I think I have a Tic Disorder.

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I am totally unsure about this, because I've only ever really looked at the possibility of certain Autistic Spectrum Disorders with regards to myself, but now another facet of my behaviour has come to light.

Sometimes when lying in bed, I experience what I can only describe as a seizure, that lasts for the length of an electric shock, as though something in my brain short-circuited for a split second, causing my arms, legs, hearing and vision to twitch. This only happens when trying (really hard) to sleep, and only once or twice a night, and again, only every two or three nights (the nights I go to bed instead of staying on the computer non-stop).

I know it's not Tourette's Syndrome, because Tourette's requires motor and phonic tics, so I'm unsure as to what kind of Tic Disorder, if any, I may have. I could always just say it's Tic Disorder NOS, but that's very simplistic of me, as it may well be a Tic Disorder with defined diagnostic criteria.

Also, I don't know if this is related or not, but I sometimes also get nystagmus at night, and sometimes during the day. Have so for as long as I can remember, much like the "tics" themselves.

Can anyone shed any light, or provide links with info? It would be very much appreciated.

Dude--pretty much the exact same thing happens to me when I'm falling asleep! Crazy! I haven't been diagnosed with AS (yet) but I wonder if there's a connection? The difference is that mine lasts for several seconds and happens more sporadically.

However, I do have tics during the day. They're not the same "electric shock" kind of thing; they're wrist/head/half-body twitches, and even vocal ones sometimes. So maybe my night problems are related to that instead of the probable AS. Or perhaps they're simply both related to AS.

I am almost certain you are not describing a tic, but a hypnic jerk. It's normal for everyone to have that from time to time, especially with irregular sleep schedules.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnic_jerk

The thing I forgot to mention is that the tics only started about a year ago. I'm not quite sure what to make of them. A neurologist told me that they were normal at my age (?). He also told me about the hypnic jerks, but for some reason I forgot about that until just now.