Anyone had Bells palsey

Bummer.
Woke up yesterday with a knackered right lip and droopy eye.Been to dos’s today and diagnosed as above.Anyone else had this and if so what to expect.Would rather hear it off the mind hive that reading tinterweb stories.

I thought that was what you came down with if you drank a whole bottle of cheap, blended whisky.

😳

Only kidding OP – hope you get some sensible replies…

I believe Chris Walker (the SBK rider) had this back in 2002 and made a full recovery after 12 months out.

The hive mind is internet stories? I know someone who has had it since 1950? something. Married a lovely German lady, and great Banking Career. Now retired in luxurious Croydon. I expect the same might happen to you.

My ex had facial paralysis on one side too. You could always tell when your jokes were actually funny as you got a symmetrical smile. If she was faking, it was squint.

http://cks.nice.org.uk/bells-palsy#!scenario

edit: how odd – the !scenario should be part of the link but it doesn’t seem to work with the forum code

2nd edit: Do you have a cat that has seemed poorly lately? If so, the diagnosis is incorrect and, yes, it’s the bad type 🙁

Freddie burns the liecester tigers no 10 had it recently after flying back Jamaica.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/12053739/Rugby-star-Freddie-Burns-blames-flight-for-his-Bells-palsy.html

Regular customer had it, only real frustration for him (that he said) was a badly watering eye. I would say its probably a year now and wouldn’t be able to tell.

Cheers for that link scaredy.
On steroid tabs.10 of the buggers and two types of eye drops(day and night).
Thoroughly pissed as i’m never ill. Haven’t been the docs for about 10 years.
Why…O…why…
O well soak it up and get on with life. 😀

I HAVE had this.

It did just go away. I reckon what caused it was the intense cold on my face from motorbike days.

Mail me if you want to chat.

2nd edit: Do you have a cat that has seemed poorly lately? If so, the diagnosis is incorrect and, yes, it’s the bad type

I couldn’t see anything about cats on that link, what’s the relevance? I have a cat, will I die?

One of my best mates has this – happened about 3 or 4 years ago and they thought he was having a stroke as it was very extreme. Probably took 12 months to come back to some sort of normality and I’d say it is now 85% fixed and unlikely to get any better. If you didn’t know him from before, you’d never know, but the first 12 months wasn’t much fun with a sore eye and floppy mouth. He used to hold it a lot when talking or lean on his hand if at a table (unsure if this was conscious or not) but doesn’t anymore.

He’s never ill and wasn’t massively stressed or anything at the time – had some bad headaches before and a lot immediately after, but that all subsided.

Thanks redthunder.Will do later.
Thanks.
Thanks hugh.

@davea37
nice.org.uk/cat-aids.goodandbad

Not got a cat.
Chip up though.Or down on this ocassion. 🙁

My dad (79 at the time)had it after something malignant ate his skull, bloody annoying as you know, eye drops and a shield for him for months(didn’t have a full blink). With being ancient and a heavy smoker his facial skin doesn’t have a whole lot of elasticity so although it’s maybe 85% gone through natural recovery, he needed a little nip/tuck round the lower eyelid to finish off.

Not sure if its the same but I’ve lost movement of my right eye and lip after having a tumour removed.

Eye gets tired quicker as can’t refresh it by blinking and notice my mouth most when talking and laughing at the same time.

Should come back but can take a while by all accounts. Get some clear specs for wind protection would be my top tip.

My Dad had one a few years ago, he got lots of steroids, made a full recovery quite quickly and you would never know he ever had it.

Hope the same happens for you.

Cold does seem to be a common cause fromwhat I have heard.

My MIL suffers now and then from it, last a few weeks and leaves her problems.

my wife got this, around the time of her first pregnancy.
IIRC it just diminished over time, around 6 months or maybe a bit longer..

can’t recall if any drugs were used for treatment but given pregnancy was involved I suspect not.

Wifey had it years ago. She had a steroid injection initially. Took about 6 months before nerve endings started to return. Fine now but bizarrely if you look at her in the mirror you can tell which side it was!! Strange.

Mrs Stern had it two years ago. In her case it went after a few weeks. Can’t remember if she had any medication for it other than eye drops as she couldn’t blink in one eye. My oldest son’s best friend at school had it a few months ago which was caused by a tick bite. He had to spend a month in hospital as the infection had gone to his spine and brain and they were worried about meningitis. He has since made a complete recovery.

I came down with this the week before christmas, so have had it for 3 and a bit weeks now.

Its affecting the left side of my face, at first it was completely paralysed, but after 2.5 weeks I started to be able to move my left eyebrow, but so far thats the only movement I have.

For the first two weeks I had various different pains in various areas on the left side, it was quite bad, but the pain has stopped now.

I have to hold my cheek in if I want to say a word that begins with B,P or S (why did they name it Bells Palsy – its the hardest thing to say).

Eye watering is a pain in the backside (wear glasses for biking), and eating soup is a non starter. I cant blow raspberries or whistle either. On the plus side all the wrinkles on the left side of my forehead have disappeared.

An ex boss of mine had it…he was out the office for about 4 weeks and then came back in, lasted 4 days and then went off for another 3 weeks – he couldn’t blink so had to lubricate his eye – 1 side of his face was completely frozen. The first 4 weeks were spent in a darkened room to ease discomfort.

After about 2 months it started returning but it was about 6 months after it started before he was back to near fully working order.

He had a great sense of humour so could joke about it, but I think when it first developed he wasn’t finding the humour in it…thankfully his recovery was quick (compared to what he had been told) and full.

I had it in my early 20s. Thought it was a migrane for a couple of days, then nearly gave my mum a heart attack when she came to see me as it looked like I’d had a stroke.
Was prescribed steroid tablets and it cleared within a couple of weeks. Touch wood – haven’t noticed any issues since.
My mates did call me ‘Little Nicky’ for a while afterwards

my late mother was diagnosed with palsy. she was on steroids for six months, but it just kept getting worse. In the end her eye closed completely .
We took her to her GP, but was seen by a locum, was told to go to A&E.
Consultant ran tests, came back as lung cancer.
It was so high in lung that it was pressing on nerves.
If it gets worse keep going back to doctors.
it was very unusual, but if you don’t feel right don’t ignore it.

I had it about 5years ago, first i knew was when i tried to close an eye whilst taking a photo using a camera (not phone!) and it wouldnt close! had the same problem trying to sleep, couldnt close my eye!

kids still get in the Little Nicky jokes, eating was a slow process, drinking from a glass was comical! Overall it was a humorous two weeks of my life, it still gets a laugh sitting around the poker table these days!

Sounds like it can get pretty nasty and have a lasting effect so not really a laughing matter at all, I didnt know this at the time. Cleared up with steroids, was told it was an infection in a tube by the ear which stops nerves.

Thanks very much all.It seems like i don’t have as bad as some have mentioned so i think i might be lucky.I can move my eyebrow,close my eye(at a push)and my speech is not impaired.I feel like a dribble is on it’s way when drinking.
Thanks to all of you and this has put my mind a little bit to rest.
I knew stw would help me out.Usually just a bike forum addict.

Great…. 😀

Ayrton Senna had it, I think when he first came to Europe, didn’t slow bim down much.

That’s me but on a bike that is… 😆

Make sure that your GP has correctly diagnosed. I suffered from a cavernous sinus infection about 15 years ago that presented at one point very much like Bells, but not quite . . . was only correctly diagnosed after 6 months of NHS investigation by visiting a US Navy diving medic who was also a neurologist; went through 2 CT scans, 2 MRI scans, a lumbar puncture and lots of other miscellaneous tests along the way. At one stage the NHS consultants suspected early-onset MS (very scary for a few weeks). Still have some minor facial muscular weakness and imbalance today, but major symptoms (such as 6 months of excruciating headaches and 2 months of double vision) created by the viral infection have thankfully never returned.

I had it once when I was young. Went on for about 3 months despite the GP saying it should last two weeks. I saw a neuro surgeon (dads private healthcare being useful) and apart from him calling me ‘technically’ ugly and saying there is nothing else wrong it did just go away eventually.

I still have some slight side effects years on but only when extremely cold or tired and that side of my face still feels a little slow to react or numb.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_with_Bell%27s_palsy

Your right Ayrton Senna did have have Bell’s Palsy.

Like I said, I’ve suffered from it and seemed to happy after intense cold. I wonder how many others also were cold.

Cold was mentioned above by some else as well. Mmmmm

Maybe a possible link.

I had this – or so the NHS said.

I woke up on Monday morning after doing a 24hr race in pairs but realistically I did 3/4, then drove back to Scotland that night, feeling very shit. Hit the floor when I got out of bed. Staggered to the GP, then sent to A & E in a taxi. Whole side of my face frozen, couldn’t blink, close my mouth to eat properly, and terrible dizziness.

Long story short, after eating with a straw for 3 weeks and taking anti-nausea and anti-dizziness meds it mostly cleared up. Just niggling dizziness.

Got fed up with this (I could have had a brain tumor !) and went to private docs. MRI scan the very next day, naught wrong, posh doctor said was probably a very nasty ear infection that was causing the symptoms and had cleared up all by myself. The meds were just placebo, and get back riding your bike it can only help.

Phew.

So my advice is – it might not be a Bell’s Palsy. And see a proper doctor, with fast access to an MRI scanner.

In a subscript to this, I got a letter from the NHS about two years later saying that I was on the list for an MRI in another three months. Gee, thanks.

Sorry, misread the thread title….as you were.

I had it about 10 years ago. I think it was triggered (wait for it!) by firing a black powder shotgun! Came on a couple of days after a trip to a gun range.

Came on like a dentists injection.

Was a bit awkward eating and drinking at times.

Had to have fake tears drops as I couldn’t close one eye, which made sleeping a bit odd. Didn’t have any medication for it.

It hung around for about 6 weeks and took about 6 months to fully go. No real repercussions since.

I did feel very depressed and lost lots of confidence for some months afterwards, which was odd. Probably just me feeling sorry for myself, but don’t underestimate psychological effects too.

My brother got this last year, likely from a shared jacuzzi (very common apparently)!
Its like most other things, if you catch it quick enough and get to the docs before it gets worse, then it shouldn’t be too bad.
After about 3-4 months, my brother is back to normal.