Bell's Palsy for 7 months

[wuff]

Bell's palsy affected me in late Aug 2002 during the 37th week of my pregnancy.  The GP I went to, could not prescribe any drugs to me due to my condition then.  Subsequently, I actually had my delivery induced as my blood pressure shot up and couldn't stabilise.  

After childbirth, I sought acupuncture treatment and have been doing so for the last 6 months.  Although, I am able to smile, knit the brows a bit, many parts are still tight/numb.  At this point, I would like to know if taking steriods (as what would have been prescribed at the onset ?) would help my condition ?

[ill13632]

A related discussion, Bell's Palsy Blindness! was started.

[Texas Eve]

I was diagnosed with Bell's Palsy in November. I was on Famvir at the time for recurring viral meningitis. The doctor in the emergency room told me that both are caused by the same virus, and that he was surprised that I should come down with Bell's while I was on prophylactic antiviral medication. The palsy was so severe that I could not close my eye. After keeping my eye taped shut for several weeks, the opthalmologist suggested stitching my eye closed. When I went to the eye surgeon, expecting stitching (a friend of mine had had her eye stitched closed for 7 months, and finally fully recovered, but with great inconvenience) he instead implanted a weight of 1.8 grams of gold into my eyelid.(This was a hospital procedure) This allowed me to close my eye normally. I still have a some paralysis on the left side of my face, and my smile is a little crooked. The weight of the gold in my eyelid has flattened my cornea so that the vision in my left eye is dramatically different from before.(I'll get new glasses after the weight is removed.)
I would do the same thing (having the implant) knowing what I know now. I will have the weight removed as soon as the paralysis is completely gone.

[Glenny]

Wuff,
Can I suggest you look at this website?

http://dianafarragher.co.uk

This lady is a UK physio who developed the facial stimulators that are used so successfully in treating facial paralysis
Good luck!

www.glennisjones-physio.co.uk

[CCF-Neuro-M.D.-JT]

There have been reports that Bell's palsy is 3-4 times more common during the last trimester of pregnancy. Treatment during this time with steroids is still controversial, so it's understandable that your doc held off on treatment in your case.  Unfortunately, however, the data shows that corticosteroid treatment may be beneficial only if given in the first 7-10 days of onset (best in first 5 days). Taking the prednisone now (6 months out) is unlikely to have any effect as the whole point of steroids is to decrease the theorized inflammation of the nerve which occurs early on.  The good news is that most patients do recover with time.  In the meantime, make sure your eye is well protected with artificial tears and try massaging your facial muscles.  Best of luck.