Electric-shock like pain in knee

[Laura07]

Hello; for the past few months I have been experiencing a pain in my
knee, it is just to the outside of the patella. It is a very sharp pain, like an electrical shock. It happens totally at random. It can happen when I am walking, sitting, sleeping, etc. When the pain is not occurring, my knee feels
completely normal. When it happens, it usually happens every few
seconds or minutes, then stops for several hours. I am not aware of
any injury or unusual stress to that area. X-ray was normal and doctor's examination was clear. Any ideas?

[dw0000]

Thanks all, same symptoms, only one week. I'm male, 49, not the athletic type but only slightly overweight. This conversation (2007-2021!) was incredibly helpful, not because of any specific answer but because of the feeling of not being alone, giving me hope and encouraging me to research and try to understand what I might have changed in my behaviors.

I had recently decided to do something about my blood pressure so I started using a stationary bicycle about half an hour a day, and using a magnesium supplement.

Today I did not take the magnesium supplement and did some stretching specific to the upper thigh (grabbing an ankle and pulling up), after the workout.

Today had only a hint of pain, but essentially zero.

So my working theories: slight magnesium/potassium imbalance or maybe excess magnesium? Or perhaps something related to thigh muscle healing after the workout, pulling nerves?

[camo78]

Quick update:
I had an MRI last week on my pelvis to try and determine whether the Femoral Cutaneous Nerve was entrapped or compressed. The MRI showed that it was not. Everything was clear apart from a small cyst they found which the doc said was not related. The next course of action is a nerve conductivity test with a neurologist. I will be organising this soon and will update on  this once it happens.
In the meantime,  I have been able to successfully manage the electric shock pains with 1200mgs of Gabapentin taken as 400mg doses 3 times a day. I still get an occasional mild pain but for the most part the pains are gone. However if I wait too long between doses I can feel the shocks returning.

[specialmom]

Really glad you are having the follow up testing to get an answer.  I'm sure you don't want to be on Gabapentin forever!  But it's a lifesaver that it is helping and making you able to be comfortable and function.  How long has your issue been going on?

[camo78]

This has been going on for approximately 7-8 weeks now.

[camo78]

Update....
This pain is not muscular. It’s nerve pain. Stretching muscles does not help.
For me it occurs just above my left knee front and centre. I have had blood test, untralsound, X-ray and ct scan on my lower back/spine and hip. Nothing has been discovered from those scans.
I am still trying to find the cause. In the meantime I have been taking a medication for nerve pain called Lyrica. It has helped somewhat but not stopped it from happening. Has mainly just reduced symptoms.
I am going to try Gabapentin as mentioned above and keep looking for a cause. I haven’t had an MRI yet.
Will keep this thread updated because alit of people have disappeared from it and never returned to give updates. I’m presuming this pain subsides and goes away over time perhaps and that’s why people don’t report back?  
If this is the case for you let us know please.
Thanks

[larrye]

Well, my neurologist felt it was muscular. Even if it's neurological, it's feasible that stretching muscles could help if it repositions a muscle impinging on a nerve. It may not. Mine goes away for 2-3 weeks at a time and then returns. I have no update because I haven't really done anything to pursue it. Eventually I may.

[NorwegianPT]

Try to be more active. It has happened to me two times since i didnt do a proper work out for 10 days. Now after jogging 3 times  and stretching properly, 8 stretches for each leg, its gone. Yes the pain is nerve pain, but muscles may still have a huge impact in cause and prevention. I think we shouldnt split the two as our body is made up  of a cohesive structure. I have taken 0 medication, and have no pain.

[camo78]

I run 7 in morning days per week and lift weights 5 nights a week. It doesn’t occur when training generally, especially running. It occurs during times of rest.

[camo78]

*7 days per week*

[camo78]

Update. The nobody knows what was causing this problem,  mri, ultrasound and xrays showed nothing. I was taking Gabapentin to treat this for 6 months which helped alot with the shocks. They ended up easing off and disappearing. I have not taken any medication for around 5-6 months now and am pain free for now.

[HWeil]

I found the reason of the electrical shock like pain in my knee is because a reaction to a specific brand of probiotics dietary supplement that I was taking. It was from “megafood” brand; and when I stopped taking them, the pain has gone. Hope this would help some others here.

[camo78]

Hello all
I have been experiencing these random electric shock type pains just above my left knee towards the middle of my leg for the past three weeks. Might go a couple of days with no pain and then.... Bang! hits me like a ton of bricks then pulsates on and off for around 30 seconds until it subsides.
I went to docs and she looked at me perplexed and said give it some time and if it doesn't stop get an ultra sound.
What the hell is wrong with me?

[Dieseldude5972]

The doctors had the same reaction when I tried explaining the shocks in my knee.  X-rays and MRI's showed nothing. My shocks were caused from kneeling at work. The only way to make the shocks stop was to take a Gabapentin pill twice a day to start then ween off it to once a day. It was the miracle drug. After I retired and no longer had to kneel down on a concrete floor I stopped taking the pills and the shocks haven't returned. Hope this helps and you find relief soon.

[camo78]

I’ve been back to docs (different doc to the first one). He was just as perplexed as the first one. I asked him if he knew what it was and His words were “Wouldn’t have a ******* clue” lol. I spoke to him about this thread and mentioned Gabapentin. He said “you’ve done some good research” and wrote me out a script for an equivalent drug here in Australia called Lypralin. I have been taking it for 2 days now and I am very please with how it is working so far. I’ve still had a couple of milder shocks here and there but it’s only day 2. I got a full nights sleep last night which was extremely good as I have not been able to get through a full night in a couple of weeks without being woken up by the shocks. I am extremely happy that I found this thread and thank you Dieseldude for your post especially. You’ve been the most help out of all the replies I read.

[camo78]

F.Y.I I found that ice worked much better than heat to manage shocks. Heat made it worse.

[camo78]

Update....
This pain is not muscular. It’s nerve pain. Stretching muscles does not help.
For me it occurs just above my left knee front and centre. I have had blood test, untralsound, X-ray and ct scan on my lower back/spine and hip. Nothing has been discovered from those scans.
I am still trying to find the cause. In the meantime I have been taking a medication for nerve pain called Lyrica. It has helped somewhat but not stopped it from happening. Has mainly just reduced symptoms.
I am going to try Gabapentin as mentioned above and keep looking for a cause. I haven’t had an MRI yet.
Will keep this thread updated because alit of people have disappeared from it and never returned to give updates. I’m presuming this pain subsides and goes away over time perhaps and that’s why people don’t report back?  

[Dieseldude5972]

Hey Camo78!  I'm just seeing your post from June 29th.  Thanks for the kind words!  So glad the Lypralin is helping. I had the same results after two days of Gabapentin where the shocks diminished from a feeling of being electrocuted to small mild shocks. I could tell the pills were working. The MRI's showed nothing for me as did the x-rays. You're are absolutely right. The pain is not muscular but most definitely nerve pain.  I wish more people would check in and let us know what is working for them. Hopefully you can find a permanent solution.

[camo78]

Hey dieseldude, what dosage of Gabapentin were you on in milligrams each day? I’ve just switch to try out. Currently on 200mg per day. Second day but still getting shocks. I gave an MRI on my hip scheduled Monday week. Doc thinks it’s an entrapped nerve in hip. Will keep updated

[NorwegianPT]

Possible solution that worked for me. I've had these pains on and off for a couple of years. They seem to happen whenever I don't stretch my legs properly after a work-out / physical activity. Yesterday I had the pains for 24 hours - probably happened 10-15 seconds 150-200 times. Very painful... However I've had good experiences before by stretching my legs properly, so I decided to go for a jog - 10-15 minutes. Didn't get a single shock while jogging. I got home and started stretching every part of my leg (Right leg is the problem for me) Stretching hamstrings - quads, adductors and gastrocnemius, also sitting on the floor with a straight leg stretching outside and inside by pushing on the upper part of my foot both right and left. Also stretched my glutes, no shock happened. However when I was stretching my upper thigh (By putting my left leg on an elevated surface - and pushing my right hip forward) that's when the shocks triggered like crazy. So I kept pushing even though the shocks continued to happen. I kept at it until I didn't feel anything when doing that hip stretch. Got 1 shock after going to bed, and after that, nothing. I am completely fine. If you want to give this a go - walk / or jog if you can, to warm up your muscles - 15 minutes should be enough. Stretch every part of your leg. If a certain stretch triggers the shocks, like it did for me, I just pushed through it, and that's what fixed it for me. Good luck. Would love to hear back if this worked for you! We all know the pain involved in this, and we have to share our solutions asap to relieve the pain for the people who suffer from this!

[camo78]

This pain is not muscular. It’s nerve pain. Stretching muscles does not help.
For me it occurs just above my left knee front and centre. I have had blood test, untralsound, X-ray and ct scan on my lower back/spine and hip. Nothing has been discovered from those scans.
I am still trying to find the cause. In the meantime I have been taking a medication for nerve pain called Lyrica. It has helped somewhat but not stopped it from happening. Has mainly just reduced symptoms.