Can Herpes cause Bells Palsy?

[JessikaRabbit89]

One of the things I have noticed since having H is the asymmetry of my face. One morning back in November, I looked in the mirror to discover my right side was drooped. I thought I had a stroke and panicked. I called my dad and he tells me he had it when he was younger and its called Bells Palsy. From what I read, its not hereditary, but believed to be caused by a number of Herpes viruses, including Chicken Pox. I had Chicken Pox as a kid, so I assumed I have had Bells all my life but it reappeared after getting exposed to HSV2. Some days my face looks fine, other days my lips are completely uneven, my cheeks look lopsided, my smile looks forced, and it literally looks like I have half of 2 different faces. I woke up this morning to my right side feeling like it fell asleep. I do facial exercises and they definitely help, but only if you do them daily, otherwise the muscles will get weak again. I know herpes is associated with many nerve and neurological disorders, so having this isn't entirely shocking. Just not exactly what I was expecting. Anybody else have this issue?

[WCSDancer2010]

It's entirely possible ... Lymes disease also can cause Bells Palsy .... there's a lot of things that can cause it ....

 

Unfortunately there's not a lot they can do about it... remind me, are you on antivirals? If not, I might go on them for awhile and see if the symptoms let up ... because the longer the symptoms go on, the more likely you will have permanent effects ... it may just be that if you can stop it for the moment while the body catches up with creating the antibodies and keeping the virus under control.

[JessikaRabbit89]

I'm really hoping its not Lymes disease >_< I was on my antivirals for 3-4 days. I did notice my face appeared normal the last time I was on it, so I'll start taking them again. I've been told cold weather triggers Bells and it has been 16° and below here. I typically only see it on cold days. This is so crazy..

[WCSDancer2010]

I doubt it's Lymes - my point was theres a number of things that can cause Bells Palsy :)

 

Try the anti-virals ... it may be that you just need to support the body for awhile with the drugs till things settle down and right now I'd say keep the BP under control till Spring then try to wean off and see what happens

[Days_mommy]

omg learned something new. i had one of the worst cases of.pox my.doc had seen..and me face is not symmetrical..and i can only do the elvis on one side. my cheem droops a lil its so em arrassing

[seeker]

hey there, my initial Ob was either, very mono like, concurrent with mono or the H2 reactivated latent mono ( Epstein-barr). all my symptoms were classic mono, save the fact im almost 50. I did get bells about 2 weeks after. one morning I woke fine about 2 hours later got a drink and it ran down my face. talk about scary, I thought I was having a stroke. however I had known someone who got bells somewhat regularly so I wondered if it was that and after a quick look up I knew it was. something about how the forehead reacts to bells v stroke.

 

had bells @ Halloween, if my face was gonna look like it was melting, perfect time for it :)~

 

I went to the doctor, funny thing he had it at 18. put me on antivirals and steroids. I started improving almost immediately. I also had to use drops on my eye and tape it shut at night because it will open up and dry out while sleeping, so you may want to look into that if you have bells. there are some PT things you can do also. I was kinda doing them instinctively by singing in the car and over emphasizing the words plus some other stuff. there may be some PT on line. it usually gets better over time but can be more chronic in others, esp females. sometimes it may take a while to get better if the nerve is damaged and has to regrow in the sheathe. between the "mono" and the bells I lost the ability to taste chocolate and some other sweets tho my taste has improved over the last year. right after everything, and I mean everything tasted like a plain rice cake, now I rock the garlic, adobo, and the hot sauce and horseradish, I like sweating out the top of my head while eating :)

[MMissouri]

@seeker, I'm sorry for this poor joke, but I think I'd prefer h over not being able to taste chocolate. The horror! lol Glad things are going better for you now!

[seeker]

@missouri i do miss my reeces. I compensate with jalapeños.

[JessikaRabbit89]

Sorry haven't been on here in a few but wow I'm glad I'm not the only one who's experience this. It's cleared up since I wrote this post but I'm pretty sure the cold air triggered it for me. It's been warm the past couple of days and I've been totally fine. Crazy huh. I do notice my speech is kinda funny when I talk during BP episodes. I also sing as a way of therapy too I've noticed it works. I have partial loss of taste only on the right side of my tongue but it's so minor it's nothing for me to call home about.

[seeker]

@ jessikaRabbit89, try using your speech to text on your phone during a BP episode. rather entertaining what it comes up with. the taste thing has improved with time. im guessing that part of the nerve got damaged pretty bad.

[WCSDancer2010]

I'm convinced my voice to text is drunk half the time ...and I don't have BP to blame it on :p

[Getbetter111]

My eye has just started twitching the past three days?its the stress or could it be bells?

[WCSDancer2010]

STRESS ...

[seeker]

stress, bells is a nerve issue that causes temporary paralysis, no twitching. no nothing. I know, I had it. was very................ fascinating ( my inner Spock).