He had never even heard of it before, but from my Lyme experience I knew what it was as his wife was describing it to me on the phone.

After a cat scan, his doctor decided it was not a stroke and gave him "Valtrex" (?) and also the well known steroid Prednisone.

I don't know the 1st drug, but I do know "Pred" even if I can't spell it.

His doctor did not seem to be too concerned about Lyme as a possible cause, but mentioned a possible viral etiology (the HPV viruses)

Of course, I am very concerned about the use of steroids if there is a bacterial etiology. But what about a viral cause?

Wouldn't you want to avoid suppressing your immune system at the onset of a viral infection as well?

So anyway, Have you had experience with Bell's Palsy? How long did it last?

"Last weekend a friend of mine in the hills of North Carolina just woke up to find himself with Bell's Palsy."

I have lived in the hills of North Carolina... and it seems lots of guys tell their wives that story when they wake up with a girl in their bed!"

Bell is a popular little lady down those parts... for sure!

Please send him to the Jemsek Clinic for testing.

The doctors in those parts seem unfamiliar with Lyme and co-infections.. big time.

My uncle lived there.. and he was diagnosed with Mad Cow disease!!

No.. it couldn't be Lyme they said...

He died from lack of decent medical care.

Bells palsy can last months.. or longer.

Why wait to see what it is. Have him check it out properly ASAP...

That's my story.. and I am sticking to it!

Took 10 months to diagnose the Lyme - but that time it had buried itself deep in his tissues and enter his brain controlling him motor skills.

Stay away from the steriods - they will kill him

With me it gets worse when I'm tired or on a really sick day. Most days you can't look at me and tell, but I can feel the droopiness.

From what I've heard . . . if it's going to clear up it will within the first year, but I also know a man who had it (Lyme related and very bad) for about 3 years, and then it slowly went away.

Steroids are a bad idea if he hasn't been tested for Lyme yet.

If you need the information for Dr. J's clinic in NC, let me know. That's where I go.

What I would give to have read your posts in 1989. I feel like you guys can truly understand what happens when your face turns against you.

Here's hoping this will not be too painfully long or boring to read.

Houston Pie:
Thank you for the post.

KatB:
I printed your post for my mother-in-law recently diagnosed with Bell's Palsy. She's diabetic.

The suggestions are great. (She's barely able to read 1 post.)

You got to the root cause of your problem without traveling the circuitous route of seeing 50 doctors. Thank heavens.

As for me, my facial pain started rather insidiously. I had no clue of what was to come & certainly did not believe it would stay for 13+ years.

It ranged from possible diagnosis of migraine headaches, trigeminal neuralgia and atypical facial pain.

Then you really do start looking like a blooming idiot because you're still in pain even after seeing doctor-after-doctor.

I did have an infected root canaled tooth that had to be extracted which did help. It was just one more source of infection of the face.

But I still had facial, eye & ear pain.

Just wanted to show everyone here & even future readers on a search of this thread, that there are many types of painful faces of Lyme Disease.

The patients are not all textbook cases.

These faces can hurt & debilitate and place an almost unbearable burden on families.

My LLMD told me at my first visit that most patients who had deteriorated down as far as I had, walked in his office alone.

He said your husband accompanied you. You don't know how rare that is & how fortunate you are to have him.

But yes, I do know. Here's what he came home to:

I was misdiagnosed for 5 years with Myasthenia Gravis in 1989 by one of the
"top'' neurologist in Ft. Worth.

MG causes muscle weakness & the first signs are droopy eyelids & voice weakness.

She gave me Darvocet-N for eyelid pain & asked, where is all this pain coming from?

I thought-------gee, I don't have a clue; that's why I'm here.

Being a late bloomer I was to graduate from college in 1990 & had applied to graduate school for my MSSW to become-----you guessed it, a ``medical'' social worker.

Other veteran myasthenia gravis patients told me MG does not cause pain. They said Darvocet-N was contraindicated, as it would only exacerbate the symptoms.

Over time, the facial pain became searing. It hurt the worst when the left-side of my face pulled to the left.

Back then, I ignorantly took Tylenol. I've learned it's very bad for the liver.

A Vet told us Tylenol will kill dogs because their liver cannot metabolize it.

Next DOC: She was doing her internship at a county hospital clinic (no insurance; we still paid).

If I had a question, she would leave & run ask the Resident & come back. She told me MG does not cause pain, so I didn't have that. (no test; no EMG; nothing after a 5 year diagnosis)

I told her I was still in pain & needed something for it. She proceeded to give me a 20-minute spiel on her personal headache history in college. (I could have cared less!)

I thought lady, I don't just have a headache, I'm in pain. Can't fall asleep, can't work, can't get up in the morning, etc.

I couldn't get the message across that I'd gone from a seemingly healthy person to a non-functioning, brainless wonder--------with no reasonable explanation.

I told her I would not be returning because I had obvious neurological problems & she refused to refer me to a neuro DOC.

She was mortified. Her best tip was to take Motrin for headaches.

I did & the Motrin did help.

True, Motrin is also hard on the liver, too, but I was simply trying to survive.

It does reduce inflammation. Today I take 600 mg of Motrin always with food & Elavil 10 mg.

Elavil is a cheap, old-timey antidepressant good for nerve pain & insomnia.

Next DOC: I came straight from a new DOC trying to get sleeping pills & stopped by my mom's. She took one look at me & said you're face is drawing to the left side.

I told her I was in searing pain like a hot poker, but didn't really realize my face was pulling to the left because the pain was so overwhelming.

All I could think of was going home to lie down.

I told her it was all I could do to get up & get ready for the appointment due to the pain.

Well, DOCTOR MOMS do know their kids best!

I came home, looked in the mirror & it was obviously drawing to the left. If my mom saw it, why couldn't the DOC see it?

Usually, the pain incapacitated me so I never went out in public while in pain. I couldn't get off the couch & I sure didn't inspect my face in a mirror.

The pain eventually expanded to the ``left'' side of forehead (very strange-----never, the right forehead).

It also went into the left temple & if it became really bad---------it went to my inner ear.

That's when I knew I was headed for the really heavy-duty pain.

The pain started at a low level & then grew in intensity by the hour. Thinking positive thoughts did not faze the pain.

I learned to medicate early on when the pain hit.

What I put my husband & son through during those horrible years of pain is unfathomable.

Tears were even a luxury because crying would swell the left eyelid making it heavy and even more painful.

If I ever cried, I just reached for the Motrin because I knew I would pay the ``pain price.''

I used to wear one of those old-fashioned stretchy headbands (probably back in fashion now) & pulled it down over the left eye while at home. (Does tend to ruin the hairdo. LOL)

This would ``rest'' the eyelid and at least wouldn't add to the pain.

O.K., time to get out the violins:

When my son was only around 6, back then I was still trying to work & finish school.

After picking him up at mom's, we came home & he gave me a present. It was a little perfectly cut 3 x 3 inch, eye-sized square of black, foam-rubber.

He was very proud of it & told me it was to put over my eye to help the pain.

(He said he stole it from grandmother because he knew she wouldn't mind.)
My precious thief.

Oh yeah, I still have that treasure.

Through the floundering years I had mercury amalgams removed from the teeth; & also, taking Armour Thyroid helped a lot for low body temperature.

(It actually gets the toxins out of the cell & oxygen into the cell because it revs your metabolism.)

Later in 2000, my eyelid would start hurting & then this left eye would water profusely.

While sitting at the alternative doctor's office getting a UVBI treatment with ozone, it looked like I was calmly reading a magazine crying out of one eye.

I couldn't stop the tearing.

This is almost over guys-------yes, finally diagnosed in 2003 with LD & in 2004 with Babesia.

Antibiotics are my pain killers now.

Of course, I can still have pain when certain meds hit the nerves like Mepron, Flagyl, etc.

Even stimulating antidepressants which directly affect the nerves like Wellbutrin or NADH supplement can send me into pain.

My nerves are still ``crispy fried.''

I've learned there are tiny nerves surrounding the arteries. In 1990, I couldn't even tolerate 200 IU of Vitamin E without going into searing pain for the entire day.

And, yes, my now grown-up, 20 year-old son is a junior in college.

And, yes, to my horror he's started having a right droopy eyelid.

I asked him if it scared him when he first saw it & he said no because he knew exactly what it was-------Lyme.

We feel my suffering spared him from losing his youth by getting an early diagnosis.

But it's an especially nasty two-edge sword because with his type of symptoms, it's rather apparent I passed this on to him in utero.

I told him that telling everyone, including employers, about having Lyme could eventually hurt his career.

We told him we would respect his wishes about this and tell no one, if that's what he wanted.

But he said, absolutely not. I'm telling everybody about LD.

He's on Zithromax for now & his voice sounded so strong when he called recently.

He doesn't admit to voice weakness, but his grandmother & I cannot always understand his speech. Also, he is a low-talker.

If you're still reading, glad everyone here is making their suffering count.

Over & out-----that's all my rambling for the day.

Why? Because if it turns out to be an infectious agent (bacteria for instance) causing your mysterious problem, then you have a chance to be cured.
(anti-biotics fight bacteria)

If you take steroids and it turns out your illness has a bacterial etiology, you have

1) supressed the immune system just when you needed it most (that is what steroids do) therefore risking driving the bad guys further into your tissues

2)wasted valuable days or weeks that you could have been eliminating the bad guys

If take anti-biotics and decide later you want to go on steroids you can, but you don't want to go on steroids first, because then you will lessen the chances of the anti-biotics helping you later.

And what we all want is to take as little anti-biotics as we have to - so we generally want to get treatment sooner not later.

I hope this helps clarify what is a "prevailing theory" around here. I do not speak for everybody here of course, and I am no medical professional, just a recovering Lymie.

One of my early symptoms was what I'd call "mild facial paralysis." It felt like I had a raw steak plastered across my forehead. I couldn't make most of my usual facial expressions. I would occasionally drool as a corner of my mouth temporarily went slack. It happened once when I was talking to my boss.

This lasted about 4 months and resolved about the time I started getting glutathione/ATP shots from Dr. S. (my lyme had not yet been diagnosed - I was seeing her for "FM/CFIDS"). Occasionally I still feel a cold, wet feeling at the corner of my mouth where the muscle goes a bit slack, but knock on wood, that was the worst of it for me.

My heart goes out to those of you who have or have had Bell's. A couple of friends have had it and it was very difficult for them.