You are a very lucky guy. You had 230 Volts across what seems to have just been your hand. In slightly different circumstances, say between hands, that's plenty to kill you. As for what the current was, that depends on what your resistance was, which we can't estimate accurately.
The 6 amp circuit breaker is useless for protecting you, since much less current than that can kill you. A ground fault circuit interrupter, on the other hand, offers protection against many ways of getting shocked. If, however, you were connecting 'hot' to 'neutral', rather than to ground, a GFCI also would not help.
There is no reason to doubt that your description of the sensations is accurate. I did about the same thing about 36 years ago, with the same results.
Next time, be more *&#% careful.
Mike W.
(published on 10/14/2009)
