Well, I was diagnosed with this annoying disease about 3 weeks ago and I must say it's been frustrating! The scary part was that the initial symptoms are similar to a stroke so the first day I had any symptoms, I was tired, my left eye kept going out of focus and later in the day, I went to brush my teeth and it was very hard to spit. I looked in the mirror and the left side of my face was not responsive to anything I was trying to make it do. When my hubby got home, I had him look at it and said we need to go to the urgent care and see what they say. 30 minutes after that, I was in the ER for more testing to be sure it wasn't a stroke. I guess the initial test they have you do is see if you can raise your eyebrows...if you can only raise one, then it's probably Bell's Palsy, if they both raise, then it's possibly a stroke. It has something to do with the 7th nerve and where it runs and what it operates. There is a much better description from the Mayo Clinic, check it out here
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bells-palsy/DS00168.
So since this is supposed to be temporary in most people, recovery time anywhere from a few days to a few months, and then the severity of it can vary as well. I can sleep at night ok, my eye for the most part shuts but it does get drier and tired from not being able to close fully when I am awake. I bought some real tears eye drops that help with that. Trying to put makeup on this eye is interesting too...like putting it on a different person since I don't have all the feeling there. My mouth feels like I went to the dentist and got some drilling done minus the pain of a filling or whatever else. It's easier for me to drink from a straw, I cannot whistle very good, spitting after brushing is about impossible eating anything big like a juicy burger is almost out of the question and some pronunciation of words can be tricky (esp. words with f or p sounds). I read to my daughter almost every night and at first this was difficult. For the first few weeks, I had an aching pain in my cheek, beside my eye and along my jaw. It got severe enough a few nights that I had to go to the dr. to be sure it wasn't anything else...he just gave me some good pain killers so I could sleep and after a few days it mostly went away. Almost like a ghost ache or something.
My droop is not really noticeable if I keep my face expressionless. As soon as I talk, smile, smirk or whatever, then it's noticeable. I am hoping it will go away soon, my hubby says that it seems my mouth is moving a little better. I think it may be that I am learning to annunciate and move my mouth differently to get the words out more clearly. Who knows...I would rather him be right but I really don't see any changes in the mirror so that's what I'm basing my observation on.
Another thing I figured out after diagnosed is that this is not that uncommon. I never have heard of it or heard of anyone having it but as soon as I spread the word to my family and friends, the stories were coming out the woodwork. I found that it is common to happen to mother's during child birth and can go away just about as fast as it started. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my days are numbered and the end is near...I never realized how much I miss my smile until this! And I like to smile a lot!
