Possible Bell's Palsy

[JamNChi]

My friend has been ill for the last 5 days and was diagnosed with a sinus infection yesterday.  She is experiencing pain in and around her ear and hearing loss in the left ear.  She also has a cyst that's been there for a long time..that gets larger when she is sick.  The cyst is painful to touch.  She was prescribed Amoxiclav for the sinus infection yesterday.  Within 10 minutes of taking the medicine, she experienced dryness and numbness of the tongue.  She woke up this morning, and the left side (same side as the pain and cyst) was paralyzed. Her eye will not close and her smile is crooked - her facial muscles are very weak...she has lost her sense of taste...everything is bitter...and when she's not eating there is metallic taste lingering in her mouth. She has a lot of pain in and around the ear still.  The Dr. believes this is an allergic reaction the amoxiclav..but she has no previous allergies to antibiotics and told her to take Benadryl.  Is it possible that this is Bell's Palsy and caused by the sinus infection or that cyst?  Should she go to the emergency room??

[FRC23]

See a sleep center. Recurrent "Bells Palsy," memory problems, insomnia symptoms, chronic pain, and twitchy feelings in muscles are actually very characteristic of narcolepsy with cataplexy. In fact, often times, it's not "Bells Palsy," but cataplexy. Viruses and some vaccines (namely the H1N1) can actually precipitate this, but it can happen seemingly in random fashion, too.

Common misdiagnoses are depression, epilepsy, and migraines.

It doesn't look the way you think it looks. I struggled for years to find an answer, and was misdiagnosed several times. I had it with just sleepiness during the day and what looked like insomnia at night for probably about 15-20 years before I ended up with more serious symptoms of narcolepsy that actually included cataplexy (random muscle weakness that can either be isolated, or widespread). Onset is typically in teenage or early adult years but it can come later, and earlier, too.

The cataplexy manifested first in my face, as what looked like episodes of Bells Palsy that came and went when I was tired, stressed, or even when I was happy and smiling.  But when I paid closer attention I realized I got weakness and twitching (not uncommon) in my other muscles sometimes too, though I chalked it up to clumsiness until I paid attention. I also had issues with my vision randomly and sleepiness.

I went undiagnosed for about 15-20 years, until I finally saw a sleep specialist and she nailed the diagnosis right away. The vast majority of doctors have absolutely no idea what it is or what it looks like, and no routine lab tests, MRI, CT scan, x-ray or anything of that nature will detect it. 75% of people with narcolepsy never get diagnosed in their lifetime.

I was tested for epilepsy, migraines, MS, all kinds of things. But nope, it turned out to be narcolepsy!!

Get seen by a sleep center!

[mommaminer370]

tell her go to the e.r. It sounds like bells palsy, which i had just after giving birth to my son, at 25. i had numb tongue for a day, and when i woke up the next morning the r side of my face would not move (lopsided eyes, crooked smile ..) they can give her an antiviral and prednisone which helps fairly quickly (about 1 week).