Bells Palsy diagnosis

[Bigred407]

Good morning folks. I haven’t posted in a very long time, I hope you are all well?

On Thursday evening, I went to get my annual Flu vaccine and also received my COVID booster at the same time. I received the Pfizer vaccine as my booster, apparently this is the one being used across the board due to it’s longevity of protection.

When I woke on Friday morning, I had a bit of a headache, which was no surprise as I’d been unwell after both my first vaccinations ( Astra Zeneca ). However, I was also aware of the right hand side of my mouth being slightly numb, as though I had been to the dentist if that makes sense.

To cut to the chase, I still felt this way yesterday morning and also noticed that I couldn’t wink with my right eye etc too. I contacted NHS24, who referred me to A&E to be checked for obvious reasons ( potential stroke or similar ). I have been diagnosed with having Bell’s Palsy. So I have been prescribed a longish course of antiviral‘s and steroids to hopefully help start my recovery.

I am unsure whether this is just coincidence, or potentially the vaccine has had anything to do with this.

So I decided to have a look online this morning, just to learn a little more about what Bell’s palsy actually is. I noticed on an explanation video I watched that that it mentioned being diabetic could potentially put you at more risk of developing Bell’s Palsy, or it being recurrent.

I wanted to ask if anyone on the forum had any knowledge on this, and also if any members have had Bells Palsy themselves and their experiences of this.

Apologies for the lengthy post, just wanted to explain myself as best I can.

Thank you for reading and thanks in advance for any responses.

 

[trophywench]

I've had it caused by cold wind catching that side of my face over a weekend sailing. Lasted about a fortnight or so and went away on its own as the inflamed facial nerve recovered. You have to be very careful to protect the sides of your face from the cold. If you wear glasses be extra careful cos the breeze can get in at the side. If you don't wear glasses - wear sunglasses cos they protect the fronts of the eyes.

 

[Bigred407]

I've had it caused by cold wind catching that side of my face over a weekend sailing. Lasted about a fortnight or so and went away on its own as the inflamed facial nerve recovered. You have to be very careful to protect the sides of your face from the cold. If you wear glasses be extra careful cos the breeze can get in at the side. If you don't wear glasses - wear sunglasses cos they protect the fronts of the eyes.

Yeah, I do wear glasses, so soldering I will need to watch. Alright thankfully I work indoors which should help a little. I was also prescribed some eye drops and I’m going to start tapping my eye shut in bed for now.

 

[Pumper_Sue]

I wanted to ask if anyone on the forum had any knowledge on this, and also if any members have had Bells Palsy themselves and their experiences of this.

A late friend of mine had type 2 diabetes and developed Bells Palsy and he told me then that it was known to affect people with diabetes, more than non diabetics.

 

[Ruby/London]

Yes, I have heard that too.
I developed BP 6 months ago after an covid infection and the steroids made me feel extremely ill. Prior to BP my fasting bg was typically 4.5/5. After the steroids I haven’t had a fasting bg lower than 8.I still have some residual problem with my eye and ongoing fatigue. I didn’t do well on steroids and would probably have benefited more from acupuncture.