I’m about 95% back to normal, maybe more I can only see a very slight droop in my smile and my taste isnt yet back.
The thing is it’s only been less than 3 weeks. There was a time when Bell’s Palsy didn’t even START to get better for a month or more and often took 6 months to fully recover. You had a one in three chance of permanent nerve damage in those days, meaning a crooked smile or drooping eye, that has changed a lot with steroid therapy.
The bottom line is the Prednisone WORKS! I hate the stuff, it makes me moody, it makes me very quick tempered and borderline psychotic. I even asked if there was any alternative. The doctor said no, you REALLY need to tough this out…13 days worth of a high dose. I asked if it would be OK to take my hydrocodone with it if it would help balance my mood, the doctor said that would not be a problem, so that’s what I did and it did help I would catch myself getting hot headed in time to head it off…the hydrocodone tends to make me happy.
Even at that the steroids made sleep VERY difficult. I’d sleep an hour or two at best with lots of tossing and turning but I would nap during the day for an hour or two.
Bell’s Palsy is an exclusionary diagnosis, meaning that they rule out things like stroke, diabetes, Lyme Disease and when nothing is left they say you have Bell’s Palsy because they really dont KNOW what causes it, they suspect Herpes Simplex 1 and Chicken Pox Virus but there’s no empirical proof. They will likely put you on strong anti-virals (Acyclovir) like they did me. Many doctors think the Acyclovir does nothing, I honestly have no opinion I know that the combo worked for me but it may have been the Steroids which DO drastically cut the healing time.
The upside to all this is that the steroids drastically cut the healing time for the Bell’s Palsy and trust me it’s worth it. This is going to happen to some of you at some point so remember this info. Main thing is get to a doctor and get on the steroids as quickly as possible to minimize any chance of permanent damage.
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[New Post] A Final Note On Bell’s Palsy – via #twitoaster http://www.mikesouth.com/mike-souths-lif…
“makes me very quick tempered and borderline psychotic”
Glad you’re back, dude. But I do have a question. What effects do the steroids have if a person is already “borderline psychotic”? Just wondering… *grin*
Actually steroids can cause someone to go into a full psychosis in some cases. In fact, if you were Bipolar or Schizophrenic the docs probably would not prescribe steroids for long periods to you (if at all). I am surprised that hydrocodone tablets actually counteract that tendency, usually that is used for moderate pain. Of course if you don’t take them regularly, relaxation and a “drunk” feeling is possible.
Glad you are feeling better, Mike. Hopefully this does not happen to you again.
I have the hydrocodone for pain but i rerely need it…I noticed that it has an effect of making me slightly euphoric…I counted on that to help
what it did was give me the ability to catch myself before going off on someone
when I had sinus surgery I refused the medrol because of the adverse effects it had when I took it previously the doc said it would make the healing take a few extra days…that was worth it.
It probably helped that I kinda knew what to expect but I have no doubt the hydrocodone helped me…Im off of it now BTW I hate taking anything unless I really need it. In this case Im OK with it and Im plenty happy without it 😉
I am glad that you are doing much better. I would hate to have that kind of paralysis, even if temporarily! Here is to lots of good porn from your studios in the next year.