In A&E with a numb face...keep me company please?!

[numbcheek]

I've NC'd for this.

Yesterday afternoon my face suddenly went numb on the right side. No other symptoms but my face has drooped and 24 hours on is still numb.

Anyone ever had this? What was the outcome? I tried hard not to google it but it's very worrying.

111 sent me to A&E and I've had bloods taken. It looks to be a long wait!

It's busy, people are queuing on ambulance stretchers to get in. Standing room only (because half the chairs are taped off for social distancing).

So far, there has been one person in for toothache, one because he's punched a wall on Christmas Day, another with a sore toe....

Just posted this on the wrong thread - I had acupuncture as well as steroids which I found really helpful- hope you feel better OP and get some rest.

So pleased that you’re back home and wishing you a very speedy recovery.
Happy New Year.🙂🌺
PS...your thread is the only one where I have read all the messages and responses since I first started following mumsnet. I loose interest very quickly on most threads. 🙂

Hope you recover soon OP. I was blue lighted to hospital years ago for full left sided numbness. CT scan was 'all clear' and it was put down as a migraine. Discovered years later through an MRI for an unrelated condition that I had in fact had a stroke. According to an internal letter between consultants I dont think was meant for my eyes, after the MRI they re-checked my old CT and the stroke was apparently visible the whole time! Luckily, a decade after my stroke, they've now started me on preventative treatment to ensure I dont have another

mild stoke or Bells palsy would be my guess. On a positive note - i know people who have had mild strokes and Bells and fully recovered so try no to worry too much.

I know with Bells they dont know too much about why it happens and is usually really sudden. But the recovery is the same - a few months on and suddenly it's miles better. A lady i know who had it last Christmas said it was just a matter of waiting. She need eye drops as she found the eyelid dropped a bit and gave her a dry eye and she was a bit frustrated by it but in 3 months she was back to normal.

The biggest question is - what the hell are you going to do in A&E for 6 hours!?!? (from all the times ive been in with either me or the kids for various things - 6 hrs is about the average stay) and will your phone still have charge!?!?

I suggest sitting on the floor - but it's a hospital - f~CK knows what's been down there lately and despite covid (ive been in A&E since covid) the cleaning is shocking! I was there 8 hrs and nothing even got a wipe. It was packed too.

@bemusedmoose - the OP is already at home with a diagnosis of Bell's Palsy.

If the steroids don't work, ask tohave your B12 checked, B12 deficiency can cause numbness.

Glad you’re home and on the mend. Sounds like they’ve really been looking after you and have done all the necessary tests.

And this is one of the many reasons I love Mumsnet.

EveryoneHasLostTheGame
My brother had it at 18 hes 69 now his face has never recovered

Tact obviously not one of your strong points

@numbcheek Oh no, wishing you a speedy recovery!

Thank you to all of you for keeping me company and reassuring me. I'm still very wonky and my eye lets out random tears and I've dribbled a bit without noticing 

Played some Christmas board games today with the kids and DP and just chilled out. I'm wide awake! Again, the steroids they've given me are the highest dose for the next few days then working down.

It's worrying, seeing that other people have missed diagnoses or not got better but I know most people do get better.

@Tomasinabombadil it's great when you get that thread that you just follow. I remember that with a few on here too 

Anyway, thanks all. Heartwarming to know that people have took time out to help me, a stranger 😘.

Even when dealing with a husband who believes sprouts and baked beans are a good combo @Orchidflower1

@QueenArseClangers me too. It's not all AIBU is it? Although I admit, I've spent too much time over there in the past

I have oral steroids when I have an asthma attack and they really stop me sleeping. I hope you drift off soon.

I have oral steroids when I have an asthma attack and they really stop me sleeping. I hope you drift off soon.

I had this 3 years ago around this time of the year too. Due to a very bad flu that was not going away, I woke up one morning with numb face, droopy eye and mouth on the right side. I panicked as I thought I had a stroke. It was Bells Palsy. Never heard of it till that time. Took more than a month to fully recover. Couldn't even drink from a glass or a bottle without dripping from one side, had to hold my lips closed with my hand.

Like a ripple 29/12/20 AJR. DB. H.

Cryptic I know😂. Just posting for posterity.

I’m so glad to hear this thread has helped raise a smile (crooked or otherwise!) on people’s faces.

Baked beans and sprouts as a combo, NO, but I did eat more than the one obligatory sprout at xmas dinner this year - maybe I’m growing up but I think I’m still turning out.

I hope everyone has found (finds!) some time to spend with loved ones (even if this is in a virtual capacity) this ‘Christmas’/ break from work / furlough / doesn’t matter what day it is anymore / whatever may be happening in your life - tell them they’re important to you and tell them why. Tell them you love them.

As I say to the pup “chin up chuck” and keep spreading joy :)

OP shame the steroids are disturbing your sleep, hopefully you won’t need them for long? Silver lining, sometimes I prefer the night to the day - I’m much more productive!!

Hi OP. Have been following the thread and glad you're home. A few steroid points i wish I'd known: as pp said they can be a bugger for insomnia, the earlier you take them the better, and if you have any nytol tablets or similar they can be useful.

They kill me emotionally, I get very sad and tearful on them, but it's a very temporary effect and stops as I taper.

If you do taper (depends on dose you are on and for how long), you may get a sudden crash of fatigue at some point along the tapering journey, again it's only temporary, but took me a bit by surprise and I wondered what was going on.

Hope everything works out for you.

You need yoga as bells can be stress related.
Every day have a little walk away from people. If possible.
Or sit in garden with cuppa and woolly hat
Bet you still look cute x

suzy2b - my dad had it in the 1980s & fully recovered in a few weeks. Not sure OP wants doom mongering.

@iklboo Yeah, my dad had something similar in the 90s as well. It mostly cleared up, but one of his eyes was always a tiny bit droopy after that..