeat.

It's absolutely terrible because I cannot sleep when this happens. Interestingly, this almost never happens when I go to bed at my regular bed time at night. Then the process of falling asleep feels more 'instant' and the body and mind seem to go to sleep at the same time.

However, when I wake up in the early morning this might happen sometimes. And when I take a nap during the day, this is almost guaranteed to happen.

Why does this happen? Are there too few 'sleep hormones' / melatonin in my body in the afternoon / early morning? Any other physical causes that could cause this? Sleep apnea?

I also have an anxiety disorder so I am sure I am more aware of things than most folks and maybe higher stress levels in general. But this also happens when I feel 'relaxed' and tired sometimes.

Any help is appreciated because this prevents me from sleeping, which I absolutely need more of.

Thanks so much.