leg being zapped with electricity, ow,ow,ow.

[doonan]

19/1/2010.  the last 3wks,not only has been painful, but quite amusing?, it just started all on its own, sat watching the news when all of a sudden ,almost leapt out of chair, it felt like a electric prod  had zapped my leg,so bear with me.it happens on my right leg, just above my knee,and could get me about 6or7 times a hour,but the last 3 days it can be about20 times a hour, my leg seems to have developed tourettes.went to the doctors today, and even she started laughing, never came across it she says,not what i wanted to here i say,so i am being refered to a neuroligist,maybe it will stop as quick as it started.with me the first thing is the shock, then it lingers with a throb for about 30 seconds and sometimes it stops for awhile,but it has spred up the thigh abit more,so i am sorry to say, but it is nice to know a few more people has something on the same lines as me,and am not just doing it to give my husband a laugh, its just not great when i am in mid sentence when it happens, so if anyone out there, has been told exactlywhat it is ,and how to get rid of ,i am all ears.  doonan.

[Wobbly]

Hi there... I would not cancel that appt with the Neuro..go and see what they suggest and maybe you should have a MRI of your Head, Full Spine as well... keep in touch and let us know how things go.

take care
wobbly
dx

[doonan]

28/01/2010.  hi,quix,thanks for your comments,all these longs words,how do you remember them! iam useless at spelling, let alone coming out with words like you have. anyway at the moment , the zapps have once again stopped, a few days ago.this has happened before, but then came back with vengence! so will they resurfice again we will have to wait and see, so iam not sure whether to keep or cancel my hospital appointment in a couple of weeks so i will ask doc first. now me ,other than migraine, which ive had for afew years, i have been ok, no aches and pains, just wear and tear!never done anything like this before, as i am rubbish on the laptop, so this is a first! i would be interested to know,what you have, or  how you know about the zappings! as you can tell, i have no knowlege of any of this,so i will end this now,and keep you up to date ok.     bye  doonan              

[Quixotic1]

Hi, and Welcome to the forum.  I can't tell from your profile if you have MS or just these horrible zaps.

You're lucky, because we have been talking about electrical zapping, zinging, and popping recently.  You might enjoy this thread which is still on the front page:

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Multiple-Sclerosis/Lips-numb--electrical-shocks--buzzing/show/1150969

It is believed that this problem comes from the effect of lesions (abnormalities) on the spinal cord.  In our case the lesions are from MS, but the cause could be anything that damages the nerves in the spinal cord.  An MRI on a high power machine would be needed to look for the lesions, but even if the MRI was negative, the zapping you are having means there is a problem there anyway.

The treatment would be as for any of the symptoms of this kind, called "paroxysmal paresthesias."  It would be one of the meds used for nerve pain such as gabapentin, Lyrica, carbamazepine (used for the painful zaps in the face of Trigeminal Neuralgia) and several more.

Why don't you tell us about yourself.  Are you diagnosed?  Have you had other neurological symptoms?

You're in good company.  We have a bigt UK contingent.

Quix