Been out of touch for a while but I think most of you remember me and know a little bit about me – Feeling really sorry for myself, fighting horrible pain, trying to find some relief from my stimulator implant (NOT!!), and dealing with the spread of RSD from left leg to right leg and right arm/hand along with having to tolerate my PM Doctor who has turned out to be more of a hindrance than help. I guess I should save all this for another post…. I am drowning and I never really felt I fit in here but I am in desperate need of some feedback from veteran RSD sufferers.

Anyway, 3 weeks ago I had a spell that first appeared to be a mild stroke. After days of EKG’s, labs and CT scan nothing was found that could explain things except for Bells Palsy. I had never heard of this before so I had to do some research. We determined that several days prior, I had a round of severe pain with my RSD limbs, was not sleeping at all and had a personal situation that really had me stressed out. My primary doctor feels that this is probably what triggered the Bells Palsy episode. He also said that because I was on such a strong daily dose of Lyrica that the severity of the episode was suppressed otherwise he feels I would have suffered a more severe case. As luck would have it, the left side of my face was affected but it was nothing like the pictures I saw and what my doctor described he had seen in the past. I am regaining the use of my face and eye slowly but surely. I can feel weird sensations where the nerves are regenerating. Doctor feels I should fully regain function over next several weeks/months. He won’t rule out that I won’t have another episode because of the physical and mental stress my body is under with such an active case of RSD. I worry that RSD may spread to my face since I have had nerve damage/trauma. I know different nerves were affected and not the sympathetic nerves but could this be a possibility??

Questions:
Has anyone heard of any correlation between RSD and Bells Palsy?
Has anyone ever had this happen to them or heard of any RSD patient having this happen?

Any feedback you could provide would be greatly appreciated… Thank you!

Hi AJ,

To the best of my recollection, I have not heard of other cases with RSD and Bell's Palsy. I know that it is caused by huge stress on the body, so it certainly makes sense that the RSD flare is behind it.

Some of us do come and go here. I know I find I'm most drawn to NT when my pain is at it's worst, so that I can be with others who can commiserate and when I'm at my best, so that I can try to give back to the community. You might be surprised how supportive and helpful this crew can be if you can stick around for a bit this time.

Best Wishes

Thank you for your kind words. I am praying that this episode was just a freak thing and that I won't have another... I was so scary! I plan to keep researching and sending info to several medical communities to see if anything turns up. I will post info if I find anything.

Could it be blood pressure? I did read that high blood pressure could cause Bell's Palsy. Having severe RSD pain can and will boost your pressure, perhaps causing Bell's Palsy?

Thanks for the feeback Jim...

When they rushed me to the doctor my blood pressure was good (actually on the low range of normal). Never have had a problem with Blood Pressure in the past. Heart rate was high but EKG look good. The only thing that came back out of whack on my labs was my cholesterol - good and bad cholesterol were high but they are blaming that on Lyrica and the rapid weight gain (40lbs) in 12mths. Doctor didn't seem to worried about it cause I went from 105 to 142 lbs and my eating habits don't justify the weight gain. Lyrica has proven weight gain side effects of average 30lbs according to my doctor and the FDA. I am just watching what I eat to help lower my cholesterol.

I just don't know except to blame it on RSD!

Hi, My name is Chrissie
I have RSD, and was diagnosed with it at Toronto western hospital
since the diagnose I found out my pancreas shut down and had diabetes, with that came high blood pressure, today I was diagnosed with bells palsy,I would find it uncanny that my legal representative who is dealing with my compensation case has rsd too, so we talk allot about how we have the same symptoms. Today I called him and we discussed how we now both have bells palsy of the face on the right side. I went online to research this to see if there is a connection and I found you...so there probably are more of us out there then we think. Good Luck with yours and keep your spirit up

To Chrissie - I am desperate to speak with a lawyer who actually knows of CRPS which obviously your lawyer does. Could you please give their name so that I can contact them. (sorry I asked here - I am new and wasn't sure how to contact you otherwise)
Thank you

Neurontin can cause Bell Palsy and hearing loss. Of course I wonder if I had RSD before with no swelling issues (from kidney surgery injury). I had palsy after my surgery and it was attributed to Neurontin. It's rare but RSD people aren't exactly normal are they? Also herpes viruses can cause bell palsy.
Jerie

I had Bell's Palsy when I was pregnant with my DD but that was 16 years ago. I've never heard of a connection but of course that doesn't mean that there isn't one.

This is one reason that I'm so adamant about supporting RSD/CRPS research. It's so incredibly important, not just for us, but so that others who came along after us may not have to suffer the issues that we have. Does that make sense?