Myoclonic jerks

People don't have to be a sufferer or a doctor to know it's not caused by electric shocks as the OP said.
The OP clearly wrote that it's her body's way of getting rid of stress.

I second the question about medication - I had to change one set I was on because it was causing similar.

Do you snore?
Sometimes if you have obstructive sleep apnoea, your throat relaxes too much and obstructs your airway. As your oxygen level drops, your brain jerks you back awake to instigate breathing again.

Are you on any medication that could be causing it. I take Pregablin twice a day for nerve damage and I sometimes get these sudden jerks particularly if I have to up my dosage. They can feel like electric shocks.

GabriellaG54 - are you a sufferer? Are you a neurologist? Have you had experience of this condition night after night for years? Unless the answer if yes then stop being so rude about something you know little or nothing about. I am trying to help Sallywally1 who is dealing with something she doesn't understand.

It's got nothing to do with your body getting rid of stress by electric shocks. What rubbish.

Sallywally 1 - nice to meet a fellow sufferer for the first time! I had this badly some years ago after going through the menopause so wondered if it was connected. When I started drifting off to sleep I was suddenly shaken violently by what I can only describe as an electric shock. It was as if I'd been plugged into the mains and my whole body jumped. Sometimes it was very scary.

In the end I'm pretty sure I discovered it was caused by stress. As I entered that halfway stage, just dropping off, my body was eliminating the stress that had built up during the day as a massive electric shock. Weird.

Unfortunately, this causes you to fear falling asleep because you know this awful thing will happen as you drift off, so you will need to take something to get you past that halfway point and push you into sleep.

The solution is a) to be honest about your life and what might be causing you stress and b) take something that works for you. For me it was Zopiclone, but it is highly addictive and even years later I am still taking half a tablet. Doctors don't like you having it for very long, but that's hard when you find something that works for you. Maybe try some herbal things first, but I would rather be taking my half tablet and get a good night's sleep than going through that. It slowly got better by the way, so I must have done something right.