Hi all I have recently (10 days ago) been diagnosed with MS, a diagnoses I was expecting after a number of problems over a number of years; one of which was Bell’s palsy 3 years ago. I luckily recovered well, and only a slight trace of it being there, and always feels slightly worse in the cold, but no real issues. However the day after MS diagnosis I went away to Scotland, we were staying in a camping pod and sat by an outdoor fire, I walked to the toilet block and back and within 15 mins the Bell’s palsy was back to the worst it had been, panicking and in a field in the middle of nowhere and had a drink so unable to drive I called 999, they sent out an ambulance, did full health check on my and whilst sat in the warmth my face started to return, they gave me the option to go to hospital but I choose to stay, go in the pod and stay warm, by morning my face was pretty much returned… Until… The following evening I walked out of a restaurant, and within 5 minutes of walking my face had gone again-although not to the level of the previous night as I managed to get into the pod again, heating on and get warm, and again it started to return. I have been left almost back to normal, but not as symmetrical as it was prior to these two hiccups. After almost 3 years of no change to have this suddenly happen was definitely a shock! Is this something anyone has had happen to them?? Thanks in advance Lynsey x
Hi Lynsey, I suffered with Bell’s palsy after I had a tooth removed, one side of my face dropped. It took about a week to go back to normal. I had a word with the dentist and was informed that she must have touched a certain nerve that caused it. Baring in mind MS is all about the nerves it wasn’t to surprising that it occurs. Hope yours stops very soon. Janet x
Hi there Lynsey
I am not diagnosed with MS (still in Limbo) so I will stick with my migraine diagnosis for now, I used to be affected by numbness and paralysis down my right hand side only (was told this was one of my migraine symptoms), but now my left hand side joins in and during my most recent episode the left side of my face dropped, I have just recently got feeling back on the left jaw/gums which were numb and was having to eat on right hand side which I have a bloomin broken tooth so that scuppered me.Oh and briefly my swallowing was affected!
My face is ok now (well that’s debatable teehee) but the left hand side when I eat has gone hyper sensitive now if food shoots to the back, it really is painful.
Really gutted for you about your diagnosis, I find this site and forum really helpful, hope you do too.
Michelle x
Oh this is new one on me but googled it and found this on Patients. co.uk. It lists various ms symptoms.
- Facial weakness:
- Bell’s palsy can occur alone or with other indications of brain stem disorder.
- There may also be trigeminal neuralgia, or paroxysmal dysarthria and ataxia (with a clumsy arm, disturbed sensation and painful tetanic posturing of the limb, lasting 1-2 minutes).
- There may be other paroxysmal symptoms, including bursts of pain and paraesthesia, itching, cough and hiccup, painful spasm and complex gaze palsies.
I am not an expert by the way, just finding my feet. (excuse the pun, as mine are pretty numb). I was dx’d at the beginning of April, not unexpected. Could the stress of getting your dx made your symptoms reappear. Stress really affects me. It make the re-routed neural pathways shut down a bit (or something like that.) Heat can also do it and illness.
Vicki x
Thanks - thought it was an odd one!! Didn’t know if it was a mixture of temperature and stress combining to this outcome!!! Stress levels have just built over last 12 months!! Lynsey x
Hi,
I suffered with Bell’s Palsy on the left side of my face 28 yrs ago. It came on at school I was playing the recorder. The ledt side of my face pulled towards my ear so I went to see a neurologist - who actually became my neurologist when going through MS - and was supposed to have an MRI scan but the condition disappeared so no scan. 23 yrs later I started with drop foot - blah blah blah - and after an MRI scan was diagnosed with MS but my Neurologist saw no link between the Bell’s Palsy and MS. I am no neurological specialist but I have my reservations on his thoughts. Also, BP does return when I’ve had alcohol - the left side of my face drops as if I’ve had a stroke. It’s probably not that noticable to others but it’s very obvious to my husband and myself. The drop foot I have is also ampified by alcohol.
Hope this helps with your thoughts.
Jenny
Ahhhh thanks for that jenny… Doesn’t normally happen with alcohol but may have been the different alcohol drinking that night, only had a glass of wine the second night, so no big drinking session. My neurologist defiantly thinks that MS and Bell’s palsy connected and my doctor said so to… Apparently if it effects your forehead it’s not MS but if your forehead still has movement but the rest of your face not then it is caused by MS. Thanks Lynsey
I had Bell’s Palsy 2 months ago because of the cold windy weather. I’m still not fully recovered, you can check out my blog for details http://bellspalsy.me/