Bell's palsy for 2 months now... am I recovering?

Posted , 17 users are following.

I got Bell's palsy march 26th 2017. I was getting these weird migraines on the left side of my head in the temple region for like a month before it happened. A few days before it started, I noticed I couldn't open my mouth all the way. Then I was eating soup and it tasted like I had burned my tongue really bad. Then my face started twitching on the left side EVERYWHERE. like my eyebrow, my nose, my lips, my chin, my cheek. Then I woke up on march 26th and couldn't keep water in my mouth while brushing my teeth on the left side. I went to the er and they diagnosed me with Bell's palsy. They told me it was a mild case, but it just hadn't actually set in all the way yet. They gave me the anti virals and prednisone. They only gave me 20 mg prednisone that I took for 4 days only. Idk if they only gave me this much because of my weight (I weigh 140) or because they thought it was a mild case. when I was reading online I saw ppl taking way higher doses for longer periods of time. Anyway it set all the way in and I could still close my eye a little bit it wasn't just open like some other ppl. I could still smile a little. But then it seemed like things were getting worse and I couldn't smile anymore at all. I had a little droop. And instead of my eye being dry it just waters all day. I asked my doctor and he said steroids aren't good for you and they can do harm to other parts of your body. He was pretty much useless. So 3 weeks went by and I still wasn't getting any improvement. The taste in my toungue was coming back and it stopped hurting so bad. (At first I had shooting pains in my head and on the left side of my face). My hearing was hyper sensitive also and that went away too. I still wasn't getting any movement and was getting discouraged because I seen some ppl recover in 3 to 4 weeks. I saw some ppl did acupuncture and it worked for them so I decided to give that a try at 3 weeks. I hadn't been to a neurologist yet because I couldn't get an appointment soon enough the one my insurance covered was all booked up. I did 6 sessions of acupuncture, with 3 regular sessions with just putting the needle in my face, and then 3 with electrostim. It seemed the acupuncture was working because I got some movement back in my cheek to where I could move part of my cheek by myself, and I was also getting twitching in some other places. I finally got a hold of a neurologist around 6 weeks and he told me there's no data on acupuncture working so I stopped going. By six weeks I had gained movement back in my neck, I could move my chin a little, I can raise my eyebrow a little, and I could move my ear... at 8 weeks now I can move the corner of my mouth just a little like its trying to smile. I also still have some twitching that goes on on my Bell's palsy side every now and then. But also, when I look in the mirror and try and smile and see what movements are coming back, my muscles feel kind of tight. Not when my face is at rest, but when I try and smile. I can see some other areas twitching in my cheek when I try to smile, like it's trying to work but it's to weak or something. My fear is that the electro stim and acupuncture made things worse and that's why It feels tight like that when I try to smile. Also when I move my lips a certain way or when I put hot water on my face I can feel my lips like pull upward on that side and there's a crease in my cheek like as if I'm smirking a little but I'm not. It's weird and only happens for a little Bit of time then goes back to normal. What is this? Also I can still only move that one part of my cheek and the the crease that comes when you smile still isn't moving yet... is this normal? I'm going to see my neurologist again on Thursday but I am a major worry wart and I keep worrying I made this worse by doing acupuncture and the electro Stim. Am i recovering okay or is something wrong? I also now get some headache and face pain on that side again but it's not as bad as it was when I first got it. I am 24 years old and my job has everything to do with how you look and is very competitive so I haven't been at work for 2 months. Just been staying home. I will admit I have been fighting with my significant other way more but than ever before and probably am more stressed than I should be. I also smoke weed sometimes to sleep and noticed that sometimes when I smoke I get more twitching on that side. Is twitching good? Because my face was twitching when it started, so don't know if it is it seems like it is good though because for like 3 weeks I had no twitching no movement at all on that side of my face. I hate this so much I'm so sad because I loved my smile before and I am a very pretty girl. I feel I've lost my face and I'm praying it will come back.... is muscle tightness when trying to move that side normal or is this a sign of synkinesis? I am so scared and keep crying I just want someone who's had this and recovered to let me know I'm recovering the right way? I also take b12, zinc, magnesium, multi vitamins and b6. I know it's only been two months but I'm scared my face will not go back to normal fully. Please someone help. sad

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  • Posted

    At your age you should recover very well.  Don't stress and don't worry about the acupuncture, you can't change that.

  • Posted

    Wow , I have forgotten some of the very systoms I had, my BP is 4 years this month and my smile is still a little off although job one can tell but I can sure tell. What has worked for me are massages facial massages, actually full body massage helps with just relaxing, my massage thearpist is an RN and is awesome, still after all this time I have issues with loud noises , When it first happened I was put on large doses of steroids for weeks, at the end of 45 days my face was as close to normal so I was able to return to my job , we're all I do is talk (911) , my taste buds returned then they would be gone then return geeze went on a while, I wish you a speedy recovery, and I hope my info was helpful, donna

  • Posted

    Hi Angel i also got diagnosed with bells palsy. Did you fully recover? 
    • Posted

      I’m still kind of sort of recovering. I have Synkinesis also. No one can really tell I have it anymore. I of course can still see it but other than that Ive pretty much just gotten used to it and know there’s nothing I can really do about it. 
  • Posted

    Dont worry you will get better..  i was also diagnosed with bells palsy im recovering little by little i couldnt move my nose nor my eyebrow and i couldnt smile either. But with alot of massages and with the help of God i can now move what i mention above. My mother also bought me a massager and it helped alot too. Dont stress cause that wont help. And i have 1 month and 3 days with this and im slowly recovering.. and you will too. 
  • Posted

    Hi , how are you now have u fully recover ? I Juz diagnosis bells palys today 
    • Posted

      Can u email to me kei@live.com.sg thank you 
  • Posted

    I feel you on this one. I’m 9 weeks today. And I know it will get better, I have to believe that it will. I know for a fact that stress has caused mine and I wish I could’ve seen this coming and I sure would’ve dodged this damn bullet. I’ve seen a neurologist and I honestly think that he just robbed me out of my money. I paid close to $800 USD for him to tell me everything that I already researched online. I think that it was definitely an opportunity for him to take advantage of me since I saw him 3 weeks in. I started acupuncture at week 6 and I’ve been feelings some slight twitches, kinda like insects crawling on my face. I did 4 sessions so far! At least it relaxes me (still have highly stressed moments and bad anxiety). I think one of the hardest things I’ve had to deal with was my taste buds being gone.(I’m a chef) I tasted something today and I actually got some flavour coming through! Oh the small joys. My eye still doesn’t close, blink, eyebrows don’t move etc. You know how it goes. Everyday really isn’t the same. Today I took a break from work and went in my car and cried for 30mins with crippling fear that I wouldn’t be able to smile again! But hey smile it will get better !!! Prayers to everyone going through this & if anyone wants to talk feel free to hit me up. 

    Btw I’m also 24yrs old (F)

    • Posted

      Hi Ash, how was your recovery from Bell's Palsy? I've had mine for 24 days already and I still can't move my right side. 3 days prior to my paralysis, I experienced head ache and had swollen lymph nodes. 1 day prior, i started losing some sense of taste, had slight fever, ear pain, tingling in the ear, dizziness and nausea. When my paralysis started, my dizziness and nausea got worse. I was very very dizzy and nauseous for a week so I could only start my therapy after a week. I've had 6 sessions of therapy so far, 3 sessions of acupuncture(i had 1 the day after my paralysis, and then started again on my 22nd day. I'm still feeling a bit dizzy until now, but this has gotten better also i think from the acupuncture. But I still have no facial movement improvement so far. No twitching, no tingling sensation whatsoever. I am really really scared because it's been a while already. I've been researching and chances of full recovery is less when your improvement starts late. I broke down yesterday also because it finally sank in that my bell's is taking a while.

  • Posted

    Hello! I got Bell's Palsey 1 week bf I gave birth to my son, my son is 2 months and I still hv it! I can totally relate to your story... Do you still hv it? If not how long did it tk to go away? I've been to 4 acupuncture sessions as well. My smile is the main prob right now on the left side. I hv a really low self-esteem right now bc of it. Thank you!

    • Posted

      Hello... 25th of December i was disgnosed with Bells Palsy by an ER Dr. I'm recovering glad that i can move my eyebrow, nose and can now smile. Massage your face 3x a day or more if you can that will defintely help alot. Trust me! I could not move nothing from my left side it happen so quick i noticed it cause my mouth was weird the next day my left side went numb. I week later i went with my primary Dr and he told me the same thing "Bells Palsy"  you got to be very patient cause Bells Palsy could last 2weeks to 6 months or more! Try not to stress alot. You will get better.  Just massage your face alot of times. But you will get better. I have not recovered completely but im glad and thankful that i can now taste the food,eat,move my eyebrow and etc... my only problem is my right eye and my left side of my lip its not there yet. But i know soon i will with the help of my Father God. Dont worry you will recover. You will be in my prayers i know exactly what youre going thru i got depressed and would cry so much cause of this.  But it will go away!!

    • Posted

      Hi marisela, wishing you a speedy recovery! I suffered from Bell’s palsy twice. This last time I did everything I could to speed up the recovery process; acupuncture with and without electrostimulation, took vitamins (all B vitamins and niacin), used hot compresses religiously, and massaged my face. Since I healed I am still (it’s been 8 months now) very tender on the places I massaged most. I believe massaging caused minor nerve damage. I can see no other conclusion.

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