My first time on this site....just registered. What you describe is almost exactly what happened to me. The only difference is that I did not get the numbness first. Just a nuclear attack in the middle of the night. I'd just had right shoulder rotator cuff surgery Jan 30, 2018, and was sleeping in a bed propped up on my back, when in the middle of the night I had the super hot burning poker go off in my left thigh. Went away after 30-40 seconds, but left me a bit shaken. Happened every night after that for a week. When I went to my follow up appt with the surgeon, he gave me an antiinflamatory, Mobic, and said that should help. Two nights later I had what I call the "Hiroshima" of attacks...instead of 30-40 seconds or a minute, it went off for a full hour. I now what a torture victim feels like, as I have never had that much sustained pain at that high of intensity in my life. Can't even describe it completely. To move things along, I tried acupunchture, chiropractor, spine doc, my GP, etc....nothing helped. Got a steroid injection in my spine in the L 5 or L 4 area, did zero to help, but then my buddy googling my symptoms, told me I have MP. 6 doctors and not one of them diagnoised me correctly! After I knew I had MP I went to the spine dr and told him I needed a nerve block in my groin not my back, and he ordered one. At first I didn't think it worked, but about 10 days later I felt gradual improvement, and it has improved to the point that I can sleep in a bed again (I was sleeping in a chair out of fear). I almost went on disability at work, I had to cancel 3 important business trips in a row. I am currently taking 600mg of gabapentin in the morning and 900mg at night. "Sparky" as I refer to the nerve in my left thigh still sparks most days, but it's been at least 6 weeks since he's nuked me at night. During the day when he sparks, the pain is a 2 to a 5 or maybe 6 at worst, but when he's go off at night it was a full blown 10. I also get the numbness, itching, stinging, stabbing, etc......I am just grateful I know what it is. I've lost some weight which I understand can also help, and now that my shoulder is mostly healed from the rotator cuff surgery, I can sleep on my side, which according to your post helps you. I never put it together that all my worst attacks, the sleeping night time attacks, were all on my back, a position I rarely if ever sleep in. It has been one hell of a journey, one that I'd rather quit. But I would try the groin nerve block for the lateral femoral cutacous nerve if I were you....I'm pretty sure it helped and I'm trying to schedule another one.