What might be causing electric feelings in my body?

Joining in if that is ok. I have the power surge in my body ~ electrical feeling in my hands, legs and feet. My left leg has numbing in it in one place and when I touch my legs and arms, it feels like I am pushing on nerves in my body..
Joints in my left hand are very painful and I have no feelings in my fingertips.
I have had every test known so I have been told, but nothing shows any reason for this feeling in my body. I have run out of doctors to call. I have a balance problem, which I am learning to live with my left leg when I walk does not always move when I need it to which causes me to fall at times.. I have fallen several times and hit my head on cement which caused me to blackout but when I see the doctor they say everything is OK. The electrical feeling never goes away, no matter if I’m standing or sitting.. kind of at my wits end

Hello I am desperately searching for my help to my problems. A lot sounds familiar to me what you are discussing. Is it possible you could tell me what doctor and where you went to get help. Did your symptoms progress over time? Any help I would be so grateful!

@tfirzlaff I was having symptoms related to cervical spinal cord compression causing weakness in my arms, and pain all over my body.

The first step if you think that you also have a spine problem would be to discuss this with your primary care physician. They will likely order imaging such as MRI, and that would show if there are spine structural issues. You would need imaging like that and/or spine x-rays or CT scans if you wanted to request an appointment at Mayo which is where I had my surgery. My issues were a bit tricky and the real diagnosis was missed by all the surgeons I saw before I came to Mayo and had surgery with Dr. Jeremy Fogelson.

I tracked my symptoms on body diagrams and they did progress over time and got worse as the bone spurs causing the issues were expanding. I also kept track of what movements or body positions caused the symptoms.

If you wish to be seen at Mayo, you would need to have health insurance they accept which you can check at https://www.mayoclinic.org/patient-visitor-guide/billing-insurance and it's a good idea to call to verify.

What symptoms are you having that concern you?

Jennifer

I’m having electrical feelings in my body, it’s very uncomfortable, it started in waist down for well over a year, I notice it mostly after trying to rest either in bed or chair, my sleep is totally interrupted most of the time, now it has started going up into my shoulders and arms, I’m taking meds to block nerve pain plus I have a spinal stimulator, it does nothing for this! I see a pain specialist, but they aren’t getting a solution for this! Help!

Hello @missmom57, Welcome to Connect. Sorry to hear the meds to block nerve pain and the spinal stimulator have not provided any relief for your pain. You mentioned you see a pain specialist. Do they think your symptoms are caused by spinal nerve compression?

I don’t remember them saying that, she isn’t sure what is going on, I do have bone spurs on my spine, slipped and bulging disc, spinal stenosis, I was in a lot of pain walking and couldn’t make it even to the street, finally I asked about the stimulator I’d read about, it has helped the pain, and changed my life in that way, but not the electrical feeling at all, no one seems to understand this, I’m thinking of asking for a referral to a neurologist, since it must be nerves, and now with it traveling up it has me worried! Thanks for asking.

Do you spend time near a “smart meter” (one that measures your monthly electricity usage and is remotely read by computer from the utility company’s home office)? My smart meter was mounted on the outside of the exterior brick wall of my house where the headboard of my bed was located just on the other side of the same wall (4 inches from my head). It was the way for years. Eventually, I would have random internal full body electrical zaps when I laid on my bed. It was very strange. It was then, I paid the utility company to replace the smart meter with an old fashion utility meter that requires a technician to come to my home to read it manually in person, for $20. extra per month! The zaps went away! The public isn’t being told the truth! I wonder what 24/7 home/office WiFi and cell phone radiation is doing to us?

There are all kinds of medical issues that can cause these sensations.

I noted a second person mentioning EMF sensitivity, which I had brought up earlier.

You can buy a meter to test EMF in your home. Replacing smart meters as noted above is important. You can simply turning your wifi off at night, to start. Buy a keyboard and mouse that are wired rather than wireless. Don't sleep near a refrigerator.

I bought a router that is low emission but some people put a Faraday cage around it. Smart meters can also be covered with a guard but replacement with old-fashioned meter is better. Some people wire their computer so there is no wifi.

I had issues similar to yours due to Lyme Disease. Testing is pretty unreliable. I have spinal cord damage in my neck and spinal fractures and those can also cause problems like yours. B12 deficiency is something else to check.

I am another lay person and these are based on my own experiences.

So you have to try to tackle each symptom and each possible diagnoses separately, one at a time.

I would suggest seeing a neurologist to do an EMG and Nerve conductivity testing then possibly skin/nerve biopsies.
I have had these symptoms for years and all of the Drs, like yours, blamed it on spinal conditions which did exist however it ended up being a combination of those things PLUS Small Fiber Neuropathy (SFN). It took finding the cause of the SFN and managing that illness to manage the associated nerve pain.
I am sorry you are experiencing not only the pain but the frustration of going to all extent to treat and follow your physicians recommendations on how to treat it only to realize it didn't work. Please don't give up. Find a good neuro group/Dr and persist. An emg is the beginning of the journey to see what nerves are damaged and the source or the damage (spinal vs peripheral, small vs large, motor vs sensory).
Good Luck!

Well, the US ADA includes "Electrical Sensitivity" (electromagnetic) for accommodation. Like chemical sensitivity or allergy, it is a real impairment. Information can be found at Environmental Health Trust science page.

Dr. Erica Mallery-Blythe founded the Physicians' Health Initiative for Radiation and the Environment (PHIRE) to teach the medical community to identify symptoms and advocate on behalf of patients.