I wake myself up stimming - why?

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Almost every night and morning, I wake myself up - because I stim. I stim in my sleep!
I flap and twirl my hands, and shake my head fast. Sometimes I find myself sitting up, rocking back and forth.
Why? Anyone else doing this?

Are you having dreams? You might react to dreams, you either don´t remember or don´t pay much attention to.

Thanks for your reply! I may be dreaming. I can't remember the dreams though.

I wake up stimming. I notice the sound of my fingers flapping near my ears and then i can't get back to sleep.
I don't know why and I don't know if it wakes me up or if I start stimming upon waking.
since I've been taking melatonin, I don't wake up in the middle of the night anymore.

You are probably releasing anxiety and energy as well.

Perhaps like an athlete who shakes out parts of his or her body to get rid of stress. Before a competition or after a workout, an athlete will sometimes shake out his or her arms and legs or do a little dance in place.

Do you think you might be stimming to deal with sensory issues?

This is actually a very interesting thought. I know for me I am extra sensitive to sounds when I am trying to fall asleep. I have a really hard time with cars, and generators at a factory near our house. It's possible that in your sleep you are hearing noises that are bothering you and you might be stimming to try to cope with them.

Thank you for all your answers.

When I come to think of it, I do stim and wake up at the same time when I hear loud or disturbing sounds. Like yesterday, it was thundering and I woke up, flapping my hands like crazy. And I cannot stop stimming before I have calmed myself down. Sometimes I wake up banging my head to the wall, or hitting myself in the face or head. Once the reason was that I had lost one of my socks from my foot (I can't sleep without socks on my feet).

yeah i do that too sometimes, sometimes it wakes me up.