Excruciating Electric-Shock Pain in Back of Knee

[smont48]

For the past two years my wife (Age 47, 5'3", 140lbs) has had painfull attacks in the back of her knee that she describes as feeling like electric shocks.  Many times these are so painfull that they bring her right down to the floor where she screams and/or cries out in agony.  There is no pattern of when this happens. They are very random and can occur when she's sitting, walking, running or laying in bed.  They also can occur once in a day or week, or several times in  the same day.  She has had ultrasounds, xrays, mri's, vein tests, nerve tests, etc., and no doctor yet has diagnosed her problem.  It scares the heck out of me sometimes because it comes on so quick that there is a violent jerk reaction followed by cries of pain and agony.  The location of these painfull electric shocks is in the back of the knee about an inch or two below where the knee bends.  We've already checked on it being a Bakers Cyst causing the problem so I don't think it's that.  Because of the electrical-shock like nature of the pain, I'm guessing it has something to do with a nerve or vein being squeezed or pinched.  But how does that exlplain painfull attackes when she's laying completely flat or in a recliner and not moving a muscle?  I should add the she is a nail technician and sits for periods of time with her legs crossed.  But she has had a vein test and everything came out normal.  She does take B12 shots because at time she is deficient in Vitamin B12.  But that doesnt' seem to help.  She did have injections of botox which helped somewhat but not a whole heck of a lot.  We are at a loss for what is wrong. The Dr's. are at a loss. We've been to 5 or 6 specialists and my wife is at wits end.  Any suggestions?

[tmonte]

My Husband posted the above comment and I am at my wits end,I evan had a Hysterectomy with the thinking it could be slightly related,I had knee surgery where they scoped out the knee.had an attack while recouperating...this is the scariest thing because you do not know when it will hit or how bad it will be.I am trying to get into Yale but now need a referral from the  ortho surgeon who last treated me, has anyone ever had help with this or have had a definite diagnoses?

[tmonte]

Ricky I had the pain for 2 years before the knee surgery,I do have a herniation in my l4 l5 with no fat around the discs but I never have pain in the buttocks or back when the attacks happen....the attacks come out of no where,the ortho who preformed the knee surgery was trying to help me he wants me at a bigger hospitol where they might have dealt with this before......My husband has found about 50 posts just like mine but I do not see that anyone has come back with an answer but all of the post describe the exact same symptoms as mine????

[clara1234]

I have exactly the same problem as you describe . have you had any answers?Thanks Clara

[VirginiaW]

Finally I know I am not alone. I am a 60 yr. old female, 5'2" and 156 pounds. My attacks started in early November. I've had two major attacks since then, with a few small twinges that didn't turn into full blown. I had one major attack last night. There is no pattern to what causes them or what "heals" them. Last night's was probably about 20 seconds, but the pain is so intense that I do cry out and worry that it will never stop. This is controlling my life, causing me to be afraid to do anything or go anywhere unless my husband is with me, although he can do nothing to help. I had a very thorough neurological test about three weeks ago which included the electric shock nerve tests and needle tests. I also had an ultrasound on the same day. Nothing showed anything wrong. Both legs were tested with the neurological tests.  They were both just fine. Two days later I had a small attack and last night the major attack. I know this doesn't help you any, except to let you know you are not alone. What your husband posted about you describes me perfectly. I have not had an MRI.

[tmonte]

I am sorry you are also going thru this strange thing I wish I had answers for you also..I do know that right now I am in a lessened stage of this ,I have looked into it it and I beleive it is a neroma on the nerve but cannot get help with it,I am planning to see a nerosurgeon if this continues....one suggestion that sounds weird but might be is it could be a strep that has a life cycle and when it is in the multyplying stage or dying out stage it could bring on the attacks.....IDK...I have printed these letters out and have given them to my GP who is also at a loss...its very scary but know the attack does have an end and breathe thru them...I don't end up very often on the floor anymore.I shift around till it subsides I have learned to live with it

[VirginiaW]

Thank you for your encouragement. Have you ever had an attack in a public place where it caused you to "make a scene"? I am now afraid to go to plays, sing in church choir, etc. where I would be disrupting something if I had an attack. I canceled a long trip just this week because of the fear of having an attack while riding in the car with my sister, and because of the fear of having an attack while  making arrangements to fly home alone as standby. What if it happened on an airplane, or while waiting to board? I am so discouraged.

Also, I'm wondering if you take Lipitor.  I do, but I've been taking it for about four years. I was reading the possible side effects this morning and one of them is tendon problems.

Could you write to me at ***@****? I would like to discuss this in further detail.

[VirginiaW]

Well, I see that my email address was not printed.

[tmonte]

Virginia I am not on lipitor,were you ever diagnosed with a bakers cyst...sometimes I think it is that...I do get a feeling before the actual attack happens..listen to your body..it lets you know .....they are frightening I know but it is almost like I built up a tolerence to the pain after 2 1/2 years of this...do you sit alot? cross your legs alot,did you ever have RLS, which I do have...also certain vitamins  or deficiancy of vitamins  could also cause nerve pain...one thing that did help me was botox in my calf muscle...it stopped the cramp I would get after the attacks..my doctor also did a cortizone injection into the back of the knee..he was a nerologist a very nice one..where r u located...I hope some of this helps

[VirginiaW]

No, I don't have a Baker's cyst. I was checked for that. Your symptoms and after-effects are somewhat different from mine after all. I have no advance warning whatsoever, which is why it is so scary. I have no after-effects except fear.
I consider myself moderately active.
I have not had RLS.
I live in Illinois.
I am now referred to a well-respected orthopedic surgeon and maybe he will order an MRI.
Thanks for trying to help me.

[tmonte]

Dear Virginia ,it seems that I have spoke too soon regarding my condition,this has to of been the most excruciating week of my life,I ended up in the er on Monday and themn again at Yale on wenesday,the attacks were non-stop, but the joke is Yale thought I was looking for drugs when all I was looking for were answers, I finally got in with a Yale nerologist and the appointment is June 17th,which is a joke because I may be in my little remission by then.One thing that is seeming to help this time is stretching,really stretching,hurdle stretches andyoga stretches,yesterday it started at work,I own a nail salon and sit for periods of time and it didn't bother me all day because I stretched in the morning,but then I had gotten to unbelieveable zaps in the back of my knee ,brought me to tears.but I stretched really stretched it out and it stopped,they woke me up again this morning but I am able to rotate my legs hips back whatever to make it subside. I was thinking of you all week when I was experiencing this.I hope maybe some of this helps you also...T

[VirginiaW]

I am so sorry you have had a bad week. My week has been well . . . no attacks since the Monday night after Easter.
I, too, have purchased a Yoga video and I do it a little when I am home alone. I can't do the floor exercises though because I get dizzy lying flat like that . . . and on the floor the dizziness is worse.
I found some videos online that show certain other stretching exercises for knee pain which I think is like ours.
I make a point to simply stretch whenever I think about it.
If you haven't seen this, please watch some of these videos about the piriformis muscle and pain.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7U1nRpxZuM

[tmonte]

also Looked into saphenous nerve impingement and alot of the symptoms were the same I posted it in the other forums Google "nerve entrapment of the lower extremities and this really good one came up with all the different nerves theyre clinical finding symptoms ect....hope this helps.....had to take a pill last night the pain was so bad and then today......almost nothing I went to church kneeled went grocery shopping cleaned the house...but who knows what will be tommorrow?????

[EAB1115]

Please keep us posted. My wife has been experiencing the exact same symptoms you described earlier. These random attacks are described as electric shocks and last about 10 seconds, except hers are behind her calf muscle. She has one or two per day. These attacks started after she gave birth to our daughter so we suspect it has something to do the childbirth trauma?  I'm starting to think it's possibly Piriformis Syndrome, but not sure. MRI of her back and nerve tests have all come back negative. It's very frustrating. We're going to seek out a Neurologists next.

[tmonte]

So Sorry she is experiencing this too.mine started more behind the knee and into the calve but now they are just more concentrated to the back of the knee,but who knows what the next attacks will  be like ,please keep us informed, it is the stangest thing, sometimes i think it is the bakers cyst draining onto the nerves but I don't know.It is very frustrating

[VirginiaW]

I was 15 days without an attack. I had one jolt in a swimming pool this morning.
My MRI had showed nothing but common age-related ailments around my knee . . . nothing that would cause electric-shock like pain. I do have a small Baker's cyst but was told that they are no longer removed because they come back.
Yesterday all day I had lower back (below the waist) pain and feeling of swelling around my knee. I'm realizing that the lower back pain is often a precursor to knee attacks.

[Juliaspoolia]

I had this exact pain last year.  It started when I was pregnant and funnily enough (it's not funny I know) after I did some Yoga.  I recall how desperate I was, I am quite a dramatic person anyway but I can honestly say that I did not think I was going to make it through the pregnancy because of this pain.  I did however, it's now ten months later. You know that twinge thing that you get in your eye when you are tired, well I've had a bit of that in the same place, ie back of the knee but I had the electric shocks in my hands  a few months ago.  It is so frightening and not helped by the unpredictability.  When it happened in my hands I managed to get a pen and draw a line exactly where the pain was, it was almost as though I could see what I was feeling because it was so specific.  I couldn't get a GP appointment for ages and the pen washed off but since I have had nerve testing and an MRI scan - all fine as is the case with everyone else it seem.  Good news in one respect but it still leave us sufferers stranded and isolated.  When I was pregnant I printed off previous posts and took them to my consultant and to my GP, they didn't even want to read them.  I tried explaining ".......look, these people have exactly the same thing and nobody knows of the cause" thinking that they would begin research and find a cure.  Instead, they sent me to the fracture clinic to check out a potential Bakers Cyst - I could have told them it wasnt that and I dont even know what one is.......the name just did not do the pain justice.  It should be called 'torturers weapon of choice disease' .  

Anyway, I hope my rantings bring some comfort or at least musing to other people who are suffering.  I remember what a relief it was to find others who knew how I felt.

If any sufferers are ever diagnosed correctly don't forget us who are still flailing around on the floor in agony, gasping for breath and screaming so much the neighbours begin to avoid us.........post your cure.

Thank you and good luck

Julia

[VirginiaW]

Thank you for sharing your experience with us. I am still undiagnosed.

[VirginiaW]

Life continues. It continues to be controlled by this horrid back of knee pain. I had an MRi and all it showed was some wear and tear which was not major. It also showed a very small Baker's Cyst and another type of cyst which all those medical people involved say would not produce the shock-type of pain.
So, back to my primary doctor. Now he is going to refer me to Southern Illinois Univ. (school of medicine I think),in Springfield to another neurologist and to see if I can get a Botox injection in my knee. He says it might help for six months.
The primary says he thinks I might have neuralgia even though that is not known to affect anyone as far down as the knees.
By the way, my attacks have been every few minutes for the last three nights and days. They are usually split-second attacks, but the pain level is still a ten and they come every few minutes, as I said. I've been crying a lot from the emotional pain.
In the meantime, the primary gave me a prescription for a strong narcotic pain medicine . . . not that it will prevent the attacks, but that they might not feel as sharp. We'll see.

[vamsudha]

Hi,

Same problem here... it started 2 months back and in the beginning i simply neglected it and now i get it more frequently than before especially today got these shocks couple of times which made me sit and explore in online...i m afraid i did not see a POTENTIAL reason for this problem or any educative reply to this except that people like me are writing here for a solution. Astonishingly this particular problem is so common that .. knee looks like quite normal... no swelling...no known accident to the leg and no extra effort on the leg as well but i am getting this sudden shock which makes me tumble for a fraction of second and when it comes...pain is like hell for a fraction of second...Time to consult a orthopedic i guess...High Time...prevention is better than cure !

[Mick4770]

First of all, I'm very relieved to hear I'm not the only one who has this, I'm a 46 year old male, this has been going on for about a year.  It's my left knee only how about all yours?  I took a hard fall to my left hip just before these pains started, I don't know if it is related though.  I have a very high threshold for pain and the one I had today felt like a 220 volt shock to the back of my knee.  I'm a contractor so I know what a 220 shock feels like.  I'd also like to add that it shuts your whole body down for that millisecond of number 10 pain.  Has anybody had this previous to 2 1/2 years ago?  I don't take any medication, but I do have lower back pain on the opposite side.  I thought I was having heart attacks so I had my wife look this up online.  

[NikkiJaneCT]

Hi Mick,
I read your comment Re: the electric shock sensations behind your left knee. I am struggling with the same problem (sporadically and intermittently) also on the left hand side and also had a fall while hiking shortly before the attacks first started. It wasn't a major fall, but I landed square on my tailbone and am wondering if it could be related... Have you had any developments on your side? Please tell me that they've stopped?!!!
Best,
Nikki

[NikkiJaneCT]

Hi Mick,
I read your comment Re: the electric shock sensations behind your left knee. I am struggling with the same problem (sporadically and intermittently) also on the left hand side and also had a fall while hiking shortly before the attacks first started. It wasn't a major fall, but I landed square on my tailbone and am wondering if it could be related... Have you had any developments on your side? Please tell me that they've stopped?!!!
Best,
Nikki

[VirginiaW]

I had thought I was "cured" until this morning when I had a small knee jolt again.
I've now had MRI of my knee and entire back with nothing major found.
I got a cortisone shot July 21 which seemed to make pain worse for a day and a half, then I was completely healed for two weeks. I'd been having all-day attacks (every few minutes) which drove me to the shot. BUT, two weeks later, the front of knee started knocking with every step. At first it didn't hurt but after half a day there was one huge knock with excruciating pain. The pain lingered a few minutes. I could put no weight on the knee after that.
Went to another orthopedic doctor who said my knee cap was slightly too far to the right and so out of its groove. I used Advil, Bengay, ice, rest and got a knee brace for compression.
I'm now scheduled to start physical therapy tomorrow to strengthen one muscle.
I still don't think the answer to the electric jolts has been found.

[tmonte]

I started this post, I have dealt with this pain on and off for almost three years now...the thing that helps me the most are Vitamin B12 shots,I found out I was deficiant with pernicious anemia,you want to be tested make sure your numbers are well above 500,also stretching I do every leg stretch known to man ,i have actually stopped an attack by stretching,not sure if I moved the nerve out of the way or moved my back,l4 l5 discs are herniated....it is very interesting that one of you said they fell.I too took a really bad fall and injured the opposite hip there was a hairline fracture before all the shocks happened......it is the craziest thing this pain...they dont scare me as much as they used too.....its funny how you get used to things....also one more suggestion when I stretch I feel very tight in the affected legs glute area....someone once said piniformis syndrome...which some of the symptoms were the same...again hope this helps some of you...also drink tons of water as dehydration can cause nerve problems......

[kayelle2u]

About 6 or 7 years ago I had this problem which describes EXACTLY as the original post of this thread... the pains were very random and sudden, debilitating... I don't remember how long it lasted, randomly throughout a year or two, then suddenly was gone. Not something I would ever forget.

Here it is 6 years later and then suddenly came that familiar pain! I was like "OH NO - NOT AGAIN" Yep here I am again in full force with this painful situation. I looked up a nerve chart and found the Lateral Sural nerve exactly in the vicinity of my pain. My pain is in my left leg behind the knee only. I can feel the thumping of the nerve with my fingers as each electrical shock strikes, very rapidly. Sometimes it's just one or two shocks, many times its 10 or 20, then will cease for a couple seconds then strike again another 10 or so shocks... maybe repeat a couple more times... Walk, sit, stand, sleep, it is not picky, it can strike at any time.

Years ago I was diagnosed with Spondylolothesis  which means my tail bone was separated from my spine by a fall... in which I do get pinched nerves and numbness in my left thigh and I have sciatica spells and some RLS which has been recent.

Somewhere I think we are having an inflamed or pinched nerves. Since both of my bouts with this problem has been since my fall and the Spondy... I don't know... I would think a pinched nerve in my tailbone would cause a shock down the whole leg, not just localized in one little 3 inch spot behind my knee.  

[kayelle2u]

Hi... I feel your pain... I know exactly what you are experiencing! When I first read your husband's start to this forum, I thought my husband wrote it... I am also 5'3", average the same weight and just a couple years older.  I know it is a huge coincidence that I am also a nail tech because I have not practiced in 4 years although I do maintain my license.
Am sure you read my post before this one. My first year+ episode was when I was a practicing nail tech. I doubt it's a coincidence because I went into a relapse before finishing my practice. However, I do cross my legs a LOT! I remember the nuns at Catholic school would swat hands with a ruler to make you uncross legs... I am a chronic crosser lol.
Anyway... it is a huge coincidence that the other day, I was digging through all my old nail inventory (looking for the french white polish to touch of a counter top), smelling all those familiar smells.... kinda nostalgic... then a couple days later... my second bout begins... too much of a coincidence for sure as I am sure all of these other sufferer's are not associated with nail shops. But I was breathing in the smells of the monomer etc...
We know it's real. Next time you go to a doctor, mention that Sural nerve. Better yet, find a leg nerve chart and spot the nerve and see if that is where your pain is. If you agree, then surely that has to be our problem.
I hope you find relief... since my new bout has just re-erupted, I am hoping it will go back into remission as it did before, even if I have to wait a year or two to find out.
Bless your heart.