Bells Palsy help

[sublime]

Hey guys, spent last night in teh emergency room with my daughter, the one I'm always so worried about. She's been sick, we all have, but she wasn't getting better then the night before last I noticed her smile looked funny. I thought she was just messing with me, so I watched her when she didn't know it and realized something was wrong. Well, I took her to the ER last night and she's got some sort of viral infection which has caused Bells Palsy. So she's got temporary paralysis in the left side of her face. She's on a ton of meds, and it should be all better in 3-4 weeks. The Dr's said she should fully recover, but sometimes there is residual weakness that doesn't go away. She can't close her eye, wrinkle her forehead, move her left side of her mouth, drink very well from a straw, taste in her left side of her mouth, her left eye doesn't blink, and I'm sure I'm forgetting something. Anyways, I'm telling you this because of course I've read everything I can get my hands on and searched the internet, but I'm wondering if any of you have any experience with this. If you've known anybody who had it or had it yourself, how the recovery went, what I can expect, etc... I know this isn't SB talk but I do consider you all friends and my nerves are wrecked right now. Any info is greatly appreciated. :)
Thanks, Margie

[Demi]

Sorry to hear about your daughter, and hope that she recovers quickly.

Although, I've heard of the condition, I've never had any experience of it, so unfortunately can't help with any more info than you already have.

[cah]

My Dad had it a long time ago. I was only about 10 then. I know it did go away eventually but I don't really remember how long it took. Seems like it was a couple months, but may have been a little longer. Sorry, that's probably not much help.

[portcop01]

my daught had it recoverd just fine hope the same for youres sunny fl.

[cs_carver]

By which I mean to say, when you say "the one I'm so worried about," I don't know what it is you worry about for her.

That said: I've known people who recovered just fine. Isn't it the trigem nerve? I get twitches in that when I'm stressed.

Seems like it might be a really good time to do what's in your power to do to help enrich her nutrition and supplement program (how old is she?) and watch her consumption of recreational mood-alterers (if applicable) and all of that basic stuff, too.

And then mostly, because you're the one on the board and not her, make REALLY sure you're applying all of this to yourself, because one way this could get worse is for you to fall prey to whatever your own stress symptom is.

Good luck.

[deirdra]

My Dad had it 2 years ago and it completely cleared up in ~6 weeks. Hope all goes well with your daughter.

[sublime]

Thank you all for your support, it really helps. She's getting better a little at a time, and thats good enough for me!!

[ysabella]

I don't have any advice, just more good wishes.

I have heard that being low on some trace minerals, like magnesium, can mess up signals to muscles, resulting in shakes and tics. My brother had a case of weird shaking hands and the doctor told him it was magnesium, and taking some fixed his problem (it was scary while it lasted, though!).
Maybe it's worth asking a doctor if she should take a multivitamin? Ask first, though, since she's on so much medication!

[Jiggerz]

I know of two people, females,(one, a friend of a friend, the other a relative of a friend),....both full recoveries.

[deirdra]

In my Dad's case he was really low on sodium.

[sublime]

Wow, maybe I need to look into her diet. I've cut out most of the junk and everybody in the house eats mostly what I eat, but she could be deficient from before I started eating better? Thanks everybody, it makes sense!

[cs_carver]

Don't think Zuleikaa has chimed in on this one, but you might want to take a look at some of the posts about Vitamin D (D3 is the variant you want) over in the Nutrition thread (just below this one in the overall list). It's a potent supplement, just now coming into common use, and seems to affect darn near everything in the body.

Traditionally, it's been the B complex that has the most obvious nerve action--think folic acid and neural tube defecs ie spinal bifida. So if she's already doing well with B supplementation (although it sounds like "not" is the answer there), you might want to read up on D3.

A common point: Serious deficiencies are often not remediated by a merely "better diet." Some deficiences need limited-range nuclear action (within reason: know your supplements if you're stepping off the RDA).

Did anyone already recommend Dr. A's Vitanutrient Solution? I have found it very accessible. There's no entry in the index for Bell's Palsy, but there are more pages referenced for "Nerves" than I care to read over right now. Good book.

Good luck.

[Zuleikaa]

After researching it seems Bell's Palsey is likely caused by a virus and has occured in people after they've received vacines or been exposed to viruses.

Therefore I'd recommend vitamin D and the vitamin C flush to kill the virus and support the immune system.

The vitamin D when taken with calcium and magnesium will also work to reverse any neuropathy.

[LarryAJ]

I had Bell's Palsy something like ten years ago. Unfortunately I did not get immediate attention - after all it did not seem that serious, and certainly not life threatening. BUT I have residual effects that may never go away. Then again, I was 55 when that happened, not young like your daughter. A fellow at work told me he had it as a young man. He completely recovered.

What I learned about it is this. It is inflammation of the 5th cranial nerve caused, most likely, by the family of viruses that cause chicken pox, which I had as a child, shingles, cold sores, etc. which you never get rid of, just normally keep in check until something causes an outbreak. I feel sure my was letting my ears get cold the day before the symptoms started. Mine was an itchy eye because I was not being able to blink resulting in a dry eye.

Because the inflammation causes blood to rush in the combat the infection, the area around the nerve swells. Since the bone where the nerve exits the skull does not give way, the swelling pinches the nerve shut blocking any signals. If not treated quickly enough, my case not your daughters from what you say, the nerve dies. Once the swelling goes away, the nerve will regenerate at something like a millimeter a day - very slow! Because of this the treatment is high dose of steroids to stop the swelling ASAP. Maybe there are other drugs that do the same thing now, since steroids are very powerful drugs that you do not want to take if you can help it.

Since I did not get the swelling stopped soon enough, I was over six months recovering. And then some two more years of gradual improvement, I still think I have some improvement going on. What happened to me was I was so concerned with getting control of my eyelid closing (opening is controlled by a different cranial nerve) that the regeneration was all focused in that area. The result is that I cannot hold my lips on the left closed nearly as hard as I can on the right, leading to some food dribbles if I am not careful. I used to be able to whistle up a storm, could even whistle in both directions. Now I have trouble except in a very limited range of notes. :( I also cannot enunciate well when I get tired.

The BIG thing to watch is the eye. It must not get dry, at least for prolonged time. I had to patch my eye to keep it closed at night. I also used some ophthalmic ointment, from eye doctor, to keep the eye lubricated - couldn’t see with the eye full of ointment, but I also did not have any damage to the cornea. Other than the eye issue, Bell’s Palsy is mostly just a BIG nuisance!!

You should get her to play "rubber face" - have her contort her face raising one then the other eye brow. Pucker up and then move the pursed lips from side to side, wrinkle the nose, one side then the other - basically try to move ALL the different facial muscles, first one side then the other. I wish I had done this! I think it would have helped me avoid the situation I have now where when close my lips tightly, the part of my face just below the left eye lid tenses up and partially blocks looking out the lower part of the eye.

I hope my have told you enough so that you are not now worried. You did the best thing in getting treatment immediately, even if it meant all night in the ER. Her being young bodes well for her quick recovery.

[sublime]

I had Bell's Palsy something like ten years ago. Unfortunately I did not get immediate attention - after all it did not seem that serious, and certainly not life threatening. BUT I have residual effects that may never go away. Then again, I was 55 when that happened, not young like your daughter. A fellow at work told me he had it as a young man. He completely recovered.

What I learned about it is this. It is inflammation of the 5th cranial nerve caused, most likely, by the family of viruses that cause chicken pox, which I had as a child, shingles, cold sores, etc. which you never get rid of, just normally keep in check until something causes an outbreak. I feel sure my was letting my ears get cold the day before the symptoms started. Mine was an itchy eye because I was not being able to blink resulting in a dry eye.

Because the inflammation causes blood to rush in the combat the infection, the area around the nerve swells. Since the bone where the nerve exits the skull does not give way, the swelling pinches the nerve shut blocking any signals. If not treated quickly enough, my case not your daughters from what you say, the nerve dies. Once the swelling goes away, the nerve will regenerate at something like a millimeter a day - very slow! Because of this the treatment is high dose of steroids to stop the swelling ASAP. Maybe there are other drugs that do the same thing now, since steroids are very powerful drugs that you do not want to take if you can help it.

Since I did not get the swelling stopped soon enough, I was over six months recovering. And then some two more years of gradual improvement, I still think I have some improvement going on. What happened to me was I was so concerned with getting control of my eyelid closing (opening is controlled by a different cranial nerve) that the regeneration was all focused in that area. The result is that I cannot hold my lips on the left closed nearly as hard as I can on the right, leading to some food dribbles if I am not careful. I used to be able to whistle up a storm, could even whistle in both directions. Now I have trouble except in a very limited range of notes. :( I also cannot enunciate well when I get tired.

The BIG thing to watch is the eye. It must not get dry, at least for prolonged time. I had to patch my eye to keep it closed at night. I also used some ophthalmic ointment, from eye doctor, to keep the eye lubricated - couldn’t see with the eye full of ointment, but I also did not have any damage to the cornea. Other than the eye issue, Bell’s Palsy is mostly just a BIG nuisance!!

You should get her to play "rubber face" - have her contort her face raising one then the other eye brow. Pucker up and then move the pursed lips from side to side, wrinkle the nose, one side then the other - basically try to move ALL the different facial muscles, first one side then the other. I wish I had done this! I think it would have helped me avoid the situation I have now where when close my lips tightly, the part of my face just below the left eye lid tenses up and partially blocks looking out the lower part of the eye.

I hope my have told you enough so that you are not now worried. You did the best thing in getting treatment immediately, even if it meant all night in the ER. Her being young bodes well for her quick recovery.

Great info, and I'm sorry about how things happened for you! The rubber face game sounds like a good idea. She's got such a great sense of humor, she walked up to me the other day, made a mad face at me, and told me she's half mad!! It was too funny. We just got some blood tests back last night though and she has Lyme Disease. Hopefully all it will require is a different medication. I don't recall her being bit by any ticks, but we do live out in a wooded area so who knows. ;) Thanks again to everybody for your help. Now if you know anything about Lyme Disease I'd love to hear it. Thanks :wave: