Positive migraine advice / bells palsy please

[womaninatightspot]

Currently in hospital with a terrible headache which started on Wednesday. Diagnosed with Bells palsy on Thursday. Dead arm on Saturday so changed to possible stroke and was admitted since been ruled out by CT scan. I have been tested lots. Lumbar puncture results tomorrow so that should hopefully explain whether it was caused by a virus, possible bleed into spinal fluid etc. Regardless it's going to be a bit of a long recovery and I've discovered I'm much vainer than I thought so it's all a bit depressing. I suspect I'll be glad to hide behind a mask.

Any coping strategies I'm very light sensitive due to the not blinking one eye. Still with an awful headache.

This must be very scary for you . I suffer from migraines, some are worse than others. A friend has had some hemiplegic migraines which present in a similar way to a stroke. I don't know what to advise, but you're in the right place and they are testing everything to find out what's going on. Have been offered pain relief or can you ask for it? I find being distracted from the headache helps me until meds kick in - I take sumatriptan.

I had a severe one-sided headache for several days before I developed Bell's palsy, so you have my sympathies.

What with the pain, having to have my eye taped shut to protect it, and the difficulty with eating / smiling, I will admit that there was one night when I started to feel quite sorry for myself, and had a bit of a cry.

I was lucky with my recovery: I started to see the first flickers of muscle movement after about 3 weeks and had full movement by 6 weeks.

Tips:

• Look after the eye you can't close. Drops, ointment, taping it shut at night. If you tape your eye closed during the day, then remember that you won't have 3D vision and it might affect your coordination. I wore sunglasses when going outside, which also protect you from dust being blown into your eye. At work I used an app which reminded me to take screen breaks.

• Eating and drinking: avoid very hot drinks. I waited until I had learned how to eat / drink without dribbling before attempting to do this in front of people.

• I had hyperacusis for about a month, but ear defenders helped.

If you are on steroids, they can make you feel as though you are more well than you actually are, which makes it tempting to do too much too soon. They can also cause insomnia for some people, but early Bell's Palsy can make you feel exhausted, so perhaps it will cancel itself out?

How are you feeling @womaninatightspot? I hope your headache has subsided at least a bit.