Bell's Palsy?

BrdwayBoy

"I know now that theatre saved my life." - S. Stro
Joined
Nov 14, 2010
Anyone have any experience with this? I started experiencing some symptoms on Saturday night - I noticed my smile was crooked while I was brushing my teeth. I went to the ER this afternoon where it was determined that I have a classic case of Bell's Palsy - thankfully it's pretty mild and only really noticeable if you look for it. They gave me prednisone and are waiting for test results to see if it could possibly be Lyme Disease.

::sigh::

Send good thoughts if you can!
 
My friend in college had that. It was like you said, not noticeable unless she told you. She recovered fully, I forget how long it took. Best wishes for a speedy recovery, hang in there.
 
I had a friend from work who developed it suddenly overnight a few years back. I don't know the treatment, but she completely recovered. I hope the same for you.
 
Thank you to both of you! I very rarely get sick or have had any medical issues, so this is taking a little bit of getting used to. :-(
 


My SIL developed it while pregnant (I'm guessing not how you developed it) and it went away after she had her baby. My daddy got it in his late 60s and his was pretty severe almost mini-stroke like and while it did get better he always had a little bit of a crooked mouth after that. Looks like you are young and healthy so hang in there, hoping it goes away soon.
 
My best friend had it in high school. You can only see it now when she is really tired or has been drinking. I think hers was a more severe case that lasted longer than normal and that is why she had lasting effects. But they are so minimal you wouldn't notice unless you were looking.
 


Thank you guys; it's almost two weeks and I'm glad to report that I am almost back to normal... at least in terms of my speech and being able to close my left eye on it's own.
 
this past winter same thing happened to me.
prednisone worked great and facial functions returned slowly over the first 2 weeks.
3 weeks after that, and still on meds, all went back to normal.

you'll get there and be back to normal real soon.

the hardest part of it all was getting medical help and a diagnosis.
freaks you out when you don't know what you are facing at the time it all happens to you.
 
My ex developed this pretty much overnight when he was in his early twenties. I don't think they even gave him anything - they just said it'll go away or not ??? Anyway, it gradually went away on it's own over the course of about two weeks. He's nearing 50 now and never had another episode.
 
I had it about 10 years ago. Everything tasted like metal in my mouth and one side drooped on my face. I couldn't even close my eye one night because of I just couldn't keep it closed. I had to use the pillow and bury that side of my face to keep it closed. I also got some sort of steroid and about a week later it was fully gone and back to normal.

I did laugh at drinking out of a straw as it would come out one side of my mouth for a couple days.
 
I had it in Middle School, ugh. The only thing that's different is when I exercise only one side of my face gets hot and red, while the other is cool. My face is not that symmetrical anyway so it was hard to tell if I have any permanent affects. I take valtrex when I'm about to get a cold sore but I don't know if that could prevent a Bell's palsy episode -- seems like it's related to the cold sore virus some way. Best of luck to you!
 
I had it after I had skull compound fracture . It effected my left side , opposite from skull fracture it made my smile into half smile. Also had a few other problems at that time no treatment for it , Lasted about 6 months and then just went away . So I really can't say if today they can treat it since I had it in 1962. I hope you have the same results I did in 1962 but maybe quicker.
 
I wanted to share my experience in case it can help someone else. Dec. 20, 2016, in the evening, my face started drooping. Looking back, it was a perfect storm of exhaustion and stress over the holidays and lack of sleep had a lot to do with it. I wasn't freaked out because I tested myself for stroke AND I had a friend who had had Bell's Palsy a number of years ago. I ended up in emergency the next day because my doctor sent me for tests to rule out stroke. They gave me Prednisone and an anti-viral medication (which, they admittedly don't know if anti-viral meds do anything to help). It is now 25 days later and I'm ALMOST back to normal. It was hard being patient, not being able to smile normally (I missed that the most) and my eyesight was messed up which forced me to drop this semester in school (it's almost back to normal).

I was told to tape my eye closed at night and use eye drops, since letting it dry out too much can cause damage. I discovered that using an aromatherapy eye pillow with lavender oil worked well, as lavender is good for nerves and I really think it helped (I tried the tape once and didn't like it). I made sure I was getting enough sleep and started practicing some meditation to keep the stress low. My blood pressure has gone down and I am determined to not repeat the circumstances that created this problem in the first place (I believe stress has a lot to do with it), as it CAN come back again.

I paid attention as I was healing and noticed that I had twitching which usually ended up meaning that that part of my face was healing--interesting. Just before the drooping, my ear on that side hurt on the outside, then stopped--then as I healed, I had some pain again with that ear, but it went away as I continued to improve.

I've never been a smoker, and I was walking regularly, but had to back off until I felt my immune system was built back up. I've been taking it easy and avoiding long exposure to the cold--just kind of an intuitive feeling--until I'm completely well.

There are certainly worse things in life, but it does feel a bit like you have the rug pulled out from under you while you're in it. Just know, it does get better, albeit ever so slowly. I hope your healing journey is short and complete and you have a new compassion, as did I, for others who are handicapped in any way.
 
My best friend's mother had a bad case of this during a late life pregnancy and it affected the left side of her face rather dramatically. The whole side of her face looked like it had slid down. It came on unexpectedly and it was quite scary at the time. She was taken to the ER they were afraid she had a stroke. I believe there was also some complications with her vision- she had to take eye drops for a long time. I remember it being quite physically noticeable initially on her but after the first few months it lessened. It has been a few years now since she completely recovered and it is not noticeable at all. Wishing a speedy recovery to you!
 

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