Electric Shocks
Reader Comments

We at 34-menopause-symptoms.com believe in an ongoing dialogue with our readers and value their feedback.

To leave a comment, concern, tip, or experience about electric shocks, please leave your comment below.

Electric Shocks

Many women experience electric shock sensations during menopause. These electric shocks can affect the head and the inner layers of the skin. This menopause symptom may occur on its own or it may precede a hot flash, a sudden and intense feeling of heat in the body.

While researchers are trying to better understand this menopause symptom, some evidence suggests that sensations of electrical shocks are the result of hormone fluctuations during menopause, as estrogen directly affects the nervous and cardiovascular systems. Read on to discover the definition, symptoms, causes, and treatment options for electric shocks during menopause.

About Electric Shocks

Sensations of electric shocks during menopause are often described in the manner shown at the right.

These sensations are often brief. Many women report that electric shocks occur just before a hot flash episode. In order to better understand this strange symptom of menopause, it may help to understand the function of electrical impulses in the body and the effect of menopause-related hormonal changes on the nervous system.

Electricity and the body

In the late 1700s, Italian anatomist Luigi Galvani discovered scientific evidence of a bioelectric force within living tissue. Since this breakthrough discovery, several scientists have proposed theories about electricity in the human body. In modern day, it is known that electrical impulses in the central and peripheral nervous systems are sent from one nerve to another with the help of electrically-charged salts passing through ion channels.

Because the body uses electrical impulses as a signalling mechanism, physiological disturbances that occur during menopause can result in abnormal electrical sensations. Read on to learn more about the causes of electric shocks during menopause.

All About Electric Shock Feeling in the Back

It is estimated that 80% of middle-aged women suffer from back pain throughout their life. In some of them, these problems are accompanied by electric-like shocks in several parts of their back. Numerous known causes include disc compression, vitamin deficiency, or hormonal imbalance, most of which can be successfully managed.

Electric Shock Feeling during Sleep: What's Happening?

Although less common than hot flashes,electric shock sensations affect many menopausal women.They happen not only during the day,but also strike women during sleep.Electric-like jolts might occur for a number of reasons from hormonal fluctuations and anxiety to sleeping positions.Though usually harmless,sometimes they require a medical attention.

Causes of Electric Shocks

During menopause, hormonal fluctuations have a direct effect on the nervous system. Changing levels of estrogen – one of the main reproductive hormones whose levels can become unbalanced during menopause – can affect the nerve tissue, potentially causing women to feel sensations of electric shocks. Some researchers postulate that misfiring of the neurons in the nervous system may be responsible for feeling electrical shocks during menopause.

Hormone imbalance during menopause can also disturb the hypothalamus in the brain, producing vasomotor symptoms such as hot flashes. Electric shocks in menopause are often experienced as a precursor to hot flash episodes.

Electric Shock Feeling in Leg: Causes and Solutions

They might be a rare symptom for some women, but electric shocks in the legs can become a real everyday obstacle.They are experienced in the lower extremities, but in many cases, they originate in the lower back as a result of numerous conditions, such as disc herniation or diabetes.

Electric Shock Feeling in Head and Body

Electric shock syndrome is one of the least understood menopause symptoms. Whilst more research is still needed on the topic it is known that a woman's fluctuating hormones are most commonly to blame for the 'snapping sensation'. For advice on how to manage the sensation check out our article.

Electric Shocks Treatments

As with all symptoms of menopause, three routes of treatment are available, ranging from lifestyle changes to prescription medicine. Women generally begin with the least aggressive approach to treatment, moving to other approaches only if relief is not achieved through these methods. Lifestyle changes are often the first step in managing menopause symptoms, including electric shocks.

Natural Nervous System

Support Vitamin B complex
Vitamin E
Calcium
Potassium
Herbal supplements

While lifestyle changes can produce positive change for women experiencing menopause symptoms, these approaches do not treat the underlying hormonal causes. Fortunately, alternative therapies can directly address the problem of hormonal imbalance safely and effectively, helping to successfully treat electrical shocks during menopause. Many women find a combination of lifestyle changes and alternative medicines are the best way to manage menopause symptoms.

Click on the following link to learn specific treatments for electric shocks, which begin with lifestyle changes, move onto alternative medicines, and finally, if those options do not seem to help, medications. The most effective treatments typically combine lifestyle changes and alternative medicines.

5 Tips to Prevent Menopausal Electric Shocks on Arms

Electric shocks are an uncommon and often frightening sign effect of menopause that often strike right before a hot flash. Click here to learn more about risk factors for electric shock, why electric shock happens to menopausal women, and how electric shock can be treated.

5 Ways to Cope with Episodes of Electric Shocks

Electric shocks are a surprising and uncomfortable symptom of menopause that many women may feel concerned about. They are; however, a relatively common and normal part of this time. Women should try to remind themselves that electric shocks are normal, and there are a number of lifestyle habits that help alleviate them.

Sources:

Goodwin, J. (2012). What Causes Hot Flashes, Anyway? Retrieved April 27, 2016, from http://consumer.healthday.com/women-s-health-information-34/estrogen-news-238/what-causes-hot-flashes-anyway-663671.html
Office on Women's Health. (2012). Menopause and menopause treatments fact sheet. Retrieved April 27, 2016, from http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/menopause-treatment.html

General articles

Updated on Nov 13, 2017
Brain Zaps: Important Things to Know
Brain zaps can be very disturbing and frightening,especially when experienced for the first time.They are mostly seen in women withdrawing from antidepressants and those with anxiety or multiple sclerosis.Fortunately,they are usually not dangerous and can be treated with supplements,like omega-3- fatty acids, and stress-reducing practices.

Updated on Aug 20, 2013
How to Recognize the Electric Shock Sensation
Electric shocks are an uncommon and often frightening side effect of menopause that often strikes right before a hot flash. Click here to learn more about risk factors for electric shock, why electric shock happens to menopausal women, and how this sensation can be treated.

Read all Electric Shocks Articles