Reported this droopy face to doc.She ID'ed Bells and ordered 0. Went to Er 2 days later. Is delay critical?

Question

Had severe cold for 2 weeks. Improved and 3 days later, I developed unusual sore throat on rt side. Felt like a cold sore not just inflamation. Nausea, dizziness, incredible headache started. Very sick. Saw doc onthe 2nd day of new symptoms, Monday. Rx : Z-pac and Entex. On Tuesday no improvement. Had little trouble closing rt eye. On Wednesday , mouth drooping . Called doc. I was told to continue prescription given..I was doing that already.. Thursday morn I woke up with rt facial paralysis... Went to ER. Given Prednisone Stat and Rx for an antivral and Prednisone. I was told that recovery depends on EARLY treatment. Headache, nausea, dizziness gone but I am miserable. My eye hurts.. My ear and back of ear hurts. I am scared and scarey looking.

Answer 1

You are wise and have followed up appropriately with the medical care you're receiving, and it seems that you are quick to take action when it's needed.

Bell's Palsy was once attributed to being exposed to drafts....but any neuropathy should be watched closely, which you are doing.

My experience was something quite different, beginning with symptoms mirroring Bell's Palsy (facial numbing, slight paralysis), but then followed by ocular neuritis (inflamed optic nerve, and temporary vision loss). The treatment was an I.V. infusion of prednisone for 4 days, followed by a tapering with tablet form of prednisone. Prednisone is a powerful drug, that must be "tapered off" to prevent a crash of the endocrine system. I urge you to eat very well, and take extremely good care of yourself right now particularly keeping your immune system as strong as possible - and especially as you're feeling understandably upset and frightened.

Facial paralysis must not be taken lightly, as a correct diagnosis is not always Bell's Palsy. Your doctor will be watching for ocular symptoms (vision change). **IF** this happens, do not delay getting medical treatment immediately.

I do understand how you might be feeling, and I wish you a full and speedy recovery.

Answer 2

If you ever took precalculus or some other math class which covers properties of functions, you learn how to determine the domain of the function. One of the red flags to look out for is when you divide by zero. In your expression, when x = 3, the denominator is zero. Thus, the domain is every number beside 3. Unfortunately, the number you are trying to plug in (x = 3) is the only number that doesn't work in this function. To see this first hand, you0 can graph this function on a TI-83. If you zoom in on the point of the graph at x = 3, you will see that there is a blank spot there! That is because, as stated above, there just isn't a value of the expression at x = 3. You may say, well it looks like the answer should be 6, looking at the graph. This concept of what the answer "should be" is what limits are all about. The values of the function on the left and right of x = 3 all go towards 6 as you get closer and closer. So we say the limit as x goes to 3 is 6. So even though it is not technically the answer, 6 is your best choice. Zero is absolutely not correct in any sense. The very best answer is to say that the expression is undefined at x = 3. This problem illustrates why 0/0 is called indeterminate. In this problem, 0/0 in a way equals 6. The idea that 0/0 can equal anything is actually the essence of calculus.

Answer 3

Bell's results from a flareup of the Herpes Simplex I virus, and affects the facial nerve. A person should get treatment quickly to
avoid a major infection--you did what you thought best given the symptoms and advice you were getting and that's ok. Don't beat yourself up over any delay.

Personally, I think you probably should have been seen Wednesday (vs. phone call; they could have gotten you on the Prednisone and antiviral then). But you got in there on Thursday, so that was good. The important thing is that you are getting appropriate treatment now and ongoing to recover from this disease. I would continue to see a specialist every other day for them to monitor your progress, not to go to the ER. Those are GP's (general practitioners) and may not have all the information and resources available to them.

If you live in a major city, and have a university with a good medical program, call the med school/hospital there and ask who they would refer you to immediately. (Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist ?? )

Be a little bit "pushy" when you talk to the doctors, tell them how concerned you are about this and are they doing absolutely everything they can do to alleviate the condition (giving you good explanations and timeline for improvement) as it affects your face and facial expression . This is very important (many other conditions are not so visible, that's why i am urging you to be proactive with it). Don't let them be matter of fact or glib about it, insist on help.

My father had this in 1968. He did not recover, and has had to take eyedrops for the rest of his life because his eyelid does not blink when he is awake. He went the massage route for about three weeks, it did not help him recover. But that was almost 40 years ago.

About 84% of patients eventually recover. I would insist on therapy; there must be treatment these days that would improve the muscle tone/nerve relationship somehow.

Good luck.

This was a really good website to read up on this:

http://www.michiganear.com/library/B/bellspalsy.html

Also, Mayo Clinic website:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bells-palsy/DS00168

Answer 4

It's important to keep the droopy eye moist, as it is probably not closing completely, so you should get some saline drops, not like Visine.

When my husband had his Bells palsy, they gave him a little device that was battery powered and it would shock his face a little to try to stimulate the muscles to come back. I don't want to depress you, but my husband is the only person our doctor has ever seen that didn't get better. Half of his face still doesn't work right. I think when he gets old, only half of his face will have line on it actually. Most people do get better tho. You didn't get one of the little shock things? Maybe they don't do that any more. When it happend to my DH, it was 10 years ago.

Answer 5

It's not critical that it's diagnosed early, nor given prednisone, nor antiviral. Most often Bell's Palsy is a post-viral neuropathy that will go away on it's own. Uncommonly, it may be due to a nonmalignant tumor of the ear (Acoustic Neuroma).

Answer 6

The vast majority of cases of Bell's Palsy resolve spontaneously in two weeks to two months. A few never completely resolve. I personally know two people, close enough they would recognize my voice if I phoned them, although I don't talk to them daily, that have Bell's that never resolved. I know many more that have had it transiently.

The odds are in your favor. Best wishes.

Answer 7

The facial paralysis is probably Bells Palsy. I've seen at least three people get it. It seems scarier than it is. It goes away in about a week.

Answer 8

If it's Bells Palsey, it will go away on it's own. But I have no idea what most of your question says..........