God Awful Xmas Present

[slobbo]

I had a quick run to the doctors yesterday as half my face has stopped working. I feared it was a stroke but am talking ok and it is only affecting my face. It turns out I have Bells Palsy. Flipping virus or something that has a go at the facial nerve. I look like Popeye at the moment and it is bloody difficult to drink and eat when only half your mouth works. Doc gave me steroids to fix the problem but at the moment it looks like my xmas photos will be squint.

Oh well turns out most people return to normal so hopefully I won't have to permanently turn to eating spinach and smoking pipes.

[dcfb77]

Had the same happen back in 2002.....

Scared the sh!t out of me, was in France and got taken to hospital for a week to do all sorts of tests... Nothing was found. Docs said it could have been caused by extreme cold....as I was on the north pole a week before it happened so seemed plausible.

Went back to normal in a month so don't worry too much.

Most annoying thing was having to tape my eye lid down to sleep only to have it flip open in the middle of the night....

Stay warm and lay off salty foods.... That's what they told me!

Hope your back to normal soon.

David

[pauly8888]

I've had a similar problem since an operation I had back in February. Mine's recovering more slowly than yours will. You'll be back to normal in no time.
Best advice I can give you is, turn your mush to show only your best side in photos, and don't eat soup in anyone else's company! Merry Christmas.

[syncropatrick]

Tough luck Rob. Friend of my bro's had this for a month or so. He grew some stylish face fungus to distract the eye while his chops returned to normal.

[slobbo]

It is bloody hard to eat and drink. You have to hold the side of your face when you drink otherwise it goes in one side of your mouth and runs out the other.

My right eye is sore as well because you can't blink properly. Got to go back to the doc to get some eye drops.

Doc reckons it will be about a month before it is back to normal. I hope it improves slowly rather than all of a sudden comes good because I am bored of this already and it has only been a day.

[KarlT]

That's nothing, I had his & hers bay-window egg holders! Now that is bad!

All the best, hope all turns out well. Try alcohol.

[syncro up]

Nightmare mate, hope you get better soon.

[Iridium]

Wishing you all the best Rob. I know what it's like, got Bell's palsy in 1993 when I was 22 from an ear infection.

My best advice is dont just rely on the steroids if there's no improvement soon. I was prescribed steroids for the infection, but look into facial trophic stimulators and pay for some physiotherapy to keep muscles supple. I've still got probs now cos of NHS lack of interest and resources at the time.

These are the stats for recovery of Bell's palsy:

80% full recovery, no probs, face recovers fully in a short time.
15% takes time to recover, lots of facial exercises needed and some synkinesis experienced.
5% limited improvement over time.

Do all you can yourself now to prevent any possible probs down the line.

Give us a msg if you need any more info.

Regards,

Sean.

[slobbo]

Well 3 days and no change. This sucks. You really come to appreciate how much work the muscles in your face do when half of them don't work. Hope I start getting some movement soon. Xmas dinner was a chore. Really takes the pleasure out of eating.

Thanks for the info Iridium. Hope I am in the 80% bracket. Only time will tell.

[LittleMissSunshine]

I am really sorry to read this and am sending positive thoughts! I do hope you make a swift recovery.

[slobbo]

"That's nothing, I had his & hers bay-window egg holders! Now that is bad! " - I got Splitty egg cups as well.

That's the steroids finished and I've got pain back in my jaw and ear. I guess the root cause hasn't fixed itself. Back to the quack I guess.

[KarlT]

Pain maybe a good thing, if you feel pain it must mean some nerves are working again.