Is menopause causing your electric shocks and brain zaps?

Has your menopause transition brought with it sudden strange and disconcerting physical sensations that feel like a jolt of electricity through your limbs, body or head?

These ‘electric shocks’, or ‘brain zaps’, may not be the most common menopause symptom but many women experience them, and as well as being weird and annoying, they can also at times be very painful.

Below, we’ll look at possible causes of electric shocks and brain zaps, treatments and lifestyle changes that could help to improve menopause symptoms like these, and when you should see a doctor.

What are menopause electric shocks and brain zaps?

As the name suggests, menopause electric shocks are sudden, short but intense sensations like a jolt of electricity under the skin. They may be accompanied by severe pain, which is sometimes described as feeling like nerve pain.

Women report menopause electric shocks in various places around their bodies, even including their vaginas, but especially in their legs or in their heads, where they’re often referred to as ‘brain zaps’.  

Electric shocks seem to be more common during perimenopause, the years leading up to menopause. For some women, they can come before or after a hot flush.

What causes menopause electric shocks?

It’s fair to say that electric shocks and brain zaps are not well researched menopause symptoms so there’s currently no definitive answer to what causes them. Nevertheless, there are good reasons to suspect that changing levels of reproductive hormones like oestrogen play a significant part.

Electric shocks seem to be particularly common during perimenopause, when levels of hormones like oestrogen can fluctuate wildly.

Oestrogen plays a key role in the functioning of your central nervous system, including how it communicates sensations around your body. It’s therefore possible that sudden drops or leaps in oestrogen during perimenopause could disrupt these signals, leading to unusual sensations.

There’s also good evidence that oestrogen is involved in modulating your experience of pain – and, in particular, that the size of the increase or decrease in oestrogen levels is a significant factor in how pain signals are transmitted.

Again, this could explain why the pain often associated with menopause electric shocks is more common during perimenopause when those jumps and dips in oestrogen are more extreme.

Other possible causes

Menopause is not the only possible cause of electric shock-like symptoms. There are several other health conditions and situations that may result in similar sensations and pain:

• Trigeminal neuralgia: These severe shooting pains in the face, jaw or teeth caused by pressure on the trigeminal nerve can be triggered by the lightest touch. They are often described as feeling like an electric shock and are more common in women than men.
• Lhermitte's sign: An electric shock sensation that travels down your spine when you bend your neck. Lhermitte’s sign is often a symptom of multiple sclerosis but can be caused by a number of other health conditions, including vitamin B12 deficiency.
• Neuropathic pain: Neuropathic pain is caused by disease or physical trauma in your somatosensory system – the network involved in perceiving touch, pressure, temperature and pain. How it feels can vary but it’s often described as a shooting pain.
• Stopping antidepressants: Certain antidepressants can be prescribed as a treatment for both neuropathic pain and certain menopause symptoms – but some patients experience brain zaps when they start to come off these drugs.
• Taking certain medications: Some medicines used to treat very specific health conditions – such as clozapine for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia – can cause severe electric shock sensations as a side effect.

It’s important that you do not stop taking a medicine you’ve been prescribed without consulting your doctor.

See the section below for when to talk to a doctor about electric shocks and brain zaps.

Treatments and lifestyle changes that may help

Just as research into the causes of menopause electric shocks is limited, so are specific studies looking at possible treatments. However, the following approaches could help, as well as supporting your overall health during this time.

Hormone replacement therapy

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) replenishes levels of reproductive hormones like oestrogen. It comes as a gel that you rub into your skin, or as patches or tablets.

While there’s very little research looking specifically at whether HRT can help with electric shocks or brain zaps, it’s an effective treatment for many of the most common menopause symptoms. Some women believe HRT has helped with their electric shocks – but also that it may become less effective over time.

Doctors often prescribe different forms or dosages of HRT if it stops being effective. Talk to your doctor about whether HRT might help with your symptoms.

A healthy diet

Eating a healthy, balanced diet will help to keep your nervous system functioning properly. Try to include as many different plants as possible, including fruits and vegetables, beans and pulses, nuts and seeds, to ensure you’re getting a wide range of nutrients and don’t have a deficiency.

Many plants contain compounds called phytoestrogens. Though much less powerful than oestrogen, these carry out some of the same functions and may improve some menopause symptoms.

Eating healthily is also about the foods you limit. Swap refined grains like white rice and bread for wholegrain options, and reduce ultra-processed foods like packaged snacks and sugary drinks.

Regular exercise

Getting regular exercise has been shown to reduce pain sensitivity as well as improve some menopause symptoms.

The NHS recommends working towards at least 150 minutes each week of moderate exercise like brisk walking, or 75 minutes of intense exercise such as running, spread across several days.

Resistance work like weight training or bodyweight exercises is also key for general health during menopause. Aim for at least two sessions a week.

When to see a doctor

If your electric shocks have coincided with your journey into perimenopause, they may be caused by the kind of hormonal shifts we’ve mentioned. But if they come with other symptoms they could be a sign of another health condition.

Either way, if they’re affecting your quality of life, it’s a good idea to seek medical advice. Talk to your doctor if:

• You have frequent or persistent facial pain not caused by dental issues
• Contact with your skin causes pain in your face or jaw
• You get an ‘electric shock’ down your spine when you move your neck
• HRT is no longer helping with your symptoms
• Your symptoms are not going away or are affecting your quality of life
• You’re in severe pain

Probiotics for menopause symptoms

You probably know that probiotics are friendly bacteria and that they could improve the general health of your gut microbiome. But did you know that the right combination of probiotics can support your estrobolome, the part of your microbiome responsible for processing oestrogen and recirculating it around your body?

Better Gut probiotics contain six specially chosen strains of bacteria that have been shown in studies to improve a range of menopause symptoms.

Together they can help to manage:

• hot flushes
• anxiety
• low mood
• poor sleep
• vaginal health
• low energy

Summary

Electric shocks and brain zaps are one of the less common menopause symptoms but still something many women experience, especially during perimenopause.

Although more research is needed to identify a definitive cause for these symptoms, fluctuating levels of oestrogen at this time may disrupt signals sent by your brain leading to unusual sensations and pain.

HRT can help with many menopause symptoms. Although there’s not much research into its effects on electric shock sensations, some women say it has helped them, at least initially.

Eating a healthy, balanced diet with a wide variety of plants, and doing regular exercise, including resistance training, are other good ways to support your health through menopause.

Electric shocks and brain zaps are also associated with a number of other health conditions. If your symptoms match any of these, if they’re not going away or if they’re affecting your day-to-day life, see a doctor.