[Erin524]

The right side of my face has been numb since friday afternoon. I'm wondering if there's anything I need to be worried about having a numb face.

I know that I have to watch out for hot foods, since I might not feel it burning me immediately.

Are there any other dangers I need to watch out for??


Geeze, MS really really sucks!

[SallyC]

When my face was numb, I would always bite my cheek, when eating...OUCHHHHHH!

[KajunButterfly]

Yeah, I would always bite the inside of my cheek. Hope you get better soon.

[Erin524]

well, that explains the chomping on my cheek...which I'd been doing a few weeks ago, before my face went numb...which makes me wonder if it was already going numb way back then and I'm just now noticing it.

There's also numbness around the orbit of my eye, and my eye feels really dry now...and my nose on that same side feels weird.

Hopefully this will go away and wont get to the point of trigeminal neuralgia with the pain that I've read about from that.

Just when I thought the MS couldnt get any weirder. I'm just getting tired of new crap happening every few weeks.

The numbness I was experiencing back in May seems to be coming back now too. Not. cool. at. all.

[ewizabeth]

I'd bite my cheek or inside of my lips, sometimes really hard and repeatedly. It still happens once in awhile. Or I'd sound seriously drunk when speaking.

[Erin524]

Before I noticed the numbness in my face, I felt like I was having problems speaking. Kind of like after eating really cold ice cream.

I asked my dad if I was speaking normally last night, he said I'd sounded totally normal to him.


My face around my eye orbits kind of feels really weird this morning. My eye is watering a bunch, and it kind of aches...I'm really kind of worried that this is going to end up being painful.

I just woke up and my right hand is all sausage fingers...my face feels like it's not really my face on the right side. My lower lip feels big on one side. My tongue feels kind of weird and I have this taste in my mouth that wont go away.

I really hope this isnt affecting my sense of taste. Does that happen??

[Erin524]

My neurologist just called me back.

He's told me to rest for the next couple of weeks. Actually told me to not do physical therapy this week, except for what they're doing for my shoulder. (I've been doing PT for balance issues too)

He said it's a fifth cranial nerve problem, but he also said it's a problem on the left side of the brain. (numbness is on the right side. Left side of the brain controls the right)

So, I guess it's the left fifth cranial nerve that's got the problem. (I think?)

I mentioned that I seem to get new stuff about every 6 weeks, and he said he noticed that. He didnt want to give me steroids for this (dont want them anyways) I told him I have a lot of fatigue and that I cant get myself to sleep till 5am some mornings. Any sleep I do get isnt restful.

I'm just getting tired of this. I can almost set a clock or at least track this on a calendar with these flares.

I need a vacation from the MS! I'd thought about a trip to Washington D.C. in late august, but decided to wait till a cooler month to go there. My dad even offered to pay for me if I wanted to go, but knowing that D.C. is pretty famous for being nasty hot in August changed my mind. I'm guessing the MS would have wanted to tag along with me, and the MS really isnt the best traveling companion.

[EddieF]

Middle of the night last night when I woke to turn, I noticed the pillow didn't feel right as I was getting comfortable on other side. Reason was feeling in face wasn't there 100%. Been losing it where I shave under neck and chin over the past few months. I'm gaining strength from daily exercise yet still losing feeling. I hate ms.

[Erin524]

It does suck, doesnt it?

I went to the eye doctor today to make sure my right eye was ok. Right side of my face is numb and that includes the eyeball and eyelids, so I had my eyes checked.

Had a different ophthalmologist today since mine is on vacation or something. The guy I had today was great. Said my optic nerves are nice and pink and he would never have known that I had at least 2 episodes of optic neuritis if he hadnt read about it in my records.

With correction, my eyes see 20/20. He did give me a new Rx for glasses and the name of an ointment to put in my right eye when I go to bed while my face is numb. Said there's a danger that I could open my eye while I'm sleeping if my eyelid is numb, and there's a possibility that I could hurt my cornea if that happens. The goo would keep my eye nice and juicy instead of dry and yucky.

I forgot to go get that tonight (we were having baseball sized hail. I figured I could wait)

Not sure I want to go shopping for new frames while my face is numb. I keep taking off my glasses right now because they feel heavy on my nose that's half numb. (and my glasses are really light)

The numbness has either gotten a little better, or I'm getting used to it, because it's not driving me as nuts as it was the other day. Of course, as soon as I say something like that out loud, it'll immediately get worse again. I'm sure 20 minutes after I post this, I'll feel something change.

At least that's how it's seemed to be going for me lately.