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Mystery electric jolts? Help me figure this out.

Posted , 5 users are following.

slay2k
slay2k

I'm a 36y/o otherwise healthy male living in the tropics of Puerto Rico.

Current symptoms: muscle fasciculations up and down my body, although none above my neck that I can tell. Mild, sometimes disappear for a few hours but mostly ongoing.

In my abdomen and lower abdomen area, it (or something else) feels like someone tapping me with a finger. Several times a day -- and this is the worst by far -- one of these taps will turn into an electric zap / jolt that startles me and has me jump up with a wince, increasing heart rate, etc. This makes it difficult to relax throughout the day.

I can feel the twitches / bumps more when laying down, so I'm a bit scared of going to bed at night because they either become more noticeable or just get worse.

I have a 2-month history of dealing with this. It started off pretty bad with huge electric jolts every few minutes that decreased in frequency over time and went away almost completely after a few weeks (I've also made huge diet changes that now exclude dairy / gluten / processed foods / etc).

For about 2 weeks the fasciculations also went away, but now they're back along with a miniature version of the jolts. Rather than posting my entire wall-of-text history of dealing with this, I just wanted to know if ANYONE out there experienced something similar?

Suffice it to say I have been to several ERs (bloodwork and abdomen CT is fine, take some Valium and see a neuro), neurologists (your neuro exam is normal), GIs (no parasites in stool, but you have scar tissue from 35 years ago in your lower abdomen, let's do all kinds of crazy colonoscopies and tests which I passed on), etc and everyone has their own opinion but nobody has diagnosed it. My stomach / digestion / everything is completely fine. The valium really helped once or twice when I needed it, but makes me super sleepy and I want to fix the underlying problem instead. 

I can't be the only one to experience these symptoms...

0 likes, 14 replies

14 Replies

  • Tarhealing
    Tarhealing slay2k

    Posted

    Do you know what caused it? Did you have a stomach bug, vaccine, or an infection before it happened?

     

    • slay2k
      slay2k Tarhealing

      Posted

      No stomach bug or vaccine. No symptoms of an infection although when they did the bloodwork the next day they found my WBC was elevated at 11. My WBC is now normal at 5 and I'm still experiencing the lesser version of original symptoms.

  • ellenh
    ellenh slay2k

    Posted

    Hi, there, I have been experiencing most of your symptoms and is undergoing series of exam, x rays of neck (I have oesteo arthritis for so many yearson neck), MRI of my spine, blood tests.  But no diagnose yet.  So sorry about your experience.  I am looking at the end of Aug I have some answer. 

    Ellen

    • slay2k
      slay2k ellenh

      Posted

      Hi Ellen,

      Could you describe in detail your symptoms and your history with them? This is the first time I've heard someone else having something similar and would love to see if there is a common thread somewhere.

      Please let me know when you receive your spine MRI results as those could be important as well.

      Thank you!

  • kay19908
    kay19908 slay2k

    Posted

    I'm so sorry.  I have RLS, ADHD, and Spinal Stenosis.  At one time I was having your "banging" (I called it as it was LOUD), in my head that would awaken me.  I don't expect to be still for any length of time with these conditions, but I have found that there are prescription drugs that help trememdously when I can do nothing else to relieve the pain and discomfort.  Never found out about the banging, but had cervical spine surgery this past December, and that seems to have corrected that problem.  Therefore, long story short, have your spine checked from top to bottom.  And Exercise!  Water aerobics are invaluable.  Also, get a pain management doctor who will watch your meds and make absolutely sure that you are not having any reactions, etc.  I wish you good sleep, Slay, that is such a blessing when your body stays busy all night and much of the day.

    • slay2k
      slay2k kay19908

      Posted

      Thanks kay, I've had a normal cervical MRI and a thoracic one that showed a tiny T7-T8 protrusion along with a T2 hemangioma. It does not look like those can cause my symptoms.

  • slay2k
    slay2k

    Posted

    Just as an update, I had a Brain MRI done yesterday which was completely normal.
  • ellenh
    ellenh slay2k

    Posted

    It is good to hear that your MRI went well.  My Spine MRI went well too. So, now I am going to have to go to ALS clinic, luckily we have one in my State of KY and is located  where I live. My late husband used to come here, actually he only came 2 times, he passed away after 6 months. I lost him to ALS.

    I am going because they can rule out so many diseases, I will save time and effort going back to a Neurologist. (Unless my Primary doctor says so). I hope they find out what is wrong with you. It is frustrating not to know.

    Prayers.

    Ellen

    • slay2k
      slay2k ellenh

      Posted

      Hi Ellen, glad to hear about your spine MRI and sorry to hear about your late husband. I'm not going to worry myself about ALS or other MNDs because it seems unnecessary when I'm exhibiting no symptoms of weakness or anything else, really.

      Please post an update when you find out more!

  • Tarhealing
    Tarhealing slay2k

    Posted

    I had a mild case of GBS that caused lots of muscle fasiculations among other things.
    • slay2k
      slay2k Tarhealing

      Posted

      Do you mean Guillain-Barre Syndrom? If so, what other symptoms did you have, how long, and what treatment? I live in a high-Zika area (PR), and Zika has been known to cause GBS as a rare symptom. Then again, I haven't displayed any of Zika's regular symptoms.

    • Tarhealing
      Tarhealing slay2k

      Posted

      I had a milder case of Guillain Barre Syndrome. I had ascending numbness/weakness which resulted in nerve damage. I had lots of the "jolts" that you were talking about along with fasiculations. Eventually, I had burning nerve pain and was so weak I could barely walk. My heart rate was so off and I had trouble with internal twitching-autonomic issues. It was always worse at night. I don't think I slept for several months. There was so much activity going on in my body and eventually pain. Good news is that I had nerve regeneration and have gotten so much better with time. I have met other people who had worse cases and milder cases. Some are ascending and some are not. The weaker cases are tougher to diagnose.

    • slay2k
      slay2k Tarhealing

      Posted

      Oh interesting. What did those jolts feel like and which parts of the body did you feel them in?

      Glad you're better, btw.

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